Harry McMillan was in fine form for Mid Canterbury at last week’s regional under-17 cricket tournament, after which he and fellow Mid Canterbury player Archie Redfern were named in the Canterbury Under-17 team. Photo Doug BovettTwo young Mid Canterbury cricketers have been named in the Canterbury Under-17 team following a successful showing at last week’s regional under-17 tournament.

Mid Canterbury’s Archie Redfern and Harry McMillan have both made the team that will play in a regional tournament in Lincoln from January 17-24.

The inclusion of the two young Mid Cantabrians in the Canterbury side came off the back of a pretty good tournament for Mid Canterbury, where they bounced back well from losses in two Twenty20 matches which got the week under way.

After those Twenty20 losses to Canterbury Country and Christchurch Metro Red, Mid Canterbury made a strong start to the 50-over aside games, beating Buller by an impressive 148 runs and then beating South Canterbury by 99 runs.

In their final game of the tournament they took on an impressive Christchurch Metro Red side and lost by seven wickets, but it proved to be a tight tournament, with the two Christchurch Metro sides, Canterbury Country and Mid Canterbury each picking up two wins from their three matches.

Mid Canterbury lost the toss in that last game and were sent into bat and were on the back foot early, losing two quick wickets to find themselves 3/2.

Redfern and Thom Graham helped get the side back on track with a 54-run partnership, but the innings folded pretty quickly after Redfern was dismissed for 15 and Graham for 31. Mid Canterbury were all out for 64 of 27 overs.

Mid Canterbury headed out into the field with the intention of making life difficult for Christchurch Metro Red, and a wicket to McMillan on the first ball started his side off on the right foot.

Tight bowling by all bowlers made scoring difficult for the Christchurch players, but eventually they reached the tally for the loss of just three wickets after 26 overs.

When the tournament finished, the Canterbury Under-17 team was named, and Redfern and McMillan’s names were there, rewarding them for some top performances during the week.

Redfern scored more runs than any other batsman at the tournament, scoring 103 runs in his three innings, including a highest score of 52, while McMillan was eighth in the bowling rankings from the tournament. His best figures for the tournament were an impressive 4/8 and he proved hard to play, with an economy rate of just 1.29.

A Year 11 student this year, Redfern – from Methven – attended and played cricket for the Christchurch Boys’ High School first XI.

McMillan was also in Year 11 this year and played for the Ashburton College first XV, although he is off to St Andrew’s College in Christchurch for his Year 12 and 13 on a cricket scholarship.

By Erin Tasker © The Ashburton Guardian - 20 December 2018