With the season now half-way through, we take an opportunity to see what has been happening with the various youth teams and players at the Club.
No fewer than six of the Club’s young players between the ages of 14 and 18 have been selected for representative honours this season. At Under 17 level, Jack Buchanan-Rolleston was selected for the NCU Under 17 squad which played at the St Albans cricket festival, and Jack Burton, who missed that tour due to exams, joined him in the NCU squad that played in the Under 17 Inter-Provincial Tournament in Dublin.
Jack Burton also represented Ulster schools, where he was joined by fellow BRA pupil and recent Carrick recruit Francis Collins. Francis has now also been selected to play for Irish schools. No fewer than six Carrick players were in the BRA side which retained the Schools Cup, including Max Burton, who at only 15 years old, scored a match-winning 78 not out in the final.
Max Burton and Harry Warke were called up to the NCU Under 15 squad for the second successive year, and were part of the team that won this year’s Inter Provincial tournament. Ben Buchanan-Rolleston made it a second set of brothers from Carrick to win representative honours this year when he was named in the NCU Under 14 squad who will travel to Somerset in August to take part in a cricket tournament there.
Meanwhile, Carrick’s under-age teams have had mixed fortunes on the field so far this season. The Under 15’s lost off the last ball when Lisburn, who went on to reach the final, scored the two runs off the final delivery of the match in the Graham Cup, after Max Burton and Ben Buchanan-Rolleston had both scored 39 and 33* respectively, for Carrick. Following promotion to the top section, Carrick are holding their own, with a solid 8 wicket win at Waringstown , where Harry Warke hit 45 and AJ Hussell 38, and Ben Buchanan-Rolleston took 3 wickets. They lost in the final over to Templepatrick in another tight finish, with Burton and Warke again amongst the runs. With a number of matches rained off, they still have six to play.
The Under 13’s lost in the Banoge Cup at Muckamore after Seth Logan top scored with 38 and Scott Gardner (24) had helped them to 102/7, but a more experienced Muckamore team got home by 8 wickets. An under- strength Carrick team lost by 7 wickets in the league at Ballymena, but they bounced back to beat Templepatrick by 8 wickets in their next match, with Gardner and Logan again the main contributors with the bat.
The Under 11’s made progress in the Quoile Cup after an unbeaten 50 from Charlie Burton, well supported by Toby Cowton with 27, helped then to an 8 wicket win against Cliftonville, but they lost in Round 2 after a heavy defeat by CIYMS. They also lost their only league match to date against Muckamore, despite scores from Burton and Cowton again.
The Under 17’s have yet to start their Colts Cup campaign, having received a bye in the first round, but are due to face Muckamore in the coming weeks.
The Club would like to thank youth team sponsors Millen’s Centra Prince Andrew Way, and youth academy sponsor SKC Gaming for their generous support.
