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SUMMER SIZZLER<br />
The Official E-Newsletter of<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Cricket</strong><br />
July 2008<br />
XXXX GOLD BULLS 2008-09 FIXTURES INSIDE
NEW FIXTURE CAN ATTRACT<br />
BIG CRICKET ATTENDANCES<br />
Edition 30, July 2008<br />
CONTENTS<br />
2 ‘Leading the Charge’ –<br />
with Graham Dixon<br />
4 Interstate Fixtures<br />
6 Suncorp Challenge/Tour<br />
7 Barsby’s Positive Action<br />
9 Harris Right At <strong>Home</strong><br />
11 Reardon Inspired<br />
13 New-Look Bulls<br />
14 Hayden is Just Great<br />
15 Bulls Bring Rain, Dollars<br />
16 Back To School<br />
17 The Burge Medallist<br />
18 Purves Craves Success<br />
20 Test Re-Cap<br />
“Between the Wickets” is<br />
the official E-Newsletter of<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Cricket</strong><br />
Editors: Ron McDonald,<br />
Stephen Gray, Peter Blucher<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Cricket</strong><br />
1 Bogan St<br />
Breakfast Creek, Q, 4010<br />
Ph: (07) 3292 3100<br />
Email: qldc@qldcricket.com.au<br />
QC website: qldcricket.com.au<br />
The new interstate fixture<br />
for 2008-09 gives the hope<br />
of big crowds for the XXXX<br />
GOLD Bulls home KFC<br />
Twenty20 Big Bash<br />
matches, and at the same<br />
time allows us to still take<br />
the team out into the regions<br />
again.<br />
Playing our first KFC Twenty20<br />
Big Bash home match<br />
against NSW on Boxing Day<br />
might seem radical to some,<br />
but history suggests otherwise.<br />
For three or four years after<br />
the light towers were<br />
erected at the Gabba,<br />
<strong>Cricket</strong> Australia had the<br />
Bulls play a practice style<br />
match against the third<br />
team coming into Australia<br />
for the Tri-Series ODI fixtures<br />
on Boxing Night.<br />
We were pleasantly surprised<br />
by the fact that people<br />
seemed to want to go<br />
somewhere at that time of<br />
the year, and were getting<br />
crowds of 17,000-18,000 to<br />
those matches. That opportunity<br />
faded away with the<br />
preference of international<br />
teams to jet into a country<br />
and get straight into the serious<br />
stuff.<br />
In our thinking to maximize<br />
our crowds, and trying to<br />
take into account what our<br />
supporters would want, we<br />
remembered those days and<br />
believed it was worth a try.<br />
The Boxing Day experiment,<br />
coupled with a Friday night<br />
match almost two weeks<br />
later, are reasonable times<br />
to attract a crowd over the<br />
holiday period. We’ve also<br />
got the international Twenty20<br />
against South Africa at<br />
the Gabba not long after the<br />
interstate Twenty20 series<br />
finishes, so it will be an exciting<br />
time for the growing<br />
legion of fans of the shortened<br />
version of the game.<br />
Due to the fact that we<br />
have received just the two<br />
home games instead of<br />
three like last season, it did<br />
not make commercial sense<br />
to take one of the games to<br />
the country when we could<br />
reasonably expect in the vicinity<br />
of 20,000 to attend<br />
each game with an ounce of<br />
luck.<br />
The good news for our organization<br />
was that Fox-<br />
Sports did not earmark the<br />
October 18 Ford Ranger Cup<br />
opener against Tasmania for<br />
telecast, which gave us the<br />
opportunity to take the high<br />
profile one day match to a<br />
regional centre.<br />
We elected to take the<br />
game to Cairns because the<br />
game’s supporters up there<br />
missed out on an Australia-<br />
Bangladesh Test and oneday<br />
game. When the Test<br />
series fell over, CA opted to<br />
keep the one-day series in<br />
the one venue (Darwin) for<br />
economical reasons, which<br />
is understandable.<br />
Given that Cairns had been<br />
expecting a Test match, we<br />
thought the least we could<br />
do was offer a meaningful<br />
Ford Ranger Cup game,<br />
which we hope will be well<br />
supported.<br />
It was subsequent to our request<br />
to CA that Cairns receive<br />
the October fixture<br />
that New Zealand <strong>Cricket</strong><br />
High Performance Manager<br />
John Wright nominated<br />
Cairns as the venue for the<br />
Kiwis’ three-day and Twenty20<br />
games against <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
next month.<br />
John toured the north to<br />
find an appropriate venue<br />
and we hope it is a successful<br />
venture, enough to encourage<br />
the New Zealanders<br />
to come back next year,<br />
where we will request they<br />
take a long look at Townsville<br />
or Mackay.<br />
By spending a week in<br />
Cairns for these winter<br />
matches, it gives the game<br />
development people and<br />
State players the chance to<br />
promote cricket heavily<br />
throughout the region.<br />
There will be 3-4 players<br />
not playing at various<br />
times, so our regional<br />
Continued page 3<br />
2
From page 2<br />
manager Barry Weare will<br />
be able to maximize their<br />
availability up on the Tablelands<br />
and down to Innisfail<br />
and Tully and south<br />
from there to try and really<br />
make a difference.<br />
Our research shows a solid<br />
spike in junior numbers<br />
when Bulls players have<br />
spent time in country areas<br />
as part of the annual Suncorp<br />
Regional Tour, and we<br />
are hoping for a similar<br />
scenario in the far north.<br />
We are blessed that Cairns,<br />
Townsville, Mackay and<br />
Toowoomba have venues<br />
that the other States are<br />
happy to have matches<br />
programmed at because of<br />
the standard of the facilities<br />
and wicket blocks.<br />
Each region can cope with<br />
a reasonable sized crowd<br />
to help offset some of the<br />
costs of taking these<br />
LEADING THE CHARGE — with GRAHAM DIXON 3<br />
matches outside of Brisbane,<br />
which is an expensive<br />
exercise. Nonetheless,<br />
we’re very lucky to have<br />
had these facilities developed<br />
around the State in<br />
recent years and QC remains<br />
committed to using<br />
them on a regular basis<br />
wherever possible.<br />
The release of the interstate<br />
fixture has coincided<br />
with the resumption of<br />
Bulls training and there<br />
certainly appears to be a<br />
spring in the step of the<br />
players. You obviously expect<br />
to see some keenness<br />
at the start of the season,<br />
but all the signs there are<br />
good.<br />
Following our recent elite<br />
pathways restructure,<br />
hopefully we’ve put in<br />
place all the support networks<br />
that give the players<br />
the best opportunity to<br />
play at the peak of their<br />
skills.<br />
Charger fires up the crowd at<br />
the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash.<br />
Since my last column there<br />
have been further developments<br />
with the Twenty20<br />
game at international level,<br />
with the Indian Premier<br />
League looking to have<br />
been a major success, at<br />
least from outside appearances.<br />
Texas billionaire Allen<br />
Stanford is also putting<br />
up some incredible<br />
prizemoney for matches involving<br />
England and his<br />
adopted home of the West<br />
Indies.<br />
I know <strong>Cricket</strong> Australia<br />
has been to England and<br />
India in the last month researching<br />
and working<br />
across various Twenty20<br />
issues – we have to trust<br />
that they will keep us in<br />
the mix with the issues and<br />
make sure that Australian<br />
cricket is protected within<br />
whatever future developments<br />
may occur.<br />
Lastly, and not insignificantly,<br />
let me reiterate<br />
QC’s commitment to the<br />
retention of the Gabba<br />
wicket block.<br />
The issue of drop-in wickets<br />
has been raised in recent<br />
weeks, but the technology<br />
is simply not good<br />
enough to maintain the<br />
standard of wicket that the<br />
Gabba currently boasts.<br />
We have an obligation to<br />
our players and many<br />
thousands of supporters of<br />
the game to give them the<br />
best conditions possible.<br />
The Gabba prepares our<br />
XXXX GOLD <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Bulls players exceptionally<br />
well for the rigours of international<br />
cricket, and that is<br />
reflected in the high percentage<br />
of players that we<br />
have representing Australia.<br />
Research has shown that<br />
cricket is Australia’s No.1<br />
sport, and we are very conscious<br />
of ensuring that our<br />
wickets and facilities make<br />
for first class viewing for<br />
our patrons both at the<br />
ground and on TV.<br />
The wicket is famous<br />
throughout the cricket<br />
world, making it an asset<br />
for not only our organization,<br />
but also our city and<br />
State.
AUSTRALIA IN QUEENSLAND<br />
GABBA CROWD LIMIT COULD BE TESTED IN 2008-09<br />
4<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Cricket</strong> has set<br />
its sights on a potential<br />
ground record when the<br />
Gabba hosts only the second<br />
International Twenty20<br />
match in its history this<br />
summer.<br />
<strong>Cricket</strong> Australia recently<br />
announced the 2008-09 international<br />
cricket program,<br />
with the Gabba<br />
scheduled to host one of<br />
three KFC Twenty20 Internationals<br />
this season.<br />
Australia will take on South<br />
Africa in the three-hour<br />
match on the evening of<br />
Tuesday January 13.<br />
The second highest crowd<br />
since the Brisbane <strong>Cricket</strong><br />
Ground was redeveloped<br />
was achieved in 2006 in<br />
the inaugural Twenty20<br />
match between Australia<br />
and South Africa when<br />
38,894 fans packed into<br />
the Gabba to set a record<br />
attendance mark. This was<br />
broken a week later when<br />
the single day ground record<br />
of 39,874 was set in<br />
the One Day International<br />
between Australia and<br />
South Africa. <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
<strong>Cricket</strong> Chief Executive Officer<br />
Graham Dixon said a<br />
record crowd was not out<br />
of the question.<br />
“With the popularity of<br />
Twenty20 booming around<br />
the world, there is every<br />
chance we could really test<br />
the ground’s capacity for a<br />
match like this,’’ he said.<br />
“It would be great to think<br />
we might be able to reach<br />
40,000 for this game considering<br />
the current record<br />
is only about 130 people<br />
off that mark.”<br />
“Obviously we need a few<br />
factors to go our way and it<br />
is still a long way off, but it<br />
is very exciting for <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
to host a Twenty20<br />
International again. <strong>Queensland</strong>’s<br />
local heroes like<br />
Andrew Symonds and Matthew<br />
Hayden have starred<br />
in this format recently and<br />
it shapes as a fantastic<br />
GABBA INTERNATIONALS<br />
First 3 mobile Test<br />
Australia v New Zealand<br />
Thurs 20 - Mon 24 Nov 2008<br />
KFC Twenty20 International<br />
Australia v South Africa<br />
Tuesday 13 January 2009<br />
Commonwealth Bank Series<br />
Australia v New Zealand<br />
Friday 13 February 2009<br />
clash between Australia<br />
and the Proteas,’’ Dixon<br />
said. “The Gabba Test<br />
match will again start the<br />
summer of international<br />
matches and with the recent<br />
research showing that<br />
south-east <strong>Queensland</strong> has<br />
a increasingly large population<br />
of people who have<br />
moved here from New Zealand,<br />
we think the Test and<br />
the One Dayer against the<br />
Black Caps should see<br />
some keen support for the<br />
visiting team,” he said.<br />
As forecast, the Tri-Series<br />
format has been discontinued<br />
for the coming season,<br />
with the Gabba hosting<br />
New Zealand in the Commonwealth<br />
Bank Chappell-<br />
Hadlee Trophy One Day International<br />
in a day/nighter<br />
on Friday February 13.<br />
Australia will play two<br />
separate five-match Commonwealth<br />
Bank Series,<br />
the first against world<br />
number one-ranked South<br />
Africa throughout January<br />
and the second a traditional<br />
Trans Tasman battle<br />
against New Zealand for<br />
the Chappell Hadlee Trophy<br />
during February.<br />
This will follow five 3 mobile<br />
Test matches, two<br />
against New Zealand in November<br />
and early December<br />
and three against<br />
South Africa in December<br />
and January.<br />
A third KFC Twenty20 International<br />
has been added<br />
to the schedule this season,<br />
with two being played<br />
against South Africa in Melbourne<br />
and Brisbane and a<br />
third scheduled against<br />
New Zealand in Sydney.<br />
The international cricket<br />
summer returns to the traditional<br />
late November<br />
launch and February finish<br />
after global programming<br />
challenges resulted in an<br />
extended season last summer.<br />
The Gabba will host the<br />
traditional opening match<br />
of the international summer,<br />
with the First 3 mobile<br />
Test between Australia<br />
and New Zealand scheduled<br />
for November 20-24.<br />
Tickets to the international<br />
season will go on sale to<br />
the general public on 27<br />
August with priority access<br />
once again available to eligible<br />
members of the Australian<br />
<strong>Cricket</strong> Family. Tickets<br />
to these matches at the<br />
Gabba will be sold through<br />
Ticketmaster (www.<br />
ticketmaster.com.au).<br />
QUEENSLAND CRICKET - MAJOR CORPORATE PARTNERS
BOXING NIGHT IS<br />
THE 2008-09 INTERSTATE FIXTURE 5<br />
A BIG KNOCKOUT<br />
A Ford Ranger Cup oneday<br />
pipe-opener in<br />
Cairns in October and a<br />
Boxing Night blockbuster<br />
KFC Twenty20 Big Bash<br />
clash with NSW are features<br />
of the XXXX GOLD<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> Bulls fixture<br />
released yesterday.<br />
The Saturday October 18<br />
game between the XXXX<br />
GOLD Bulls and reigning<br />
champions Tasmania at<br />
Cazalys Stadium is the<br />
season opener for the<br />
50-over series.<br />
The Bulls and Tigers will<br />
also meet for the season<br />
opener when they clash<br />
in the first Sheffield<br />
Shield game of the summer<br />
at the Gabba from<br />
October 10-13. <strong>Cricket</strong><br />
Australia announced<br />
yesterday that the interstate<br />
four-day competition<br />
would be contested<br />
for the Sheffield Shield<br />
presented by Weetbix.<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> have played<br />
FORD RANGER CUP<br />
Sat 18 Oct Tas Cairns<br />
Wed 22 Oct WA WACA<br />
Sun 9 Nov Vic Gabba<br />
Wed 26 Nov NSW SCG<br />
Wed 3 Dec SA Gabba<br />
Wed 17 Dec Vic MCG<br />
Fri 19 Dec NSW Gabba<br />
Wed 28 Jan WA Gabba<br />
Sat 7 Feb Tas B’rive<br />
Wed 18 Feb SA A’laide<br />
Twenty20 matches in<br />
Toowoomba and Townsville<br />
in the past two seasons<br />
but the Cairns<br />
game will be the inaugural<br />
interstate one-day<br />
match held away from<br />
Brisbane.<br />
QC chief executive Graham<br />
Dixon said Cazalys<br />
Stadium would provide<br />
playing conditions similar<br />
to the Gabba.<br />
“It’s an outstanding<br />
venue in terms of its<br />
playing surface and<br />
wicket block and we look<br />
forward to providing an<br />
entertaining match for<br />
James<br />
Hopes<br />
the fans in Far North<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong>,’’ he said.<br />
The Bulls will also play a<br />
Boxing Day fixture for<br />
the first time since 1999,<br />
with the opening match<br />
in the KFC Twenty20 Big<br />
Bash between <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
and NSW being<br />
held at the Gabba on the<br />
evening of 26 December.<br />
Dixon said the Boxing<br />
Day Twenty20 match<br />
could well create a record<br />
attendance for interstate<br />
cricket at the<br />
Gabba.<br />
“We got more than<br />
27,000 for a Twenty20<br />
match two years ago<br />
when we were taken by<br />
surprise with the sheer<br />
level of excitement for<br />
that particular format<br />
and can see plenty of<br />
reasons why we could<br />
well be heading in that<br />
direction again for this<br />
match,’’ Dixon said.<br />
“We pushed quite hard<br />
for this game because<br />
Boxing Day and cricket<br />
are so synonymous in<br />
Australian culture and<br />
we think it is an ideal fit<br />
for people in <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
who will enjoy the Test<br />
match and then come<br />
along to the Gabba for<br />
the excitement of an<br />
evening Twenty20<br />
game,’’ he said.<br />
The Gabba will also host<br />
a Twenty20 doubleheader<br />
on January 9 between<br />
the Bulls and<br />
West End Redbacks and<br />
KFC TWENTY20 BIG BASH<br />
Fri 26 Dec NSW Gabba<br />
Thurs 1 Jan Tas B’rive<br />
Sun 4 Jan Vic Geelong<br />
Fri 9 Jan SA Gabba<br />
Thur 15 Jan WA WACA<br />
Wed 21 Jan PF TBA<br />
Sat 24 Jan Final TBA<br />
the Konica Minolta<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> Fire and<br />
Southern Scorpions.<br />
Other interesting parts<br />
of the Bulls fixture include<br />
a Twenty20 game<br />
in Tasmania on New<br />
Year’s Day, and a trip to<br />
Geelong three days later<br />
to meet the Bushrangers.<br />
SHEFFIELD SHIELD<br />
Oct 10-13 Tas Gabba<br />
Oct 24-27 WA WACA<br />
Nov 4-7 Vic Gabba<br />
Nov 21-24 NSW SCG<br />
Dec 5-8 SA Gabba<br />
Dec 12-15 Vic MCG<br />
Jan 30-Feb 2 WA Gabba<br />
Feb 13-16 SA A’laide<br />
Feb 26-Mar 1 NSW Gabba<br />
Mar 5-8 Tas B’rive<br />
Mar 13-17 Final TBA
SUNCORP CHALLENGE<br />
HAS A TRIPLE TREAT<br />
Cairns will receive a tasty<br />
entrée of big time cricket<br />
next week before the main<br />
course arrives in October.<br />
There will be plenty riding<br />
on the XXXX GOLD <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Bulls-Tasmania clash<br />
in the opening round of the<br />
Ford Ranger Cup at Cazalys<br />
Stadium on October 18,<br />
with a good start imperative<br />
in the competition.<br />
The Bulls lost a rain interrupted<br />
season opener to<br />
the Tigers at the Gabba<br />
last season and were playing<br />
catch-up with the top<br />
sides thereafter, while Tasmania<br />
went on to win the<br />
competition.<br />
The opposite occurred in<br />
2006-07, when it was the<br />
Bulls who rode roughshod<br />
over the Tigers in the 50-<br />
over season-opener and<br />
went on to win the title.<br />
Tickets are expected to go<br />
on sale for the Cairns Ford<br />
Ranger Cup match in early<br />
Three Day Match<br />
29-31 July 2008<br />
Starts 10am each day<br />
Twenty20 Blast<br />
Friday 1 August<br />
Match starts 6pm<br />
One Day Match<br />
Sunday 3 August<br />
Match starts 10am<br />
Suncorp Sportsman's Dinner<br />
Thursday 31 July<br />
Cazaly's, 7pm<br />
Michael Kasprowicz MC<br />
Tickets: 4054 4511<br />
August. <strong>Queensland</strong> will<br />
step up their preparations<br />
for the Round 1 Sheffield<br />
Shield and Ford Ranger<br />
Cup matches with a threegame<br />
Suncorp Country<br />
Challenge series in Cairns<br />
from 29 July – 3 August,<br />
and there is free admission<br />
to each of them.<br />
BULLS ON THE ROAD 6<br />
Ja<br />
m<br />
The Bulls meet a New Zealand<br />
XI that will contain<br />
that nation’s most promising<br />
youngsters who are<br />
currently competing<br />
against the AIS, India and<br />
South Africa in the Emerging<br />
Players’ Tournament in<br />
Brisbane. The Suncorp<br />
Challenge consists of a<br />
three-day, Twenty20 and<br />
50-over game at Cazalys<br />
Stadium, which was to<br />
originally host a Test between<br />
Australia and Bangladesh<br />
before that series<br />
was lopped.<br />
Bulls players including captain<br />
Chris Simpson will visit<br />
Innisfail on Sunday 27 July<br />
as part of the KFC sign-on<br />
campaign, while a number<br />
of the squad will appear at<br />
the Earlville branch of Suncorp<br />
from 1pm on Monday<br />
28 July to meet local<br />
cricket fans.<br />
There will be a big Sportsman’s<br />
Dinner at Cazalys on<br />
Thursday 31 July, while the<br />
squad will also hold a clinic<br />
on the Esplanade on Saturday<br />
morning 2 August.<br />
BULLS TRIO EXCITED ABOUT<br />
SUNCORP REGIONAL TOUR<br />
XXXX GOLD <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Bulls players Ryan Harris,<br />
Aaron Nye and Nathan<br />
Reardon will visit Mackay,<br />
Cannonvale, Proserpine<br />
and Bowen as part of the<br />
annual Suncorp Regional<br />
Tour early next month.<br />
Along with regional cricket<br />
manager, Dale Bryant, the<br />
Bulls players will participate<br />
in a number of coaching<br />
clinics and school visits,<br />
and will be the centre of<br />
attention at a Sportsman's<br />
Dinner in Mackay.<br />
Entering its ninth year, the<br />
Suncorp Regional Tour allows<br />
players to take the<br />
Aaron<br />
Nye<br />
Wednesday 6 August<br />
- School visit in Bowen<br />
- Club visit in Bowen<br />
Thursday 7 August<br />
- School visit Cannonvale<br />
- Club visit Proserpine<br />
Friday 8 August<br />
- School visit in Mackay<br />
- Club visit in Mackay<br />
Sportsman's Dinner<br />
Thursday 7 August, 7pm<br />
Harrup Park, Mackay<br />
Tickets: $40-$50<br />
Bookings: 4944 0000<br />
game to regional areas.<br />
Suncorp has been a dedicated<br />
sponsor of <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
<strong>Cricket</strong> for 18 years,<br />
and their support of this<br />
program is invaluable.<br />
“It is always great to get<br />
out into country centres<br />
and work with local kids<br />
and cricketers,” Nye said.<br />
“Working the grass roots is<br />
important to us and we’re<br />
looking forward to it.”
XXXX GOLD BULLS 7<br />
BARSBY TAKES POSITIVE ACTION IN NEW ROLE<br />
Trevor Barsby played<br />
cricket with an aggression<br />
that was ahead of<br />
his time and now the big<br />
century maker in <strong>Queensland</strong>’s<br />
historic first<br />
Sheffield Shield triumph<br />
is back with all guns<br />
blazing.<br />
Barsby, 44, wants the<br />
XXXX GOLD Bulls to play<br />
in the same fearless<br />
manner as he takes the<br />
coaching reins following<br />
Terry Oliver’s promotion<br />
to a ‘super coach’ position.<br />
Oliver will oversee the<br />
coaches and coaching at<br />
all levels of QC’s elite<br />
program, while Barsby<br />
will be free of the administrative<br />
burdens faced<br />
by previous coaches and<br />
can concentrate solely<br />
on working closely with<br />
the Bulls playing group.<br />
It has been a natural<br />
evolution to the State<br />
job for Barsby, who<br />
Trevor Barsby as a<br />
player — raising a ton.<br />
scored 15 centuries and<br />
6913 first class runs for<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> at the top of<br />
the order from 1984-85<br />
to 1996-97.<br />
“After coaching my son<br />
at a young age and then<br />
my involvement at junior<br />
and club cricket level as<br />
he got older, through my<br />
four years at the QAS, it<br />
has been a nice progression,”<br />
Barsby said. “I’m<br />
really looking forward to<br />
the opportunity with the<br />
Bulls. It’s an exciting<br />
time. My background has<br />
been part a part of the<br />
history of QC by winning<br />
the first Shield. This is a<br />
great opportunity to put<br />
more good history in<br />
QC’s future, by being involved<br />
now. We’ve got<br />
the players to do it.”<br />
The move to restructure<br />
the elite programs to allow<br />
for a ‘super coach’<br />
was a sound one, according<br />
to Barsby.<br />
“Our youth teams haven’t<br />
performed well<br />
enough over the years<br />
and we needed some<br />
stability in our coaching<br />
structure with the one<br />
philosophy filtering<br />
down,” he said.<br />
“This role Terry has<br />
taken over has created<br />
that, and will allow the<br />
Bulls coach to coach.<br />
That’s the exciting part<br />
that I’m looking forward<br />
to.”<br />
Trevor Barsby during a street parade through the city<br />
streets to celebrate <strong>Queensland</strong>’s first Shield win.<br />
With a largely new generation<br />
of players under<br />
his tutelage following the<br />
retirements of several<br />
greats in recent years,<br />
Barsby pledged to back<br />
his young players.<br />
“I want to let them play<br />
good attacking cricket,”<br />
he said. “We’ve got two<br />
custodians left (Martin<br />
Love and Andy Bichel),<br />
and now it’s time to find<br />
who within the new generation<br />
are going to be<br />
the ones to stand up and<br />
lead with Chris Simpson.<br />
It’s a great opportunity<br />
for these guys.<br />
“We want batsman who<br />
are thinking about what<br />
sort of ball is coming and<br />
can score off instead of<br />
Continued page 8
XXXX GOLD BULLS 8<br />
From page 7<br />
just surviving. We want bowlers<br />
who are looking at getting batsmen<br />
out.<br />
“If you can execute a shot well<br />
at training, why not play it in a<br />
game. The idea for a four-day<br />
game is still to score 300 runs<br />
in a day’s play. I don’t care if<br />
that’s at the Gabba on a green<br />
seamer or on a turning wicket<br />
in Sydney.<br />
“I, and the coaching staff, have<br />
to make sure we give the players<br />
the skills to do that, to give<br />
the guys the freedom to play<br />
their shots.”<br />
Barsby has always been direct<br />
and up front, and has no problem<br />
going ‘old school’ to<br />
achieve those objectives.<br />
“We will be getting them into<br />
the nets and there will be a lot<br />
of practice. It won’t just be<br />
practising the skills, but competing<br />
in the nets,” he said.<br />
“If a batsman doesn’t like getting<br />
bounced at training he better<br />
get used to it because we’re<br />
going to really try to create that<br />
fierce competitive role in a<br />
Trevor Barsby in the field.<br />
training environment.” Barsby<br />
played in a tough era where<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong>’s inability to win a<br />
Sheffield Shield made the Bulls<br />
the subject of much scorn from<br />
opponents and grew from a<br />
monkey to a gorilla on his back<br />
as each year passed.<br />
He made a first-ball duck and<br />
10 batting in the middle order<br />
in his first Shield final against<br />
NSW in 1986, and when the opportunity<br />
came around in March<br />
1995 after further team failures<br />
in 1988 and 1993, he was going<br />
to accept nothing less than victory.<br />
Barsby blasted 151 in the Bulls’<br />
first innings to set up the historic<br />
first win, and confirmed his<br />
reputation as a big game player<br />
in the twilight of his career. He<br />
was man of the match with 50<br />
in a low scoring one day final at<br />
the Gabba in 1996 to seal victory,<br />
then stroked 67 and 111<br />
in his last first class game, the<br />
1997 WACA final win over WA.<br />
He is determined to impart that<br />
sense of history about how hard<br />
the State’s cricketers had to<br />
battle to achieve the ultimate<br />
success, and then went just as<br />
hard to ensure the Bulls dominated<br />
interstate cricket for<br />
more than a decade.<br />
“I’d like to take them right back<br />
to day one, when<br />
we start our preparation,<br />
to understand<br />
who we stand<br />
for, what we represent<br />
on and off the<br />
field, and to have a<br />
lot of pride in our<br />
performances.”<br />
Barsby also intends<br />
to involve the corporate<br />
world. “I<br />
want to make sure<br />
that we have our<br />
sponsors wanting to<br />
be involved with the<br />
Bulls logo,” he said.<br />
But more than anything, he<br />
wants to see <strong>Queensland</strong> back<br />
on top of Australia cricket.<br />
“I want to make sure we are<br />
dominant. It’s been very good<br />
over the last 10 years to rub<br />
the Southern States’ noses in<br />
how well we’ve been going,” he<br />
said.<br />
“The 69 years before we won<br />
the Shield we copped a lot of<br />
jokes - I want to get back to<br />
where we were as quickly as<br />
possible where we’re dominating<br />
and it really annoys the opposition<br />
States.”<br />
Always on the move, Trevor Barsby dives for<br />
safety during a one-day game at the Gabba.
XXXX GOLD BULLS 9<br />
HARRIS FEELS RIGHT AT HOME IN QUEENSLAND<br />
The first man headhunted<br />
from interstate<br />
to play for <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
since the current contracting<br />
system was introduced<br />
by <strong>Cricket</strong> Australia<br />
in 1998 is feeling<br />
right home with the<br />
XXXX GOLD Bulls.<br />
Strongly-built bowling<br />
all-rounder Ryan Harris,<br />
a member of the 2007-<br />
08 Pura Cup Team of the<br />
Year, began training at<br />
the start of last month.<br />
“My first impressions<br />
have been excellent. I<br />
know I’ve made the right<br />
decision,” he said of his<br />
move from South Australia.<br />
“The whole place is very<br />
professional and the<br />
guys and everyone at<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Cricket</strong> have<br />
been excellent.<br />
“I’m glad I’m here.”<br />
Harris took 37 wickets at<br />
29.86 for the Redbacks<br />
last season to finish<br />
among the top five leading<br />
wicket-takers in<br />
four-day cricket, and averaged<br />
24.20 with the<br />
bat in some handy lower<br />
order displays.<br />
He also has a solid strike<br />
rate in one-day cricket,<br />
having snared 49 wickets<br />
from 44 matches,<br />
and averaged almost 17<br />
with the bat. He has<br />
been even more damaging<br />
in the KFC Twenty20<br />
Big Bash, grabbing 11<br />
wickets at 17.45 and<br />
conceding just 6.4 runs<br />
an over.<br />
Harris, who will turn 29<br />
the day after the new<br />
season starts, will provide<br />
valuable experience<br />
to an attack that has<br />
been injury-stricken in<br />
the past two seasons.<br />
Ryan Harris sends down a thunderbolt for South Australia at<br />
the Gabba last season.<br />
“I’m a bowling allrounder<br />
but my batting<br />
has improved over the<br />
last two years. I’m hoping<br />
to work closely with<br />
Trevor Barsby to take it<br />
to a higher level again,”<br />
he said.<br />
Apart from a family holiday<br />
at Noosa 10 years<br />
ago, the only time he<br />
has spent in <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
has been playing cricket<br />
at the Gabba.<br />
“I love playing at the<br />
Gabba, it really suits my<br />
bowling,” he said. “The<br />
last time I bowled here<br />
was probably the best<br />
I’ve bowled in my career.<br />
Harris bowled beautifully<br />
in tandem with a rampant<br />
Shaun Tait to help<br />
the Redbacks to their<br />
first Pura Cup win in<br />
Brisbane in almost a<br />
decade.<br />
“To be playing 10 or 12<br />
of the 25 games there<br />
next season is really exciting,”<br />
he said.<br />
Harris did this interview<br />
sitting in his car outside<br />
a real estate agent’s office<br />
waiting to sign a 12-<br />
month lease on a place<br />
close to the Allan Border<br />
Field, which will give him<br />
time to look around for a<br />
place to buy. He has<br />
signed for three years<br />
with the Bulls.<br />
His girlfriend Cherie will<br />
join him here within the<br />
next few months but hedoes<br />
have some familiar<br />
faces around him with<br />
his brother, sister-in-law<br />
and their three kids all<br />
living in Brisbane, which<br />
was a determining factor<br />
in the move north.<br />
Continued page 10
XXXX GOLD XXXX BULLS GOLD BULLS BMD AWARDS NIGHT 10 9<br />
From page 9<br />
Outside cricket, Harris<br />
played soccer for 14<br />
years and AFL at school<br />
before the summer<br />
game consumed his<br />
time, although he maintained<br />
a strong interest<br />
in the fortunes of SANFL<br />
club Central District Bulldogs.<br />
Harris was supposed to<br />
be still playing for Sussex<br />
in English County<br />
cricket right now, but a<br />
contractual mix-up saw<br />
him register just the one<br />
warm-up game before<br />
being turned back to<br />
Australia.<br />
“At the time it was very<br />
disappointing – it was a<br />
very confusing situation,”<br />
he said. “It was<br />
very complex and hard<br />
to describe. In very simple<br />
terms I tried to play<br />
as a local but I couldn’t<br />
because of my contract<br />
here.<br />
“As disappointing as it is<br />
not to be playing Country<br />
cricket, it has given<br />
me a chance to settle in<br />
here, so a negative has<br />
turned into a massive<br />
positive.”<br />
Harris’ last two summers<br />
have been easily his best<br />
at first class level and he<br />
puts that down to getting<br />
his body more durable.<br />
“Early in my career I got<br />
injured a lot. Every time<br />
I got myself in a good<br />
position, something<br />
would go wrong,” he<br />
said. “I’m in the prime of<br />
my career now and<br />
touch wood I’ll stay fit<br />
and healthy. I’ve had a<br />
consistent training<br />
schedule and looked after<br />
myself better.”<br />
Harris made his State<br />
debut in a 2000-01 onedayer<br />
against <strong>Queensland</strong>,<br />
and clearly remembers<br />
being given a<br />
warm ‘welcome’ by Matthew<br />
Hayden.<br />
“It was always daunting<br />
when SA played <strong>Queensland</strong>.<br />
The <strong>Queensland</strong>ers<br />
were always very<br />
competitive,” he said. “It<br />
will be excellent to be on<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong>’s side for a<br />
change.<br />
Harris’ personable nature<br />
has already seen<br />
him slot in smoothly with<br />
the playing group and he<br />
will be trying not to put<br />
too much pressure on<br />
himself when the games<br />
come around in October.<br />
“I’m pretty laid back. I<br />
know there will be a little<br />
bit more pressure but<br />
I’ve just got to go out<br />
and do what I do and let<br />
the results take care of<br />
themselves,” he said.<br />
HISTORY IN GOOD HANDS<br />
QC’s History Working<br />
Group meets weekly to<br />
collect, sort and catalogue<br />
old items relevant to the<br />
history of the game in<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong>. Many items<br />
are displayed in the Allan<br />
Border Field offices at<br />
Breakfast Creek, while<br />
scrapbooks are also diligently<br />
maintained. Items<br />
could relate to Grade,<br />
State or international<br />
cricket. Anyone with items<br />
of cricket interest who<br />
would like to contribute<br />
them to the working<br />
group for safekeeping can<br />
contact coordinator Ian<br />
Sturgess on 3292 3100.
FAREWELL TOA XXXX GREAT GOLD - BULLS MICHAEL KASPROWICZ 1 111<br />
WATSON INSPIRES REARDON TO GREATER HEIGHTS<br />
The presence of superdedicated<br />
national representative<br />
Shane Watson<br />
with the XXXX GOLD<br />
Bulls for the second half<br />
of last summer has had<br />
a lasting impact on at<br />
least one young up-andcomer.<br />
Watson has received his<br />
share of criticism from<br />
the uninformed during<br />
his injury problems over<br />
the past two years, but<br />
no-one works harder on<br />
his game than the then<br />
rehabilitating allrounder.<br />
It was a lesson not lost<br />
on talented 23-year-old<br />
left-handed batsman Nathan<br />
Reardon, who<br />
upped his workrate and<br />
was rewarded with his<br />
first class debut in the<br />
final match of the 2007-<br />
08 season.<br />
Reardon is one of the<br />
young guns who could<br />
step up and become a<br />
Nathan Reardon goes on the drive against the Redbacks at<br />
Adelaide Oval in a Ford Ranger Cup clash.<br />
very good player for the<br />
Bulls next season, and<br />
he is working extra hard<br />
to achieve his goals inspired<br />
by Watson.<br />
“Watching Watto train, I<br />
realised how much extra<br />
work he does compared<br />
to myself and the other<br />
younger guys in the<br />
squad,” Reardon said. “It<br />
was an incredible, a real<br />
eye-opener. I realised I<br />
could just keep going<br />
along and playing for<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> but if you<br />
want to be successful<br />
and play for Australia<br />
you have to do a lot<br />
more hard work.<br />
“I really enjoyed watching<br />
him train. He’s a bit<br />
more intense than myself<br />
but you get an insight<br />
into how he goes<br />
about it. He spoke to me<br />
about a couple of things<br />
that I need to improve<br />
to be successful.<br />
“I spent a lot of time<br />
with a bowling machine<br />
and getting specific<br />
things out of net sessions,<br />
rather than just<br />
going in there to bat. I<br />
went in with a sole purpose<br />
of trying to work on<br />
things. One of those was<br />
being more competitive<br />
in the nets.<br />
“Hopefully I can carry<br />
that through to games<br />
and spend more time in<br />
the middle on weekends.<br />
“I started to work a lot<br />
harder towards the end<br />
of last season and in the<br />
short term saw some rewards.<br />
I’ve still got a lot<br />
of things to fix up in the<br />
my game but hopefully<br />
they come together and<br />
I play a lot more fourday<br />
cricket.”<br />
Reardon admitted he<br />
was ‘over the moon’<br />
when told he would<br />
make his Pura Cup debut<br />
against Victoria at the<br />
MCG last March. He had<br />
flown down to Melbourne<br />
as a precautionary backup<br />
measure with a number<br />
of players ill and injured,<br />
and ultimately received<br />
the call-up to bat<br />
at No.5.<br />
His first innings lasted<br />
48 minutes while he<br />
scored 18 off 50 balls,<br />
although the second innings<br />
stay was briefer as<br />
he was out for one. Both<br />
times he was lbw to medium<br />
pacer Andrew<br />
McDonald.<br />
“My strongest memory is<br />
that it took me a long<br />
time to get off the mark<br />
and everyone was in my<br />
ear giving me a bit of<br />
chirp,” he said. “I eventually<br />
got off the mark,<br />
Continued page 12
FAREWELL TOA XXXX GREAT GOLD - BULLS MICHAEL KASPROWICZ 1 211<br />
From page 11<br />
which was a bit of a relief.<br />
I got to 18 and realised<br />
I probably am good<br />
enough to play at that<br />
level if I am mentally<br />
prepared. It was disappointing<br />
to get to 18 and<br />
think ‘hey, I’m, doing alright’<br />
and then get out.<br />
Funnily enough, the areas<br />
that Watto was talking<br />
about of my game<br />
were exposed in both innings.<br />
At least I know<br />
where to work on.<br />
“It was a good insight<br />
into what it is like at that<br />
level. I’ve played quite a<br />
few one-day and Twenty20<br />
games now and in<br />
all honesty, it’s not a lot<br />
different – you’ve just<br />
got to apply your skills<br />
for longer periods.”<br />
The MCG might have an<br />
almost mystical aura<br />
about it to many people,<br />
but Reardon wasn’t<br />
overly impressed, particularly<br />
with the drop-in<br />
wicket. “I actually found<br />
it a very dull sort of a<br />
ground. I’m sure it’s a<br />
Nathan Reardon pulls for four during an important cameo<br />
innings in the Ford Ranger Cup win in Perth<br />
different place when you<br />
play Boxing Day Tests<br />
there, but it just seemed<br />
so empty,” he said.<br />
“There was no-one<br />
there, and it’s a massive<br />
place. They were completely<br />
different conditions<br />
to what we get up<br />
here. The pitch is very<br />
up and down, very dead.<br />
You had to play as<br />
straight as possible. That<br />
drop-in wicket is very<br />
dead and hollow.”<br />
Reardon was elevated<br />
into the team on the<br />
strength of solid form at<br />
one-day and Grade level.<br />
He struck 488 runs at<br />
61.00 for University during<br />
the XXXX GOLD<br />
Grade premiership season,<br />
including blazing<br />
back to back centuries in<br />
February, and was<br />
player of the final in the<br />
Grade one-day final for<br />
the second straight year.<br />
Just for good measure,<br />
he picked up the QAS<br />
Player of the Year for his<br />
efforts with the <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
2 nd XI and the PKF<br />
Bulls Fielding Award to<br />
cap a most promising<br />
season.<br />
Away from the game,<br />
Reardon has just begun<br />
a carpentry apprenticeship<br />
with TMF Constructions<br />
on their new site at<br />
Peel Street in South<br />
Brisbane. The fulltime<br />
work will reduce to parttime<br />
as the season begins,<br />
but he is keen have<br />
another focus – and<br />
back-up for the future if<br />
required.<br />
<strong>Cricket</strong> remains his priority,<br />
and he knows it is<br />
a good time to be a<br />
young player as <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
and Australian regenerates<br />
after long periods<br />
of success with<br />
largely settled line-ups.<br />
“A lot of the young guys<br />
understand that and are<br />
working pretty hard,” he<br />
said. “We’ve got big<br />
shoes to fill. There’s no<br />
lack of talent – there’s<br />
bucketloads in the<br />
squad. We’ve just got fill<br />
the shoes of the Mahers<br />
and the likes.”<br />
A QAS FIRST<br />
Charters Towers policeman<br />
Luke Feldman will break<br />
new ground this season after<br />
being selected in the<br />
2008-09 <strong>Queensland</strong> Academy<br />
of Sport cricket squad.<br />
Feldman, 24, is the first<br />
country-based player to be<br />
named in the QAS squad<br />
which complements the<br />
XXXX GOLD <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Bulls squad and provides<br />
players with the chance to<br />
play in the <strong>Cricket</strong> Australia<br />
Cup 2nd XI competition.<br />
He is a right-arm fast<br />
bowler who has represented<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> Country and<br />
was a member of the 2007-<br />
08 Australian Country<br />
team.<br />
The QAS squad also contains<br />
2007-08 Prime Minister’s<br />
XI selection Luke<br />
Swards from the ACT.<br />
Swards will relocate to Brisbane<br />
to play club cricket in<br />
September.<br />
The remainder of the QAS<br />
men’s squad features the<br />
seven XXXX GOLD <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Bulls rookie players.
FAREWELL TO XXXX A GREAT GOLD - BULLS MICHAEL KASPROWICZ 13 12<br />
BIG SQUAD SET FOR SEASON OF OPPORTUNITY<br />
A big squad of 33 players<br />
was named by the<br />
XXXX GOLD Bulls for the<br />
2008-09 season, although<br />
the six Australian-contracted<br />
players<br />
will only be available<br />
sparingly depending on<br />
their form.<br />
The 20-man <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
contracted player list<br />
contains new faces in<br />
South Australian recruit<br />
Ryan Harris and Sandgate-Redcliffe<br />
captain<br />
and 2007-08 Peter<br />
Burge Medallist Glen<br />
Batticciotto.<br />
The late-blooming Batticciotto,<br />
26, was an<br />
Australian Under-19<br />
player in 2000 alongside<br />
the likes of Mitchell<br />
Johnson, Shane Watson,<br />
Michael Clarke, Chris<br />
Hartley and Nathan Hauritz.<br />
He was the second<br />
leading runs-scorer in<br />
the XXXX GOLD First<br />
Grade competition with<br />
741 runs at 67.36 and<br />
Scott Brant in action.<br />
took 18 wickets at<br />
20.67. Allrounder Lee<br />
Carseldine returns to the<br />
full contracted player list<br />
for the first time since<br />
2003 after making a stirring<br />
comeback to the<br />
Bulls ranks last season<br />
after major back surgery.<br />
Gold Coast pace bowlers<br />
Scott Brant and Chris<br />
Swan have been named<br />
in the full squad after<br />
making the Bulls side in<br />
2007-08 from outside<br />
the squad while another<br />
CONTRACT LIST 08-09<br />
<strong>Cricket</strong> Australia (6)<br />
Matthew Hayden, James<br />
Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Ashley<br />
Noffke, Andrew Symonds,<br />
Shane Watson.<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> (20)<br />
Glen Batticciotto , Andrew<br />
Bichel, Scott Brant, Ryan<br />
Broad, Lee Carseldine, Ben<br />
Cutting, Daniel Doran, Ryan<br />
Harris, Chris Hartley, Nick<br />
Kruger, Ben Laughlin, Martin<br />
Love, Greg Moller, Aaron<br />
Nye, Clinton Perren, Nathan<br />
Reardon, Nathan Rimmington,<br />
Chris Simpson, Grant<br />
Sullivan, Chris Swan.<br />
Rookie contracted (7)<br />
Cameron Boyce, Michael<br />
Johnson, Alister McDermott,<br />
Dom O’Brien, Wade Townsend,<br />
Scott Walter, Worrin<br />
Williams.<br />
quick, Ben Cutting, has<br />
been promoted from a<br />
rookie contract to a full<br />
contract after making his<br />
first class debut last<br />
summer.<br />
There are five teenagers,<br />
including two schoolboys,<br />
in <strong>Queensland</strong>’s<br />
seven rookie contracted<br />
players, including Gold<br />
Coast pace bowler Alister<br />
McDermott, the son of<br />
former Test quick Craig,<br />
and Beenleigh/Logan<br />
batsman Michael Johnson.<br />
Johnson, 17, was<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong>’s Youth<br />
player of the year last<br />
season after scoring 273<br />
runs, including two centuries<br />
runs and making<br />
the Australian Under-17<br />
team while McDermott,<br />
17, was <strong>Queensland</strong>’s<br />
leading wicket-taker at<br />
the national titles with<br />
14 wickets.<br />
The pair were selected in<br />
the Australian Under-17<br />
honour team last season.<br />
McDermott attends The<br />
Southport School while<br />
Johnson goes to Brisbane<br />
State High School.<br />
Both players tasted first<br />
grade as 16-year-olds<br />
last season, while another<br />
teenager on the<br />
rookie list, 18-year-old<br />
leg-spinner Cameron<br />
Boyce, was a first grade<br />
regular for Toombul last<br />
summer, taking 23 wickets.<br />
The rookie list also contains<br />
University of<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> left-arm<br />
paceman Scott Walter,<br />
the Bob Spence trophy<br />
winner as the most improved<br />
Under-21 player<br />
in the State, and South<br />
Brisbane’s Australian Under-19<br />
World Youth Cup<br />
wicket-keeper Dom<br />
O’Brien.<br />
Norths batsman Wade<br />
Townsend and<br />
Beenleigh/Logan paceman<br />
Worrin Williams return<br />
for a second year as<br />
rookie contracted players.
QUEENSLAND CRICKET<br />
TOP HONOUR FOR MAROON GROWN GREAT<br />
14<br />
The recognition keeps on<br />
coming for brilliant<br />
opener Matthew Hayden<br />
after the big left-hander<br />
from Kingaroy was made<br />
an official ‘<strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Great’ early last month.<br />
Premier Anna Bligh<br />
launched <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Week by naming five of<br />
the State’s high achieving<br />
individuals to join a<br />
growing list of people<br />
and groups who have<br />
made enormous contributions<br />
to their home region.<br />
Hayden, regarded as<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong>’ s finest<br />
home grown batsman, is<br />
only the second cricketer<br />
to be acknowledged in<br />
this fashion, with the<br />
late Bill Brown honoured<br />
in 2005.<br />
All <strong>Queensland</strong> Greats<br />
are recognized with a<br />
special plaque which is<br />
on public display at the<br />
Roma Street Parklands.<br />
Matthew Hayden...recognised again for his greatness.<br />
Hayden was unable to<br />
attend the plaque unveiling<br />
ceremony due to his<br />
West Indies tour commitments<br />
but was represented<br />
by his mother<br />
and father, Moya and<br />
Laurie, wife Kellie and<br />
children Grace, Joshua<br />
and Thomas.<br />
Hayden sent a message<br />
that congratulated the<br />
other award winners and<br />
highlighted his pleasure<br />
at the honour.<br />
Laurie Hayden said his<br />
son had reaped the<br />
benefits from hard work<br />
and determination. "He<br />
told me recently that<br />
dreams will only remain<br />
dreams unless you are<br />
prepared to work hard to<br />
realise them,'' he told<br />
the ceremony.<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Cricket</strong> Chief<br />
Executive Officer Graham<br />
Dixon said Hayden<br />
was a worth recipient of<br />
the honour. “Matthew<br />
has been, and will continue<br />
to be, a proud<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong>er and we<br />
are delighted for his success,”<br />
Dixon said.<br />
Since the awards began,<br />
a total of 43 <strong>Queensland</strong>ers<br />
have been<br />
named <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Greats.<br />
The Kingaroy-born Hayden,<br />
who made his<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> debut in<br />
1991, debuted for Australia<br />
in 1994 and has<br />
gone on to be celebrated<br />
as one of the world's<br />
greatest cricketers.<br />
He has now played 94<br />
Test matches for Australia<br />
and averages 53.51<br />
runs per innings, while is<br />
a master in the one-day<br />
form of the game as<br />
well, averaging 44.10 for<br />
Australia when anything<br />
over 35 is considered<br />
good and an average<br />
over 40 ‘great’.<br />
His 380 not out against<br />
Zimbabwe in October<br />
2003 is the second highest<br />
Test score of alltime,<br />
and he scored three centuries<br />
in Australia’s 2-1<br />
Test series win over India<br />
in early 2008.<br />
He has also been actively<br />
involved in fundraising<br />
for breast cancer<br />
research and children's<br />
hospitals and is heavily<br />
involved in the cricket<br />
aspect of the Macquarie<br />
Sports Program which<br />
does clinics for disadvantaged<br />
kids.<br />
Hayden’s recent awards<br />
include the Australian<br />
and World One Day<br />
Player of the Year gongs,<br />
and is the reigning<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> Sports Star<br />
of the Year. Indigenous<br />
leaders Pearl Duncan<br />
and Dr Thancoupie Gloria<br />
Fletcher, Foodbank<br />
director and former Alderman<br />
Ian Brusasco,<br />
and Griffith University<br />
Professor Ross <strong>Home</strong>l<br />
were added to the list of<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> Greats in<br />
2008 along with Hayden.
IN THE COMMUNITY 15<br />
BULLS BRING THE RAIN AND DOLLARS<br />
Reardo’s Rebels were (l-r) Mark Brawne, Justin Sternes, Delissa<br />
Kimmince, Ian Beil, Nathan Reardon, Joe Dawes, Alice Smith,<br />
Matthew Prain, Clayton Arnell, Brent Arnold and Paul Kruger.<br />
When you play a game<br />
of cricket for drought relief,<br />
the last thing you<br />
would think would happen<br />
is that it would be<br />
affected by rain.<br />
But as luck would have<br />
it, rain did decide to fall<br />
for the first time in three<br />
months out at Tara,<br />
300km west of Brisbane,<br />
causing a bit of grief for<br />
the XXXX GOLD <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Bulls in their<br />
Twenty20 match with local<br />
players.<br />
Being a resourceful<br />
bunch however,<br />
drizabones were donned<br />
and the game went<br />
ahead and a great time<br />
was had by all.<br />
The crowd were treated<br />
to some excellent batting<br />
from the Bulls stars<br />
including Nathan<br />
Reardon, Nick Kruger<br />
and Ben Cutting as well<br />
as Konica Minolta<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> Fire and<br />
Australian representative<br />
Delissa Kimmince, and<br />
QAS squad member Fran<br />
Whittaker.<br />
Former <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
quick Joe Dawes showed<br />
that he still has a few<br />
tricks up his sleeve with<br />
the ball and recently appointed<br />
QAS coach<br />
Justin Sternes turned<br />
back the clock, gracing<br />
"Phil Bougoure" Oval for<br />
the first time in 10<br />
years, lacking none of<br />
the skills he showed as a<br />
Tara premiership player.<br />
For the record, Reardo's<br />
Rebels got across the<br />
line, just pipping a fast<br />
finishing Kruger's Crusaders.<br />
However, the<br />
real winners on the day<br />
were the landholders of<br />
the Tara District for<br />
whom $2500 was raised,<br />
not to mention the beautiful<br />
rain.<br />
It was due reward for local<br />
cricket administrator<br />
Matthew Prain, who does<br />
a power of work for<br />
cricket and other sports<br />
in the region.<br />
Dalby Mayor Ray Brown and drought worker Graham Muller accept<br />
the $2500 cheque from Nathan Reardon and the QC crew,<br />
while (above) Ben Cutting lets one fly at Alice Smith.
BULLS IN THE COMMUNITY 16<br />
NINE GOOD<br />
REASONS TO<br />
GET INTO<br />
COMMUNITY<br />
SPIRIT<br />
Bulls players have been<br />
busy in the local community<br />
of late, joining the<br />
Channel Nine News crew<br />
and members of The Shak<br />
children’s program in regular<br />
school visits.<br />
Bruce Paige, Nitro, Heather Foord, Eco, Clinton Perren,<br />
Michael Ennis, Andy Bichel and Carbrook SS students.<br />
Andy Bichel and Clinton<br />
Perren joined in the visit to<br />
Carbrook State School,<br />
while Ryan Broad and Martin<br />
Love were impressed<br />
with Sandgate’s ecofriendly<br />
state school.<br />
The Bulls players and TV<br />
stars talk about their respective<br />
careers to the students,<br />
and in turn learn<br />
about what is happening in<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> schools as part<br />
of the excellent Channel<br />
Nine initiative.<br />
Heather Foord, Eco, Ryan Broad and Martin Love with students<br />
at Sandgate SS at their ‘farm’.<br />
Ryan Broad, Martin Love, Eco and Heather Foord talk to<br />
Sandgate senior students about their respective roles.<br />
Newsreader Heather Foord and Bulls player Ryan Broad<br />
speak to students about their eco-friendly school.
GRADE CRICKET 17<br />
BATTICCIOTTO WINS MEDAL, BULLS CONTRACT<br />
Classy left-handed batsman<br />
Glen Batticciotto<br />
(right) won the 2007-08<br />
Peter Burge Medal in his<br />
first season as Sandgate-Redcliffe<br />
captain.<br />
Batticciotto, 26, beat<br />
Wests all-rounder Geoff<br />
Paulsen by two votes for<br />
the best and fairest<br />
player in the XXXX GOLD<br />
Grade premiership.<br />
A prolific runscorer for<br />
the Gators in recent seasons,<br />
Batticciotto nonetheless<br />
said 2007-08<br />
was his best yet, scoring<br />
a club record 741 runs at<br />
67.36 and taking 18<br />
wickets at 20.67.<br />
His form earned him a<br />
debut with the QAS 2nd<br />
XI, scoring a half century<br />
against NSW before<br />
being run out. It also<br />
earned him a full playing<br />
contract with the <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Bull squad for<br />
2008-09.<br />
“It was definitely a more<br />
consistent season for<br />
me,” Batticciotto said.<br />
“In previous years I often<br />
had a bad patch. I<br />
was a lot calmer and<br />
prepared better mentally.<br />
I was just in good<br />
head space, which I<br />
think came with maturity.”<br />
He also worked harder<br />
than ever before in the<br />
off-season, which<br />
guarded against the injuries<br />
that hampered<br />
him at times in previous<br />
years.<br />
The high point of his<br />
season came against<br />
Souths, where he scored<br />
an unbeaten 141 and hit<br />
the winning runs in a big<br />
TOP VOTEGETTERS<br />
21: Glen Batticciotto (SR)<br />
19: Geoff Paulsen (WS)<br />
17: Lee Carseldine (V)<br />
16: Brad Ipson (GC)<br />
14: Luke Gleeson (GC)<br />
14: Paul Burman (U)<br />
13: Nick Kruger (V)<br />
13: Keiren Murphy (T)<br />
13: Aaron Nye (WS)<br />
13: Clinton Perren (NS)<br />
run chase. “It was a<br />
really hard fought game<br />
that went right down to<br />
the wire,” Batticciotto<br />
said. “It was getting<br />
dark and we needed<br />
eight runs off the last<br />
two overs and got<br />
there.”<br />
Batticciotto was the<br />
shining light in a tough<br />
season for the Gators,<br />
who have begun a rebuilding<br />
process with a<br />
heavy emphasis on<br />
youth.<br />
“We’ve got a lot of<br />
young players coming<br />
through the club at the<br />
moment. The club’s<br />
pretty much made up of<br />
young players, so there’s<br />
a lot to look forward to<br />
the future,” he said. “I<br />
like watching them grow<br />
as cricketers and we’ve<br />
seen quite a lot improve<br />
over this year alone.”<br />
Batticciotto was full of<br />
praise for club coach and<br />
former Bull Shane Jurgensen.<br />
“He’s done a great job,”<br />
Batticciotto said. “He’s<br />
done very well with the<br />
boys. A lot of ex-players<br />
and members have also<br />
come down and supported<br />
our teams during<br />
the year and that has<br />
given the club a lift as a<br />
whole.”<br />
Batticciotto was sitting<br />
well outside the top 10<br />
after seven rounds of<br />
votes had been counted,<br />
with Valley all-rounder<br />
Lee Carseldine leading<br />
on 17 votes. But the Gator<br />
stormed home with a<br />
string of top performances.<br />
“I was really<br />
happy with the way the<br />
season went, but I never<br />
really thought about the<br />
Peter Burge Medal until I<br />
was told I was in the<br />
running before I went<br />
overseas,” he said.<br />
In fact, Batticciotto was<br />
unable to collect the<br />
medal in person from<br />
Peter Burge’s son Hugh<br />
on presentation night as<br />
he was playing minor<br />
league cricket in England.<br />
He has been a<br />
regular visitor to the<br />
continent in Australian<br />
winters, and played<br />
alongside former England<br />
captain Nasser Hussain<br />
with the Essex 2nd<br />
XI in 2003.<br />
A more than competent<br />
soccer player, Batticciotto<br />
is a former Australian<br />
Under 19 player in a<br />
class of 2000 that also<br />
featured the likes of<br />
Mitchell Johnson, Shane<br />
Watson, Michael Clarke,<br />
and Chris Hartley.
KONICA MINOLTA QUEENSLAND FIRE 18<br />
PURVES GETS AWARD, WANTS TEAM SUCCESS<br />
Jodie Purves might have<br />
won the Konica Minolta<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> Fire Player<br />
of the Year Award for<br />
2007-08, but that’s not<br />
what she plays cricket<br />
for.<br />
Purves simply craves<br />
team success.<br />
“It’s nice to know I was<br />
able to help the team to<br />
win some games,” she<br />
said of the award win.<br />
“But the important thing<br />
is to make sure the team<br />
is going well. When it<br />
would really count would<br />
be to get it after you’ve<br />
won the national title.”<br />
The Fire finished last,<br />
yet was one win away<br />
from second place. They<br />
went into the last weekend<br />
of the WNCL season<br />
needing to win their<br />
double-header over<br />
lowly WA at the Gabba,<br />
only to crash to defeat in<br />
both games.<br />
“We started off well but<br />
we couldn’t put it together<br />
in the games that<br />
mattered most,” Purves<br />
said of the season.<br />
“Maybe we were thinking<br />
about the final before we<br />
won the games to get<br />
there. WA are always a<br />
team that is full of surprises<br />
and credit to<br />
them, they played very<br />
well.<br />
“The frustrating part is<br />
that you look at our side<br />
on paper and we are one<br />
of the better teams.”<br />
Purves, who turned 24 in<br />
June, was impressive<br />
with the gloves and the<br />
bat.<br />
She made 56 against<br />
NSW in Sydney in a<br />
close loss, then carried<br />
her bat for 85 not out<br />
when opening against<br />
Victoria at the Junction<br />
Oval and took four<br />
catches behind the wickets.<br />
She followed that up<br />
with a brisk 30 off 44<br />
balls, two catches and a<br />
stumping as the Fire<br />
beat Victoria twice in<br />
Melbourne for the first<br />
time ever.<br />
“The really frustrating<br />
thing was that we played<br />
so well to beat Victoria,<br />
and we were upbeat and<br />
confident after that,”<br />
Purves said. “We just<br />
have to find that consistency<br />
in our game.”<br />
Purves signed off the<br />
season with 32 off 48<br />
balls in the final game<br />
against WA.<br />
“I was pretty happy with<br />
how I stuck at it,” she<br />
said. “Every year you<br />
develop a bit more. I<br />
don’t just categorise myself<br />
as just a keeper, I<br />
see myself as a batterkeeper<br />
and that’s what I<br />
Jodie Purves shows a straight bat to the attack —<br />
she was the Fire’s best batter in 2007-08.<br />
want to be known as.<br />
“I always make sure I<br />
get just as much batting<br />
as everyone else at<br />
training so I don’t miss<br />
out.”<br />
The national selectors<br />
have obviously taken<br />
note. Purves broke her<br />
thumb when fielding at<br />
mid-wicket for Wests in<br />
a Grade game, having<br />
bowled her medium pacers<br />
to that point with the<br />
team short on bowlers.<br />
It ruled her out of a<br />
cherished Test match<br />
against England, but the<br />
selectors played her as a<br />
middle order batter in<br />
the ensuing Rose Bowl<br />
Series in New Zealand in<br />
March, and they were<br />
well rewarded.<br />
Her breezy 29 off 23<br />
balls set up victory in<br />
Game 1, then she compiled<br />
a gutsy 56 off 96<br />
Continued page 17
From page 16<br />
balls after coming in at<br />
5-57, before her run out<br />
sealed Australia’s fate in<br />
Game 2. Her 21 in Game<br />
3 was part of a 40-run<br />
partnership, while her<br />
unbeaten 16 off 15 balls<br />
in Game 4 was pivotal to<br />
Australian winning by six<br />
runs and staying alive in<br />
the series.<br />
She is hoping the selectors<br />
show the same faith<br />
when the women’s World<br />
Cup comes around next<br />
February, and has her<br />
sights firmly fixed on the<br />
mooted tour of England<br />
at the same time as the<br />
men challenge for the<br />
Ashes.<br />
“That would be a once in<br />
a lifetime opportunity,”<br />
she enthused.<br />
In typical fashion, she<br />
didn’t want to get ahead<br />
of herself, and said it<br />
was important to play<br />
well at club level, let<br />
alone with the Fire, to<br />
get the basics in place.<br />
Purves was just two<br />
votes off winning the<br />
Kath Smith Medal for the<br />
best player in Grade<br />
cricket as well last season,<br />
the three missed<br />
games from the broken<br />
thumb hurting her<br />
chances.<br />
“Those sorts of things<br />
are a bonus, and Jude<br />
Coleman very much deserved<br />
to win it,” Purves<br />
said. “I would like to win<br />
it one day - I’ve been<br />
bridesmaid a couple of<br />
times.”<br />
She was, however, the<br />
WOMEN’S CRICKET 19<br />
Jodie Purves is the nation’s No.1 keeper despite the broken<br />
thumb she sustained during the season.<br />
bride – literally speaking<br />
– when she married<br />
Glen Fields in April.<br />
A former Souths player,<br />
Fields has been a passionate<br />
supporter of<br />
Purves’ cricket, never<br />
missing a home game.<br />
This is the last time you<br />
will read about Jodie<br />
Purves, as she now uses<br />
her husband’s name. But<br />
the name Fields is sure<br />
to be prominent in<br />
women’s cricket for<br />
many seasons to come.<br />
NEW LOOK FIRE SQUAD<br />
A strong accent on youth is<br />
a feature of the Konica Minolta<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> Fire<br />
squad announced today for<br />
the 2008-09 Women’s National<br />
<strong>Cricket</strong> League season.<br />
Following the successful introduction<br />
of teenagers Delissa<br />
Kimmince and Jo-Ann<br />
Verrall over the past two<br />
years, three more promising<br />
youngsters have been<br />
brought in.<br />
All-rounders Selina Tainton,<br />
18, and Taija Davis, 17, are<br />
joined by 20-year-old top<br />
order bat Casey Riebelt,<br />
who was outstanding for<br />
the <strong>Queensland</strong> 2 nd XI at<br />
the <strong>Cricket</strong> Australia Cup<br />
carnival last summer.<br />
“We have a really nice<br />
blend of youth and experience<br />
in the squad,” said<br />
Fire coach Joanne Broadbent.<br />
Tainton captained the State<br />
Under 19 team to the national<br />
championships final<br />
against NSW last January in<br />
a tournament where she<br />
was <strong>Queensland</strong>’s leading<br />
wicket-taker and boasted<br />
the fourth highest batting<br />
average.<br />
Davis averaged 37.5 at the<br />
same titles and tasted top<br />
class action when included<br />
in the Fire side for their<br />
Twenty20 match against<br />
WA at the Gabba in January.<br />
Riebelt scored at a run<br />
a ball in the CA Cup tournament,<br />
getting <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
off to blazing starts in three<br />
of their four games and<br />
scoring one half century.<br />
The selectors have the capacity<br />
to add players who<br />
have impressed through the<br />
pre-season and club games<br />
before the Fire’s opening<br />
match in November. The<br />
captaincy is still to be announced<br />
after incumbent<br />
Bulow stepped down.<br />
The 2008-09 Fire squad is:<br />
Louise Broadfoot, Melissa<br />
Bulow, Jude Coleman, Taija<br />
Davis, Jodie Fields (nee<br />
Purves), Danielle Hollis, Delissa<br />
Kimmince, Kirsten<br />
Pike, Casey Riebelt, Selina<br />
Tainton, Jo-Ann Verrall.
SIR FRANK WORRELL TROPHY 20<br />
SYMONDS STARS IN CARIBBEAN TRIUMPH<br />
Australia absorbed multiple<br />
disruptions to win<br />
their recent Test series in<br />
the Caribbean 2-0.<br />
Andrew Symonds provided<br />
the consistency with<br />
the bat and Brett Lee and<br />
Stuart Clark with the ball<br />
as the visitors comfortably<br />
won the first and third<br />
Tests.<br />
The success was achieved<br />
despite the loss of Matthew<br />
Hayden on the eve<br />
of the series with an<br />
Achilles problem, and the<br />
retirement of Stuart<br />
LEADING RUNSCORERS<br />
Player Inns Runs HS Ave 100 50<br />
S Chanderpaul (WI) 6 442 118 147.33 2 3<br />
R Ponting (Aus) 6 323 158 53.83 1 1<br />
S Katich (Aus) 5 319 157 63.80 2 0<br />
R Sarwan (WI) 3 275 128 45.83 1 1<br />
A Symonds (Aus) 6 264 79 66.00 0 3<br />
P Jaques (Aus) 6 245 108 40.83 1 1<br />
MacGill in the second<br />
Test.<br />
Featherbed pitches made<br />
the job difficult for the<br />
1 st Test - Australia won by 95 runs<br />
bowlers, but all chipped<br />
in, with Mitchell Johnson’s<br />
4-41 in the first innings of<br />
the third Test a career<br />
best.<br />
LEADING WICKET-TAKERS<br />
Player Mat Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave 5 10<br />
B Lee (Aus) 3 427 18 5/59 8/110 23.72 1 0<br />
F Edwards (WI) 3 377 15 5/104 8/144 25.13 1 0<br />
S Clark (Aus) 3 251 13 5/32 8/91 19.30 1 0<br />
M Johnson (Aus) 3 347 10 4/41 5/113 34.70 0 0<br />
D Bravo (WI) 3 371 10 4/47 5/108 37.10 0 0<br />
J Taylor (WI) 2 238 8 3/46 5/128 29.75 0 0<br />
Fellow Bull Ashley Noffke<br />
carried the drinks as the<br />
visitors kept the same<br />
pace attack through the<br />
series.<br />
The Australians show off all their silverware<br />
from winning the Test series.<br />
Australia 431 (Ponting 158, Symonds 70no; Edwards 5-104)<br />
West Indies 312 (Chanderpaul 118, Morton 67; Clark 3-59, Lee 3-63)<br />
Australia 167 (Symonds 79; Bravo 4-47, Powell 3-36)<br />
West Indies 191 (Ramdin 36; Clark 5-32, MacGill 2-43)<br />
2 nd Test – Match drawn<br />
Australia 7-479 dec (Katich 113, Clarke 110, Lee 63no; Taylor 3-95)<br />
West Indies 352 (Chanderpaul 107no, Sarwan 65; Lee 5-59)<br />
Australia 6-244 dec (Jaques 76, Symonds 43no; Edwards 2-28)<br />
West Indies 5-266 (Sarwan 128, Chanderpaul 77no; Lee 3-51)<br />
3 rd Test – Australia won by 87 runs<br />
Australia 251 (Symonds 52; Taylor 3-46, Edwards 3-55)<br />
West Indies 216 (Chanderpaul 79no; Johnson 4-41, Lee 3-64)<br />
Australia 5-439 dec (Katich 157, Jaques 108; Benn 3-154)<br />
West Indies 387 (Marshall 85, Bravo 69; Clark 3-58, Casson 3-86)<br />
Andrew Symonds in full<br />
flight in Barbados.