The selection for the state country side puts the 15-year-old fast bowler a step closer to playing in the Under 17 National Championships later in the year.

Montgomery is one of only two Central North cricketers named in the 21-man ACT/NSW Country Under 17s squad following an impressive performance at the Cricket NSW Under 16 State Challenge last month.

Although obviously excited for the opportunity, Montgomery said the selection didn’t come as a shock.

“Not a lot of people got cut out [from the two country sides which participated in the State Challenge],” he said.

“It wasn’t that I was expecting it but the odds were in my favour.”

READ MORE: Jack up to the challenge

During the State Challenge, held in Cambelltown from April 15 to 19, Montgomery’s team played three matches against the two metro teams and the other country side.

“It was pretty good, it was quite a tough competition, especially when we played the NSW Country side – all of their bowlers were really good,” Montgomery said.

“We ended up losing to the other country side by 100 runs.

“We beat both the city sides, although they were still quite good. We just performed better on the day.”

During the four-day challenge, the players enjoyed a rest day during which they visited the Bradman Museum in Bowral.

Now that he has been selected for the ACT/NSW Country squad, Montgomery will travel to Sydney to participate in a number of training sessions – the first on the June long weekend – before participating in a City versus Country series later in the year.

This will be the final selection trial before selectors name the squads that will represent NSW Metro and ACT/NSW Country at the National Championships.

On Saturday, Jack joined his two brothers – Paddy and Ed – at the Central North Cricket Zone presentation dinner in Tamworth.

All three Montgomery boys represented Central North in the Cricket NSW State Challenge for their respective ages – Paddy in under 18s, Jack in under 16s and Ed in Under 13s.

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