Merrion’s Australian fast bowling professional Matt Petrie selected Josh Little as this year’s winner when conducting several bowling clinics with the province’s most promising quick bowlers.
"Josh is a worthy winner of the Leinster Cricket Union’s ‘Find a Fast Bowler’ talent identification programme for this season. Josh is a good kid, has a steady head on his shoulders and should prove a formidable opponent in years to come. He reminds me of a young Mitchell Johnson except he has more control and can naturally swing the ball into the right-hander which seems to be a winning combination”.
Petrie, who again topped the Leinster bowing averages observed many bowlers during his 4th season in Ireland commenting ‘It is important Ireland keeps pushing these types of programmes to grow it’s stock of young fast bowlers. If Ireland is to be competitive on the world stage fast bowling is an area that is a must. To be successful you need a lot of skill and strength as well as a good technique. What I have seen in Leinster this season gives me hope with several young seam bowlers starting to make a name for themselves’.
Fact File:
Name: Josh Little
Age: 11
Club: Pembroke Cricket Club
Height: 5ft 3”
Bowling style: Left arm seam bowler
School: St Andrew’s College
Favourite Cricketer:
Ireland – Kevin O’Brien
World – James Anderson
Started playing:
First introduced to ‘Kwik Cricket’ at St Andrew’s College and then encouraged by a friend to join Pembroke Cricket Club.
Representative Honours:
South Leinster & Leinster U’11’s (v’s North Wales at Holyhead, August 2011)
Best Bowling: 3-13. South Leinster v’s North Leinster U’11’s at North Kildare CC, Aug 2011
Other sports played: Hockey, rugby and sailing.
Previous ‘Find a Fast Bowler’ winners in Leinster include:
2006 - Darren Nicol (Terenure)
2007 - Padraic Flanagan (YMCA)
2008 - Andrew Sheridan (North County)
2009 – David Delany (Clontarf)
2010 – Rory Anders (Phoenix)
2011 – Josh Little (Pembroke)