Norths to lose UK imports but future still bright says skipper

North Kalgoorlie’s 2024-25 defence of the Eastern Goldfields Cricket Association’s A-grade premiership will be made without UK imports Adam Hickey and Jamie Dass, but captain-coach Trent Mais says they have capable replacements patiently waiting in the wings.

Norths claimed their first flag in five years by beating Great Boulder in last Saturday’s grand final, but Mais was gearing himself for life without either Englishman.

Hickey’s five innings was underpinned by a first-up 116 off 135 balls against Hannans in round 10 and 29 off 51 deliveries in the final.

Dass was the match-winner in the grand final with three wickets and an unbeaten 62 and claimed the Cranston Medal.

Norths head into next season chasing back-to-back flags for the first time since 2017-18/2018-19.

“They’ll hang around (until Good Friday) but are out the next day and we probably won’t see either of them for a while,” Mais said of the two imports.

“When you win a grand final, you become a clubman for life and hopefully they’ll never forget the weekend we’ve just had.

‘But they both have different goals on their radars (overseas) and won’t be playing (for Norths in 2024-25) I wouldn’t have thought.

“We’ll be angling for the juniors that we’ve rolled through who are nearly ready but not quite, although they’ve really helped us out (in senior ranks) during the course of the season.

“I think the club’s in a really good position over the next three or four years to really show off the local talent that we have coming through.”

Leading the crop is teenager Fletcher Edwards, whose handful of A-grade matches was complemented by a match-winning 104 in the under-17 grand final against Great Boulder.

Norths’ premiership success followed a four-win season in 2022-23 when the squad missed the finals.

They opened 2023-24 with wins in two of the opening three games before losing five in a row.

This included a round five defeat against last-placed Lake View when the side was routed for 85 in 20 overs.

But after round eight, they never lost another game, peeling off seven consecutive victories en route to the flag.