Central North were rumbled by Riverina by six wickets in their Bradman Cup opener at Newcastle.
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It was the age old story for the Barry Smith-coached side – not enough runs.
They could only muster 135 after a lower order collapse, losing their last six wickets for just 29.
Captain Will Fort lead the way with the bat, top-scoring with 34, while Callum Gabriel made 23, Jacob Page 22, Tamworth’s Lachie Barton 19 and Conrad George 12no.
Riverina in reply passed Central North’s score in the 38th over, four wickets down.
George struck early combining with Armidale’s Kieran Dennis to remove opener Harry Rosengren for a duck, but wickets were hard to come by after that.
George claimed all four and was Central North’s best performer with the ball with 4-32 from his 10.
The Bradman Cup follows on from the Kookaburra Cup where Central North finished third, and from which had five players including Armidale’s Nick Page and Cotter Litchfield selected in the Country Sixers Riptides side to play in next weeks U14s State Challenge in Dubbo.
Gunnedah’s Zac Clarke was also picked up to play for the Sixers Swell.
Surprised by his selection, the opener said he felt “very lucky” and would “make the most of this great opportunity”.
“I’m really enjoying batting at the moment,” he said.
He said he felt good at the crease last week and played some good shots, but was disappointed he didn’t make a big score after he “went into the carnival feeling very positive”.
