WINGHAM cricketer, Michael Rees has been named in the Central North side to play in the NSW Country Championships on the Central Coast from January 28-30.
Central North takes in the Maitland and New England areas.
Rees, 28, is playing this season with Western Suburbs in the Maitland competition.
He is also the Manning River Times-Iguana Sportstar of the Week, earning a $50 open order at Iguana.
"I'm looking forward to it,'' Rees said of his tilt at the Country Championship..
"It's been a funny season so far because of COVID and wet weather. But I've been hitting the ball okay.''
He said selection was based on club form as well as representative matches.
Rees played for Maitland in a tri-series against Newcastle and Charlestown last weekend. He scored 20-odd and took out couple of wickets in the first game.
"But the second was a disaster. I scored my first ever diamond duck (dismissed without facing a ball),'' he smiled.
Rees opted to go and play in Maitland this season following the demise of the Mid North Coast Premier League, where he was a member of the Wingham side.
"They've gone back to a local comp here and I wasn't too keen about that,'' he said.
Rees played with Wests when he was living in the Maitland area previously.
"They're a good bunch of blokes so I thought I'd give it a go,'' he explained.
Wests have enjoyed a great start to the season and have six wins from as many starts.
We've got a pretty handy side,'' he confirmed.
The travel doesn't faze him although he doesn't know at this stage if playing there will be a one-off or if he'll return to Wingham next summer.
"I'll see how I feel at the end of the season," he said.
"I really don't know and I don't know how much longer I'll keep playing cricket.
"I'll just enjoy this season first.''
Rees hasn't settled on a position in the batting lineup at club-level yet.
"Again, because of COVID it's been all over the place. I've opened some games and batted as low as five in others,'' he explains.
However, he added that opening is definitely his preference.
Rees was a member of the premiership winning Wests team in 2015-16 and he wrote himself into club folklore when he smashed a match winning 143 in the final.
He understands a Country team will be selected from the championships and said he'd welcome the opportunity to play at a higher level.
He's also started training with the Wingham Tigers for the 2022 Group Three Rugby League season and he's convinced the club is in for a prosperous season under new captain-coach, Mitch Collins.
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