Left: Hallam-based batting prospect Dale Tormey is looking forward to representing Victoria at next month’s Cricket Australia national under-19 championships. 24509By Marc McGowan
THREE home-grown talents will grace the field for Victoria at next month’s Cricket Australia national under-19 championships in Newcastle.
Hallam’s Dale Tormey, 19, Narre Warren South’s Clive Rose, 19, and Endeavour Hills-raised James Pattinson, 18, are part of the 13-strong state squad that will defend Victoria’s title.
Pattinson, an aggressive right-arm fast bowler, is the most decorated of the trio.
The Dandenong Panther has a full Victorian Bushrangers’ contract, represented Australia at this year’s Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia and will captain the state under-19 side.
Pattinson’s older brother, Darren, is also in the Bushrangers’ squad and played a Test match for England in August.
Left-arm orthodox spinner Rose, a budding all-rounder, has also enjoyed a fruitful junior career so far.
The Casey-South Melbourne star suited up for Australia at the Under-19 World Cup, competed for the Victorian second XI team last season and is in the Victorian High Performance Academy.
Rose has remarkably opened the batting and bowling for the Swans at different stages in his Victorian Premier Cricket career and also took the new ball in several matches for the Australian under-19 side.
But the state honour arguably means most to Hawthorn-Monash University’s Tormey, who describes his selection as his first “proper” Victorian team.
The hard-hitting left-handed batsman played for Victoria at under-15 schoolboy level, but said last week’s news was the highlight of his blossoming career.
“I’m pretty chuffed at the moment – I’m on a high,” he said.
“I’ve been looking forward to either getting the ‘yes’ or ‘no’, so it was good to get the ‘yes’.”
Tormey, who also bowls useful right-arm mediums, spent the Australian winter honing his game in England county Yorkshire.
The former Haileybury College scholarship-holder feels he has returned a much more mature batsman and is averaging 37.6 runs per match for the Hawks this season.
“Everything seemed to go my way over there and I was hoping to come back and keep my form going, and I think I have,” Tormey said.
“I loved every minute of it. The standard was okay – it was not the best cricket, but it was not the worst either.
“Darren Pattinson was playing there three years ago and now he’s playing for England.”
Tormey, who played his junior cricket for Lyndale, prefers to focus on making the senior Victorian side at this stage rather than aiming at representing his country.
“The next thing, hopefully, will be a proper state senior game,” he said.
“I’m more concentrating on that than playing for Australia because I know you have to be very, very good at state level before you get a look in for Australia.”
Tormey has already experienced the glory of playing on the MCG for the state champion Southern Rangers, the region’s junior representative team, and hopes the Victorian under-19 squad can enjoy similar success.
“We’re the reigning champs, so hopefully we can go back-to-back,” he said.
“Personally, I want to throw my name out there and get a few people to notice me – we’ll see what happens.”
Picture: Meagan Rogers
