Stormers Claim Under 16 Youth Cup

After Cyclone Jasper decimated the 2023 Bulls Masters Youth Cup, it was considered a win to all teams that Cairns greeted the eight Regional Queensland zones with warm but relatively dry conditions.

Sunshine Coast Scorchers had marked themselves as the Country heavyweights after winning their first two Youth Cups, having rejoined the competition in 2021. However, the two-time defending champions were on the back foot after losing their first game to three-time champions Darling Downs Suns.

Far North Fusion enjoyed home field advantage with a dominant early win, chasing down Mackay/Whitsundays Nitros paltry total of 91 in just 21 overs.

While in pool B, the South East Queensland Stormers held on beat North Queensland Monsoons and Wide Bay Flames looked strong in their six wicket win chasing down Central Queensland Seamers 170.

Far North made their move in round two when they held off the heavily-fancied Suns who fell 35 runs short of their modest total of 198 at Cazalys Stadium. The Stormers moved to the top of pool B with a total destruction of the Wide Bay Flames who lost five wickets for no runs through the middle of their innings and were lucky to set the Stormers 93 runs in the end which was nowhere near enough.

Far North had done everything right but still had a massive task of beating the back-to-back champion Scorchers to claim top spot in their pool. The Scorchers batted first and half-centuries to Benjamin Blackwell and Lachlan Patterson set the Fusion a big run chase of 9/243. The Fusion were 5/87 and in big trouble but Reece Johnston (77 off 77) Owen Macpherson (18 off 24) and Tadhg McDavitt (26 off 46) gave them a fighting chance. The Fusion required three runs with one wicket in hand in the final over and plucky tail-ender Xavier Curtin hit the winning runs with three balls to spare!

Meanwhile South East Queensland booked their spot in the grand final with a 55 run win over the Seamers.

The Fusion batted first in the final but struggled to handle Stormers bowler Rylan McDonald who took four wickets for 23 runs. Once again they relied on the middle-order batting of Reece Johnston (28 off 47) and Archie Ferguson (38 off 63).

The Stormers were on track for the win until losing regular wickets through the middle overs and with rain approaching, they looked to be in trouble as the covers came out and they were behind on DLS.

Had the rain not halted then the Fusion would have claimed their first ever Bulls Masters Youth Cup. The game would continue though and a partnership from Kaelan Reynolds and Zachary Hayward turned the game in the Stormers favour. However back to back wickets by Max Holt set up a grandstand finish. Rylan McDonald was runout going for the winning run and all of a sudden the Fusion were one wicket away from the win and the Stormers needed one run. The win eventually was claimed by the Stormers.

The Matt Hayden Medal for player of the Youth Cup went to Darling Downs Suns all-rounder Oliver Lockwood who was the leading wicket-taker and scored the second most runs in the tournament.