Sport
28 July, 2023
State indoor cricket title for Moreton teen
St. Columban’s College year 9 student Jack Southgate achieved back-to-back title wins for Queensland in national indoor cricket, having played in the recent carnival in Ipswich.
Still only 14 years old, Jack was part of the Queensland U16 team which went through this year’s carnival undefeated, after he was in Queensland’s U14 title-winning team in Melbourne last year.
Jack first played the sport in Caboolture at the age of 10, and recently joined the Caboolture Colts U19 team for the Super League competition which involves clubs in the Brisbane and Gold Coast area.
After playing for the Queensland U14s last year, Jack was chosen for the Australian U14 team following a player-of-the-match display in Queensland’s 89-83 grand final win over Western Australia.
This year was a little tricky for the St. Columban’s College scholar who had just turned 14 and narrowly missed out on being eligible for the U14s, meaning he had to trial for the U16s.
Jack’s mum Kelly said, “He was ecstatic (to be selected) and worked hard (at) training to make an impression on the coaches.
“Unfortunately halfway through the weeks leading up to the nationals, Jack broke his arm playing his beloved game of football, so the next few training sessions for cricket were done with a cast on his left arm.
“Luckily, he got his cast off four weeks before the nationals to get his strength back into his wrist.”
Queensland’s U16s began the carnival with a tense 95-93 win over South Australia, before thrashing Victoria 119-48.
A victory of 94 to negative-9 over Tasmania was followed by wins of 151-52, 122-73 and 126-105 against ACT, Western Australia and NSW, before Queensland and South Australia played out a thrilling tie of 109-all.
Queensland’s final three fixtures were all against Western Australia, with a 132-96 win followed by a 104-83 victory in the major semi-final.
The decider was as tight as last year’s, with the team in maroon winning this year’s grand final 92-86.
Jack has also played outdoor cricket for Wamuran-Stanley River for three years, and he was in an U14 grand final win last year before being in a triumphant U16 decider earlier this year.
Jack said he has found that the skills in indoor cricket were much faster than outdoor cricket, and that this helped when swapping back to the outdoor format.
Normally an opening batter in outdoor cricket, Jack has adopted a more defensive style of play in this format. By comparison, he has felt the need to score off nearly every ball in the indoor format.
While alternating between medium-pace and spin bowling in outdoor cricket, Jack has preferred the spin option in indoor cricket.
Jack said he loved the intense atmosphere when fielding in indoor cricket, as he normally fielded in the sweeping position which enabled him many opportunities to produce run-outs.
Next year, Jack will aim to be in a title win for Queensland for the third straight year, while reuniting with a number of players from last year’s U14 title.
As for the remainder of this year, Jack’s next goal is to make the Queensland U15 schoolboys outdoor team, with trials to take place in September.
