Last Man Stands Gatton Smash Travis Applewaite Batter and Player of the Tournament

Travis Applewaite was the shining light at the hotly contested cricket tournament, starring with bat and ball. Read about his achievements here.

Rockhampton cricketer Travis Applewaite was in smashing form at the Last Man Stands event in Gatton.

He was instrumental in the Capricornia team named Zero Expectations taking the Gatton Smash title with their grand final win against the highly ranked Brisbane Cool Boys.

Last Man Stands is a popular and fast-paced competition.

Played in the T20 format, there are eight players a side and five balls an over rather than the regulation six as in other forms of the game.

Applewaite was in rare form in Gatton, scoring 240 runs from five games and bagging 11 wickets.

He was the team’s Man of the Match in four of the five games they played.

Rockhampton cricketer Travis Applewaite was named both the Batter and the Player of the Tournament at the Gatton Smash.

He went on to be named both Batter and Player of the Tournament, and was runner-up to teammate Travis Bischoff for Bowler of the Tournament.

“I couldn’t be any happier with how it went,” Applewaite said.

“We played two round fixtures on the Saturday and then had three games back-to-back in the finals on the Sunday.

“You retire after 50 runs and I retired four of the five games.”

Applewaite saved what was arguably his best performance for the final.

Batting first, Cool Boys scored 178 but Zero Expectations reeled in their total in the 18th over.

Applewaite took 2-19 off four overs before blazing 50 off 27 balls to help secure a remarkable victory.

He said it was a great result for the team, which made it to the semi-finals of last year’s Australian Championships in what was their first appearance at a Last Man Stands tournament.

Applewaite said he loved the concept, which was growing in popularity across the state and has been played in Central Queensland for the past 18 months.

“You’re always in the game,” he said.

“If you can bat and bowl it suits you down to a tee because you’re involved the entire time, basically.”

Applewaite has played all of his cricket with Frenchville, and has been a mainstay of the club’s A-grade team for 11 years.

“I started playing at age 10 and haven’t stopped since. I just love it,” he said.