WA Country Cricket Board names 2023 Country Week All-Stars dominated by A-section champions

The WA Country Cricket Board has named its 2023 senior country week team of the week, with A-section champions Bunbury and Districts dominating selection.

Bunbury and Districts thumped rivals Albany and Districts in the Boan Cup final at the WACA Ground last month and they were rewarded with four players named in the All-Stars team.

West Pilbara, Northam, Upper Great Southern, Eastern Goldfields, Warren-Blackwood and Wyalkatchem were also represented in the team of the week.

As per senior country week rules, five batters, one all-rounder, one wicketkeeper and five bowlers are selected in the team of 12 players.

B-section champions West Pilbara had star duo Dean Whiteford and Lachlan Seabrook picked, after both surpassed 250 runs in the tournament.

Whiteford made 266 runs at 53.2, while Seabrook hit 257 at 51.4 to play a key role in their side claiming silverware at the week-long competition.

After their A-section title triumph, Bunbury and Districts had four players selected.

Robbie Dawson led the A-section for runs scored with 230 and was picked alongside wicketkeeper Bradman May (93 runs, nine catches and two stumpings).

Liam Renton (15 wickets at 9.67) and Shehzad Gondal (13 at 13.38) got the nod as bowlers for Bunbury and Districts.

Upper Great Southern gun Arron Quartermaine earned selection after averaging 71.67 with the bat for the week and making 215 runs in total, while the other batter selected was Northam’s Kitt Byfield, who was ultra-impressive with 271 runs in C-section.

Joining Renton and Gondal as bowlers were Warren-Blackwood seamer Connor Ipsen, who finished with 17 wickets at 10.35, including eight wickets on day one.

Fellow B-section player Tully Biglin was also named after snaring 14 wickets at 14.14 and Wyalkatchem’s Thomas Moore was also recognised after he took 17 wickets at 10.88 in a successful C-grade side.

Eastern Goldfields star Graham Kennedy was awarded the Barry Shepherd Medal as the player of the carnival.

Kennedy scored 475 champion player points after scoring 150 runs at an average of 37 and taking 21 wickets at 9.

His effort with the ball included taking 7-45 on the final day, and he snared 6-47 on day one.

Bunbury and Districts’ Zane Verhaaf was the John Rutherford medallist as the best player in the A-section grand final after his brilliant spell at the WACA Ground returned 5-9 from 11 overs to rip through the Albany and Districts top order.

2023 Senior Country Week All-Stars

1. Dean Whiteford - West Pilbara CA (batter)

2. Lachlan Seabrook - West Pilbara CA (batter)

3. Robbie Dawson - Bunbury & Districts CA (batter)

4. Kitt Byfield - Northam CA (batter)

5. Arron Quartermaine - Upper Great Southern CA (batter)

6. Graham Kennedy - Eastern Goldfields CA (all-Rounder)

7. Bradman May - Bunbury & Districts CA (w/Keeper)

8. Connor Ipsen - Warren-Blackwood CA (bowler)

9. Liam Renton - Bunbury & Districts CA (bowler)

10. Thomas Moore - Wyalkatchem CA (bowler)

11. Shehzad Gondal - Bunbury & Districts CA (bowler)

12. Tully Biglin - Eastern Districts CA (bowler)