AIC First XI cricket Team of the Season revealed
We reveal our AIC First XI cricket team of the season, which includes four batsmen from Ashgrove, Paddies, Iona and Villa who produced Marnus Labuschagne-like run feats.
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Queensland’s best schoolboy batsman Steve Hogan was the first player we picked in our AIC First XI Team of the Season, but not even his feats matched those of Villanova College’s Finn Thallon, Iona’s Harley Malpass and Marist’s William Nickelson.
An avalanche of runs were scored this season in the AIC competition by Hogan, Thallon, Malpass, William Nickelson and Zayne Thomas who filled the first five in the batting order.
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Thomas and Malpass, of course, rewrote the record books with an unbeaten partnership of 317 runs, with Thomas accumulating the competition’s top score, 252 not out.
And the bowling attack in our Team of the Season was spearheaded by Louis Morris (Ashgrove) and St Peters Lutheran College Sree Bachu who guided the Saints to their best finish in seasons.
The best all-rounder in the competition had to be Padua College’s Braithyn Pecic who kept wickets, opened the batting and opened the bowling with his off-spin.
Now that is a serious all-rounder. Rumour has it he also made the sandwiches for lunch and put the tea on for the umpires during the break as well.
Giving our side great batting and bowling balance was the selection of three other all-rounders, Sree Bachu from St Peters, Tom Rieck (Villa) and Will Tozer of Padua.
Paddies’ batting star Hogan was revered with the blade, but his off-spin also gives our squad bowling depth.
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The competition’s most prolific wicket taker was Marist College Ashgrove’s off spinner Louis Morris, while St Peters pair Ashish Neredumilli and Matt Harvie also spun a web of intrigue around the batsmen.
Neredumilli isn’t the tallest bowler but he bowls very quick for his height.
St Patrick’s Matt Pereira also bowled his way into our 12.
TEAM OF THE SEASON
Zayne Thomas (Iona)
The stylish Thomas set a benchmark no one got within cooee of this season – a season high 252 not out. With a sharp eye and reflexes that once put to good use on the tennis court, Thomas was also arguably the most elegant player in the competition.
Harley Malpass (Iona)
He batted No. 3 but we made a decision to get the best five batsmen into the top five batting positions, easing gloveman Braithyn Pecic (Padua) to the lower order. Malpass and Thomas know each other from back to front anyway, and would open together with ease. Who would believe a batsman could average 107.25 across the summer (Will Nickelson), and not top the averages. Yet Malpass averaged, what for it, 129.33. Amazing numbers. He also took 12 wickets at 14 with medium pace.
William Nickelson (Ashgrove)
In a summer of centuries, Nickelson scored two of them – and another two 50s – to score 429 runs at 107.25. “I knew he was a good player but not at that volume (of runs),’’ said Ashgrove coach Michael Abbott. “He was phenomenal all season. In GPS I only saw Ben Maynard play at that level. He hit three centuries for IGS. Other than that nothing, I have not seen anything like that. He has a lot of time. He’s a good player I think he will go on and play a lot of first grade.’’
Steve Hogan (St Patrick’s College)
Aged just 15, Hogan is the baby of the team yet he was the first player we picked. Hogan, who made his first century in First XI cricket last year as a Year 9 student – was a run machine in every form of cricket he competed in – AIC Firsts, Lord Taverners under 16s and senior grade (both for Sandgate-Redcliffe) where he accumulated more than 2000 runs. For Paddies he scored 297 runs at 49.50.
Finn Thallon (Villanova College)
The younger brother of Ben Thallon, Finn was a revelation. Thallon’s strike rate of 79 runs per 100 balls faced was one of the best in the competition, and his unbeaten century was rich reward for the Villa community which was a finger nail from challenging for the premiership. In all he scored 276 runs at 92, having batted for 540 minutes across the summer.
Will Tozer (Padua College)
The seasoned campaigner had another fine season with bat and ball, garnished by another fine innings on Saturday. Yes, he may have wanted to have scored a century, but he was still one of the most celebrated wickets in the competition. He took 13 wickets at 18 and scored 263 runs with the bat at 52.60.
Sree Bachu (St Peters)
Bachu has been down a few dry gullies during his time in the St Peters’ Firsts, but he and Matt Harvie led their team to an oasis this season. Whether with the bat or the ball, Bachu was always in the game and what joy it must have given him to see Saints actually even utter the words “premiership contention’’ late in the season. He took seven wickets at 24.57 and scored 151 at 25.
Braithyn Pecic (Padua College)
The Padua captain entered the season match hardened after making his international debut for Serbia last year as the youngster member of the winning European Cricket League side. He was a Mr Fix-it for Padua, leading the side by example when he both opened with bat and ball – before reverting to his role behind the stumps. He really was one and a half players for Padua.
Tom Rieck (Villanova)
Seasoned campaigner with three years of First XI experience, Villa captain Tom Rieck pushed his way into the hotly contested 12 after leading his team by example with 12 wickets at 18 and 150 runs at 30.
Matt Harvie (St Peters)
Leg-spinner Harvie entered the season chock full of confidence after experiencing the rigours of First XI cricket last season – and then taking a truck load of wickets for South Brisbane in the Lord Taverners under 16s. He finished with 13 runs at an average of 13.
Louis Morris (Ashgrove)
Off spinner Morris was Malpass, Nickelson and Hogan all rolled into one when it came to bowling. Opposition teams just couldn’t get his off spin away, and when they did attack, they risked being dismissed. Would you believe his strangling bowler conceded just 1.48 runs per over. It was amazing stuff. The competition’s leading bowler took 18 wickets
Matt Pereira (St Patrick’s College)
With his pace bowl reminding us of an old English county cricket professional, he went about his work this season without a fanfare.
13th man Tom Stenhouse (St Laurence’s College)
We would have loved to have found room for him in our 12 after he scored 247 runs at 49, but I am sure he is not disappointed to be our official 13th man given the quality of the batting this summer.
Hats off also to
+ Adam Richter (Iona College) almost bowled his way into our Team of the Season with a dynamic new and old ball contribution in last Saturday’s game against St Patrick’s. His medium pace dismissed the first three batsmen cheaply, and then he returned late in the innings to claim a fourth wicket.
+ St Laurence’s Daniel Gray (St Laurence’s) who was on the cusp of selection. Gray batted time and scored runs and was one of the most consistent players in the competition.
Laurie’s trio Xavier Santos (185 at 30 and eight wickets at 25) and Mackenzie Douglas (10 wickets at 15) were other high class players who would not have been out of place, with Santos leaving his best until last weekend.
+ Iona opener Liam Johns was seriously considered for his support role at the top of the order around Malpass and Thomas
+ Ashish Neredumilli (St Peters) was a revelation, with his medium pace complementing the Saints attack spearheaded by Bachu and Harvie. He was both economical and a wicket taker, with 11 at 14.42 garnishing his summer.
+ Eddies captain Ben Naish who never gave up with bat or ball. Naish of course was acknowledged in our unsung heroes of the competition story last week.
+ St Peters Luke Dyer was another desperately close to selection
+ Zac Joyce (Villanova):Joyce was a little bit of everything for Villa, taking wickets and scoring runs.
+ Joey Laner and Sam Lewis (Ashgrove). Laner claimed an extraordinary 5-8 last Saturday in Ashgrove’s premiership clinching win over Eddies, with his season average coming to rest at an impressive 11 wickets at 20. Lewis was unsung, taking 10 wickets at 19.40.
+Tom Davies (Ashgrove): Davies opened the attack for the premiers and went without reward at times. He led from the front with his fast paced outswing deliveries, stumping the opposition early, allowing other Ashgrove bowlers to cash in around him.
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