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GRADE CRICKET 17
BATTICCIOTTO WINS MEDAL, BULLS CONTRACT
Classy left-handed batsman
Glen Batticciotto
(right) won the 2007-08
Peter Burge Medal in his
first season as Sandgate-Redcliffe
captain.
Batticciotto, 26, beat
Wests all-rounder Geoff
Paulsen by two votes for
the best and fairest
player in the XXXX GOLD
Grade premiership.
A prolific runscorer for
the Gators in recent seasons,
Batticciotto nonetheless
said 2007-08
was his best yet, scoring
a club record 741 runs at
67.36 and taking 18
wickets at 20.67.
His form earned him a
debut with the QAS 2nd
XI, scoring a half century
against NSW before
being run out. It also
earned him a full playing
contract with the Queensland
Bull squad for
2008-09.
“It was definitely a more
consistent season for
me,” Batticciotto said.
“In previous years I often
had a bad patch. I
was a lot calmer and
prepared better mentally.
I was just in good
head space, which I
think came with maturity.”
He also worked harder
than ever before in the
off-season, which
guarded against the injuries
that hampered
him at times in previous
years.
The high point of his
season came against
Souths, where he scored
an unbeaten 141 and hit
the winning runs in a big
TOP VOTEGETTERS
21: Glen Batticciotto (SR)
19: Geoff Paulsen (WS)
17: Lee Carseldine (V)
16: Brad Ipson (GC)
14: Luke Gleeson (GC)
14: Paul Burman (U)
13: Nick Kruger (V)
13: Keiren Murphy (T)
13: Aaron Nye (WS)
13: Clinton Perren (NS)
run chase. “It was a
really hard fought game
that went right down to
the wire,” Batticciotto
said. “It was getting
dark and we needed
eight runs off the last
two overs and got
there.”
Batticciotto was the
shining light in a tough
season for the Gators,
who have begun a rebuilding
process with a
heavy emphasis on
youth.
“We’ve got a lot of
young players coming
through the club at the
moment. The club’s
pretty much made up of
young players, so there’s
a lot to look forward to
the future,” he said. “I
like watching them grow
as cricketers and we’ve
seen quite a lot improve
over this year alone.”
Batticciotto was full of
praise for club coach and
former Bull Shane Jurgensen.
“He’s done a great job,”
Batticciotto said. “He’s
done very well with the
boys. A lot of ex-players
and members have also
come down and supported
our teams during
the year and that has
given the club a lift as a
whole.”
Batticciotto was sitting
well outside the top 10
after seven rounds of
votes had been counted,
with Valley all-rounder
Lee Carseldine leading
on 17 votes. But the Gator
stormed home with a
string of top performances.
“I was really
happy with the way the
season went, but I never
really thought about the
Peter Burge Medal until I
was told I was in the
running before I went
overseas,” he said.
In fact, Batticciotto was
unable to collect the
medal in person from
Peter Burge’s son Hugh
on presentation night as
he was playing minor
league cricket in England.
He has been a
regular visitor to the
continent in Australian
winters, and played
alongside former England
captain Nasser Hussain
with the Essex 2nd
XI in 2003.
A more than competent
soccer player, Batticciotto
is a former Australian
Under 19 player in a
class of 2000 that also
featured the likes of
Mitchell Johnson, Shane
Watson, Michael Clarke,
and Chris Hartley.