Peninsula junior cricketers hit Port Lincoln for Quality Wool Cup

WHILE the fight for the Ashes continues over the New Year period, some of Eyre Peninsula’s under 14 junior cricketers will be competing for a trophy of their own when the annual Quality Wool Cup takes place in Port Lincoln next month.

Now in its seventh year, the Twenty/20 tournament will be held on January 4th and 5th with representative sides from the seven cricket associations on the Eyre Peninsula coming together to play matches at Centenary Oval, Poole Oval and the Ravendale Complex.

The eight teams vying for the silverware in this year’s Quality Wool Cup are the Lincoln Tuna Kings, Far West, Eastern Eyre, Tumby Bay Dolphins, Lincoln Great Whites, LeHunte, Kimba Cats and Great Flinders.

EP Junior Cricket Association President Tom Kenny said as the only prestigious competition for under 14 cricketers on the Eyre Peninsula, the Quality Wool Cup was eagerly anticipated each year.

“Most of the under 14 players play in the under 16 competition in their local association, so they don’t get a real chance to show their talent," he said.

"In this concept, they are playing against boys in their own age group".

The competition will feature a host of the peninsula’s talented young cricketers, including Jaiden Jude, Connor Madden and Bodhi Fauser (Port Lincoln); Reagan Taheny and Max and Noah Ramsey (Eastern Eyre); Rohan Treloar, Harvey Pedler and Tom Morgan (Great Flinders), Darci Best and Phoenix and Ezra Foster (LeHunte); Jack Lienert, Seth Gregory and Bryce Cant (Kimba); Kye Butler, Flyn Webb and Hudson Franks (Tumby Bay) and Jonty Woods, Kade Madigan and Declan Inglis (Far West).

Tom said due to the success of the boys competition over the past six years, in conjunction with the SACA the EP Junior Cricket Assciation are introducing a girl’s cricket competition running at the same time.

"Initially, we hope to have four teams of nine girls from ages 11 to 17 competing in a round robin and hope in the future this will be an ongoing event," he said.

There’s extra incentive for this year’s participants with the leading batsman, bowler and fielder to be awarded a commemorative bat signed by South Australian Redbacks captain and Australian representative Travis Head.

Travis has a special connection to the Eyre Peninsula with his father Simon originally hailing from Port Neill, where he often spends Christmas with his family.

He said competitions like the Quality Wool Cup gave junior country cricketers a great platform to compete at a high level using excellent facilities.

“Many of the youngsters wouldn't have had much opportunity to play on a turf wicket before so it’ll be a great experience for them,” he said.

“A good number of first‑class cricketers have come from country South Australia, so it’s fantastic to see rural grassroots cricket being supported”.

Glen Forbes, Wool Manager with Quality Wool, said the competition brought people together from all over the Peninsula and was an event enjoyed by players and their families alike.

“The Eyre Peninsula has historically been a great supporter of Quality Wool, so it’s satisfying to be able to give back to a community that backs us ,” he said.

“We’re very proud of our strong ties with the EP Junior Cricket Association and the fact that the competition is now in its seventh year”.

“We might just unearth the next Travis Head or Chadd Sayers”.

Results from the competition will be published on the Eyre Peninsula website (http://eyrepeninsula.sa.cricket.com.au) and can be accessed from the ‘MyCricket’ menu by navigating to ‘Matches’ and then ‘Fixture’, and selecting ‘2017/18’ and ‘Quality Wool Cup’ from the drop down menus.

Media information: Tom Kenny, President, EP Junior Cricket Association, on 0428 292 350.