THE PSSA boys’ cricket knockout really heats up in Maitland today and Tamworth Public is ready to sweat out a win.
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The boys face a semi-final this morning and hope to progress to the state final this afternoon.
Coach Barry Everingham said it was a tough ask to play up to 100 overs in hot conditions but if his side could handle the heat better than the opposition it might be the edge the side needed.
Of course, the opposition will turn up the other kind of heat on the Tamworth boys as well, in the form of pressure with bat and ball.
“They just have to all stand up,” Everingham said.
“In the past two games AJ (Pretorius) and Jack (Diebold), who are our two key batsmen, haven’t dominated as much as they have in other games.
“So others have had to stand up and get the runs, and they’ve done that.
“That’s what a team is about.”
Pretorius and Diebold played for North West at the state carnival in Armidale last week and handled it well.
Diebold and Aaron Madirazza are co-captains of the team.
But today’s semi-final opponents from Sydney West, Jasper Road, will be tough.
“They had one kid who was in the Sydney West side that won the state title,” Everingham said.
“So he will be pretty handy.
“It’s a school with a good reputation for sport.”
But Tamworth is fostering its own sporting reputation and already has the state rugby union title to its name.
In fact, several of the boys in the cricket side were part of that success.
Everingham said the keys to victory on the cricket field were keeping wides to a minimum, limiting errors in the field and running well between the wickets.
Fortunately Tamworh has been good in those areas so far.
“We only bowled four wides in our last game,” Everingham said.
“That’s pretty good in primary school cricket.”
If TPS wins its semi it will meet either Parkes or its old rugby foe, The Junction, in the state final.