While some were taking the Christmas break easy, two representative teams from the Wangaratta and District Cricket Association were flying the flag for cricket in the North East at the Northern Rivers Country Week Carnival.

A pair of boys teams, under 15s and under 17s, were sent to grounds across Seymour, Tallarook, and Cohuna from Monday, 5 January – Wednesday, 7 January.

The under 15s finished with an impressive two wins from three matches, kicked off by a seven-wicket victory over Goulburn Murray Cricket.

WDCA knocked over GMC for 130 runs, led by Gus Marek (3/13 off six), Harrison Skelton (3/21 off seven) and Baxter McLeod (2/15 off eight).

With the bat, Luke O’Brien was immense, slapping 61* off 71 balls batting at first drop to lead his side to the target in 29.4 overs.

He was well supported by Charlie O’Brien (28 off 41) and Gus Marek (28 off 48).

WDCA’s second match was a much closer affair, managing a low chase with just one wicket in hand.

After winning the toss and bowling Cricket Shepparton out for just 78, Wangaratta managed to make 9/79 in 35 overs.

This time, it was Louis Sanderson (2/9 off two), Cooper Martin (2/10 off four) and Taylor Thomson (2/11 off four) who would do the bulk of the damage with the ball.

It was a challenging chase, but manageable, led by composed knocked from Sanderson (17* from 46), Charlie O’Brien (14 off 21) and Luke O’Brien (13 off 33).

Their winning streak was ended by Bendigo DCA, who won by a single run in their T20 match.

Bendigo defended their 7/108 total, restricting WDCA to 8/107 from their 20 overs.

Gus Marek was again in the wickets, finishing with handy figures of 3/26 from his four overs, and Louis Sanderson (27 from 23) and Angus Fraser (30 off 40) batted well, but it just wasn’t enough.

Unfortunately, WDCA narrowly missed out on finals, finishing third overall.

The under 17 side managed just a single win from their three group matches.

Bowling first against Cricket Shepparton, Mitchell Cooney’s 3/22 off 5.5 overs laid the groundwork to bowl CS out for 181, with Thanish Gadela (2/21 off six), Connor Ormond (2/20 off six) and Alasdair Brett (2/29 off six) chipping in.

Gadela would also top score in the chase, making 27 of WDCA’s 80 runs before they were bowled out.

Cooney continued his form with the ball in the side’s next match against GMC, taking 4/43 from nine overs.

WDCA would bowl GMC out for 138, before chasing the target eight down in 36.5 overs, with the majority of the list making double figures.

Their last match against Bendigo would be a tough encounter, bowled out for 85 chasing 106.

The junior representative season continues this weekend with North East Region Six Junior Country Week, against Cricket Albury Wodonga.