NOAH’S DREAM DEBUT
13-YEAR-OLD GOES TOE TO TOE WITH BELLARINE’S BEST
WHILE an injured toe soured Noah Brooks’ BPCA A1 debut with Ocean Grove, the 13year-old says it was “surreal” to make his debut.
In a rare feat, Brooks made his A-grade introduction before his 14th birthday after playing under-13 cricket for much of last season, as well as some one-day and C1 matches with Ocean Grove.
A rising star with the bat, Brooks enjoyed an afternoon in the field on day one of Ocean Grove’s clash with Inverleigh, before getting his turn with the willow at the weekend.
He finished with four runs from 27 deliveries batting at four, with most of those balls faced with his uncle Paul Jubber at the other end.
“Great fun (batting with Jubber), super fun, good experience,” Brooks said.
“It was a bit surreal when I heard my name in the line-up, I wasn’t really expecting it at all. I was expecting to play just in the twos, it was a bit of an unexpected call when I got put in the A-grade.
“Dan (Roddis) the captain just sort of said, ‘Have some fun, just enjoy it’.”
A knock on Brooks’ left big toe early in his innings made life a tad more difficult for the youngster.
But he said the opening 73run partnership between Shaun Fankhauser (47) and Jake Taylor (15) had helped set-up the seven-wicket win.
“It was good, we all contributed just as much, the opening partnership was good, it was strong,” Brooks said.
“That sort of held a good base for the rest of us to come in and just feel free.
“Yeah, (my toe) is pretty sore today (Sunday). It would’ve been another 15 balls (I batted on for).
“It didn’t actually hurt as much when the impact happened but it’s hurting a lot more today.”
Looking forward, Brooks is hoping to play some representative cricket.
“This season since I’m under-age, (my goal is to) probably just make the rep side … that’d be a pretty good achievement,” he said.
“Then even just the under-15 Craig Shield tournament would be pretty good for me.”
It was a bit surreal when I heard my name in the line-up, I wasn’t really expecting it at all.