Five senior Magpies named in NQ U18 side
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The future of Mackay Cricket is bright if the performance of the U18 representative side is any indication.
Five players – all Magpies – were named to the North Queensland side following a perfect two from two showing by Mackay Whitsunday in the Northern Alliance U18 Championships at the weekend.
The hosts finished second to Central Queensland in the overall standings, after both sides notched wins over North Queensland and Far North Queensland during the rain-affected championships at Harrup Park.
Mackay Whitsundays opened their account with a thrilling final-over win over North Queensland in a day-night 40-over match on Saturday, before easily accounting for Far North Queensland on Sunday.
Prior rain forced play on Friday to be cancelled, meaning the tournament-deciding game between Central Queensland and Mackay did not go ahead.
“It was a pretty good performance overall in the end, though unfortunately due to the points system we lost (to Central Queensland) by a point,” coach Luke Kennedy said.
“Unfortunately due to all the recent rain the fields weren’t ready (by Friday). But credit to the ground staff at Harrup Park to be able to get the fields up for a couple of games.”
First Grade Magpies players Luke Pietzner, Ben Zurvas, Isaac Borg, Jaxn Sign and Andrew Borg were all rewarded for standout showings with selection in the NQ side.
“To get five lads in the North Queensland side was good to see,” Kennedy said.
“Those Magpies boys have been playing First Grade cricket for a few seasons now and are really growing their game, which is good to see.”
Sign smashed FNQ for 106 off 122 balls in Sunday’s big win; well-accompanied by Pietzner (54 off 84).
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Pietzner was the pick of the bowlers against NQ on Saturday, finishing with figures of 4/22 as the hosts chased down 159 with just 11 balls to spare.
“It was a good team performance overall,” Kennedy said.
“It’s great to see Mackay Whitsundays showing the talent we have in the region.”
Kennedy said the immediate future of the North Queensland versus South Queensland clash was still undecided due to recent coronavirus concerns in the state’s southeast.
“It’s a bit up in the air at the moment with everything that’s going on, but they’re hoping to have it played by the end of the season at some stage, somewhere in Queensland,” he said.
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