The North has plenty to offer Tasmania's cricket landscape if Wednesday's under-18 vacation title is anything to go by.
Advancing to the grand final unbeaten, Alistair Taylor's Greater Northern Raiders overcame a challenging Lindisfarne side to win the fledgling club's first silverware.
The grand final XI boasted senior Raiders regulars Cooper Anthes, Will Bennett, James Simpson and Spencer Hayes, who all played key roles in the victory.
Taylor said the team's success was a sign that the Raiders program - still just in its third year - was headed in the right direction.
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"It obviously gets those boys in a frame of mind that they'll be really competitive if they all stick together," Taylor said.
"We've already got four of those boys in the senior men's program and the senior men's program is going well as we speak anyway - they're starting to win games, be more competitive and they've found some stability.
"It just shows we've got some talent up here and if they stick together they can be a pretty formidable unit.
"When you get to pick from 11 clubs you're going to be strong regardless of what grade it is, so it's really exciting for the future."
A Riverside prodigy, Anthes finished as the competition's most damaging bowler with 22 wickets in nine games at an average of 6.41 and economy rate of 4.34.
Fellow Blues all-rounder Aidan O'Connor also made the league top five with 12 wickets at 9.92, while James Simpson was the only Raider to feature in the league's top 10 batsmen with 216 runs at 36.
Hayes, Anthes and South Launceston's Angus Foster all averaged around the 30-mark with four 50s between them.
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Hamish Geale
Hamish Geale is a senior reporter at The Examiner. Got good news? Email: hgeale@examiner.com.au
Hamish Geale is a senior reporter at The Examiner. Got good news? Email: hgeale@examiner.com.au
