Redbacks rebuilding for the future
February 01, 2012 16:12:07 UK
South Australia have added two newcomers to their Sheffield Shield squad for their upcoming clash with Victoria Bushrangers that will take place at Adelaide Oval from Thursday.
The two debutants are teenage batsman Travis Head and leg spinner Cameron Williams, who is a grade cricket regular.
Head scored a massive total of 442 runs in the Cricket Australia under 19 National Championship recently, which has made his Redbacks call-up possible, while Williams' fine form of late in the Futures League has caught the eye of SA selectors.
Apart from the two youngsters, the Redbacks have also called up right-handed batsman James Smith, whose batting average for his grade side West Torrens soared to 75.83 this season.
The incoming trio will take the place of their Australian international all-rounder Dan Christian, and out-of-form batsmen Tom Thornton and Dan Harris.
We absolutely will continue to (blood youngsters) given the position we are in but we also must blend them in with a mixture of senior players at the same time.
Darren Berry
The move is a clear sign that the Redbacks are trying to build a team for the future, but their coach Darren Berry emphasized that it is crucial for them to strike a balance between youth and experience rather than filling the entire team with youngsters.
"A generational change was moved forward ... but I don’t think in cricket you can sweep it out and put a whole new team in there. We absolutely will continue to (blood youngsters) given the position we are in but we also must blend them in with a mixture of senior players at the same time," Berry said.
"We have some really good senior players and we need to gel one or two (young cricketers) – those who we think are capable of making an impression," he added.
South Australia are 126.00 to win the 2011/12 Sheffield Shield title, while Queensland are 1.44 and Tasmania are 1.44.
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