The inaugural Brisbane Premier League (BPL) has reached the business end of the competition with the Senior and U/19 finals to take place this Sunday 19 September at Redlands Tigers Cricket Club from 7:30am.
The tournament has showcased the best in local cricket talent with some stellar performances from players and teams throughout all matches.
“To see the BPL come to life has been so rewarding for all involved. We’ve been having so many exciting discussions with the players, parents, umpires and a heap of others involved and they’ve all said it’s been awesome! We are truly grateful to Ipswich Logan Cricket Club and Ipswich Grammar School for their support in providing facilities for us to be able to get the BPL up after the lockdown. There have been some outstanding performances in the past few weeks with many players showcasing their talents on the BPL stage,” says BPL co-founder Joel Hamilton.
So what led each of the final four teams in the two age groups to this point?
The U/19 Gold Coast Waveriders went through the round robin games undefeated and finished on top of the ladder with 34 points. They meet Bayside Pirates in the semis to retain their undefeated reputation.
There have also been some outstanding innings played across the U/19 competition with Southern Rockets big hitter Noah McFadyen scoring 258 runs and taking out the top spot on the leaderboard. In a very close second is Gold Coast Waveriders’ Arshvir Singh with 254 runs, in third Northern Kings’ Tobias Snell with 230 runs and rounding out the players to crack 200 runs is fellow Waverider Bailey Sewell with 201 runs.
Again showing how well-rounded the Waveriders team is, bowler Dale D’Souza is the only U/19 player to hit double digits for wickets taken in the round robin games. His impressive 13 makes him the leading wicket taker for his age group and will keep the Bayside Pirates on their toes as their semi-final clash approaches.
“It’s always a nice feeling to take wickets and win games. The Waveriders are a great bunch of guys with total commitment to the game. My 13 wickets in six games would not mean much had we not got into the semi-finals. The Waveriders are all set to play our best this Sunday,” says D’Souza.
In the Seniors competition, the Moreton Magic finished on top of the ladder with 27 points followed closely by the Darling Dingoes with 25 and Northern Kings with 20.
Last weekend, the Waveriders chased down 184 runs in 15 overs to earn themselves a bonus point win against the Kings to claim the fourth spot on the ladder by a 0.14 net run rate placing them just in front of the Coastal Marlins who both ended on 16 points.
Northern Kings star Josh Brown etched himself into the history books by becoming the first ever BPL player to score a century against the Darling Dingoes in the second week. The two teams find themselves up against each other again with the winner going through to the grand final. Can Brown emulate his performance from previous games to catapult the Kings to the final? Or will it be a Dingoes success story?
It will be survival of the fittest in the clash between the Kings and Dingoes semi-final as the two top run scorers of the competition aim to repeat previous performances. Both scored over 200 with Brown taking the top spot with 243 runs and the Dingoes’ Sam Truloff scoring just 10 less with 233.
And while top wicket taker of the Seniors tournament, Western Power’s Donal Whyte won’t be able to add to his already 14 wickets, the Magic’s Tom Nicholson may be able to when he faces off against the Waveriders. Nicholson finished equal second with the Marlins’ Adam Somerfield each taking 10 wickets.
“It’s such an honour to be the first centurion in this groundbreaking competition. It has been so much fun to play in so far and I’m looking forward to playing the Dingoes on the weekend and hopefully repeating my performance from our first encounter. Overall, I’m feeling very good going into the finals; the ball seems to be finding the middle of the bat more often than not!” said Brown.
While the players focus on their game, crowds who attend will find themselves experiencing a day at the cricket that looks very different to club games. The festival-like environment will be filled with food and beverage options, sponsor activations, face painting, a balloon artist, a magician, stilt walkers and bubble artists to keep everyone entertained.
Plus, there will be flamethrowers and fireworks for sixes and wickets! Then from 5 – 7pm musician Chris Sheehy will perform live to celebrate the end of the first BPL final.
“This is a history-making moment for amateur cricket and we can’t wait to see all the families, wives, girlfriends, friends and grandparents at Redlands Tigers Cricket Club to cheer on their loved ones,” said Hamilton.
Thanks to the broadcast partnership with Kayo, fans across Australia will be able to stream all Seniors games on Kayo Freebies. Access to Kayo Freebies can be made by simply downloading the Kayo Sports app or visiting kayosports.com.au/freebies and registering for a Freebies account. Kayo Freebies are free, and no credit card details are required to register and start streaming.
Seniors on Peter Burge Oval
7:30am – 10:30am Dingoes vs Kings
10:45am – 1:45pm Magic vs Waveriders
2:00pm – 5:00pm FINAL
U/19 on Fred Kratzmann Oval
8:00am – 11:00am Dingoes vs Kings
11:00am – 2:00pm Waveriders vs Pirates
2:00pm – 5:00pm FINAL
