Echuca-Moama young guns excel in NSW Youth Championships

By Oliver Shedden

Jan 1, 2025

Under-14 representatives Landyn Maher from Moama and Taj Maddox from Echuca put in some good performances during the seven-round tournament. Photo by Supplied

Six junior players from Goulburn Murray Cricket were selected to take on the best young talent in NSW at the state’s 2024 Youth Championships in Dubbo before the Christmas break.

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All six of the elite juniors were selected from Echuca-Moama to represent the Cricket Albury-Wodonga/Murray representative side at the seven-round tournament.

The opening two rounds were played on Thursday, November 17 and Sunday, December 1, respectively before rounds three to seven were played from Monday, December 16 to Thursday, December 19.

Moama’s Max Johns, Sam McCleary and Ted Palmer played in the under-13 competition, with their Murray side finishing second behind Illawarra Flames.

All three were solid throughout the tournament with bat and ball, particularly Palmer, who was prolific in the top order and a handy leg-spinner, his best scores were 31, 25, 32 and 19 while also taking 3-6 in game six.

Johns’ late form with the bat was also positive, he posted 24 and 30 in the final two games, while providing quality overs of medium pace, taking 4-2 in game five.

McCleary had a slower start to his campaign, but got it going as the competition progressed, tallying 13 and 29 not out in his last two innings and taking four catches in the fifth game.

Moama’s Landyn Maher and Echuca’s Taj Maddox featured in the under-14 side that dominated its division, finishing first with a perfect 6-0 record.

The pair had some good individual results, despite it taking the first couple of games for the players to find form.

Maher, a batting all-rounder had a decent game five, scoring 17, but it was his arguable man of the match performance in game six that was a standout, going unbeaten on 26 and then taking 2-45.

Meanwhile, Maddox, is a pure bowler and was consistent throughout the tournament, some of his best figures were 2-16, 2-7, 2-18 and 1-14.

Ben Henson (Echuca) was the sole representative from the area in the junior boys, playing in the under-15 Murray side that finished second behind Illawarra Flames going 4-2.

A bowler who can also bat, Henson took 12 wickets in seven matches during the tournament and, while he wasn’t required to bat often, his score of 21 not out at number seven in round four showed a flash of batting skill.

Games three and six were by far Henson’s best performances statistically, he claimed a five-wicket haul in the former (5-15) and took a four poles in the latter (4-12).