Bathurst cricket talent Blake Kreuzberger guides Western to Country Colts glory

The Bathurst cricketer, a talented top order batsman, was already honoured when handed captaincy of the Western colts side.

But when they won each of their five games at the Queanbeyan hosted tournament to see a Western side crowned Country Colts champions for the first time since season 2006-07, it made it even better.

"It's pretty exciting," Kreuzberger, who plays his club cricket for Bathurst City, said.

"It's great, it's one of the highest ranked teams that I've made then to be captain and win it, yeah, it's a pretty good feeling and to do it with all my mates as well.

"Last year I was named as reserve so I didn't get to play, so this was actually my first carnival for Western due to injury and bushfires stopping me in other years.

"I was extremely honoured to be named captain of that team. I've grown up around those boys and it was a great privilege to lead those boys around the park during the week."

While Kreuzberger had captained the Central West colts side earlier this season, when handed the leadership role of Western it was another step up.

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In an effort to produce his best at the carnival he even had a special net session with Western coach Garth Dean, who is also from Bathurst.

"I hadn't been scoring many runs lately, so I'd done work with Garth during the week on my technique and sort of fixed up a few minor things," Kreuzberger said.

"I guess that helped me score a few runs.

"He called me and asked if I wanted to have a net and fix up a few things. He's got a good eye and he could see a few flaws and helped me fix them."

Kreuzberger scored a total of 112 runs across the tournament off 122 deliveries, belting 12 boundaries in that total.

His best knock came in the tournament opener, scoring 43 runs at a run-a-ball against ACT.

It was a match his side won on the last delivery. It was a result Kreuzberger said was a key in Western's success.

"We had a pretty heavy focus on the first day of trying to get the win because they hadn't been able to get the win on the first day for the last five years," he said.

"So to get that win on the first day, then we built momentum from that and took it through the remaining games and remained undefeated."

It was another last ball thriller as Western beat Greater Illawarra and with victories over Riverina and Central Coast following, Kreuzberger and his team-mates knew their destiny was in their own hands.

If they beat Central North in their final match, they would end Western's 16-year Country Colts title drought.

They delivered, winning by eight wickets as they chased down the 132 needed for victory in the 32^nd over.

Kreuzberger was at the crease when the winning runs came.

"We had goals at the start of the tournament, we wanted to win the first game and see what happened from there," he said.

"Then it came down to the last game. We knew all we had to do was win and we tried to keep things as simple as possible, not over complicate it. I think that helped us all stay calm.

"Some people were trying to think about the game too much, but I told the boys that cricket is a very simple game, no need for that stuff."

The skipper was pleased to see fellow Bathurst talent Flynn Taylor find success with the ball during the tournament, as well as Mudgee's Connor Whale, who plays his club cricket alongside him at Bathurst City.

But Kreuzberger pointed out every one of the Western players contributed at the championships.

"Everyone chipped in, all 13 of the team members, everyone did their job throughout the week and were respectful and helped us get the win," he said.

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