Kendenup farmer Jeremy Wood takes the reins of Albany and Districts country week side for the first time

New Albany and Districts Cricket Association captain Jeremy Wood believes this year’s senior country week in Perth will be one of the strongest tournaments in sometime. Albany will be out to win their 16th Boan Cup after naming a strong squad ahead of their opening game against Bunbury and Districts on Sunday. Albany won the 2019 Boan Cup defeating Upper Great Southern at the WACA but took away an undermanned squad last year with a number of first choice players missing, finishing sixth. However, with no Australian Country Cricket Championships this year, Albany will be bolstered by the inclusion of WA Country XI stars Jeremy Wood and Nathan Crudeli. Wood, who has just finished harvest on his family farm in Kendenup, will captain the Albany first XI for the first time. “I think this country week will be one of the best in quite a while because all the WA Country XI players will be here and not at the Nationals Champs,” Wood said. “It will be a real feather in your cap if you can perform well against high-quality cricketers this week. “It’s good to get away from the farm and recharge the batteries with a good bunch of blokes after a busy period. It’s always a special thing when you captain a representative team. “I think we have a really good bunch of blokes so I’m looking forward to leading them for the whole week.” Eight players remain from last year’s team, including Crudeli who only played one game, but they have added some important all-round firepower. Former first-grade cricketer Dan Rees comes into the squad along with former WA Country XI player Patrick Butler and WACA premier cricketer Harry Crane while Crudeli will play a full week. “Obviously the first thing is having a bit of fun when we all go up for country week but I think good enough team to have a fair crack at it,” Wood said. “I reckon we can give it a fair shake when we are up, obviously Nath Crudeli coming in is a massive addition for us with bat and ball so I think that really strengthens us right up to have a really good crack at it. “I think it’s going to be our bowling and fielding that is going to be the one that will win games for us, if we execute really well there I think that will put us in good stead to win a lot of games.” The A-grade section is split into two divisions with the Whalers facing Geraldton on Monday and then South Midlands on Wednesday. Albany will also send a B-section and a C-section team to the carnival with Matt Heberle captaining the second XI, while the third Albany side will move up into C-section. ADCA A-section team Jeremy Wood (C) Dan Rees Nathan Crudeli Nathan Dovey Ryan Kinnear Seb Stanton Aidan Dallimore (WK) Patrick Butler Hayden Davies Ben Grey Harry Crane Noah Middleton ADCA B-section team Matthew Heberle (C) Dan Robson Matt Burton Clayton Wood Aran Tilbury Ryan Davies Regan Poett Charlie Walters Jack Stephens Tim Shephard (WK) Jack McPhee Kieran Howie Oswin D’Sylva Nick Barrow James Coad ADCA C-section team Graeme Weinert (C) Brendon Pollard Craige Anning James Morris Jarrad Norton Jeremy Watson Jake Poad Rodney Light Aldo Lionetti Darren Grey Cam Higgins Grant Henderson Andrew Lister