CRICKET Ipswich general manager Simon Emmerson hopes recent fencing damage at the Amberley fields can be fixed as soon as possible in the off-season.
However, he acknowledged a lot of other regions received more extensive damage than Ipswich’s cricket headquarters at the Ivor Marsden Memorial Park.
The main damage was fences being knocked over and debris scattered in floodwaters at the bottom section of Baxter Oval.
“We’ll work out what infrastructure repair processes are needed,” Emmerson said.
“The damage isn’t as significant as it looks so hopefully it won’t be too major a job and it gets taken care of pretty quickly.
“Other areas of the state have been much harder hit than Ipswich.”
While the recent floodwaters again rose onto the lower banks of the sporting complex, Emmerson was delighted Baxter Oval remained unscathed.
The venue has been rated highly after a massive off-season upgrade.
The six wicket blocks side by side were restored to a standard that allowed quality cricket to be played throughout the just completed Queensland Premier and Cricket Ipswich competitions.
“It’s sensational,” Emmerson said.
“It’s an absolute credit to the ground staff and Queensland Cricket that helped us.
“It finished the year rated the third best wicket in Brisbane Grade Cricket.
“Historically, we’ve been not just last but we’ve been daylight last in grade cricket.”
Emmerson praised regular groundsmen Mick Homburg, Kevin Howgega and Marty Tottle, who worked closely with representatives from Queensland Cricket in the off-season and during recent matches.
“It is so nice to have people turn up there and be proud of what we are able to do,” Emmerson said.
“It’s been tremendous.”
With new lighting being installed at the Amberley facility, Emmerson said everything was coming together perfectly.
“The Baxter Oval improvement has just been amazing,” he said.
“Everyone should be proud of their home and it’s lovely to be that. That’s a huge highlight.”
Emmerson said having his sons Noah and Jett involved in the Hornets program was personally satisfying.
Noah gained valuable captaincy experience early in the Queensland Premier Grade competition before being a consistent allrounder.
Jett contributed to the youth-laden Hornets Second Grade side that is gearing up for an exciting future.
“Many people probably seen this year as a rebuilding year but to have our first-grade men going into the semis and the evolution of our young blokes playing second grade, mainly of which I coached through [Lord] Taverners, I’m really proud,” Simon said.
A squad of 30 has just been finalised for next season’s Lord Taverners series after the latest trials.
New coach Marcus Hillier will continue overseeing the young cricketers preparing for the next major Ipswich Hornets representative opportunity.
