Great Southern Cricket Association inaugural T20 under-17 competition opener

The Great Southern Cricket Association hosted its inaugural T20 under-17 season opener in Katanning on Friday night.

Katanning finished 11-run winners over All Stars after posting 162 in front of a good crowd at Quartermaine Oval.

Katanning won the toss, elected to bat and took advantage as Toby Quartermaine and No. 4 Crawford Bolto combined superbly with a 96-run partnership after the early loss of Slade Green (0) and Austin Quartermaine (1 ).

Toby Quartermaine (40) whacked seven fours and one six before being trapped in front in the ninth over.

Trent Dennis took the wickets of Chace Campbell and Harry Harris for three and five runs respectively and despite a tail-end cameo from Thomas Camon (21), Katanning went for 3-33 to close out the innings.

Crawford Bolto finished unbeaten on 61 in a knock that included eight fours and three sixes.

Jonty Bolto (39) and Maxwell Wright (32) got All Stars off to a flyer, sharing in a 76-run opening stand off 69 balls before Jonty Bolto was caught from the bowling of Chace Campbell.

Katanning then tightened their grip, taking the next three wickets for just 21 runs.

When Trent Dennis was dismissed for 13, the task of chasing down the 163-run target fell to Leo Cunningham and Jared Ballard.

The pair needed 18 runs off the last two overs but they were dismissed in the 19th over.

Jared Ballard hit three fours and one six in his 25 runs and he was well supported by Wright (32) and Dennis (13).

Dennis was the pick of the bowlers for the All Stars, finishing with 4-5 while Lewis Anderson (2-9) was a standout for Katanning.

Great Southern Cricket Association president Jack Batchelor said he hoped the event would be a catalyst for a revival of GSCA participation.

“The first under-17s fixture last Friday night was a huge success,” he said.

“The competition has been in the pipeline for some time now.”

“I’m glad it’s finally kicked off.

“Under-17s cricket in the Great Southern is crucial for keeping young people in the game.

“There has been a huge gap between under-13s and A-grade cricket in the GSCA for over 10 years now, and the revival of the under-17s competition will go a long way in ensuring cricket doesn’t die out in the GSCA.

Batchelor said the inaugural game was a brilliant start to the competition.

“We did everything we could to make the 17s as exciting and inviting as possible to young players, with new full-coloured kits, playing with white balls under lights and live-streaming the games,” he said.

“I expect the competition to grow rapidly in the next few years with a huge cohort of under-13s players in the GSCA.

“The game itself on Friday was an absolute belter — it was great to see so many runs scored for both sides and it was actually a very good-quality game.”