Queensland cricket’s rookies on the rise have been named in the Bulls training squad
Queensland cricket’s new breed can be glimpsed, with five youngsters ushered into the a new era of Bulls cricket following rookie list selection.
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Queensland cricket’s new breed can be glimpsed, with five youngsters ushered into a new era of Bulls cricket following rookie list selection
University of Queensland cricket run machine Jack Clayton leads the charge and has been rewarded with promotion.
Clayton, coming off successive 1000 run summers for the premiers, joins Corey Hunter (Wynnum-Manly), Benji Floros (Wynnum-Manly), University teammate Matthew Willans and paceman Connor Sully in the squad.
Clayton, a Brisbane Boys College old boy, said promotion onto the rookie list was encouraging but aside from more training, it would change little.
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“It does not change the way I go about it,’’ Clayton said.
“The only difference is I am hitting a few more balls and but the way I approach cricket will not change at all.
“It is still about having fun. It is nice to be recognised, but in the end I do it because I enjoy playing the game and love being part of that team environment and being with your mates.
“In the end the most joy you get out of it is winning with your team.’’
Clayton said his training load had increased and aside from his additional Bulls’ training sessions, he was also doing some extras in the nets at University and with his brother Max, who was also a first grade batsman at University.
“I guess the main increase is being there (Allan Border Field) every day and working away at your craft,’’ said Clayton, who was in his fourth and final year in his exercise and sports science degree.
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Clayton’s University teammate Willans, ironically also a BBC old boy, will look to build on his progress once he recovers from a back stress fracture.
The towering fast bowler rose to the occasion representing the Australian under 19 side at the Youth World Cup in January, although his off-season has been disrupted by injury.
However, Willans said he hoped to return to the bowling crease by October-November and would turn a negative into a positive by working on his batting just as former Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson did in the early 2000s when he sustained a back injury playing club cricket for Norths.
Willans jokingly said Johnson went on to hit a Test hundred so he had a high standard to live up to at the batting crease.
Willans earned Australian under 19 selection after an excellent carnival alongside fellow rookie lister Connor Sully while playing for the Queensland 19s last December.
“Overall I was pretty happy,’’ Willans said reflecting on the 2019-20 season.
“I had a really good build-up into the 19s carnival in Perth playing for Queensland.’’
He said the under 19 World Cup was “an amazing experience’’ and he said the side was treated royally.
“As a teenager you have to take a reality check because life was pretty good for that month. We changed to six or seven different hotels and were getting police escorts around the place,’’ he said.
Willans, 19, who was doing a business manage degrees at University of Queensland, said working with Australian coach and ex-Test paceman Ryan Harris “was a big learning curve for me’’.
He praised Queensland cricket and Bulls bowling coach Andy Bichel for the role he was playing in his rehabilitation.
The move from Canberra to Wynnum-Manly last season has paid off handsomely for Benji Floros who, at 22, is an older entry onto the rookie list
The younger brother of Queensland stalwart Jason, Benji moved interstate to Brisbane last July.
An eye-catching schoolboy junior, Floros fell out of love with cricket in his teens but got itchy feet aged around 17-18.
“I started playing rep cricket aged 10,11 12 in Canberra, When I hit 15 I lost love for the game in a way,’’ he said.
“Then around the 17-18-year-old mark I discovered what I missed about it, what comes with cricket, the rewards and success if you put the hard work in.
“It got to the stage where I wanted to pursue goals in cricket.’’
Wynnum-Manly was a snug fit for Floros and his reward for going out on a limb and moving to Queensland was rookie selection.
“Everyone was pretty happy and he (brother Jason) was pretty relieved as well. He really wanted me to get this and he was part of the reason in getting me up here to play,’’ he said of his brother.
Floros’ Wynnum-Manly teammate Corey Hunter said club mates Jason Floros and Nathan Rabnott had contributed to his development alongside Bulls rookie squad team mates.
Hunter, who was drafted into the Bulls system last season, said being around Australian and Queensland players had helped his batting, but so had working in club land with Floros and Rabnott.
He finished the season on the highest of notes with a career best 212 not out in the final match of the summer in March after having a disrupted 2019-20 during to a hamstring injury sustained in December.
“My main goal is to play my first Shield and first one-dau game for Queensland and the ultimate goal for any kid is to play for Australia,’’ Hunter said.
Like Willans, Norths paceman Connor Sully had a terrific tournament for Queensland in the under 19 national competition and earned selection in the Australian under 19 outfit for the youth World Cup.