Young Bundaberg cricketers have spent the past three days vying for a position in the Wide Bay school teams with 11 making the final cut.
Bundaberg school representative team coach Simon Kelly said the three days of competition for the 10 to 12 year school boys and girls teams had been highly successful.
“[There were] some strong teams from all over the region,” Simon said.
“There are six zones that come together and try and make the 12 Wide Bay players that will go and face the Queensland state titles.”
With six boys and five girls selected for the two 12 person teams, Simon said it was a terrific result for Bundaberg.
“It’s a good year,” he said.
“To have half the team selected from Bundaberg is pretty good.
“It’s another good sign that Bundaberg cricket is strong.”
The Wide Bay school cricket team selection provides an excellent opportunity for the young players.
“It’s great. They get to play against the best kids across the state and they try out to make the Queensland teams.
“We’ll have a few kids that will go close to Queensland selection this year.”
Bundaberg players selected
- Lachlan Heycox
- Sam Stuchbery
- Riley Collin
- Taj Coates
- River Felstead
- Lenny Henry
- Abby Stevens
- Zoe Stone
- Charli-Anne Trace
- Lara Hamilton
- April Mathiesen
Simon said all Bundaberg players had performed well throughout the carnival.
“They haven’t had much cricket before today, this is kind of their first game of the year so still a few rusty players but I’m sure they’re enjoying it.”
Bundaberg school boys competitor Jordan Mather said it had been an enjoyable carnival.
“You get to have a fun time playing cricket,” Jordan said.
“Our team did pretty good.”
Simon said he had received positive feedback from the other regions who had travelled for the event on the carnival itself and Kendall Flat as a facility.
“It’s one of the better ones in the Wide Bay.”
He said it was great to see the money and effort that had been poured in to the facility during the off season with the recovering of the synthetic pitches.
The Wide Bay school cricket carnival is the first of a long list of cricket events to be hosted in Bundaberg over coming months, all of which are expected to draw visitors to the region.
Upcoming cricket events include:
- Bulls Masters Country Challenge – open mens at Salter Oval and Kendall Flat – 4 – 6 October 2019
- 8 Regional Zones playing against each other in arguably the premier regional country cricket tournament in Australi
- Queensland 13 – 15 Years Boys Cricket Championships – Salter Oval and Kendall Flat 1 – 5 December 2019
- 10 Teams playing off for a chance to make a state side
- Bulls Masters Tour – Salter Oval 26 Feb – 1 March 2020
- After another successful tour in 2019, the boys are back in town in 2020 to take on the Bundaberg invitational side.
- Queensland 16 – 19 Years Boys Cricket Championships – Salter Oval and Kendall Flat 8 – 10 of March 2020
- 10 Teams playing off for a chance to make a State Side
- Queensland 10 – 12 Years Girls Cricket Championships – Salter Oval and Kendall Flat 25 – 28 October 2020
- 10 Teams playing off for a chance to make a State Side
- Other news: Cordalba girls bowled over by cricket selection
