Picture: THOMAS MILES.
THE final squad to travel to Adelaide for the Senior country cricket carnival has been named, with the best from the region set to compete and defend their title from last season.
Jake Schutz will lead the side and is accompanied by North Sportsman’s team mates, Kieran Ashby and Matt McInerney, with Declan Kenny on debut.
From South Gambier Robert Drenthen will join Dylan Clough and debutante Josh Thomson.
Dave Somerfield, Michael Waters and Jase Bateman represent Penola, along with Jack Mullan on debut.
Tintinara batsman Alex Stidiford will get his first taste of the carnival on debut, while Adam Somerfield is available for the final two days of the competition due to work commitments.
The competition spans across four days starting next Monday and will be played in the one-day format with white clothes and a red ball.
The South East side won the competition last season and will start their campaign to go back-to-back against Murray Districts before games against Alice Springs and Yorke Peninsula followed by a final on Thursday.
Jake Schutz will captain the South East representative team and holds high hopes of success with a strong squad at his disposal.
“I would say this is the strongest squad we have had in years,” he said.
“We had probably 17 or 18 blokes to pick from, so picking the final 13 was a tough job.
“Before that we would struggle to get a side together, but for about four years now we have had a squad that has put heir hand up every year which has been good.
“We are definitely going there to win the carnival.”
Schutz is not intimidated by the captaincy role as there are a number of other experienced team members who can support him.
“It is a big job so you just have to enjoy it and see what happens,” he said.
“I can lean on blokes with experience like Dave Somerfield and Kieran Ashby.
“When I need any advice, I will just go to them and listen to what they say.”
Part of the squad will be North Sportman’s opening batsman Matthew McInerney who was the leading run-scorer in the carnival last year and will be a hoped he can replicate a similar run of form that laid the foundations of that season’s title.
“I hope so (Matthew MacInerney will score big runs), but we will not just rely on Matt to get the job done every day,” Schutz said.
“He is a very good player who can take the game away from many teams inside the first 10 overs.
“It is good to have a player like that on your side who is very dangerous, but if he does not fire we have plenty of other options as well.”
Schutz is excited by the all-round abilities of the team’s debutante’s and see how they fare at the next level.
“Jack Mullan, Declan Kenny and Alex Stidiford have all earned their spot, so it will be good to see what they can do,” he said.
“Kenny has been bowling well this year and Alex has made a lot of runs in the Tintinara league with about 500 runs already.
“Jack Mullan has been a good player in this competition for a while now, he bowls good spin and he bowled well against Portland the other week to take 5/20.
“So I am pretty keen to see how they go.”
Despite his tremendous recent form, Schutz has not placed any high personal goals for himself and is more concerned about the team’s approach.
“I have not really thought about myself to be honest, it is more about the team approach,” he said.
“When I am out there, I will definitely be hungry to make runs and just want to play a role for the team.
“My job is to bat long periods of time and hopefully I can do that and see what happens.”
Schutz does expect to face a high standard of opposition to create a challenging experience for the side in quality conditions.
“There is much more depth in each side which creates a better standard of cricket,” he said.
“The pitches and outfields are much more quicker up there so you get more value for your shots and you also have to think about what kind of fields to set with the outfields being much quicker.
“Everyone knows what to expect, it is going to be hot and going to be a big week.
“It is definitely a step up, that is for sure.”
