Behind the stumps: Country week teams revealed

SELECTED: West Warrnambool's Joe Douglas plays a defensive shot. He's in the Warrnambool Blue side which will play at under 17 country week in Warrnambool.

Country week selectors had a tough task on their hands with many youngsters playing consistently well.

Most of the under 17s are playing senior cricket and there are some under 15s - such as Port Fairy's Sam Allen - at the top level too.

Allen made his Warrnambool and District Cricket division one debut a fortnight ago.

WDCA director of junior cricket Ben Powell said numerous players were unlucky to miss out on making the under 17 and under 15 sides.

Both carnivals will be held from Monday, January 3 to Friday, January 7.

The under 17s are playing in Warrnambool while the under 15s will be in Horsham.

Warrnambool Blue's under 17 team consists of Hugh Fleming, Tom Powell, Joe Douglas, Blake Mottram, Darcy Bourke, Sam Slattery, Jesse Mahoney-Gilchrist, Will McConnell, Charlie Noonan, Ryan Barnes, Aiden Forsyth and Isaac Wilson.

Jake Hetherington and Ben Powell are the coaches.

STEAMING IN: Wesley-Yambuk bowler Blake Rouse has been selected in the under 17 Warrnambool Gold team.

Warrnambool Gold's under 17 side features Flynn Wilkinson, Harry Schrama, Noah Greene, Noah Dawson, Blake Rouse, Will Colla, Tyson Hales-Morton, Hayden McGovern, Mitch Lloyd, Ryan Lucas, Ryan Bellman, and Flynn Gleeson.

Fletcher Cozens and Alistair Templeton are the mentors.

MADE IT: Merrivale's Brock Gannon bowls. He'll be playing in the Warrnambool Blue under 15 team at country week in January.

In a change up, Cozens and Hetherington - both young WDCA division one stars - will take on most of the coaching responsibilities.

"They're taking on the main role of coaching each side," Powell said.

"Alistair and I are just helping out with assistant coaching duties.

"We wanted to get these young guys involved in coaching at country week and the players are looking forward to having those guys coaching them."

The Warrnambool Blue under 15 outfit encompasses Tighe Langdon, Matthew Gome, Sam Allen, Jarrod Ferguson, Brock Gannon, Josh Chatterton, Archer Boyle, Hugo Artz, Sam Conboy, Izsak Dean, Harrison McCormack and Ryan Mottram.

Jason Mungean and Jamie Langdon are the coaches.

YOUNG GUN: Koroit's Jett Grayland plays a cut shot. He's part of the Warrnambool Gold under 15 outfit that will play at country week in Horsham.

The Warrnambool Gold under 15 side includes Sam Marris, Sam Rhodes, Hamish Alexander, Mason Porter, Hunter Cross, Callum Leahy, Toby Madden, Charlie James, Jett Grayland, Sam Willsher, Ted Hunter and Mack Mills.

Harrison Barnes, Bailey Dwyer, Jack Lenehan and Morgan Cook are the under 15 emergencies and have been selected in a composite team to play at Horsham Country Week.

The Western Barbarians will feature players from Hamilton, Horsham and Warrnambool.

Powell said the under 15s carnival was an important talent identification opportunity for youngsters wanting to make the Western Waves side which plays in the Youth Premier League.

Tiger earns stripes

Woorndoo recruit Tyler Schafer wasted little time settling in at the club.

He is averaging 89 runs across his first four innings for the South West Cricket division one newcomer.

He blasted 111 of the Tigers' 8-190 against Cobden on Saturday and leads the competition for runs with 268.

The former Mortlake and Russells Creek batsman, along with fellow top-order bat Grant Cameron, will be crucial to the Tigers' winning chances this season.

Tyson Hay, of Terang, also made a century in round four.

WDCA team of the week

Chris Bant (Allansford-Panmure) 81; Cam Williams (Russells Creek) 74; Noah Greene (Allansford-Panmure) 66; Joe Higgins (Wesley-Yambuk) 60; Jack Rhodes (Russells Creek) 60; Thiwanka Ranasinghe (Dennington) 54; Xavier Beks (Dennington) 42; Hugh Fleming (Merrivale) 4-10; Walker Owen (Wesley Yambuk) 4-20; Tom Powell (Dennington) 4-26; Hayden McGovern (West Warrnambool) 3-14.

SWC team of the week

Tyler Schafer (Woorndoo) 111; Tyson Hay (Terang) 102; Tim Keane (Terang) 80; Fraser Lucas (Bookaar) 64 and 4-31; Isaac Wareham (Mortlake) 66; Grant Place (Pomborneit) 62; Jacob Fishwick (Noorat) 61; Todd Lamont (Mortlake) 56; Johno Benallack (Cobden) 49; Amilay Mendis (Pomborneit) 6-27; Will Kain (Mortlake) 5-33.