A lot of the work done, mostly by coach Mick Shelton, is in the off-season which allows the young players to keep their skill levels up in the winter.

One of the young stars is Andrew Harriott who is a NSW under 17s representative wicket- keeper/batsman.

“It’s helped a lot, especially the off-season training,” he said.

“Mick helps out, does a lot of work, mostly with training.

“He does all the basics and then watches and it’s good.”

Harriott said he’s been in the academy for about four years and he’s not the only State rep to come through the system.

Josh Hazlewood, Blake Fitzgerald, Erin Osborne and Harrison Kelly have also played for NSW – and Australia in Hazlewood’s case – in various age groups and have been part of the academy.

Kelly is a gun top-order batsman who played for the NSW PSSA side last year and he can also bowl.

Another youngster in the side is Nick Foster who Shelton rates as the best batsman in Tamworth in his age group and was a standout for the Tamworth under 14s last season.

They were both at Sunday’s training session, along with Harriott and Fitzgerald who have just returned from training camps in Sydney.

“It was an under 17s Country camp,” Harriott said.

“They picked 28 players to go to Sydney and they’ll pick the Country team later on.

“We trained on the SCG.

“We started with some catching and fielding and there was a lot of talking.”

Fitzgerald was at an under 19s camp.

The boys will all continue to work hard ahead of the new season which starts in October.