Talented Rupanyup cricketer Connor Weidemann can't wait to test himself against the state's best when he suits up for the Melbourne Cricket Club in the under 17s Dowling Shield beginning on January 23.
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It will be the second time that the young allrounder has competed in the elite competition after he represented Geelong in the 2020/21 under 16s edition.
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The Dowling Shield features sides from each of Victoria's 18 Premier Cricket clubs and is a major step in the Cricket Victoria Player Pathway Model.
"I'm excited to go down there," Weidemann told the Wimmera Mail-Times.
Weidemann will head to Melbourne for training on Thursday where he will be presented with his club attire.
He will then return to the city on Sunday for his side's first game, against St Kida at Harry Trott Oval.
There are five rounds of competition in total before the semi-finals on February 20 and the grand final on March 14.
Weidemann's decision to join Melbourne for the upcoming installment of the Dowling Shield was influenced by his previous involvement with the club.
"After I made the under 12s Victorian team, Melbourne invited me to a few training runs for juniors," he said.
"And then my brother Lachie and I got invited to do this personal cricket coaching at the MCG for batting.
"That was in the middle of last year, we did a few trainings there and then I stuck with Melbourne because they did that for me.
"It was really good one-on-one coaching."
Playing for a strong Geelong side in the 2020/21 under 16 Dowling Shield Weidemann wasn't afforded too many opportunities.
He played two matches, taking figures of 1-23 and 0-15 and scoring one not out in both matches.
"Yeah we went pretty good, Geelong won every game," he said.
"I didn't do much. Some games got cancelled because of COVID."
Weidemann will no doubt benefit from his first experience in the competition and has been "practising a lot" ahead of January 23.
He has been in strong form recently, punctuated by his performances in the under 17 Warrnambool Country Week where he scored 140 runs at an average of 23.3 to go with six wickets.
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He has also scored 284 runs at 35.5 and taken ten wickets for Rup-Minyip in 14 games across their under 16.5, B and A Grade sides.
He won't be going in with any brash expectations and is instead keeping it simple.
"I'll just try my best," he said.
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