CQ Seamers qualify for Bulls Masters Country Challenge final at Gabba

Joe McGahan starred with bat and ball for the CQ Seamers at the Bulls Masters Country Challenge. Read what long-serving coach Jason Wells had to say about him and the team’s gritty performance.

CQ Seamers’ captain Joe McGahan was player of the tournament at the Bulls Masters Country Challenge in Cairns.

Captain Joe McGahan has been described as a “phenomenal cricketer” after leading the CQ Seamers to the Bulls Masters Country Challenge grand final.

The team’s long-serving coach, Jason Wells, could not speak highly enough of the talented all-rounder after his stellar showing at the three-day challenge in Cairns.

“We ask a lot of Joe. As well as being our captain, he opens the batting and the bowling for us,” Wells said.

“There’s a lot of pressure on him every time he’s out there but he just continues to deliver.”

McGahan was awarded the Dirk Tazelaar Medal for player of the tournament after scoring the most runs with 158 at an average of 39 and taking eight wickets at an average of 11.

Eight regional teams from across the state battled it out at the annual event, held from September 29 to October 1.

They were gunning for a berth in the final to be played at the Gabba on December 27 as a curtain-raiser to the BBL game between the Brisbane Heat and Sydney Thunder.

The CQ Seamers, who are in the final for the first time since 2019, will take on Far North Fusion.

CQ Seamers' skipper Joe McGahan (right) receives the Dirk Tazelaar Medal for player of the tournament from the man himself.

It was a rocky road to the decider for the CQ Seamers, who lost their opening game to the Sunshine Coast Scorchers and tied their second with South East Queensland.

Wells said that with just one pool game remaining, they knew exactly what they had to do.

They had to up their net run rate (NRR) to have any chance of a place in the semis and that meant “all-out attack” against the North Queensland Monsoons.

Check out 16 of the best performances from the tournament here

The CQ Seamers’ bowling attack limited the Monsoons to 6/105 in their 20 overs before their batsmen went to work, blasting them to victory in just 11 overs.

That elevated its NRR considerably and with another result working in its favour, CQ were into the semi against Mackay/Whitsundays Nitros.

The bowlers were in red-hot form again, rolling their rivals for 117, with McGahan taking 3/17.

Opener Dave Heymer led the run chase, batting through the innings to finish unbeaten with 40, as Brent Hartley scored the winning runs with two overs to spare.

Wells was impressed with how his boys responded under pressure.

“When we beat North Queensland in the morning and then we won that game in the afternoon, it was pretty close to a faultless day of cricket,” he said.

The CQ Seamers team (back row, from left) Josh Hamilton, Luke Johnstone, captain Joe McGahan, Logan Whitfield, Jeff Case, Hein Van Eeden, Jack Harris, coach Jason Wells and (front row, from left) Callum McMahon, Hayden O'Connor, Brent Hartley, David Heymer, Waqar Yunus and manager Glenn Bauer.

“It needed to be because we had our backs against the wall, having made it hard on ourselves the previous day.

“Everybody contributed and it was a real team effort across the whole weekend.”

Wells made special mention of Heymer, debutant Jeff Case and bowlers Callum McMahon and Logan Whitfield who were solid in every game.

He hopes to take an unchanged line-up to Brisbane for the big game in December, and he wants his players to enjoy the experience.

“It’s an amazing occasion just to be at the Gabba. Local cricketers from Central Queensland don’t get this opportunity very often, if at all,” he said.

“One of the beauties of our opponents being Far North is that we do play them every year, either in T20 or the 50-over format, so we know a lot of their players and what they bring so we can prepare well for that.

“I’m confident. I know I’ve got a really good group of players and I know that they can do it, it’s just a matter of putting it all together on the day.”