ROCK N’ROULSTON

Bready started the season with a thumping 104-run win over Strabane, thanks primarily to opener Gavin Roulston’s century. The 18-year-old had just come back from a close season Down Under at Western Park in Melbourne, with the experience clearly helping him.

“I thought my winter in Australia went pretty well,” said Roulston. “It took a little time to adapt to a new country and conditions but as time went on, I grew in confidence and felt my game improved. Overall my club had a very successful season winning two of the three competitions and I felt I contributed pretty well ending the season their leading run scorer. To score a century in the semi-finals of the two-day competition was a highlight”.

The Irish youth international has been working hard on his game, both in Melbourne and on his return in the Warriors set-up.

“I was certainly working on my game while in Australia. A few of my teammates played at a very high level in Australia and they certainly passed on some of their knowledge to me over the winter. Since I’ve came home I’ve had a few practice sessions with Andrew Balbirnie and he has already given me some great advice, so to play with the likes of Andrew and ‘Scra’ McBrine, two top-class experienced internationals will certainly help my game throughout the summer.”

The all-Tyrone clash on Saturday motivated the left-hander, who was delighted to start on a real high.

“To start the season with a century was very pleasing. I felt I was striking the ball very well but maybe I missed out on the opportunity of getting a real big 100, but I suppose at the start of play if I was offered a century on the first day of the season I’ve have probably been happy enough with that.

“Looking ahead, my ambitions for the season are just to carry on scoring as many runs as possible, firstly at club level, then at interpro level. Last year was my first taste of interpro cricket and I scored a couple of half centuries. I’ll certainly be looking to improve on that this year as I certainly have ambitions to play at the highest level possible. I’m looking to take my game to the next level this season. I understand now it’s up to me to improve on my numbers and start turning more of my 40s, 50s into more significant innings, so I will be aiming for more centuries this year for sure.”