Carnival to unearth talent

Mid West cricket administrators are hopeful a new junior cricket carnival will increase participation and competitiveness throughout the region.

Held over December 9 and 10 at GBSC Sports Park in Geraldton, junior cricketers from Carnarvon, Geraldton and the North Midlands will compete in the Mid West talent carnival, where players across all regions will be put into teams.

Once in a team, the players will play a series of matches, where they will be able to showcase the full range of their talents.

Mid West Cricket Board chairman Gerard Marquis said the new carnival would enhance strides made through the former Mid West-Gascoyne Cup competition.

“From past dealings and learnings from the West Australian Cricket Association at various camps and carnivals, we have come to the conclusion that a carnival where we can showcase the best players from our regions would then allow us to judge and spot the available talent to move on to our regional teams and the various coaching and playing pathways that the WACA have well established over the years,” he said.

There will be three divisions at the carnival — under-12s, 14s and 16s, named in honour of three decorated cricket administrators.

WACA Mid West regional manager Ryan Hosking said he believed the carnival would provide a great opportunity for players to play at a higher level of competition.

“I thought the concept would be a great opportunity to move away from inter-town competition and have a regional talent carnival where we specifically can make the teams quite even,” he said.

“We can place the players in high-pressure, intense situations where we can really come to see who the best players are in the region moving forward.”

Hosking said he had received positive feedback from all associations about the carnival.

“North Midlands Cricket Association, we have a few little things in their area coming up in the next couple of weeks, which makes it really positive for us to select a couple of players from out in that region,” he said.

“And Carnarvon are more than prepared for something like this — they’ve got a couple of high-quality people involved up there that are doing really good things to ensure their players are ready to go for this carnival.”