North Canberra-Gungahlin spinner Ben Taylor will swap text books for practice nets as he prepares for his final weeks in Year 12 before chasing his cricketing dreams.
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Taylor will begin a defining summer over the coming days when the Cricket ACT one-day competition begins and the ACT Comets play their first match of the Futures League competition.
It looms as a massive month for Daramalan College student Taylor, who is juggling his cricket commitments with the final exams of his school days.
It means Taylor will line up alongside former Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin for the Comets during the day on Monday but will spend his nights doing homework.
"I had a pretty good under-19s national carnival last year but I think if I can go well this year I can push my case for a contract somewhere," Taylor said.
"I'll finish school and then concentrate on playing, with a view of maybe going to England next year to develop a bit more as well.
"It's just a matter of putting in good performances and letting everything else take care of itself.
"I won't take the assessments in the change rooms [at Manuka Oval], but I might have to go home after play to get on top of things."
Taylor worked with Australia's greatest off-spinner earlier this week when he picked the brain of Nathan Lyon at a clinic in Canberra.
He hopes those tips transfer into North Canberra-Gungahlin's clash against Queanbeyan at Harrison on Saturday before switching formats for a Twenty20 semi-final against Weston Creek Molonglo on Sunday.
School books will take a back seat again when he joins the Comets for their clash against South Australia from Monday, with Haddin joining the team for the series opener.
Taylor, 18, was invited to a camp for Australia's best young spinners last year and wants to take his game to a new level this season.
The 192-centimetre left-armer, who also bats at No.3, has a massive role to play in Norths' hopes of being a finals contender this year.
"We're missing a couple of players early and our batting depth is an issue at the moment. If we can get a few more runs out of the top order we should be OK," Taylor said.
"Queanbeyan are probably in a similar position to us, so we need to make sure we bat well if we want to be a chance.
"I've done a bit of work with Nathan before and it's good to get his views because he's at the top of his game. I was a bit more confident asking technical questions, the little things that can make a big difference."
CRICKET ACT GALLOP CUP
Saturday: North Canberra-Gungahlin v Queanbeyan at Harrison No. 2, Eastlake v Tuggeranong Valley at Kingston Oval, Weston Creek Molonglo v ANU at Stirling Oval, Wests-UC v Ginninderra at Jamison Oval. All games start at 11am.
TWENTY20 SEMI-FINALS
Sunday: Wests-UC v Tuggeranong at Jamison, Weston Creek Molonglo v North Canberra-Gungahlin at Stirling Oval. Both games at 2pm.
FUTURES LEAGUE
Monday-Thursday: ACT Comets v South Australia at Manuka Oval.
