Port, Crows reveal the players who will partake in the special Bushfire T20 Showdown to raise money for bushfire appeal
Port Adelaide and Adelaide players named to play in next month’s Bushfire T20 Showdown charity match have outlined their career cricket highlights – and it makes for some excellent reading.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Sloane alone: Rory announced as Adelaide captain
- How to get the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription
Port Adelaide captain Tom Jonas jokes about the type of cricketer he is – “the bat 11, don’t bowl sort of operator” – but Adelaide forward Tom Lynch doesn’t seemed fooled by the pre-game chatter.
“They’ll be a tough team to beat,” Lynch said.
Jonas and Lynch might be used to lining up against each other on Adelaide Oval, but this will be different, when they captain their respective sides in the Bushfire T20 Showdown at the venue on February 2, raising funds for the bushfire recovery.
The two unveiled their eight-player squads on Wednesday, with final team spots to be filled via a “draft” of male and female cricketers next week.
Port will be headlined by the likes of Connor Rozee, Tom Clurey and Hamish Hartlett, while Adelaide will field both Crouch brothers – Brad and Matt – who were decent junior players growing up in Ballarat and Taylor “Tex” Walker.
Stream over 50 sports live and on demand with KAYO SPORTS. Just $25/month, no lock-in contract. Get your 14-day free trial and start streaming instantly.
“I’m pretty happy with the squad we’ve compiled and hopefully a few nice selections in the draft next week to boost it,” Jonas said.
“Travis Boak’s the X-factor if his shoulder comes good, he can get the ball up around mid-130km/h and rates himself.
“(Todd Marshall) reckons he was an underage offy for Australia, yet to see that, he prefers to bowl mediums but we’ll get him in the nets and get him bowling his tweakers and see how he goes.”
Many of the Port players already play together in a social midweek T20 comp for the Grange Dolphins’ C-grade and, thanks to a knock of 60 from the bat of Rozee, are through to the semi-finals next week.
Lynch was playing his cards close to his chest on who would open the batting for the Crows, saying: “Not sure, I won’t give too much away, but I will tell you that Matt Crouch has been rating himself as a fair cricketer in our side and rightly so”.
“Paul Seedsman is also one to watch, he’s told us he’s our No. 1 batsman and bowler, so he’ll play an important role and you might see Tex bowling in the power play,” he said.
Adelaide Oval’s operations manager Darren Chandler said more than 25,000 tickets had already been sold, with the target remaining at a sellout crowd of 50,000.
“The interest has been enormous and the community has really supported it,” he said.
The team coaches – as well as who will carry the drinks – are among the details still being worked through and whether the likes of Strikers master-bowler Rashid Khan will be available will only be known once the minor rounds of the Big Bash League have finished.
“We’ll work with SACA on that, what we do know is that the cricketers can’t wait to be involved and certainly they’ll be lobbying to get a spot,” Chandler said.
Jonas already has his first strategy as captain sorted.
If he wins the toss?
“You always bat,” he said.
***Tickets available through Ticketek***
Player bios
Port Adelaide Football Club
Tom Jonas (c) – batsman
Kensington junior premiership player.
Travis Boak – batsman
Grange Dolphins T20 premiership player.
Tom Clurey – batsman
Vic country underage and Grange Dolphins T20 premiership player.
Kane Farrell – bowler
Grange Dolphins T20 premiership player.
Hamish Hartlett – batsman
Australia and SA underage wicketkeeper/batsman.
Todd Marshall – allrounder
NSW underage player.
Connor Rozee – allrounder
SA underage and east Torrens junior premiership player.
Boyd Woodcock – bowler
SA country underage player.
Adelaide Football Club
Tom Lynch (c) – allrounder
Represented Victoria at junior level as a line and length bowler.
Brad Crouch – batsman
Runner-up best and fairest as a junior with the Ballarat Cricket Association’s fourth-grade side.
Matt Crouch – keeper/batsman
A-Grade player for North Ballarat, represented Victoria in the under-17s national Championships.
Darcy Fogarty – allrounder
Lucindale junior player.
Paul Seedsman – allrounder
Smacked a half-century off 29 balls – including four sixes – in a local T20 competition and followed it up with the ball, taking 4/18 from four overs and leading his side to a 33-run win.
Rory Sloane – allrounder
A team leader and enthusiastic fielder for the side.
Brodie Smith – batsman
Grange C3 player leading his team to victory over Concordia OC with a dashing century.
Taylor Walker – allrounder
In his five games for Prince Alfred OC, he has taken 12 wickets at an average of 7.5, with best figures of 4/17.