Far North junior cricketer is turning heads in Queensland as he chases Cricket Australia dream

The future for Far North Cricket continues to look bright with a young gun crowned Player of the Tournament for the under 15s carnival in Townsville.

Angus (l), Ben (middle) and Finn (r) Vikionkorpi. Cricket Far North Atherton first grade. 2024. Source: Atherton Facebook

The future for Far North Cricket continues to look bright with a young gun crowned Player of the Tournament for the under 15s carnival in Townsville.

Atherton’s very own Finn Vikionkorpi claimed the Tom Franklin Medal on Monday after a week of sheer dominance with the bat in hand.

Ben Vikionkorpi, Finn’s dad and coach of the under 15s side said all the hard work is paying off but still there is still plenty to do.

”He has done very well, he is pretty happy with how he performed as well,” Vikionkorpi said.

“It is good how he goes in and approaches it, I think he averaged 55 and had a strike rate of about 130 for the carnival.

Angus (l), Ben (middle) and Finn (r) Vikionkorpi. Cricket Far North Atherton first grade. 2024. Source: Atherton Facebook

“He comes in and just changes the complexion of the game every time because he scores so quickly and freely that he just puts the pressure on the other team.

“And that takes the pressure off his teammates being able to score runs like he does.”

Far North lost their opening match against Central Queensland, with Vikionkorpi notching up 56 from 40 balls but wasn’t enough to chase down the 197 run target.

Game two was against North Queensland rivals, with a second half century for Vikionkorpi, notching up 54 from 38 balls.

The fast paced, hard hitting junior learnt how to approach his batting from his dad.

“That intent to score, he is naturally a kid that likes being busy in no matter what he does anyway,” Vikionkorpi said.

“A free flowing approach to scoring definitely suits him and his personality.

“It is something we have always worked on, even when I was coaching the Marlins over the past few years.

“It has always to teach those kids to take on good bowling, you have to learn to score.

“When you do that you put pressure back on them (the bowling side) and it easies up on your team.

“A combination of natural ability but definitely an approach to coach that and I am trying to implement that across the region, not just with Finn.”

Fellow Far North young guns Will Palmer (67 from 85 balls) and Samson Pittorino (55 from 93 balls) also scored a half century as the Fusion set a total of 8/254 and winning by 89 runs

In game three against Mackay-Whitsunday, Vikionkorpi continued his fine form, this time blasting 66 runs to claim their second win of the tournament.

Far North won the under 15s tournament with Vikionkorpi the top run scorer with 176 runs.

Young Far North gun Harvey Rees was equal leading wicket taker with North Queensland’s Eamon Casey, both taking eight wickets.

After such a dominance, the young gun is now pushing for Queensland under 17s selection.

“He has actually started on scholarship down at Nudgee and will be boarding there this term,” Vikionkorpi said.

“In his head his pathway is trying to work towards the Queensland 17s team in the next couple of years.

“So he has a bit of a goal and working towards that and that is part of the move down to Nudgee.

“He has already linked up playing grade cricket and Tavs with Sandgate Redcliffe.

“So he is accessing the right people at the right time and able to get the extra work outside of just having dad do it, now he has other people who have done it for a long time.

“I feel like that is the right move for him to get down there and access high level cricket and high level coaches to help him transition to the under 17s pathway.”

Originally published as Far North junior cricketer is turning heads in Queensland as he chases Cricket Australia dream