NSW Country coach Hannah Trethewy expects Kate McTaggart, Sienna Eve and Caoimhe Bray to all play pivotal roles at the national under-19 cricket championships in Brisbane this month. The trio are part of a 13-player side named for the Australian titles from December 14 to 21 along with their Newcastle City teammate Tara French, who hails from the Central Coast. All-rounder McTaggart, 17, will captain NSW Country. "Kate is young in the team but she's very mature beyond her years and is really talented with both bat and ball," Trethewy said. "I'm really excited to see her play a big role, not only this year but also develop as a leader over the coming years, given she's got a couple of years at the under-19 age group." Eve, 18, is a left-arm orthodox spin bowler and has been identified as one of the country's rising talents with a Cricket NSW scholarship. "We don't have many left-arm orthodox in NSW, so she's going to be exciting to watch," Trethewy said. "This is her last year in the under 19s program but she's been in the NSW [elite] program this season and has been up to Brisbane for a Cricket Australia Lanning-Perry series, so I'm really excited to see her with the ball." Bray, a 14-year-old multi-code talent from Denman, is an all-rounder with a bright future. "We took her last year as a 13-year-old sort of not expecting her to play many games, but she ended up playing all of them and never looked out of place," Trethewy said. "Obviously, we know she's a very talented soccer player but we really hope that she stays in cricket because she's very, very talented. "She never looks out of place, even at an under-19 level. But what's really refreshing is just having that youthful person in the side. "She just loves cricket and aspires to be like some of the greats and it's really refreshing to have someone of her age in our group to remind everyone how great the sport is." NSW Country are aiming for a top-four return this campaign after missing out last year. "A couple of years ago they were winning the championships or coming in the top two," Trethewy said. "Country NSW is sort of rebuilding. We've got quite a young team, so hopefully this year we can finish a little bit higher than we did last year. "But also we know that this is an investment in some of our players and we're going to work with them over the next couple of years."
