Brisbane private school to host cricket’s Australian Idol

One of Brisbane’s leading private schools will be the base for a cricket version of Australian Idol that will try to discover the next Matthew Hayden or Pat Cummins.

Brad Hogg and Steve Waugh with Marist College Ashgrove students Will Nickelson and Joshua Pope at the launch of cricket television show 'The Hunt', Brisbane, Friday, June 9, 2023 - Picture: Richard Walker

One of Brisbane’s leading private schools will be the base for a cricket version of Australian Idol that will try to discover the next Matthew Hayden or Pat Cummins.

On Friday, former Australian captain Steve Waugh was unveiled as the chief mentor for the Australian-version of “The Hunt.”

The Indian version will first launch in that cricket-mad nation before a group of 60 aspiring teenage Australian cricketers will be chosen for their own cricket boot camp next summer.

The cricketers, aged 13-to-17, will live-in at Marist College Ashgrove. They will sleep in the same boarding house and train on the same practice pitches that old boy Hayden once used.

Brad Hogg and Steve Waugh with Marist College Ashgrove students Will Nickelson and Joshua Pope at the launch of cricket television show 'The Hunt', Brisbane, Friday, June 9, 2023 – Picture: Richard Walker

The exciting made-for-TV project has Waugh’s support and not just for the possibilities it can open up for a diamond found in the Australian rough.

“I believe in this concept of finding and nurturing and giving kids the opportunity to fulfil their potential. More so in India but there are kids in Australia who don’t get into the pathway system and get missed,” Waugh said in Brisbane at Friday’s launch.

“For sure, there’s a chance of someone coming out of nowhere.

“My dream, personally, is for someone from the outskirts of Kolkata, perhaps, to all of a sudden win an IPL contract after being given this opportunity. Or, in Australia, someone could get into the Big Bash.”

Former Test spinner Brad Hogg will jump in his 4WD and scout for talent in bush centres in Australia.

“I remember going to Port Hedland in Western Australia about 15 years ago and seeing a kid bowl a leggie like a raw Shane Warne. He didn’t own a pair of whites or anything but his parents couldn’t afford to take him to cricket and the opportunity wasn’t there for him,” Hogg said.

“Hopefully, we find another diamond like that and create a chance.”

Over 18 episodes, the backgrounds and life stories of the young cricketers will be detailed. A squad of 16 and a winner will be the end result and they will get to play against the similar squads of India, England and so on at a televised tournament.

For young Marist College Ashgrove cricketers like Will Nickelson, 16, even the possibility of being involved is exciting. The smooth keeper-batsman averaged an astonishing 107 in the AIC school season earlier this year.

Brad Hogg and Steve Waugh with Marist College Ashgrove student Will Nickelson at the launch of cricket television show 'The Hunt', Brisbane, Friday, June 9, 2023 – Picture: Richard Walker

“I reckon it’s going to be an awesome thing. Young teenage boys like myself don’t get a chance to look at other nationalities of the same age,” Nickelson said.

“Going forward it makes me think back to last season and backing myself with what I did well and what I need to improve.”

Whether it is Nickelson or a group of other aspiring youngsters, there are players who will have to juggle being school students, cricketers and TV stars when shooting starts in January.

“I guess it would be pretty cool for anyone to be three things in one,” Nickelson said with a laugh.

Footnote: Production house Endemol Shine (India) will be a partner to put together the series that shapes as a sure-fire hit on Indian TV.

Originally published as Brisbane private school to host cricket’s Australian Idol