Picking Cricket Far North’s best XI in the two-day format
There’s just one round left of the two-day format for Cricket Far North’s first grade season and one team already locked up a spot in the final, but who are the best from the first five rounds?
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There’s just one round left of the two-day format for Cricket Far North’s first grade competition and one team, Atherton, has already locked up a spot in the final.
But who are the best performers over the first five rounds?
Here’s who we think are among the CFN’s First XI.
JUSTIN REID
The Mulgrave opener has spent a considerable amount of time in the middle to start his team’s innings and he’s crafting a quality return.
He has 130 runs from five innings (43.33), including one half-century.
It’s not all about runs for the opener, who can play a supporting role when his teammates fire up.
LUKE MCAVOY
The Cassowary Coast opener has improved with each innings this season.
He finished with two half-centuries in his last three innings before the break, and despite his team’s tough start, has been a shining light atop the order.
His 91-run high score came against a ruthless Atherton team packed with brilliant bowlers.
He gets the nod ahead of Barron River’s Tim Ward due to his better, more consistent returns.
ANGUS WARNOCK (wk)
A reliable hand for North Cairns, Warnock is one of the best-performing wicketkeepers in the competition but it’s his batting that gets him across the line.
Warnock has an average of 40 from four innings so far, a high score of 80 the standout performance.
PAUL NASSER
Nasser produced the best innings of the season with an unbeaten 203 against Norths in what is a career year for the veteran.
He’s made three half-centuries and been the man to power Atherton’s batting line-up in its unbeaten start to the season. He’s more than handy with the ball too, taking eight wickets at 16.38.
CHRIS STANGER
The representative all-rounder hasn’t taken a huge number of wickets this season but he’s been a reliable hand for Norths.
Stanger has six wickets to his name from three matches (at an average of 14), and he’s proved he can swing the bat with a massive 156 against Barron to start the season.
JAKE ROACH
Arguably the best player in the competition this season, Roach has been massive for Mulgrave.
With the bat, he is box office – his strike rate is 83.9, averages 61 and as a high score of 89 – and his knocks have regularly put his side into winnable positions.
But with the ball he’s even more dangerous. He’s taken two five-wicket hauls, his best a 5-15 effort, on his way to 14 wickets for the season.
BRENTON EDWARDS
This Rovers star is in close competition with Roach for the title of CFN’s best all-rounder.
He is the leading wicket-taker with 21 scalps (at 8.43), boasts an incredible economy rate of 1.93, and is the only man to have taken a 10-wicket haul this season, and is brilliant with the bat.
He’s the second-highest run-scorer with 236 to his name, including one 50 and a massive 158-run innings.
Edwards it almost the first man picked in this team.
DANIEL KEMPNICH
Perhaps the most underrated bowler in the competition, Kempnich has been Cassowary Coast’s chief weapon this season.
He is the third-highest wicket-taker with 13 scalps at 15.69.
While his best figures of 4-12 came as Barron chased an unlikely outright victory, his first innings return of 4-17 proved how he can rip through a line-up.
THOMAS BOORMAN
The Englishman is another who can do it all.
With the ball, he has 10 wickets at 13, and the 2.77 economy rate proves his tightness and skill against opposition bats.
Boorman generally bats in the middle order, and while he scored just 108 runs (16th overall), his 41-run high score against Mulgrave came at a time they desperately needed a contribution.
BRAD SMITH
The Norths man gets the nod courtesy of his tight average and brilliant wicket-taking.
He’s equal fourth on the wicket-taking table with 12 scalps (with a 4-16 best), but Smith has taken game-changing wickets at important times.
He and Stanger make a brilliant one-two punch for Norths.
MICHAEL SALERNO
The Atherton veteran has batted up and down the order but it’s the tightness of his bowling which can change a game.
He’s managed 81 runs this season (20th overall), but he’s the fourth-highest wicket-taker with 12 scalps, including one five-wicket haul. His 3.16 economy rate is among the best.
BEN SHRIMPTON (12th man)
The Barron young gun has played only three games but is the competition’s third-highest run-scorer.
A 143-run knock earlier this season has shown exactly what he is capable of, but it’s the rest of his patient innings (his strike rate is 50.8) that shows he’s got the right mindset for the long-form game.
Originally published as Picking Cricket Far North’s best XI in the two-day format