Launching pad for hundreds of juniors at cricket carnivals

JUNIOR cricketers will get their first taste of representative carnivals when the Far North Coast hosts two of the longest-running junior tournaments in the country.

The week-long Lismore Workers Under-12 Cricket Carnival and Ballina LJ Hooker Under-13 Carnival will start on Monday, January 5.

The Lismore carnival was first played in 1984, while Ballina reached its 35-year milestone last year.

Far North Coast has been one of the top-performing regions at both carnivals in recent years, regularly competing against Sydney teams including Manly, North Shore and Parramatta.

The Lismore carnival is often the first experience of representative cricket for many juniors.

It features a mix of Twenty20 and longer formats, while the Ballina carnival is played in a 40-over format.

Ballina carnival coordinator Geoff Jacobs said 16 teams would take part this year.

“We like to keep it to 16 teams so everyone has the chance to play on the turf wickets,” Jacobs said.

“It makes it easier for finals, and we always have plenty of clubs wanting to be involved each year.

“A fair bit of planning goes into it, we’ll easily have about 200 kids playing at grounds across the region.”

Both carnivals carry strong prestige, with former and current test players including David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Josh Hazelwood and Mitchell Starc having played in them as juniors.

Clunes cricketer Matthew Phelps played in the first Lismore carnival before going on to represent NSW in first-class cricket.

He later returned to coach the Manly team his son played in.

Former Australian test opener Michael Slater also coached one of the Manly teams at the Ballina carnival.

Other players who went on to professional careers include Ben Cooper, Tom Cooper, Brendan Drew and Simon Milenko.

Barry and Berni Cooper have helped steer the Lismore carnival as coordinators in recent years.

“It just continues to grow, and it’s definitely been a starting point for a lot of talented players,” Barry Cooper said.

“They don’t all go on to play for Australia, but most people who keep playing the game have fond memories of playing at Lismore.”

The Lismore final will be held at Oakes Oval on Thursday.

Ballina will finish on Friday, with the main game played at Fripp Oval.