Our ACT Indoor Open teams are Victoria bound ready for Indoor Cricket National Championships which will be held at Casey Stadium in Cranbourne.
The tournament gets underway on Saturday, 29 June and our ACT Rockets are hungry to claim back-to-back titles, which would be a fifth national title.
The Rockets, along with the ACT Under 22 Men’s and Women’s teams, will compete over the week-long championship event.
The Rockets welcome back two players. Brad Kwong returns following a serious knee injury that saw him sidelined last year along with Matt Latham, brother of New Zealand stalwart, Tom Latham.
The ACT Rockets Brock Winkler said it was great to have both men back in the team.
“Matt is a current New Zealand Indoor international, debuting in 2016, having played at the 2022 World Cup and in India for the NZ-Asia Cup last year.
“He last played for the Rockets in 2016 in Springvale and won the National Title with the Rockets in 2015.
“Brad has spent the past 12 months rehabbing to put himself in the best position to make a significant contribution to our charge this year, and we're excited to watch him play,” Brock said.
The team is in strong form with players heading to Nationals on the back of a strong season in the Canberra Indoor Premier League (CIPL). Tyler Hays, who debuted for the ACT Comets in the summer, taking out CIPL Player of the Season with a dominant margin.
Matthew Floros, reigning Alan Wilson Medalist (National Player of the Year), again captains the side.
“Our three other selected Australian players – Timmy Floros, Luke Ryan and Tyler Hays – will be key to our chances,” Brock said.
“We have incredible depth in our team, and we have full trust in whoever is on the court to execute their skills and do the job for us.
“We've been training three times a week, plus playing in CIPL and doing required gym work in our own time.
“We're aware of the threat that every other state poses us, and that they will be throwing everything at us as defending champions, so we haven't been complacent in our build-up – we're always looking to grow and improve.
“We feel we're in a great position this year, and we're excited for the challenge throughout the eight days.
“Head Coach, Billy Floros, Manager, Marie Hart, and Head of Strength and Conditioning, Kristen Bennett, have done everything they can for us, and the team has full confidence that we've prepared as best we can for the challenges ahead.”
While it sounds cliché the Rockets are fully aware that there will not be an easy game throughout Nationals.
“Victoria have some young players making the step up from Juniors but are always tough with their home crowd behind them,” Brock said.
“Queensland are perennial contenders and South Australia will be looking to carry their momentum from a huge year last year. Western Australia have a talented, young squad, with Clint Hinchliffe (former Stars BBL player) a key for them. Tasmania have added experience to their core group and will challenge every side.”
The 2024 Australian Open Championships commence Saturday, 29 June and continue through to 6 July.
From 7 to 13 July our junior teams will be in action – Under 18 boys and girls, Under 16 boys and Under 14 boys, also at Casey Stadium.
All games on Court 1 will be streamed to Facebook and YouTube.
View the full championships fixture and results via the Cricket Australia website.