Downs performs well at regional carnival

CRICKET: The Darling Downs and South West Queensland side completed a testing yet fruitful O’Dea Shield campaign in Ipswich at the weekend.

After going down by six wickets in the opening Twenty20 match to Wide Bay, the U21s team recovered to test the Gold Coast.

Chasing a total of 112 for victory, the Downs side required 12 runs from the final over, before ultimately falling short by a solitary run.

In their final match of the weekend, DDSWQ met South East Queensland in a one-day fixture and proved too strong for their opponents.

After SEQ posted a score of 189, strong innings from Pat Bourke (66) and Sam Neale (46*) got them over the line with five wickets in hand.

Team coach Tony Anderson said the team’s confidence grew as the competition went on, with the side unlucky to miss out on a top-two finish.

“Bowling-wise the honours were fairly shared around with two and three wicket hauls,” he said.

“The game we lost by a run probably cost us second place which is where we wanted to be, but it all came together as the weekend progressed.

“Pat Bourke usually bats in the middle order but he opened and played shots around the ground. He got us off to great start. The composure of Sam Neale to get us home was a standout as well.”

Anderson said one of the lessons learnt was the preparation and approach the Darling Downs needed to take moving forward for competitions like this.

“It has created some discussion about our region’s approach to going away to regional carnivals,” he said. “We have the talent we need to go deep into these tournaments. It’s an an area that we need to get our heads together to plan a pre-season and players on the paddock to prepare.

“Some (regions) are a game in advance and others are up to three games ahead in their local competitions.

“Our players are generally a little later starting, which can be one of many reasons. But a dedicated approach to having them ready on time will increase expectations of doing quite well in opens and U21s.”

Four players (Brandon Walker, Dan Anderson, Kane Bradford and Luke Neale) were selected from the DDSWQ team to represent the South Queensland U21s in the Schaeffer Shield as they look to make the Queensland Country team touring Auckland in December.