Festival of cricket

Taylors Lakes takes on Spotswood in the J G Craig Shield. (Damjan Janevski) 264499_03

With the sun out and school holidays on, junior cricketers have been hitting the park throughout Melbourne’s west and the state.

Several representative competitions have been in action, with young cricketers keen to make their mark at the higher level.

In the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association, action in the J G Craig Shield kicked off. There were plenty of stars, including Taylors Lakes’ Xavier Halt who made a century and Melton’s Shshank Jha who took a hat-trick.

Associations competed against each other in region championships in both boys and girls competitions, while the under-15 girls state championships, the Youth Premier League wrapped up.

The state’s top under-17 cricketers headed to Bendigo to face each other, with the national championships called off due to the pandemic.