QUEENSLAND REP: CALL UP FOR DOWNS PLAYER
TOOWOOMBA cricketer Daley Martin is in for a busy start to 2014 after being selected for the Queensland Imparja team.
Martin will travel with the squad to Alice Springs next month when Queensland will look to defend its title at the National Indigenous Cricket Championships.
Martin plays with the Wests club in the TCI competition and is a successful graduate from the 2013 Western Rivers Cup competition.
The Western Rivers Cup was played in Toowoomba last March as part of an inaugural Indigenous Cricket Carnival.
The tournament, which has the backing of Queensland Cricket and the Australian government featured teams from Charleville, Cunnamulla, St George, Warwick, Mitchell and Toowoomba.
Martin was a member of the Maranoa Hurricanes who took out the Cup.
He also won the carnival player encouragement award.
This year’s SWIN Western Rivers Cup will be held at Newtown Park on Saturday, March 29.
The event is supported by the Police-Citizens Youth Club (PCYC) Indigenous Community Sport and Recreation Program that promotes and delivers sport and recreation initiatives to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across 38 Queensland communities
Martin was also selected in the SWIN Seamers Merit Team following last year’s Cup.
The 12-player squad includes his father Alan and brother Sheldon.
The Merit Team will play the Queensland Imparja side in a February 2 practice match at Brisbane Grammar School.
Daley will line up in the Merit Team before joining his Queensland team-mates on their Northern Territory trip.
South West Indigenous Network chairperson Peter Jackson said Daley’s Queensland selection is a plus for the Western Rivers Cup.
“The competition acts as a pathway for indigenous players and Daley’s selection in the Queensland Imparja Team is a good example of how it can work,” Jackson said.
The competition acts as a possible pathway for indigenous players.
— Peter Jackson