Emerald’s Syphon Suckers showed they know more about wielding the bat than they do about irrigating cotton when they won the annual Alpha ICPA seven-a-side cricket competition on Saturday.
They beat last year’s bridesmaids, The Tomahawks, from Clermont, in a final umpired by legendary Queensland bowler, Jeff Thompson.
“Thommo” was a big attraction for the 40 or so children who came from all over the state for a coaching clinic he led, and he helped run the speed bowling competition as well.
Taking the fastest bowler from each of the 28 teams, they used a police radar speed gun and crowned Tomahawks player, Hutton Shan the winner.
Second was Josh Millerick from the Beer Goggles while Dan Bradford, representing the Sugar Daddies, was third.
With the tunes pumping and refreshments flowing, it was another memorable day, according to organiser Angie Bettridge, who said it ran at full capacity all day over seven pitches.
Some of the 28 teams got to christen a new rubberised pitch sourced from the UK that allows grass to grow through it.
Angie said it was a replacement for a concrete pitch in the showgrounds centre ring that was wearing out and had received the thumbs up from players.
As the Alpha ICPA branch’s main fundraiser for the year, Angie said they were hoping to raise sufficient funds to enable delegates for the rural education lobby group to attend its federal conference in Adelaide as well as the state conference in Charters Towers this year.