Sport
28 September, 2026
Sides pad up for new season
LOCAL cricketers are gearing up for the start of a new season, with the first grade competition set to kick off in mid-October.
The Mareeba Bandits and Atherton Cricket Club have been getting back into the swing of things ahead of the new season, both training hard and reporting newfound belief within the squads.
Last year, Atherton finished the season in fourth position, while Mareeba rounded out the bottom of the table in seventh.
Despite the last-placed result, Bandits captain Brendan Falvo said his team was feeling fresh and their focus was on the season ahead.
“I’m looking forward to it. I feel like there’s just something brewing this year. We’ve all been saying it, that something’s brewing here right now,” he said.
“We’ve been training the house down the last couple weeks and the boys are bouncing off each other. We’ve probably been training the best that we’ve ever trained.
“We’ve just got to be able to match it on game day and have a bit of maturity when we bat and when we’ve got the ball.”
Falvo said he backed his side’s bowling abilities, so the focus early on in the season would be getting runs on the board.
“I know we can bowl any team out. It’s just more getting the runs behind us to beat the better teams that can both score runs and take wickets,” he said.
“Par is 160, so if we can get above that for the majority of the games, I would back ourselves to bowl teams out. But last year we were in the 120s, so we were about 40 short every game, really.”
A changing of the guard at the Mareeba club has seen Gary Toshach return as head coach, with international player Nadeem also set to return, bringing his keen bowling abilities with him.
Former player Remo Esposito has also taken over as president from the long-serving Irene Roy, with the club set to don a new kit this season.
“This year we’ve got brand new kits, so everyone looks the part now, and there is a good vibe about the season. We’ve got Remo as president and a good, close committee, with Irene stepping away last year,” Falvo said.
“She’s done a great job over the years and now Remo’s taken the reins and really brought a new vibe and a bit of new blood into it. We’re just feeling good about the season.”
Over in Atherton, youngster Charlie Lawrence has stepped into the captaincy role following veteran Tom Boorman’s decision to step down after the recent birth of his child.
Lawrence, who’s recently been playing cricket in England, said he was looking forward to getting into another season.
“I’m very excited for the new season, there’s genuine belief at the club that we can make some noise. The last few years we’ve been there and there abouts, so this year I’m excited to try and take that next step,” he said.
This season will be Lawrence’s first time officially captaining a first grade side.
“I’m very honoured to be captain. There’s so many guys at the club who could easily be skipper as well, so it’s very humbling,” he said.
Lawrence said he wanted to focus on building momentum early and he was excited to welcome English overseas player Will Sowray to the team.
“Early in the season, I think it’s all about building momentum and taking a few big scalps with us,” he said.
“If we have that belief from the first one or two months, we can build off that and have a real good crack come the end of the year.
“We also have an English overseas player coming to Atherton. His name is Will Sowray and he’s a left-arm fast bowler. He’s played with me while I’ve been in England and he cannot wait to get over and play on some harder decks.
“He’ll add some good depth to our bowling attack and maybe be the extra spark we need.”
Atherton will face off against Norths in the first round on Saturday 10 October, with the match set to begin from 12.30pm at Griffiths Park, Cairns.
Meanwhile, the Bandits will undergo a bye and play their first match on 17 October.
