Kade Povey was inducted into first class cricket when he was handed his black cap by Mike Hussey ahead of WA’s clash against Victoria in the Sheffield Shield.
The debutant was recognised for his outstanding talent at Willetton Cricket Club in WA Premier Cricket, and made a start to his Sheffield career yesterday.
SportFM spoke to Kade’s uncle, Ross Leipold, this morning.
“It’s a fantastic moment for Kade, he just worked really hard on his cricket,” he said.
“As a young fellow he was cricket mad, he drove his mum and dad mad dropping him off at the indoor centre all the time and he pretty much lived there so all his hard work is really starting to pay off and I just think he’s up for a really long first-class career.”
The all-rounder spent his early days at Gosnells Cricket Club before more recently developing his game at Willetton, now standing as a promising all-rounder.
“His junior coaches, Sean Southam and Craig Lattoms, they were fantastic coaches for Kade, they were really big on developing the all-round side of games.”
“Those areas that he wasn’t strong on, he continued to work on those, and now he’s the player he is now. You’ll see when he gets the chance to bat that he’s got good all-round game, he’s got all the shots.”
Povey donned the number 92 on his jumper, a tribute to his late great grandfather.
“That was the age my father Ken passed away and he is Kade’s great grandfather, so that was a little tribute Kade wanted to pay him which was great.”
Day one against Victoria yesterday saw the youngster bowl nine overs, bowling 0/34 and one maiden over.
“He’s a very confident young kid and while he would’ve been nervous yesterday, he certainly knuckled down.”
“I thought he bowled beautifully yesterday, certainly for somebody in their first game. I thought he bowled really good lines and I thought it was a really good day one.”
He’ll get his chance to showcase his skills at the batting crease at number seven, potentially later today.
“I’ve got no doubt in his technique and with the amount of shots he has in his armoury, he’ll handle things very well. I’m looking forward to watching him and I’m sure he’s looking forward to the challenge.”
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