Narrabri cricketer Sid Harvey is going from strength to strength in the sport and is enjoying another successful campaign in season 2020-21.
The 15-year-old is currently the Tatts Cricket Club first XI’s leading run scorer with 108 at an average of 27, and is also the team’s second leading wicket taker with eight.
He scored both his and his team’s highest individual score on Saturday, 47, in a round seven loss against Civeo.
The following day Sid top scored again, this time for the Northern Inland representative XI in round one of the Under-15 Cricket NSW Youth Championships Country Division.
He and his teammates travelled to Armidale where they took on North Coast in their first Sixers Pool fixture.
Northern Inland batted first after winning the toss and lost three early wickets, one of which was Sid’s cousin and fellow Narrabri cricketer Bernard O’Connor who opened the batting and was caught for one.
Sid and Inverell’s Angus Harris then combined for a 202-run partnership to take their side from 3-24 to a commanding 3-226.
That partnership was broken when Sid, on 98 runs, was dismissed two short of a century. He was caught at deep square leg on the boundary after toeing a short ball.
Sid struck 13 fours in what was a match-winning knock.
Angus fell for 86, then Northern Inland went on to make 6-269 in its 50 overs before rolling North Coast for 143 to score a 126-run win.
Sid also made a positive impact in the field. He took three catches, the last of which removed North Coast opener Toby Bailey (81) to win Northern Inland the game.
Sid told The Courier that he was disappointed not to reach the 100 mark, but said he was pleased to get the opportunity to bat up the order and showcase his talents.
“In the first five overs I played and missed about four times and I was feeling pretty shaky,” he said.
“Then I got a ball on my pads and it was the first ball I timed and it went for four. That kick-started it, I hit a few more fours that over and kicked on from there.
“Angus and I put on 202 together which was pretty fun, we were happy with that.
“The other team’s opening bowler came back on and bowled four really tight ones then bowled a short one half a metre outside leg.
“It slowed right up on the pitch and I toed it and got caught on the boundary.
“I didn’t know I was on 98, I thought I would have probably been in the 80s, but I wasn’t thinking about that, I was more thinking about scoring runs for the team because we had seven wickets in hand.
“When I got off they told me I got 98 and I was pretty shattered and I went into the sheds and had a little vent to myself, but we ended up getting to 270 and that was off the back of our partnership so I was pretty happy with that.
“That was my highest score at that level.
“I don’t usually bat that high at that level, I usually get picked as a bowler and don’t bat as much, but on Sunday our captain got to pick the order and he knows I can bat up the order so he put me [at three].
“I was happy to bat at three, and if I get to again in Grafton (where the rest of the games will be played from Friday, December 18, to Monday, December 21) I’ll be happy with that.”
On the way home Sid visited Bendemeer, the home of Australian cricket fast bowler Josh Hazelwood, for a photo with the iconic ‘Hometown of Josh Hazlewood’ sign.
Meanwhile, Northern Inland was also victorious in the under-14s match against North Coast in dramatic fashion in Armidale.
Burren Junction’s Clay Hoffman lined up for Northern Inland and came in at four for his side which won the toss and batted first. The Western Razorbacks first XI young gun scored 28 of his team’s 146 runs.
North Coast looked set to win the match at 7-143, however Northern Inland took a wicket to make the score 8-143. That quickly became 8-145.
Needing just one run to tie the game and two runs to win it, North Coast lost its last two wickets without scoring a run as Northern Inland pulled off a remarkable victory.
The Northern Inland teams are in eight-team Sixers Pools in their respective age groups of the Cricket NSW Youth Champs Country division.
The under-15s and under-14s will play their next six matches in Grafton from Friday, December 18, to Monday, December 21. They will play one day games on the Friday (round two) and Saturday (round three). Rounds four and five will be T20 matches on the Sunday, and rounds six and seven will be T20 matches on the Monday.
The under-13s team, which includes Narrabri’s Sanchit Jagadeesan had a round one loss against North Coast and will play its next six matches in the Hunter Valley following the same format as the under-14s and under-15s competitions.
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