School Sport Australia under-12 cricket national championships: Full wrap from Darwin 2023
Australia could be claiming world titles for many years to come with the talent coming through at grassroots level. Meet the emerging youngsters from every corner of the country who are shining bright.
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The future of Australian cricket is in good hands if the strong talent coming through the junior ranks from various parts of the country is anything to go by.
The youngsters who were lucky enough to get the opportunity in the under-12 cricket national championships to showcase their skills earlier this month did a great job of it in Darwin.
Queensland sneaked over the line to claim the Ricky Ponting Cup in the boys competition and New South Wales powered to glory for the girls to take home the Grahame Barrett Shield.
School Sport Australia national sport advisor for cricket Peter Smith said it was a “very successful” week in Darwin.
Smith said it was “pleasing to see every team enjoying their games over the course of the week and to witness the development of the talented young players”.
“The teams handled the hot weather conditions very well during the week,” he said.
“This was the first year that the girls have played 40-over games and this was seen by all team officials as a successful change.
“All state and territory team officials are to be commended for their efforts during the championship.”
In the boys final, it was a run chase against the odds for Queensland with New South Wales winning the toss and placing an imposing score of 151 across 40 overs.
And with four overs left, Queensland lost the last of their big hitters, Cooper Armstrong, to NSW’s James Sykes.
However, after crunching the numbers coach David Gee kept his cool and encouraged his remaining batters to keep it tight and aim for the singles.
They managed just that and though Eklavya did fall to deadly bowler Arjun Singh, Marcus Strelow and Arjun Dhanda did enough to see their state home.
“The two boys who were out there at the end would have been lucky to bat previously in the tournament because we had placed the big hitters before them,” Gee said.
“But this is a side who can all bat at club level and we realised we didn’t quite need a run every ball to get the win.
“It helped sneak us through, they just kept it tight and aimed for the singles.”
Gee described it as a “very special” result for his side who had put a real focus on playing the team role.
“It’s very special, the boys played to what we trained for where the big focus was playing to the position they were selected for,” he said.
BOYS FINAL PLACINGS
1st Queensland Maroons
2nd New South Wales
3rd Northern Territory/Western Australia
5th Queensland White
6th Victoria
7th South Australia
8th Australian Capital Territory
Meanwhile, the NT drew with WA in the third place playoff with vice-captain Harvey McCormick top scoring for the hosts with 46 runs and claiming 3-26.
The tournament hosts remarkably claimed six wickets for fours runs to secure a draw for equal-third place in the championships.
NT wicketkeeper-bat Lucas Nixon whacked 36 off 48 balls to help get his side to a total of 160.
New South Wales triumphed in the women’s comp posting a score of 10/180 to see off a strong South Australian outfit.
Charlotte Shoemark top scored for the winners in the final with 33 runs from 60 balls, while Eloise Lawry (26 runs) and Kaya Kumar (22 runs) also managed impressive totals.
New South Wales girls coach Kate Owens said it was an amazing feeling to get the win and credited the “absolutely amazing” cricket facilities in Darwin.
“It’s been a bit of a hard slog, our road to the final was quite tense beating Queensland in the semi,” Owens said.
“Then getting to the final was a bit of a bonus I think but the girls played exceptionally well.
“We had a team mantra that we lived by and they did that through and through throughout the whole week.
“It was a real team effort today with the bat and with the ball so they have had a really great week.”
GIRLS FINAL PLACINGS
1st New South Wales
2nd South Australia
3rd Queensland Maroons
4th Victoria
5th Western Australia
6th Queensland White
7th Australian Capital Territory
8th Northern Territory
OVERALL FINALS PLACINGS
1st New South Wales
2nd Queensland Maroons
3rd Western Australia
4th South Australia
5th Queensland White
6th Victoria
7th Northern Territory
8th Australian Capital Territory
Sportsmanship awards
Ava Dragovic (NSW Girls)
Ayla Johnson (QLD Maroons Girls)
Boys: Top 30 performers from U12 cricket national championships
30. Ahmad Nadeem (WA)
Seven wickets at 16
29. Samuel Judd (VIC)
85 runs at 17
28. Daniel MacDonald (QLD)
86 runs at 17.2
27. Louis Stickney (QLD)
87 runs at 17.4
26. Eklavya Yadav (QLD)
Seven wickets at 15.43
25. Lucas Nixon (NT)
79 runs at 19.75. Three catches
24. Toby Anderson (NT)
Seven wickets at 11.71
23. Vivaan Kanhe (NSW)
102 runs at 20.4
22. James Skyes (NSW)
Seven wickets at 11.14
21. Charlie Harvey (WA)
110 runs at 22
20. Tyson Jansz (NSW)
Seven wickets at 9.29
19. Caleb McDougall (QLD)
Seven wickets at 8.57
18. Sachin Bhaskaran (WA)
109 runs at 27.25
17. Tripatdeep Singh (WA)
114 runs at 28.5
16. Adam Johansen (QLD)
109 runs at 21.8. Four catches
15. Flynn Bush (VIC)
Eight wickets at 15
14. Jaiveer Ballaggan (QLD)
Six wickets at 7.5. 36 runs at 7.2. Three catches
13. Jack McGown (QLD)
126 runs at 31.5
12. Anuk Kottegoda (QLD)
Seven wickets at 12.14. 40 runs at 10
11. Tye Beer (NT)
123 runs at 30.75. Three catches
10. Tanveer Chauvan (WA)
155 runs at 51.67
9. Jed Robinson (QLD)
Nine wickets at 5.33
8. Jay Pfoeffer (WA)
10 wickets at 8.2
7. Renesh Khatri (SA)
10 wickets at 8.2
6. Yash Balyan (VIC)
Nine wickets at 10.33. Eight catches
5. Calem McCathie (QLD)
188 runs at 47.
4. Harvey McCormick (NT)
Eight wickets at 16.75. 72 runs at 18
3. Ethan Natkunamanickam (NSW)
204 runs at 40.8. Six wickets at 13.5. Four catches
2. Cooper Armstrong (QLD)
12 wickets at 4.75. 85 runs at 21.25. Five catches
1. Arjun Singh (NSW)
260 runs at 65. Eight wickets at 9.25
Girls: Top 30 performers from U12 cricket national championships
30. Harper Rudd (WA)
Six wickets at 7.67
29. Asha Pipe (WA)
Seven wickets at 6.71
28. Ella Cattley (NSW)
Eight wickets at 8.63
27. Poppy Agg (VIC)
Eight wickets at 18.25
26. Aarya Repal (QLD)
96 runs at 32.
25. Riya Gupta (SA)
Four wickets at 15.25. 53 runs at 17.67
24. Sara Lalwani (QLD)
Seven wickets at 12.43
23. Georgia Black (QLD)
100 runs at 50
22. Kaija Nielsen (WA)
75 runs at 15. Three wickets at 21.67
21. Sahasra Pulibandla (VIC)
107 runs at 35.67
20. Jordi O’Toole (NT)
Five wickets at 22. 32 runs at 6.4
19. Charlotte Rafton (QLD)
89 runs at 22.25. Two wickets at 11.5
18. Poppi Stephen (NSW)
Five wickets at 10.4. 44 runs at 14.67
17. Rony Reniesha-Rub (QLD)
133 runs at 26.6
16. Kaya Kumar (NSW)
134 runs at 33.5
15. April Chaudhary (VIC)
Five wickets at 10.6. 79 runs at 26.33
14. Targa Jenkins (QLD)
91 runs at 30.33. Four wickets at 16.5
13. Bridget Slattery (SA)
139 runs at 46.33. Two wickets at 39.5
12. Uditi Ratnala (QLD)
Nine wickets at 7.56
11. Sahajdeep Dhaliwal (QLD)
Nine wickets at 6.44
10. Ekam Dhillon (NT)
Nine wickets at 15.33. 46 runs at 11.5
9. Charlotte Shoemark (NSW)
Six wickets at 7.67. 105 runs at 26.25. Two catches
8. Lucy Logan (QLD)
165 runs at 82.5
7. Anushka Mehta (VIC)
142 runs at 28.4. Four wickets at 23.
6. Amani Sharma (WA)
Seven wickets at 8.29. 122 runs at 40.67
5. Gayathri Naik (NSW)
129 runs at 43. Seven wickets at 8.29
4. Ivy Hobbs (SA)
151 runs at 50.33. Six wickets at 3.17. Two catches
3. Varsha Avulanna (VIC)
188 runs at 37.6
2. Gemma Melville (SA)
11 wickets at 3.64
1. Sanvi Shah (SA)
211 runs at 70.33. Two catches
Under-12 Championships rankings at end of pool matches
The future of Australian cricket is in good hands with the talent that has been on show in the under-12 cricket national championships in Darwin this week.
More than 200 cricketers have taken the field since Sunday, representing their states and territories as they strive for national glory in the Top End.
After three days of play, the finalists have been decided while the bottom two teams in each pool will face off as they vy for the highest placing in the final two days of the tournament.
Prior to the finals beginning on Thursday, this publication has put together a list of the top 30 performers from the boys and girls competitions after the completion of the round games.
See the lists.
Boys: Top 30 performers from U12 cricket national championships
Michael McLeod (WA)
53 runs at 17.67
Saharsh Subramanian (NSW)
Four wickets at 13
Angad Panwar (NT)
Four wickets at 11.25
Thomas Biju (WA)
60 runs at 20
Caeden Ford (QLD)
Four wickets at 6.5
Vivaan Kanhe (NSW)
61 runs at 20.33
Daniel MacDonald (QLD)
61 runs at 20.33
Eklavya Yadav (QLD)
Five wickets at 12.8
Charlie Harvey (WA)
64 runs 21.33
Caleb McDougall (QLD)
Five wickets at 10.2
20. Robert Murree (QLD)
Five wickets at 10
19. Louis Stickney (QLD)
66 runs at 22
18. Adam Hutchins (SA)
Five wickets at 7.2
17. Tripatdeep Singh (WA)
75 runs at 37.5
16. Renesh Khatri (SA)
Six wickets at 12.33
15. Samuel Judd (VIC)
81 runs at 27
14. Yash Balyan (VIC)
Six wickets at 11
13. Adam Johansen (QLD)
87 runs at 29
12. Sachin Bhaskaran (WA)
94 runs at 47
11. Toby Anderson (NT)
Six wickets at 8.83
10. Tyson Jansz (NSW)
Six wickets at 6.33
9. Tye Beer (NT)
99 runs at 49.5
8. James Skyes (NSW)
Six wickets at 4.83
7. Tanveer Chauvan (WA)
125 runs at 125
6. Calem McCathie (QLD)
144 runs at 72
5. Cooper Armstrong (QLD)
Six wickets at 4.5. 33 runs at 16.5.
4. Jay Pfoeffer (WA)
Seven wickets at 8.29
3. Jed Robinson (QLD)
Seven wickets at 3.57
2. Ethan Natkunamanickam (NSW)
172 runs at 57.33. Three wickets at 13.33
1. Arjun Singh (NSW)
168 runs at 84. Three wickets at 7.33
Girls: Top 30 performers from U12 cricket national championships
Ellie Dabinett (SA)
Three wickets at 2.67
Arshia Arora (VIC)
Four wickets at 21.25
Matilda Hayward (NSW)
65 runs at 65
Clare Daley (QLD)
Four wickets at 14.75
Aryahi Chintala (VIC)
68 runs at 68
Audrey Walker (QLD)
Four wickets at 14.5
Era Bhoir (NSW)
Four wickets at 13
Targa Jenkins (QLD)
87 runs at 43.5
Asha Pipe (WA)
Four wickets at 7.75
Charlotte Rafton (QLD)
76 runs at 25.33. Two wickets at 11.5
20. Ella Cattley (NSW)
Five wickets at 9.8
19. Riya Gupta (SA)
Four wickets at 6.5. 37 runs at 18.5
18. Anushka Mehta (VIC)
67 runs at 22.33. Three wickets at 16
17. Georgia Black (QLD)
96 runs at 96
16. April Chaudhary (VIC)
Four wickets at 6. 60 runs at 60
15. Sanvi Shah (SA)
106 runs at 53
14. Poppy Agg (VIC)
Six wickets at 16.33
13. Bridget Slattery (SA)
104 runs at 104
12. Sahasra Pulibandla (VIC)
105 runs at 105
11. Kaya Kumar (NSW)
112 runs at 37.33
10. Ekam Dhillon (NT)
Seven wickets at 15.86
9. Uditi Ratnala (QLD)
Seven wickets at 8.29
8. Ivy Hobbs (SA)
106 runs at 106. Two wickets at 3.5
7. Amani Sharma (WA)
Six wickets at 7.67. 43 runs at 21.5
6. Lucy Logan (QLD)
124 runs at 62
5. Sahajdeep Dhaliwal (QLD)
Seven wickets at 7.57
4. Gemma Melville (SA)
Seven wickets at 3
3. Charlotte Shoemark (NSW)
Six wickets at 5.67. 72 runs at 24
2. Varsha Avulanna (VIC)
164 runs at 54.67
1. Gayathri Naik (NSW)
129 runs at 64.5. Five wickets at 8
Day two wrap of Under-12 cricket national championships
The Northern Territory boys upset Victoria to become one of the first two sides to secure finals spots in the U12 cricket national championships in Darwin on Monday.
The NT boys alongside Queensland Maroons will automatically qualify for finals as the only two sides in the same pool who are undefeated after two games.
NT kept their undefeated streak alive after a nail-biting win over Victoria where the locals managed to chase 168 with one over to spare.
Rithun Ramanan top scored for the NT with an unbeaten 27, finishing the run chase alongside Toby Anderson on 15 not-out.
The Territory side got over the line seven wickets down.
Meanwhile, finals spots remain up for grabs in Pool B of the boys and both pools in the girls on the final day of cricket before finals action begins on Thursday.
Winning margins are sure to be a deciding factor for the finals positions on day three of the championships.
Here’s the top performers from day two.
Highest individual batting score: Lucy Logan
The Queensland Maroon opening bat smashed an unbeaten half century of 53 off 47 deliveries to help get her side to a strong total of 303 against the NT.
Logan struck four boundaries in her top innings before coming off retired not out.
Highest individual wicket-taker: Gemma Melville
After the South Australian under-12 girls posted a solid total of 240 at Gardens Oval, Melville steered her side over the line in comfort with a top bowling display.
The opening bowler took 4-4 off three overs, dismissing batters number two, three, four and five as WA were bowled out for 26.
Day one wrap of Under-12 cricket national championships
The first day of the under-12 cricket national championships saw some big totals posted while the bowlers also managed to take wickets.
Tournament hosts Northern Territory had a strong win to begin their campaign, defeating South Australia in the boys at Gardens Oval.
There were seven different wicket-takers for NT with Benjamin King and vice-captain Harvey McCormick taking two each to help bowl SA out for 81.
In reply, NT captain Tye Beer starred, top scoring with 33 opening the bat to lead his side to a comfortable victory.
Branden Gawthrope also contributed with a handy 18 coming in at number three.
Other notable results included the Queensland White boys posting the biggest total with 9-265 from 40 overs in their win over ACT.
QLD number three batter Adam Johansen top scored in the encounter with 74 from 62 deliveries, featuring 11 fours.
His teammates chipped in as well with five batters making scores in the 20s.
ACT were bowled out for 116 from 34.3 overs.
The QLD Maroon boys had the second highest total of the round with 7-244, followed by the NSW girls with 10-244 and NSW boys with 6-236.
Highest individual batting score: Ethan Natkunamanickam
Natkunamanickam’s half century of 87 from 102 deliveries opening the batting led the NSW boys to posting a strong total of 6-236 against WA.
Alongside Natkunamanickam was Arjun Singh who notched an unbeaten 85 coming in at number three.
The solid knocks set up NSW for a convincing win as they went on to bowl out WA for 160.
Highest individual wicket-taker: Amani Sharma
The WA girls skipper Amani Sharma took 4-6 from three overs in her side’s strong win over the Northern Territory at Cazalys Oval.
After WA scored 10-224, Sharma’s four wickets played a major part in bowling NT out for 56.
Full rundown of the under-12 cricket championships in Darwin
The son of AFL royalty Chris Judd is joining the best junior talent from across the country in Darwin this week for the School Sport Australia Cricket Championships.
The championships, which run from June 4-9 give the best young talent from across the country a taste at representing their schools and states in a thrilling competition.
And 2023 marks a special year for the NT who not only get to host the tournament, but will have a girls team for the very first time.
Featuring for Victoria is Oscar Judd, the son of two-time Brownlow medallist Chris Judd.
Meanwhile, Tye Beer will captain a boys team made up of talent selected from the School of Sport Education NT Cricket Championships held in April.
“We’re feeling pretty good, we’ve got a good team and hopefully we do well,” Beer said.
“It’s been hard training, the coaches have had us working hard ahead of facing South Australia on Sunday.
“Hopefully it’s a good pitch and we can go out there and score runs, and as captain I’ve got a bit of a responsibility to make those runs.”
NT boys coach Chris McCormick was particularly pleased to be taking part with expectations high for his young squad.
“I am really excited to see what this great group of kids can do in their first crack in Territory colours,” McCormick said.
“They have prepared exceptionally well in a short period of time and they are ready to hit the ground running against South Australia at Gardens Oval on Sunday.
“It’s a well-balanced side with a deep batting line-up and variety with the ball. I’d love to see a big crowd of Territorians there to watch the boys play their fearless brand of cricket.”
The NT is in the same pool as teams from South Australia, Victoria and Queensland with New South Wales, ACT, Western Australia and a second Queensland team in the opposite pool.
EVERY PLAYER COMPETING
NT Under 12 Boys team
Tye Beer
Ben King
Ty Jennings
Rithun Ramanan
Toby Anderson
Angad Panwar
Harvey McCormick
Tathira Gautham Wijegunarathna
Branden Gawthrope
Lucas Nixon
Joel Kitching
Nate Watson
William Handford
Reserves:
Marcus Nichols
Stephen McCormack
Logan Abbott
Addison Omeike
Henry Raveney
Adam Duncum
NT Under 12 Girls team
Sophie Cameron
Addison Gallagher
Prajna Kumar
Joshitha Kumar
Nishie Panchal
Joanna Picket
Jordi O’Toole
Ekam Dhillon
Eimi Smith
Abbey Warton
Elisha Halvorsen
Abbie Halvorsen
Olivia Schulz
Reserves:
Emily Tomlin
Violet Burrows
Hannah Fior
Charlotte Hill
Rhegan Rose
ACT Boys
Archie Boorer
Archie Brown
Edward Barnes
Luc Tipping
Lucas Lapthorne
Preston Tarry
Lachlan Miller
Luca Ciocca-Marchant
Nicholas Blencowe
Preston Singer
Rhys Gray
Yaksh Patel
Reuben Black
ACT Girls
Anaya Siddhartha
Anika Jaidi
Ava Wrathall
Iolanthe Thompson
Devri Muthukuda
Sarvagnya Chanduri
Deekshita Reddy
Swairee Reichana Rajapaksha
Amelie Smith
Veronica Graak
Aishani Sangam
TahliaSmith
NSW Boys
Ethan Natkunmanickam
Vivaan Kanhe
Arjun Singh
Hugh Hanrahan
William Malone
Joel Pagano
Kai Laws
Charles Clifford
Saharsh Subramanian
Tyson Jansz
Asher Beheram
James Sykes
NSW Girls
Elyssa Bolger
Gayathri Naik
Kaya Kumar
Era Bhoir
Ella Cattley
Charlotte Shoemark
Poppi Stephen
Lily Railz
Eloise Lawry
Ruby Carlyon
Ava Dragovic
Matilda Hayward
Queensland Boys Maroon
Cooper Armstrong
Joshua Brooke
Mason Cumming
Arjun Dhanda
Caden Ford
Calem McCathie
Jack McGown
Daniel MacDonald
Michael McLeod
Jed Robinson
Marcus Strelow
Ekalavya Yadav
Queensland Girls Maroon
Lucy Logan
Charlotte Rafton
Ayla Johnson
Jayani Maharaj
Macie Whiting
Georgia Black
Sahajdeep Dhaliwal
Margot Wallwork
Lily McLaughlin
Tanisha Gudigar
Amelia Kuhn
Uditi Ratnala
Queensland Boys White
Anuk Kottegoda
Jay Unagar
Caleb McDougall
Javieer Ballaggan
Louis Stickney
Adam Johansen
Callem Pentecost
Jackson Stewart
Robert Murree
Sonny Harvey
Isaac Brown
Quinn Davidson
Queensland Girls White
Aarya Repal
Targa Jenkins
Ella Stewart
Stella Dwyer
Evie Phillips
Sara Lalwani
Clare Daley
Jiaya Meudell
Reniesha-Ruby Rony
Ruwenthika Nithyananthan
Pahanmee Meegasdeniya
Audrey Walker
South Australia Boys
Joshua Antell
Charlie Foster
Adam Hutchins
Matthew Harris
Renesh Khatri
Tom Laube
Sidney McDonald
Noah Pittman
Felix Nelson
Dhairy Patel
Max Tresidder
Thomas Tully
SA Girls
Ivy Hobbs
Riya Gupta
Mollie McArdle
Bridget Slattery
Ellie Dabinett
Sophie Prior
Saoirse Flynn
Lucy Hazelgrove
Naavya Raghula
Alexandra Heneker
Gemma Melville
Abby Bain
Sanvi Shah
Victoria Boys
Yash Balyan
Declan Brasher
Kaevish Bhasin
Ned Bolton
Flynn Bush
Samuel Gregory
Oscar Judd
Samuel Judd
Aadarsh Itankar
Harry Middleton
Joshua Mithen
Aarav Saxena
Prabhnoor Singh Boparai
Victoria Girls
Amelia (Minnie) Chamberlain
Anushka Mehta
April Chaudhary
Arshia Arora
Charli O’Loughlin
Falak Syeda
Jessica Hodgkinson
Macey White
Poppy Agg
Sahasra Pulibandla
Tulip Sharma
Varsha Avulanna
Aryahi Chintala
WA Boys
Sachin Bhaskaran
Thomas Biju
Tanveer Chauvan
Shayan Dash
Luke Grantham
Charlie Harvey
Thomas Hinchcliffe
Jack Hodge
Chayse Moir
Ahmad Nadeem
Jay Pfoeffer
Tripatdeep Singh
James Tyson
WA Girls
Rachel Kelly
Abigail Tutt
Kitty Wilkinson
Harper Seaton
Trisha Jain
Asha Pipe
Kaija Nielsen
Jaanhvi Iyer
Penny Cheetham
Harper Rudd
Isla Tedeschi
Amani Sharma
Kina Patel
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Originally published as School Sport Australia under-12 cricket national championships: Full wrap from Darwin 2023
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