Leading teams adjust for revamped Harding-Madsen Shield battles
The annual intercity competition starts on October 9 with a new focus for Laidley, Centrals, Thunder, Brothers, South East Redbanks, Northsiders and Hornets. See how they shape up.
Ipswich
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An exciting and entertaining season of community cricket is about to fire up after some key developments.
That includes a new promotion/relegation format in the annual Harding-Madsen one-day competition between Ipswich and Toowoomba teams.
Laidley, Centrals and Thunder are in Division 1 with Brothers, South East Redbanks, Northsiders and a third grade Ipswich Hornets side in Division 2.
The annual intercity competition starts on October 9 with a shortened series this season.
Here’s how the Cricket Ipswich clubs shape up for the first major competition of the new season.
LAIDLEY
As defending Cricket Ipswich club champions, the Blue Dogs are hunting for another strong season, starting with the revamped Harding-Madsen Shield competition.
Club president Chris Payne said Laidley was looking to build on its successful record of regularly making finals in the intercity competition.
After being unbeaten on equal points with Wests last season, the Blue Dogs faltered in the final against their powerhouse Toowoomba opponents.
Laidley plays Metropolitan Easts at Bichel Oval in its opening 2021 Harding-Madsen Shield encounter on October 9.
Payne would prefer to play every team in the intercity competition but understands the reasoning in setting up a two-pool promotion-relegation format.
“We’ll see how that one works,’’ he said.
Laidley is planning to field three sides in this season’s Cricket Ipswich two-day competition.
“Our numbers will be fine,’’ Payne said. “We’ve got a lot of juniors stay within the club so they’ll come through into the senior ranks.
“Most of the senior blokes have decided that they will go round again so that works out all right for us.’’
Experienced all-rounder Alex Welsh returns as captain eager to continue developing the club’s emerging talent.
Welsh and evergreen Michael Sippel played for Western Power in the recent Brisbane Premier League T20 competition.
Last season’s Community Player of the Year Liam Dean has also been having a bowl for the Hornets in second grade one day competition.
“That’s been a good early start for him,’’ Payne said.
Laidley are current two-day competition champions and finished second to Centrals in last year’s Ipswich one-day final after being runners-up in the Harding-Madsen Shield series.
“We’ll see how we go,’’ Payne said. “We usually compete reasonably well.
“The one we attach regard to in terms of overall teams in the Ipswich association is we’ve been club champions since about 2013/14.
“It was eight or nine years we won that in a row.’’
CENTRALS
Being in Division 1 facing reputable opponents suits the ever-competitive Kookaburras.
Having some key players return enhances Centrals prospects in the revamped Harding-Madsen Shield competition where they have traditionally fared well.
Beaudesert duo Geoff Klease, a fast bowler, and all-rounder Adam Jordan plan to play for Centrals this season.
The team will again be captained by seasoned performed Lachlan Vellacott.
Club president Darion Parise welcomed Centrals being included in Division 1.
“We’re more than happy. It should be a good competition,’’ he said.
“The players like the concept of playing Toowoomba sides. Not all season but we get to play three of the best sides so we’re looking forward to it.’’
Centrals face Wests in Toowoomba to launch their latest Harding-Madsen Shield quest.
Although the Centrals cricketers have only had a hit in some pre-season T20 competitions, players like Vellacott, Klease and Jordan are involved in this weekend’s Bulls Masters T20 tournament in Bundaberg.
“We’re looking pretty good in top grade,’’ Parise said.
Centrals won last season’s Ipswich one-day competition and finished runners-up to Laidley in the drawn four-day final.
Parise is pleased to see Centrals having teams in first, second and third grade after the Kookaburras were unable to field a third grade team previously.
“We’ve got good numbers at training. Everyone is keen and raring to go,’’ he said.
MARBURG/MT CROSBY THUNDER
As a growing club with some of the region’s most promising young cricketers, Thunder know they have a huge challenge ahead.
However, being part of the Harding-Madsen Shield Division 1 competition gives the club a timely opportunity to continue progressing against “the big guns’’.
Since Marburg and Mt Crosby merged in 2013/14, the players have steadily improved led by some fine cricketers.
“We are still only a very young side, a lot of young fellas again,’’ club president Troy Schroder said.
However, Schroder is thrilled to see Thunder having former coach John Bell back to guide the next generation.
Bell is a former state mentor and Australian Masters cricketer with immense experience.
“We had a good start to last season and it sort of fell away a bit towards the end,’’ Schroder said.
“But it’s only going to improve them to be honest playing against the better competition.
“We’ve probably got our strongest senior playing base since we merged.
“We’ve lost one or two but we’ve probably gained about five or six.
“There’s good depth in the lower grades, which is good.’’
That is highlighted with four senior teams for the new season - one in first and second grade and two in third grade.
The first grade team will be captained again by ever-enthusiastic Marburg junior Aaron Nugter.
Thunder line up against Northern Brothers Diggers in their opening Harding-Madsen Shield Division 1 game in Toowoomba on October 9.
“The more you play against the better players, you better they can,’’ Schroder said.
Thunder deserved their Division 1 spot after being Ipswich’s third best one-day side before Christmas last year.
Schroder, who plays in the club’s lower grades, said Thunder’s main challenge after Christmas was overcoming any key player losses and injuries as they look to climb further up the Cricket Ipswich ranks.
BROTHERS
Developing a growing number of young players and consolidating the senior side are major goals of Brothers this season.
After losing three quarters of their grand final-winning team a couple of years ago, Brothers struggled to produce consistent cricket last season.
However, club president Leo Conway sees light at the end of the tunnel as the traditionally strong club rebuilds.
“We’ve had good numbers in juniors again, which is a positive,’’ Conway said. “Our numbers in there are stable and growing.’’
Brothers open their 2021 Madsen-Harding Division 2 competition against Southern Districts in Toowoomba.
“We’ve still got a young side that is learning and try to come to terms with the nuances of cricket,’’ Conway said. “They have got to learn a few things and get a bit of experience.’’
Loyal Brothers cricketer Craig Mackay returns as captain, providing valuable leadership to the crop of talented youngsters coming through.
“They have all come back,’’ the club president said. “We’ve picked up a few players that built the club up again so we’re looking at three senior sides, which is really good.’’
Conway was delighted to see 21-year-old Hornets wicketkeeper/batsman Matt Andrews taking over the first team coaching role from his father Brian.
Matt is part of a Brothers group providing massive hope for the future.
“Matt has been fantastic,’’ Conway said. “He knows all the kids first off and they don’t take advantage of their friendship with him.
“He coaches them and it works pretty well.’’
Conway was happy for Brothers to rebuild in Division 2 for this season’s Harding-Madsen Shield tournament.
“This will even it up. I think it is a good idea,’’ he said, mindful of how some teams battled against the strong Toowoomba sides last season.
“It’s also a shorter Harding Madsen (five weeks) and everybody plays a couple of different teams.’’
As he prepares for a new season, Conway said improving standards was the chief ambition for the proud club after losing stalwarts like Dave Richardson, Michael Ridgewell and Luke Dixon.
“They were high quality A-Grade players for a long time and it takes a while to build that up again,’’ he said.
However, he said seeing so many smiles on the faces of the juniors gave Brothers plenty of motivation to keep moving forward.
NORTHSIDERS
With a rising young side, fresh training ideas and valuable lessons from last season, Northsiders head into a new season ready to conquer the looming challenges.
Club president, coach and player Stephen Humphreys was upbeat about what’s ahead with Northsiders again fielding teams in first, second and third grade.
“I feel like we’re looking quite good,’’ Humphreys said.
“It’s been a slightly longer pre-season than usual but that’s given us some opportunities to do some different things.
“Numbers are good.
“We’ve had some guys from the lower grades join us and we haven’t really lost all that many from last year’s group.
“We feel like we are ready to go.’’
The first grade side is being captained again by Nick Verrenkamp, who did a “wonderful job last year when he was really thrown into the role after our original captain stopped playing’’.
The different approach Humphreys highlighted was focusing on practical pre-season training.
“We’ve done a few centre wicket practices and contested practices rather than just being in the nets,’’ he said.
“We probably would have liked one more trial game.
“We’ve done a lot of work on Saturdays (since the end of August) to be ready to go.’’
Willing to play wherever the club needs him, opening batsman and part-time spinner Humphreys said Northsiders would embrace the revised Harding-Madsen Shield format.
Northsiders head to USQ in Toowoomba to meet University for their first Division 2 clash on October 9.
“I kind of like the new format,’’ Humphreys said.
“We would have liked to have been in Division 1 but we came seventh last year.
“I think it is a really good opportunity no matter what division you are in. It’s always competitive cricket.
“I think it’s a really good start to the season.
“And we’re up in Toowoomba the first two rounds, which is always a good trip.’’
Having young guns like Zac Fisher starting the summer season gives the Tigers a boost in confidence.
“Our young cohorts are all back and they have got an extra year of experience in first grade,’’ Humphreys said.
SOUTH EAST REDBACKS
After a previous season of massive change but improvement, the Redbacks are looking to consolidate in coming months.
That starts with the restructured Harding-Madsen Shield competition where the Redbacks are in Division 2 playing Highfields Railways in their October 9 opener in Toowoomba.
Club president Kris Hoffmann was pleased to have some club stability preparing for the one-day competition involving Toowoomba sides.
“We’ve got the team together for that. Most of the boys from last year have come back,’’ he said.
“Plus we’ve got a few extra guys who have come back to the club after being away for the last couple of seasons.’’
Hoffmann, who also plays, said the club had yet to decide on a first grade captain.
The Redbacks changed coaches in the middle of the 2020/21 season when former Strollers mentor Brad Hines took over.
Hines returns as coach eager to work with the players who have learnt from the experience and stayed.
“We seem to think that we can, with the team we’ve got, we can definitely give Division 2 a good run,’’ Hoffmann said.
“We’ve got a good mix this year.
“We’ve picked up a couple of handy bowlers and got a couple of extra batsmen that we were sort of lacking last year. And we’ve got a good mixture of all-rounders.
“Last year, most of the guys just saw their first season in first grade but they are all going to get better from that.
“After playing Laidley and Brothers Diggers and all that from Toowoomba, they are probably more competitive and trying to prove themselves . . . test themselves against tougher competition.
“So we are looking at hopefully maintaining these guys for the next couple of years at least until we can try and get some guys coming through and they can start stepping up.’’
The Redbacks have also had some of the competition’s best players since the club was formed from the merger of Swifts and Eastern Taipans in the 2017/18 season.
Hoffmann said the Redbacks were also fielding 2nd and 3rd grade sides this season.
The second graders made the previous one-day final.
IPSWICH HORNETS
The Hornets team preparing to make its debut in the 2021 Harding-Madsen Shield Division 2 competition has a first round bye.
The team will be part of the Hornets set-up, featuring promising cricketers from existing teams, Ipswich schools and the Lord Taverners competition.
The players will train with the Hornets higher level cricketers, strengthening the club’s ranks and receiving more opportunities.
Ipswich Grammar School master in charge of cricket Kieran Daymon will coach and mentor the side, in line with what Hornets head coach Aaron Moore requires.
“It’s more of a development year for those players coming through that haven’t quite made the second grade squad yet,’’ Daymon said.
“We still want to do well in it but primarily it will be to try and get these younger guys to a point where they can play second grade in the next couple of years.’’
He expects players aged 16-20 to form the majority of the Hornets side transitioning into men’s cricket.
First grade Souths cricketer Daymon was recently involved with the Western Power under-19 side that played in the inaugural Brisbane Premier League competition.
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