Victorian captain Cameron White believes a 48-run Ryobi Cup loss to South Australia will only benefit his young team in the long run.
Left-arm spinner Clive Rose, paceman Andrew Fekete and young all-rounder Alex Keath all made their debuts for the Bushrangers on Saturday.
Rose bowled tidily and contributed an entertaining 23 with the bat, while Fekete claimed figures of 2-42 before fracturing his foot after copping a nasty blow in his delivery stride.
White said it was important that his young charges were developed for the future of Victorian cricket.
"It was a great learning experience for the middle order," White said.
"We just had a great chat about some of the things that we did learn out of that sort of stuff and since none of the top order went on they were probably thrown into a situation that was harder than most times when you're trying to fight through those little battles."
"So it will be a good one to hold the boys in good stead going forward, I reckon."
The captain said he was impressed with the contributions from Rose and Fekete, and felt like they slotted seamlessly into the side.
"Andrew will remember his first game won't he? It was pretty unfortunate, it's a pretty bad break which isn't too good," he said.
"I thought he bowled well early, a nice length and showed a bit of promise."
"I was really impressed with Clive, he's done quite well in our trial matches, and he got an opportunity today and was quite promising as well."
"We've got something to work on with Clive. It's exciting for him and for Victoria."
Victoria still remain in the hunt for a Sheffield Shield Final berth, sitting two points behind Western Australia on the table, but will need results to fall their way.
However, White said his side would just let things take care of themselves.
"That Perth game was always going to be a big one," he said. "So we'll try to win two games and see what happens."
