Premier Cricket: Frankston Peninsula goes after local talent
A new recruiting strategy has already paid off for Frankston Peninsula, with two of the MPCA’s most promising players joining the Heat for the 2020-21 season.
South East
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They are promising young players with the future at their feet.
And Frankston Peninsula’s latest recruits Tom Finn and Will Borthwick are significant arrivals as the Heat focus on local talent.
For too many years, cricketers from the peninsula looking to play at a higher level have bypassed Jubilee Park and gone to rival Premier clubs.
But the Heat’s new coaching panel is determined to change all that. Now, it’s all about the locals.
Finn, from Hastings, and Borthwick, from Baxter, are teenage talents with loads of potential, with bat and ball.
Finn was a member of the South East Sharks’ U18 premiership in January, while Borthwick impressed in Baxter’s Provincial side last season, taking 16 wickets, at 11, and making 70 runs, at 17.5, in eight matches.
As Frankston Peninsula assistant coach Peter Buchanan said, “Who knows, in another couple of years, where these boys could be playing’’.
Opportunities abound at Frankston Peninsula. Heat players are only a step away from state cricket, which is only a step away from international level.
“They’re both local lads,’’ Buchanan said of the two newcomers.
“They’re young and they’ve been playing in their clubs’ firsts.
“That’s what it’s all about…that’s going to be one of the main things we’re going to do — that’s the target, any good local talent, (we are going to) just try and get them down. It doesn’t matter where they start, as long as they’re having a crack.’’
Buchanan said Heat coaching staff have worked hard in recent months, scanning each MPCA club’s stats in search for potential recruits.
He is certain it will pay off.
With the hotbed of talent in its backyard, Frankston Peninsula should be a power side in Premier Cricket.
“We’ve put our heads down and gone through every MPCA club basically and had a look at who’s playing where, even under 16s stats, under 14 stats for our development squad and it will continue…even under 12s, we’ll be looking at kids for the future,’’ Buchanan said.
“It’s good when you see young guys like that (Finn and Borthwick) having a crack because it will show other young guys who were half thinking about it…it might be this year, it might be next year.
“You want guys from the MPCA playing at Frankston.’’
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