Jordan Bye: Junior Townsville cricketer makes Australian Junior Boys team

A hard-hitting batsman and fierce bowler from Townsville has won an Indigenous scholarship to play for an Australian Junior Boys team during a tour abroad.

Townsville junior cricket star Jordan Bye clears the ropes for the Herbert River Cricket Club. Picture: Cameron Bates

A hard-hitting batsman and equally as fierce bowler playing two age-groups up in Townsville has secured an Indigenous scholarship to play for an Australian Junior Boys team during a “trip-of-a-lifetime” tour to Sri Lanka.

Ignatius Park College student Jordan Bye, who has only just turned 13 and has Bar-Barrum ethnicity from the Tablelands, is the proud recipient of the Queensland Cricket Foundation Indigenous Scholarship to represent the touring Australian side in Colombo, Kandy and Dombagoda from April 3 to 15.

Jordy, also a gun rugby league prospect playing for Brothers, turns out for the U15 Western Suburbs Cricket Club, coming second in the competition with the bat with an average of 41 runs and third with the ball with 11 wickets at a parsimonious average of 5.82.

Jordan Bye, pictured in late 2021, is almost as good with the ball as he is with the bat. Picture: Cameron Bates

Proud dad Andrew Bye said it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“I’ve tried to pass that on to Jordy … I told him, ‘you may never get to play cricket overseas ever again’,” he said.

“And not just cricket either, just life lessons he will learn along the way.”

Mr Bye said the players would be well out of their respective comfort zones touring a developing country known for not only its beauty but its status as an emerging economy.

Mr Bye said he and Jordy’s grandfather would join the trip.

“I’ve never thought about going to Sri Lanka for a holiday or anything like that but the more I’ve looked into it the more I’ve thought it looks like a beautiful spot and the more people you talk to the more they say, ‘I’ve been there and it’s magic.”

He said the locals were friendly and agreed that they enjoyed a spot of cricket.

“Yeah,” he laughed, “they love it too, it will be good, we are all looking forward to it”.

Jordy, who has one eye on the rapidly approaching league season, is playing in the semis of the U15 cricket competition on Saturday.

The young gun is eligible to play in the U15 cricket competition for two more years.

Originally published as Jordan Bye: Junior Townsville cricketer makes Australian Junior Boys team