changing of the guard for Albany and Districts Cricket Association with four teenagers to debut in Country Cup

Albany and Districts Cricket Association will debut four teenagers in the round one Belt-Up Country Cup clash against the WA Invitational XI in Narrogin on Sunday. Jeremy Wood has been named captain of the Albany and Districts team, which features a host of new faces in the 50-over white ball, four-team competition. Ryley Valli, Angus Thompson, Dustin Boyce and Jack Stephens will all make their Country Cup debut for Albany and Districts at Clayton Road Oval. Valli was a revelation in the ADCA A-grade competition last season scoring 467 runs for Royals on their way to a premiership while leg-spinner Thompson took 25 wickets at 18 in his first full season of senior cricket. Boyce showed terrific signs as a young seamer for Collingwood Park in A-grade last season and Stephens took 15 wickets for Manypeaks last season and is another strong option with the ball. Former University fast bowler Josh Dallimore is a big inclusion for the side after impressive figures of 3-15 in his second game for Park on Saturday. ADCA Country Cup manager Ryan Kinnear said it was exciting to have plenty of youth in the team. “All the boys that are coming up have earned the right over the last 18 months,” he said. “The young boys have come on in leaps and bounds in the 17s and even at junior country week. “Wood, Crudeli and Fergie bring lots of experience and having Josh come into the fold will add experience with the ball while the young boys will bring enthusiasm. “I think it’s a well-rounded team and if we can get a decent score on the board we have a good bowling line-up.” A lot of the senior load will fall on Wood, star all-rounder Nathan Crudeli and Dallimore given the absence of first choice senior players Coen Marwick, Mitch Green, Matt France, Nathan Poole, Ben Grey and Nathan Crosby. Albany and Districts has a squad of 12 that is likely to be trimmed to 11 by Sunday. A host of players are unavailable for the WA Invitational XI for the season opener that will be captained by Ben Payne. Kalan Joyce and youngster Darcy Ingle have been brought into the squad of 12 that has a mix of youth and experience. Four Upper Great Southern players will pull on the WA colours including Joyce, Rodney Ford, Perrin Quartermaine and Bailey Parsons. The match starts at 11am. ALBANY & DISTRICTS CRICKET ASSOCIATION COUNTRY CUP TEAM Ryley Valli, Ted Batchelor, Angus Thompson, David Brown (Royals), Nathan Crudeli, Jeremy Wood (C), Alex Fergie, Noah Middleton (Mt Barker), Josh Dallimore, Dustin Boyce (Collingwood Park), Seb Stanton, Jack Stephens (Manypeaks). WA INVITATIONAL XI COUNTRY CUP TEAM Ben Payne (C), Kalan Joyce, Perrin Quartermaine, Luke Gollan, Darcy Ingle, Haig Colombera, Jay O’Brien, Jack Dawson, Rodney Ford, Jacob Wagenknecht, Bailey Parsons, Zak Italiano.