Silver lining to scare may be flying starts
Swift Tigers’ exit boosts CTPL sides
TASMANIA’S Sheffield Shield players are an unexpected bonus for the nine CTPL teams heading into the opening round of the new CTPL season on Saturday after the Tigers were plucked out of Brisbane following a Civid-19 scare only hours before their Shield opener against Queensland at Ian Healy Oval on Tuesday.
The CTPL has seen 17 new players join the competition across the men’s and women’s first grade teams this summer.
Aside from the newly-contracted Tigers players, new recruits for season 2021-22 include Sydney Sixers contracted player, Ben Manenti (New Town), and former South Australian and Adelaide Strikers batsman, Cameron Valente (South Hobart-Sandy Bay).
Manenti, a 24-year-old allrounder, joined the Bucks for the “opportunity”.
“It was the chance to try something new – New South Wales was getting stale,” he said. “So I moved somewhere new for cricket and lifestyle.”
Manenti believes he still has plenty of first class cricket to give.
“I’d like to think so. There’s a lot that can happen in cricket – I could be out on my arse tomorrow or I could go for five more years – I’ll take it as it comes,” he said.
He looked at his options in the Hobart competition before settling on New Town.
“I came down here about four months ago and had a look at a few clubs and landed at New Town,” he said. “I’ve loved it since I moved down.”
The Bucks face Lindisfarne in the opening round of onedayers, and Manenti relishes the chance to come face-toface with some Tigers.
“We should have a lot of good cricketers out on the park this weekend for all the teams so hopefully the rain stays away and we can get some cricket under our belts,” he said.
Tasmanian Tigers women’s captain Sasha Moloney said the outlook for her Northern Raiders was positive.
“Hopefully we can make the finals,” Moloney said.
“I haven’t trained with our girls. They are all up in Launceston and on the NorthWest Coast but the reports are they are going well, training hard and expecting big things this season.”
Cricket Tasmania’s CEO, Dominic Baker, added: “The Wilson Homes CTPL is such a crucial part of our Tasmanian cricket pathway, and despite all the challenges that have faced our sport over the past couple of years, it’s fantastic to see this competition continuing to go from strength-to-strength.”