Rhiannon Graham is off to Wollongong for another cricket championships. Photo: Geoff O'Neill 140313GOB01
MCCARTHY Catholic College’s Rhiannon Graham has spun more selection honours.
This week the legspinner is in Wollongong for the Lord’s Taverners Schoolgirl Cricket Championships.
The championships get underway today and will also involve Gunnedah High’s Jordan Lumby and Scone’s Kirsten Smith.
All three will have different allegiances.
Graham is representing Combined Catholic Colleges (CCC), while Lumby is in the Combined High Schools 1sts and Smith the CHS 2nds.
They’ll play two Twenty20 fixtures today, and 50-over games tomorrow and Wednesday.
For Graham CCC selection is another feather in her cap after she was picked up by ACT to play for them at the National U15 Championships earlier this season .
It’s prepared her for what to expect this week, which should be three hard days of cricket.
“It’ll be easier having been to Nationals,” she said.
She’s been picked as a spin bowler.
“I think I was picked as a bowler even though at the trials I probably batted better,” she said.
The trials were held in Penrith earlier this month with Graham selected from about 35 girls to play for CCC.
“I’ve been a couple of times before,” she said.
“It was just an experience to go the other years. I wasn’t looking to get selected before.”
This year she was. Especially after playing in the nationals, making the CCC side was a goal.
She is one of the youngest in the side being only in Year 10. “The team is mainly Year 11s and 12s,” she said.
At the nationals, which were held late last year, she had the ninth best bowling figures for the carnival.
Since then she’s been practising hard.
There were a few things she drew from those to work on, and has particularly been spending time on improving her batting.
This week will effectively be her last cricket for the season, then it all starts again.
She is hoping to make the Tamworth rep team, although she will miss Wednesday’s trials as she’ll be tied up in Sydney, and will also be involved in the girls’ Cricket NSW Academy program over the winter.
Combined Independent Schools (CIS) will be the other team competing this week in what will effectively double as a trial for the NSW U18 team.
