SG Moore Cup: Team of the tournament for 2024
After a thrilling competition that showcased some of regional NSW’s best young cricketers, find out who starred and made our team of the tournament.
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After a thrilling competition, the SG Moore Cup has come to an end for another season, with the tournament finishing in the most dramatic of circumstances.
With the best young cricketers from Newcastle, as well as outstanding guest recruits from the Central Coast, Hunter Valley and Sydney, the competition showcased an outstanding display of cricket in what is considered the best under-16s tournament In regional NSW.
While there were so many star performers across the nine clubs, we’ve gone through the stats and reviewed the games to come up with our team of the tournament.
TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT
SIMON ALDERSON (BELMONT)
189 runs at 63 & 2 wickets at 28.5
The Central Coast recruit was nothing short of outstanding for Belmont. Despite only playing four games, Alderson scored three half-centuries and finished the competition as the second-highest runscorer.
He also picked up two wickets with the ball.
VINCENT THORNLEY (BELMONT)
176 runs at 58.7
The second part of Belmont’s brilliant Central Coast duo, Thornley combined with Alderson at the top of the order to completely change the Whips’ fortunes as the team made the semi-finals.
Scoring at an incredible strike rate of 131 throughout the tournament, Thornley showed how damaging he can be with the highest score of the competition, a blistering 96 from 56 balls against Cardiff-Boolaroo.
SAMUEL GALLAGHER (WESTS)
156 runs at 39 & 8 wickets at 8.1
A serious contender for player of the tournament, Gallagher finished with the fourth most runs and second most wickets as he co-captained Wests to seven straight wins to claim the title.
Opening the bat, he top scored for the Rosellas in three of his five digs, while caused havoc with his probing off-spinners.
Gallagher also showed that he can step up in the big moments, belting 62 in the semi-final against Newcastle City before ripping through the Sabres’ middle order with four wickets to book his side’s spot in the decider.
GEORGE VERTH (NEWCASTLE CITY)
142 runs at 47.3 & 3 wickets at 18.3
Verth capped off a great tournament for the Central Coast recruits with a stunning display for Newcastle City.
Once again only batting four times, Verth was dynamite at the top of the order, top scoring with a blistering 66 not out from just 33 balls against Hamwicks as he finished with the fourth-highest average.
TREMAYNE SMALL (STOCKTON)
208 runs at 41.6 & 4 wickets at 20.8
Matchwinner, X-factor and everything else in between, Small was immense for Stockton as he almost single-handedly turned around his team’s fortunes to rise from the bottom of the ladder and come within a whisker of taking out the title.
The powerful all-rounder finished as the competition’s top runscorer with 208, highlighted by a brilliant 81 not out against Merewether that saw the eighth-placed Seagulls knock over the undefeated first-placed Merewether team in the quarterfinals. He also scored a brilliant unbeaten 45 from 31 balls to see Belmont off in the semi-final and book his team’s spot in the decider.
And while Small’s bowling might not have got the rewards it deserved in terms of wickets, his lightning quick deliveries shook up plenty of opposition batters and played a big role in Stockton’s late charge in the competition.
HARRISON NAJOR (MEREWETHER)
80 runs at 40 & 3 wickets at 7.7
In some ways Najor was a victim of Merewether’s success in the tournament, with the top order batter only getting out to the crease on three occasions as the Lions were left with only small chases ahead of them in two of their five games.
However when he did get to the crease the classy batter looked the goods, top scoring with an unbeaten 50 against Charlestown in round five while also taking three wickets at a very handy average of under eight throughout the tournament.
IZAAN MOHAMMED (WARATAH-MAYFIELD)
150 runs at 37.5
While it was a tough campaign for the Tahs, the young gun – who is still just 15 – showed why he is held in such high regard with an excellent tournament with both the bat and wicketkeeper’s gloves.
Finishing with the fifth-highest runs with 150, Mohammed remarkably top scored for his side in four of its five games, highlighted by a stunning 81 not out from 56 balls in Waratah-Mayfield’s round three win over Cardiff-Boolaroo.
PRESTON JOLLIFFE (MEREWETHER)
7 wickets at 10.6 & 58 runs at 58
Another Merewether player whose contributions were perhaps affected by his team’s dominant performances in the early rounds, Jolliffe was excellent with both bat and ball for the Lions.
Batting in the middle order, the all-rounder was only dismissed once in his three knocks, scoring an unbeaten 26 while his team was in a spot of bother against Stockton and then 23 not out against Charlestown.
He was also Merewether’s leading wicket-taker with the ball, picking up seven at an average of just 10.6, highlighted by an excellent 3-11 against Charlestown.
TASMAN DAVIDSON (CHARLESTOWN)
8 wickets at 10
The spearhead of Charlestown’s attack was outstanding for the Magpies as his team finished fifth after the regular rounds.
Davidson took wickets in every game and duly earned a spot in Newcastle’s rep team for the upcoming Bradman Cup.
SAM WORLAND (HAMWICKS)
9 wickets at 10.6
With an impressive strike rate of just 11, Hamwicks’ strike weapon finished the tournament as the leading wicket-taker with nine in five games.
After a solid start to the competition, the young quick really hit his straps towards the back end, taking 3-21 in the round five win over Stockton and then a stunning 4-24 in the round six loss to eventual champions Wests.
JOSEPH VANDENBERGH (WESTS)
8 wickets at 8.25
One of the leaders of the excellent Wests attack alongside Koby Blight, Vandenbergh was a key spearhead as the Rosellas restricted their opponents to totals below 80 in five of their seven games.
With the second-most wickets and the outstanding average of 8.25, the tall quick regularly took top-order scalps while he also came up with the decisive moment of the tournament.
Coming in at number 11 in the grand final with his team needing one run to win and with only one wicket in hand, Vandenbergh hitting the all-important winning run to hand Wests the title.
12TH MAN: LEO THORNTON (WESTS)
7 wickets at 7.3 & 61 runs at 12
Wests co-captain led from the front, taking seven wickets with his left-arm wrist spin as the Rosellas’ bowling laid the platform for the team’s success.
And while Thornton had a slightly tricky tournament with the bat, he stepped up when it mattered by top scoring for Wests with 26 in the grand final – and earning man-of-the-match honours – as the team chased down Stockton’s total by the narrowest of margins.
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