https://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/old-and-new-flying-as-magpies-cup-campaign-heads-n/3585638/ Cricket: A reborn Magpies Cricket Club is making its move. A completely different side compared to the one that went winless last season, the Magpies are coming and coming fast. Winning five of its seven games so far this season, the club is entrenched in DBCT Poole Cup top-three and two games clear of Brothers in the race for a finals spot. In a 73-run win against Pioneer Valley on the weekend, recruit Alec Townsend belted 84 not out in his first knock for the club following two years out of the game, while paceman Tyron Eyles took 4-30 to register his best figures in the black and white. In a seamless transition into Magpies' line-up, the former Caloundra talisman adds to a list including Mackay Cricket champion Brant Attard, new additions in former Souths' player Todd Dixon and Norths' Brenton Polzin and young guns the likes of Ben Zurvas, Isaac Borg and Jacob Werder, as the club builds the nucleus of a future championship side.
It took a while for him to get on the pitch, but Townsend made his presence felt for the talented young side. After a hard-fought 41 from teenage opening batsman Zurvas, Magpies lost three wickets in the space of 29 runs to be 4/100 when Townsend came to the wicket. An interrupted season courtesy of wisdom teeth surgery came to end as he struck 11 boundaries in a 122-run partnership with skipper Attard (70) to help steer the black and whites to a competitive 8-260. "I was definitely nervous coming into the team, and thought I had a bit to prove to my teammates,” Townsend said. "The team didn't know what I could do (and) I wasn't sure what I could do since I didn't know what Mackay cricket was like. "I hit a few out of the middle early and got the confidence going; the rest just fell into place.” With the nerves settling after his maiden knock, Townsend said he was excited for the team's prospects ahead of finals in March. "The young guys are awesome; really accepting and they're all great cricketers with great futures ahead of them,” Townsend said. "Brant's really skilled when it comes to his captaincy, and he's a brilliant batsman, so under his guidance I think we're going to go pretty well this year.” In other games, Norths had a 78 run win over Walkerston, and Brothers bowled Pioneer Valley out for 66, before cruising to a 11th over, seven-wicket win in reply. Magpies take on Souths Sharks this weekend.
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November 2019
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