JOSHUA BOWLS FOR WA

A young Pilbara superstar bowled out his competition when he made the under-15s State team.

Joshua Vernon was selected to take part in the Australian National Under 15s 50-over competition in Melbourne this week.

He has been a stand-out player for the West Pilbara Junior Cricket Association, performing as a pace bowler clocking up speeds around 120km/h.

Joshua’s goal is to play one day for Australia. He said it was hard for players in the North West to be selected for the State team.

Joshua fell in love with cricket at a young age and said he was proud of himself for making the State team.

“I feel like I’ve accomplished a good amount of cricket now,” he said.

“To be one of the only country cricketers ever to make the under-15’s is quite a big thing, and I’m excited to showcase what country cricketers can do.”

Joshua said the selection process included making the Karratha team and then the region’s competition.

“I played for the first North West team with a few other mates up here that I’ve played against and with,” he said.

“Then, from there, we had a carnival in January, which was a State country team with the best 12 players from country teams against five metro teams, and that was the State team selection.”

Joshua said the WA under-15 team had lost the last six years in a row.

“Not losing is definitely the goal, but also to see how much I can improve and what that level of cricket is like,” he said. “Getting selected to play for Australia is a big call, but that’s the end goal.”

The competition begins tomorrow when Western Australia take on Victoria Metro at the Mount Clear Recreation Reserve.