Mulgrave prepared to win the big dance
MULGRAVE Cricket Club is in touching distance of officially becoming the best Agrade side of the past 30 years of Cricket Far North competition.
The Edmonton-based club will get the chance to add to their benchmark status in a seventh consecutive two-day grand final from Saturday against Atherton.
But even if it doesn’t go their way, Mulgrave’s latest innovation will help them break records soon enough.
The rains have kept most clubs off the park in recent weeks but not Mulgrave, who have been taking advantage of their new state-of-the-art covered training facility (pictured above) at the Walker Road complex.
Toads first grade coach Marcus Mcgregor-Cassady said the facilities they enjoyed would help keep the club strong but said at the end of the day, the strong culture would be the key this weekend and into the future.
“I don’t think there’s too many clubs around Australia with facilities like this and the weeks that have been washed out we’ve been able to come in and have some good hit-outs,” he said.
“It doesn’t replicate games but we have tried everything we can to take match scenarios into our training and hopefully when other people have had the day off, we’ve been in here trying to knuckle down.
“It definitely helps but it all comes back to attitude.
“It’s all well and good having good facilities but if our attitude is poor and we’re not doing the right things it’s a waste.
“If we keep doing what we have been doing we should be in pretty good stead.”
Mulgrave’s professional attitude will face the ultimate test in a 400-over grand final battle against Atherton, where so little separates the two evenly-matched teams.
Mulgrave Cricket Club operations manager Garry Wilson said the work done by the club’s leaders was critical to keeping the club strong in all aspects.
“What our club creates with structure and size and numbers and social and everything like that creates a success,” he said.
“It rolls on, in that success brings players to the club, creates better facilities, so in all, we’re really happy with everything.
“The success starts from the bottom and works its way up.
“But I’m really proud of the boys that are at the top of the chain who do succeed and represent the rest of us.”
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