Harrison Holmes bowled to Australian and Indian cricketers during their trip to Mackay

It is a dream for many young cricketers, but Mackay’s Harrison Holmes got the chance to bowl at some of the world’s best cricketers when they travelled to the region.

When he is not finishing his homework and hanging out at Timezone for some lasertag, Harrison Holmes can be found bowling bouncers at some of the world’s best cricketers.

The 17 year old has spent countless summer days on the fields of Harrup Park and other cricket pitches around Mackay, and it was his unwavering commitment to the sport that earned him a place as a net bowler for touring professional teams.

When Australia and India’s women’s teams faced off at Great Barrier Reef Arena, Holmes got his chance to bowl at two of the world’s best teams.

“As a tall bowler, Australia didn’t want me as much because India’s players were all short and slow bowlers,” Holmes said.

Mackay Whitsundays Harrison Holmes bowling to Wide Bays Grady McKay. Picture: Tony Martin

“But India got me to bowl short at them for three and a half hours in one session because they were practising for Australia’s fast bowlers.”

At times Holmes was the only net bowler for India, sometimes bowling 500 balls in a week.

He said he took some credit for Australia’s first One Day International loss in 27 matches.

“If you look at how they played the short ball in the first game compared to the second, every shot they played was so much better,” he said.

“When I was watching it, all I could think was ‘this is all me’, but the coolest thing was that I was walking past their dressing rooms at one of the games, and they recognised me and gave me a wave.”

The opening bowler for Souths Sharks A-Grade has taken 11 wickets so far this season.

Holmes said his experience with bowling at international cricketers had helped with bowling at a local level.

“Coming into the season I hadn’t done a lot of pre-season training because I’ve been doing a lot of school work and other things,” he said.

“Because I had bowled so many balls in that week there were certain things I was picking up on that was working better and I started executing really well.”