JUNIOR TAVERNERS
The ACT Branch of the Lord’s Taverners Australia has been running its Junior Taverner program since 1987. This program is for cricketers aged between 14 and 18 who show outstanding qualities of ability, sportsmanship and general attitude to the game, both on and off the field.
Many of the ACT’s Junior Taverners have gone on to play senior cricket with distinction. Previous winners have been:
1987 Stephen Frost
1988 Huntley Armstrong
1989 Michael Bevan (subsequently an Australian team member)
1990 Meredith Byron
1991 Sean Godwin
1992 Shane King
1993 Mark Higgs (went on to play for South Australia)
1994 Peta Simotas and Jesse Edwards
1995 Libby Craft and Michael Dawn (PM’s XI; Canberra Comets)
1996 Jenny Austin and Simon McPhillips
1997 Peta Simotas and Duncan Brede (PM’s XI; Canberra Comets; VIC 2nd XI)
1998 Adelaide Jones and Ryan Bulger (PM’s XI; ATSIC XI; Canberra Comets; SA XI)
1999 Kris Britt (Women’s Australian squad) and David Dawson (2003 TAS Rookie Contract – Tasmanian senior squad)
2000 Genevieve O’Keefe and Sven Holcombe (Canberra Comets)
2001 Hannah Stanley and Dan Pascoe
2002 Amy Jason-Jones and Sam Gaskin.
2003 Claire Currie and John Rogers (TAS 2nd XI)
2004 Adam Ritchard (PM’s XI) and Caitlin Rawstron
2005 Adam Tett and Melanie Flett.
2006 Ashton May (PM’s XI) and Rebecca McRae
2007 Jason Behrendorff (PM’s XI) , Emilee Preston (Australian Shooting Stars under 21) and Kirsten Burrowes
2008 Jason Floros (Queensland U23) and Nisha Nangrani
2009 Aaron Ayre and Rebecca Beath 2010 Dean Solway and Pip Taylor
Since 1996, the ACT awards have been known as the Graham Wilkinson memorial Junior Taverners, in honour of our foundation President, Graham Wilkinson. Muriel Wilkinson, Graham’s widow, has been donating a cheque to each Junior Taverner. The other part of the award is a cricket kit donated by A G Thompson, makers of Kookaburra equipment.
The 2009 Junior Taverners received their awards during the Lord’s Taverners Annual Dinner, held at The Boathouse Restaurant, early in September 2009. Their financial awards were donated by Muriel Wilkinson; cricket kits by Kookaburra and presented by the guest speaker, Sir Richard Hadlee.
2010 Junior Taverners:
Dean Solway: Dean is a right hand top order bat. He was an integral member of the ACT under-17 side which came third at the Cricket Australia under-17 National Championships in January this year in Adelaide. Dean top scored for the ACT with 118 in their victory against NSW. He is a member of Queanbeyan Cricket Club and played first grade for them in the 2009/10 season in which they won both the one day and two day competitions.
Pip Taylor: Pip is a talented all rounder who stood out at the national under-15 and under-17 carnivals as well as at the NSW country championships. She was selected in the Australian under-15 honours squad and was the leading wicket keeper two years in a row at the national under-15 carnival. Playing for the ACT last season in Brisbane, she scored 163 runs at an average of 27.2 and captured 9 dismissals as wicket keeper resulting in Pip been the leading keeper for the national under-15 carnival 2 years in a row across the entire competition.