Future stars of cricket on show

FUTURE stars of the game were on show with the Far North Coast region hosting two of the longest-running cricket carnivals in the country.

Hundreds of kids played in the Lismore Under-12 cricket carnival and the LJ Hooker Under-13 Ballina cricket carnival this month.

The Far North Coast is a hub for junior carnivals in January with both having run for more than 30 years.

Plenty of cricketers have gone on to play first class and in the Australian test and one-day teams.

Test players Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Starc played at the Lismore carnival when they were kids.

It is believed to be the longest-running of its kind in the country.

About 36 teams from across NSW and Queensland took part in the carnivals this year.

Players from Ballina, Byron Bay, Casino, Lismore and Tweed districts made up the Far North Coast Thunder and Sixers teams.

Thunder were one of the top performing teams at the LJ Hooker Ballina under-13 cricket carnival.

They were unlucky not to play in the division one final having gone through the carnival undefeated, only missing out on quotients.

It played in the division two final against Brisbane North where they went down by four wickets after scoring 111 runs.

Coach Nathan Pollock said he was impressed with how the team performed on and off the pitch.

“They had a really good week and it’s great they get to challenge themselves against kids from outside the region,” Pollock said.

“We had a tie in our first game and that was probably the only reason we missed out on the final.

“That was against North Shore who are always really successful, so the boys should be really proud of their efforts.”

North Shore went on to win the carnival when it defeated Manly in the final.

Top performing players for Thunder included Oscar Skelly and Tom Hunt who scored half centuries at the carnival.

Hunt backed his effort up with another half century and a five wicket-haul in a match against the Brisbane Bears.

“Everyone in the team really contributed, we had a few injuries, the boys pushed on through that,” Pollock said.

“They were really respectful to all the other teams and umpires too, which was really pleasing.”

In the Lismore under-12 carnival, Parramatta Blue defeated Manly in the final.

Thunder also performed well there, topping its pool after three days of competition.