Geraldton names strong sqaud in bid for first country week title in five years with batting set to be key

Country week is the ultimate for most country cricketers — as high a level as most achieve and often the proving ground for grade cricket, State and Australian country teams and beyond even that. Teams are divided into five sections with Geraldton’s number one side in A section, which Geraldton last won in 2018. The seconds should still be in C section but are instead in B section because some associations did not nominate or lacked a second team. The top side will be captained by Jai Russell, who led for the first time last season and impressed, while Aaron McAuliffe, also a vastly experienced country week player, will lead the twos. Geraldton A squad made the semifinals last year which Russell described as “par”, but a poor run with the bat saw them lose four games on the bounce and lose the third-place playoff to Albany. Batting has not been easy in the Geraldton league with wet weather making for plenty of tricky wickets. Kade Gillingham is the only selected member averaging over 30 and leads the run-scoring charts. But the side has plenty of experienced campaigners with Clint Yeates having played over 100 country week games for Geraldton, the only person to do so, followed by Russell (84) and Nigel Routledge (55). With plenty of strong bowling options, they will be hoping to get a better result. Both teams will play 60-overs-a-side games with the top team to meet Bunbury on Sunday, Eastern Goldfields on Monday and Albany on Wednesday in qualifiers. Geraldton will need to finish second or higher in its group to qualify for the finals otherwise they will play for positions should they miss out. The seconds qualifiers are Great Southern on Sunday, Albany (2) on Monday and South Midlands on Wednesday. A-section team: Jai Russell (c), Clayton Bruce-Cherry, Jack Dawson (first two games), Tom Forsyth, Kade Gillingham, Kodi Giltrow, Darcy Ingle, Ringo McKenna, Jay O’Brien, Nigel Routledge, Matt Russell, Clint Yeates. B-section team: Aaron McAuliffe (c), Austin Breen, Kurt Crudeli, Simon Evans, Bobby Gibson, Gus Heberle, Jim Hyde, Aaron Joss, Mitch Marsh, Antonio Paradella, Jayden Pinto, Cody Slootmans, Dan Welsh (one will replace Dawson in the top side).