CRICKET WRAP: Downs trio earn South Queensland selection, Steketee fires up against India

CRICKET: A trio of Darling Downs players have been rewarded for their strong play with a prestigious rep honour.

ON THE PACE: (From left) Sam Healy, Ben Brocherie and Harry Meiklejohn were selected in the South Queensland U18s team. Photo: Contributed

CRICKET: A trio of Darling Downs players have been rewarded for their strong play with a prestigious rep honour.

Harry Meiklejohn, Ben Brocherie and Sam Healy have all been chosen to represent South Queensland after strong showings in the McPherson Shield at the weekend.

Darling Downs and South West Queensland finished the U18s competition in second after winning two of their three games.

Recovering from a first-up defeat to SEQ, DDSWQ was able to defeat the Gold Coast by six wickets in their first T20 encounter with an unbeaten 66 from Meiklejohn leading the way.

Testing conditions in Beaudesert made for a tough final round encounter, which saw the Downs claim a two-wicket win as Chaz Cheatley (3/17) and Kye Hess (3/19) stood up with the ball.

“We should’ve won the comp. We were beaten on the first day by a bad toss decision,” coach Anthony Clark said.

“There was a lot of life in that pitch. We were then able to beat Gold Coast and Wide Bay fairly convincingly which we were happy with.

“Sam was picked as wicketkeeper, and he played with the North Queensland U21s and did well with that.

“Ben had a good all-round performance. He was able to score some runs and is coming off a good DDBBL season and has started the A-grade season well.

“Harry has worked really hard. He had a goal that he wanted to get into the side. All three were thoroughly deserved, and I thought we had a couple that were unlucky to miss out.”

South Queensland will take on their northern counterparts in April.

STARS PREPARE FOR BIG BASH SEASON

A number of Downs locals are set to feature in the 10th season of the Big Bash League, which gets underway tonight.

Warwick’s Mark Steketee and former DDBBL player Jack Wood will line up for the Brisbane Heat, while local players Jack Wildermuth (Melbourne Renegades) and Brendan Doggett (Sydney Thunder) will ply their trade interstate.

All games are broadcast live and in HD on Fox Sports.

STEKETEE FIRES FOR AUSTRALIA A

The Warwick paceman had an outing to remember as Australia A drew with India A in a warm-up game in Sydney.

After taking a wicket and hitting 10 runs in the first innings, Steketee finished the second innings with 5/37 from 15 overs to finish the match as the leading wickettaker.

The next Australia A fixture will take place on Friday with another three-day match against India A at the SCG.

Originally published as CRICKET WRAP: Downs trio earn South Queensland selection, Steketee fires up against India