Grady Turner, Harrison Holmes and other Mackay and Whitsunday cricketers to watch

Mackay’s cricket season is well under way with some impressive early performances. We profile some of the best junior cricketers now it is your turn to vote for who is the best. TAKE THE POLL

The Mackay cricket season has well and truly begun, with men, women and children lathering on their sunscreen and donning their floppy hats.

With some impressive performances to start the 2021-22 season, there are a number of junior cricketers who are ready to name themselves as stars of the competition.

Here are 11 of Mackay and Whitsunday’s top young cricket talents.

Grady Turner – Proserpine U15s

A prodigious talent with the bat, Turner has dominated in the Mackay Cricket Association for a number of years.

The opening batter started off the 2021-22 season with a personal-best knock of 117 not out, which beat a 2020-21 score of 115.

Turner followed up with 101 against Norths off just 59 balls.

Turner is now a top-age player for Proserpine’s under-15s team, but playing against older opposition does not affect his ability with the bat.

In his 11 matches as a junior U15s player in 2020/21, Turner scored 399 runs for an average of 49.88.

Turner held his own in the U17s competition, scoring 128 runs for an average of 64 in his five innings.

Harry Fortescue – Magpies U17s

Quickly becoming a regular name in the Magpies first-grade team, Fortescue has developed into an all-rounder for the Magpies.

He played five games for the first-grade Magpies team before dropping down to the U17s, where Fortescue scored 66 against Pioneer Valley.

He has also performed well with the ball, taking eight wickets for 131 runs, from 24 overs.

Matthew Hatherly – Magpies U12s

The Magpies junior started his season with a fantastic game against Sarina.

Hatherly took four wickets in four overs, before taking another one against Proserpine the following week.

The 4/19 against Sarina was Hatherly’s best recorded bowling statistic.

Charles Lott – Brothers U15s

The middle-order batter for Brothers spends the majority of his weekend on the cricket field, playing in the U15s competition in the mornings and the senior third-grade in the afternoons.

An abundance of cricket is working wonders for the teenager, with a 95-run innings against Walkerston the highlight of his season so far.

Lott is just as good with the ball as he is with the bat, claiming 4/16 off five overs and 3/40 off seven in the seniors competition.

His eight wickets for Brothers has him tied equal-second in the competition for total dismissals.

Jack Rock – Proserpine U12s

The junior cricketer for Proserpine hit his first half century against the Magpies.

In the game against Mackay, Rock also took 2/12 off two overs.

Rock also has scores of 18 not out and 13 this season, making him the league’s leading run-scorer.

Luke Pietzner – Magpies U17s

An all-round sporting star, Pietzner traded his football boots for cricket spikes after winning the A-Grade premiership with Sarina.

While Pietzner is only 17 years old, he had already broken into the Magpies first-grade team in 2020 and won the club’s best all-rounder award in the 2020-21 season.

Luke Pietzner played for Pioneer Valley as a junior before moving to Magpies.

In the first round of the first-grade, 40-over competition, Pietzner scored 97 with the willow, eclipsing last season’s top score of 48 not out.

He is just as impressive with the ball, claiming 30 wickets across 90 overs in 2020-21 season, and already has seven to his name for 2021-22.

Cameron Tomerini – Brothers U13s

The leg-spinner has caused problems against Walkerston, snagging two wickets without conceding a run.

Tomerini also plays for Brothers’ third-grade side and enjoyed a productive weekend, scoring 42 and claiming 3/27 off seven overs.

Across all grades this season, Tomerini averages 26.75 with the bat and 18.75 with the ball.

His production in the 2021-22 season to-date is strong for an all-rounder.

Joel McFarlane – Walkerston U17s

Walkerston’s U17s captain played his first junior game of the season against Pioneer Valley and showed his class with an unbeaten 55.

McFarlane had been playing in the first and second grades for Walkerston, but had found little success with the bat.

Opening the batting, McFarlane carried the Walkerston innings, reaching the total in the 19th over.

Blake Davey – Norths U15s

Davey had a tough job bowling to the in-form batter of the competition in Grady Turner, but his form this season has been strong.

The bowler took 3/10 off four overs in the opening match against Magpies, and took another against Proserpine.

His 3/10 was Davey’s best figures as a bowler, beating out 3/14 he took against Proserpine last season.

Harrison Holmes – Souths

While Holmes is still only 17 years old, the opening bowler has developed into a workhorse for Souths in the first grade.

Holmes has played senior’s cricket since 2017, and has been a contributor for Souths’ first-grade side since 2018.

He has taken nine wickets in 2021-22, with 3/11 off four overs against Pioneer Valley his best figures.

Ben Schembri – Pioneer Valley U17s

Another junior who spends his weekends playing multiple forms of cricket, Schembri also bowls consistent overs in Pioneer Valley’s first and second grade.

The pace bowler has taken six wickets for the year, including his best figures of 3/16 off five overs in the second grade.

Schembri also scored 54 runs as the opening batter for the U17s side, scoring his total off 49 balls.