Tallangatta teenager Harris Lee completed his VCE maths exam on Friday, but that was nothing to tackling the greatest test in Australian cricket at the moment, bowling to Will Pucovski.
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The young gun's home club is Melbourne, where Lee played third grade last season.
"When you bowl to guys like that, you kind of think, 'no matter where I put it, they'll smack me', he was a class above the rest," Lee explained of the batsman who peeled off successive double centuries against Western and South Australia.
"With somebody like that, if they smack you, you don't get too disheartened."
Like Pucovski, Lee has come through the State's junior system, playing in the national under 17 titles two years ago for Victoria Country.
He decided to try his luck in Victorian Premier Cricket, which was an enormous commitment given he was a student at Wodonga's Victory Lutheran College.
He would sometimes travel down on Thursday for training and then stay in the city until after Saturday's game.
With Year 12 studies this year, Lee returned to CAW, but not with his junior club Wodonga, where he played 16 provincial matches in 2018-19, bowling 74 overs for seven wickets at 43.71.
"(Tallangatta captain-coach) Matt Armstrong coached me the last couple of years with the North East Knights, and I'd been lacking a bit of confidence the last few seasons and just wanted to play under him," Lee offered.
"I'm looking at rebuilding my confidence and there's more opportunity."
At Wodonga, the tall quick was behind former ACT-NSW Country Comets' paceman Cam Suidgeest and long-time association star Byron Hales, while this year the club has signed classy all-rounder Theo Valeri, who bowled first change in picking up four wickets on debut last week.
Lee and his new Bushies' team-mates have been starved on action over the first five rounds.
The club's first three games were washed out before suffering a rain-affected loss to Corowa.
And then on the only sunny day last Saturday, Tallangatta had the misfortune of the bye.
Fortunately there's no rain forecast for Saturday, but the Bushies can't expect a complacent opposition as home club Lavington is winless.
The Panthers have suffered shock losses to Corowa and St Patrick's, along with two washouts and a bye.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Elsewhere, the Patties will look to maintain that winning form on the road against Albury.
Corowa is away to Belvoir, Wodonga Raiders are home to North Albury, who stunned the latter last November, while New City hosts East Albury.
