A WARRNAMBOOL and District Cricket Association best and fairest winner is the inspiration behind Nestles' Jacob Hetherington deciding to test himself on a new cricketing frontier.
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The 20-year-old will depart for England on Tuesday and will arrive in Wigan to play for Norley Hall Cricket Club, which will play its first season in the Liverpool and District Cricket Competition's second division.
Hetherington said his decision was spurred on by Brierly-Christ Church captain Mark Murphy, who ventured to England last year.
"I feel like going over there is going to give me a lot more skill and time to work and practice for when I come back here next season," the all-rounder said.
"Mark Murphy won the best and fairest this season and he said it helped him a lot and I thought I would grab the same sort of experience to help my cricket."
Former Nestles player Greg Hannah and Woodford's Hank Schlaghecke, who will return to Mobberley for a second time, are also making the trip to the United Kingdom this Australian winter.
The left-arm medium-pace bowler said his new club had welcomed him with open arms despite the fact he still had not left Australia.
"They (his teammates) have all flicked me a welcome message saying they can't wait for me to get over there. I'm not even there yet but I feel a big part of it," the right-handed batsman said.
"I've been talking in a few group chats and they have been telling me about all the training and getting me sorted with my playing kit and where I'm staying. There has been a lot of contact with them, which is good."
Hetherington said a trip to England had been on his radar for a number of years.
"We had a two Englishmen (Shaun Harland and Sam Carver) come over here a few years ago and they enjoyed their time here and I wanted to do that over there," the Warrnambool resident said.
"It will be good to try different conditions to try and accelerate my cricket. It will be different feeling being with a different club but I've been wanting to do it for the last few years and now it's finally happening."
The Factory youngster, who received the Glenn Denning Award for the best under 21 in the WDCA this summer, said he was excited to help his new club when it makes its step up to a new division.
"They won their previous league's cups last season and they have been upgraded to the Liverpool association, which is a new and more challenging league for them," he said.
"They're keen to stamp their name in the new environment and keep rising as a club. I just want to go over and play my role and get an idea of the new conditions and make theirs and my time worth it."
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