Diamonds in the Bush

Aimed at unearthing young talent across the state, the program will conduct sessions in Ballarat, Shepparton and Sale next week before staging a further three clinics the week after in Albury, Mildura and Warrnambool.

Bushrangers coach Greg Shipperd, who established the Diamonds in the Bush program after recognising the need for the state to enhance its talent identification process, said the squad was looking forward to unearthing its next generation of stars.

“Diamonds in the Bush has been a successful program for Cricket Victoria for a number of years and we look forward to it continuing this season,” Shipperd said.

“Over the years, regional Victoria has provided the Bushrangers squad with an enormous amount of talent and it’s essential that we continue to provide opportunities to those based outside of Melbourne to develop their cricket at all levels.

“The likes of Peter Siddle, Cameron White, Aaron Finch, Alex Keath and Ryan Sidebottom have all made their way through to first-class cricket from regional Victoria and we remain committed to supporting future generations from these areas.”

With Cricket Victoria’s state coaches and high performance team also in attendance, a series of practical cricket sessions will be staged over two days for players in under-17 and under-23 age groups.

Shipperd will feature at the Sale session with fast bowlers Jayde Herrick and Scott Boland, while home-town hero Ryan Sidebottom will be accompanied by Michael Hill and Papua New Guinea international Jack Vare in Shepparton and Will Sheridan, Guy Walker and CV Academy coach Jarrod Loughman will be present in Ballarat.

Test batsman Rob Quiney and emerging quick Louis Cameron will participate in Albury, Australia A spinner Jon Holland, former Bushrangers rookie Steve Reid and CV High Performance Manager Tim McCaskill will turn out in Mildura, while Australian stars Aaron Finch and John Hastings and Bushrangers one-day coach Simon Helmot will help conduct the session in Warrnambool.