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Learning to be done for new Blues

New South Wales want to find some momentum and peak in time for the finals of the JLT Cup

With a top-two spot out of the equation following another loss in the JLT One-Day Cup, NSW seamer Sean Abbott says the Blues are now focused on building some much-needed momentum towards the finals.

NSW were handed their third-straight loss on Sunday, going down to Victoria by 66 runs at North Sydney Oval that followed defeats to Western Australia and South Australia in Perth. 

While each team qualifies for the business end of the 50-over tournament, Abbott says the Blues are aiming to peak at the back-end of the competition, and that starts with Tasmania in North Sydney on Tuesday. 

"We speak about this every year, about timing your run and having momentum at the right time," said Abbott, who took a career-best 5-70 from 10 overs today. 

"There’s no point in playing your best games at the start of the tournament and then petering out and finishing early before the finals. 

"That’s certainly a goal for us now that we can’t make the top two, but we’re looking to build momentum and that starts with Tassie in a couple of days who are in some pretty red-hot form.

"That’s going to be another big challenge for us out here on the same ground."

Abbott nabs five Victoria wickets in Sydney

With a young squad, the absence of Test bowlers, suspended batsmen and an injured skipper, the Blues were always going to find the going tough against more senior and seasoned states this summer.

New coach Phil Jaques expressed his excitement about his playing squad prior to the season but said inexperience would not stand in the way of excellence and elite performances.

While the team has not registered a win on the board, a handful of youngsters have made an impression just three games into the season.

Eighteen-year-old Jack Edwards has looked comfortable at domestic level having entered at 4-56 and 4-64 in his first two games before earning promotion to the top of the order today.

Daniel Sams has showcased his ability as a tricky new-ball bowler and damaging lower-order power-hitter, amassing scores of 62, 30 and 51 in his three games to go with his 3-46 on debut.

Sams sizzles with quickfire half century

And Abbott's five-wicket haul against a powerful Victorian batting unit would do his confidence no harm as he looks to return to international cricket after four years on the sidelines. 

The 26-year-old, who is now a senior member of NSW, has been impressed by the Blues fresh faces. 

"There’s a lot of learning to be done," he said. "Every year is like that but there’s a lot of guys that haven’t had much experience just yet. 

"In saying that, guys like Jack Edwards going to the top of the order and willing to take on the game and bat the way he does, he doesn’t look like a guy who gets too fazed by match situations. 

"I think he’s going to play a lot of cricket for NSW and hopefully his country. 

"And guys like Daniel Sams and Chris Green and Jay Lenton, who was part of the squad last year, guys that haven’t been there for pre-season have come in and really showed intent and played the game the way they want to play the game, which has been good to see from my point of view. 

"They’ve been put under a bit of pressure and played pretty well."


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