The 10 young guns you need to watch at North Queensland U15 Cricket Championships
The region’s top under-15s cricketers will be in Townsville this week battling for NQ supremacy. Find out which players from NQ, Far North and Mackay-Whitsunday are simply unmissable.
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Townsville’s best junior cricketers join forces this weekend to take on the top players from around the region at the under-15s boys Northern Hub championships.
North Queensland, which is hosting this year, begins its tournament against Mackay-Whitsunday on Friday before battles with Far North and Central Queensland on Saturday and Monday.
North Queensland’s skipper Pat Fanning said he was looking forward to playing alongside some of his favourite cricketers from the other local clubs.
“I’ve played with most of them before, there’s only a couple of boys I haven’t so that’ll be a good experience,” Fanning said.
“I do a bit of both (bowling and batting), but I’m more of a batter.
“Hopefully our batting and bowling should go pretty well. Both CQ and FNQ will be pretty good sides, so we’ll have to be sharp against them both.”
Fanning will be joined by Ignatius Park College classmates Callum Lindeberg and Archie Lansley in a talented line-up.
It will be Lindeberg’s fourth summer playing for North Queensland representative teams and the batsman said he was looking forward to taking the next step in his development.
“We want to build on what we did last year and get a few more wins. We’ll just take it day by day,” Lindeberg said.
The round robin tournament will also be used as a selection opportunity for the North Queensland representative team, to be announced after the conclusion of the four-day event.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Arlo Kempster-Barry (NQ)
The Charters Towers all-rounder is a multi-sport talent with a knack for taking key wickets.
His biggest strength is his off-spin bowling which coaches say is well above his age group. Kempster-Barry generates good drift, spin and bounce which is unusual for a player so young and he is also able to wicketkeep if called upon.
Kempster-Barry is one of the Townsville region’s top junior Aussie rules players, kicking 19 goals in 29 games this season across the under-15s and under-13s competitions.
Archie Lansley (NQ)
A great batsman with impressive hand-eye coordination, Lansley will open the batting for North Queensland.
Lansley has the ability to reach all areas of the ground with his sneakily wide arsenal of shot selections, happily hitting anything bowler serve him up.
Elijah Smith (NQ)
Smith is set for a big weekend at the U15s championships as one of North Queensland’s most dangerous bowlers.
The Norths junior is also handy with the bat, holding the ability to come in and put runs on the board if needed.
Chaise Johnston (M-W)
This talented leg-spinner has proven a handful for batters throughout his club career, exhibiting exceptional control for a player his age.
Tyler Peters (M-W)
An all-rounder in the truest sense of the word, Peters is well-regarded as a wicketkeeper-batsman but has also been known to ditch the gloves and take the ball when required.
Kai McLoughlin (M-W)
Another all-rounder who bowls seamers, the Prosperine junior will be one to watch with both bat and ball.
Jacob Whitby(M-W)
The Magpies youngster has been stepping up into senior third grade cricket and has looked far from out of place, with even the older lads finding his off-spinners a handful.
Will Palmer (FNQ)
Arguably one of Cairns’ best up and coming batsmen. This young right-hander has about every shot in the textbook ready to go for when it is needed, don’t be alarmed if you see him in the leading runscorers this tournament.
Finn Vikionkorpi (FNQ)
This young gun from Atherton is turning heads, whether the talented all-rounder is doing it with his big hitting, dispatching bowlers to all parts of the ground or ripping through the order with the ball.
Ian De Lange (FNQ)
Finished second by 22 runs behind Will Palmer, this middle order batter is like a brick wall, tough to get through but can channel his inner Glenn Maxwell when it’s time to put the foot down
NQ U15 Squad
Oscar Bopping (Brothers)
Eamon Casey (Norths)
Pat Fanning (Norths)
Riley Fryer (Brothers)
Jonty Furnell (Wests)
Carter Hague (Herbert River / Wests)
Arlo Kempster-Barry (Charters Towers)
Archie Lansley (Brothers)
Callum Lindeberg (Brothers)
Sam Martin (Norths)
Elijah Smith (Norths)
Ben Taylor (Norths)
Far North U15 Squad
Riley Basil Berge
Lucas Brierley
Xavier Curtin
Ian De Lange
Lachlan Hodge
Riley Mallyon
Will Palmer
Cody Peters
Samson Pittorino
Hervey Rees
Finn Vikionkorpi
Blake Watson
Central QLD U15 Squad
Will Barker
Riley Clarke
Archie Clifford
Zane Keiler
Mac Mazzer
Lawson Paine
Edward McCullagh
Charlie Poulton
Sukhdeep Singh
Alex Sternberg
Charlie Taylor
Zac Werder
Mackay-Whitsunday U15 Squad
Liam Anderson
Ben Hope
Chaise Johnston
Matthew Logan
William Logan
Kai McLoughlin
Tighe Mohan
Cooper Newberry
Tyler Peters
Max Pomeroy
Arnaav Reehl
Jacob Whitby
More Coverage
Originally published as The 10 young guns you need to watch at North Queensland U15 Cricket Championships
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