The LJ Hooker League is a cricket competition on the NSW Far North Coast comprising teams from the Ballina, Casino, Lismore and Tweed District Cricket Associations.
The League was established in 1994/95 and superseded the top-grade of the Ballina, Casino and Lismore District Competitions.[1]
After 13 seasons, in 2007 the Tweed District Cricket Association asked to join the league to form a larger 16-team competition.[2] The Ballina clubs voted unanimously to join with the Tweed based clubs, but this was rejected by some Lismore-based teams. The league now comprises teams from Ballina, Casino, Lismore and Tweed districts since 2007/08.[3]
Through the Far North Coast Cricket Council (region) and North Coastal Zone (zone), the LJ Hooker League feeds into Country Cricket New South Wales.
Premiers
[edit]- 1994/95: Northern Districts[4]
- 1995/96: Ballina Bears[5]
- 1996/97: Marist Brothers[6]
- 1997/98: Southern Districts[7]
- 1998/99: Casino Cavaliers[8]
- 1999/00: Casino Cavaliers[9]
- 2000/01: Tintenbar-East Ballina[10]
- 2001/02: Alstonville[11]
- 2002/03: Tintenbar-East Ballina[12]
- 2003/04: Southern Districts[13]
- 2004/05: Southern Districts[14]
- 2005/06: Tintenbar-East Ballina[15]
- 2006/07: Southern Districts[16]
- 2007/08: Casino Cavaliers[17]
- 2008/09: Ballina Bears[18][19]
- 2009/10: Casino Cavaliers[20]
- 2010/11: Casino Cavaliers[21]
- 2011/12: Ballina Bears and Casino Cavaliers (joint premiers as final washed-out)[22][23]
- 2012/13: Cudgen[24]
- 2013/14: Ballina Bears[25]
- 2014/15: Cudgen[26]
- 2015/16: Cudgen[27][28]
- 2016/17: Alstonville[29]
- 2017/18: Cudgen
- 2018/19: Cudgen
- 2019/20: Cudgen[30]
- 2020/21: Cudgen
- 2021/22: Cudgen
- 2022/23: Goonellabah Workers
- 2023/24: Marist Brothers
Player of the Year
[edit]The following players have been named as Player of the Year:[31][32]
- 1994/95: Stuart Fielder (Marist Brothers)
- 1995/96: Bruce Jobson (Eastern Districts)
- 1996/97: Chris Matthews (Marist Brothers) and Shane Jacobs (Ballina Bears)
- 1997/98: Robert Parks (Brunswick-Byron), Stephen Ryan (Brunswick Byron) and Brett Crawford (Tintenbar-East Ballina)
- 1998/99: Steve Lockhart (Casino Cavaliers)
- 1999/00: Neil Hancock (Casino Cavaliers), Michael Holt(Northern Districts), Al Nowlan (Casino Cavaliers) and Scott Thompson (Brunswick Byron)
- 2000/01: Mark Bratti (Casino Cavaliers)
- 2001/02: Al Nowlan (Eastern Districts)
- 2002/03: Phil Alley (Tintenbar-East Ballina), Michael Nind (Southern Districts)
- 2003/04: Brett Crawford (Tintenbar-East Ballina)
- 2004/05: Bruce Jobson (Eastern Districts), Paul McLean (Southern Districts)
- 2005/06: Brett Crawford (Tintenbar-East Ballina)
- 2006/07: Paul McLean (Southern Districts)
- 2007/08: Brett Crawford (Tintenbar-East Ballina)[33]
- 2008/09: Jason Caught (Lismore Workers)
- 2009/10: Jack Boote (South Tweed)
- 2010/11: Sam Adams (Ballina Bears)
- 2011/12: Sam Adams (Ballina Bears)
- 2012/13: Sam Adams (Ballina Bears)
- 2013/14: Greg Potter Alstonville[34]
- 2014/15: Caleb Ziebell (Cudgen)
- 2015/16: Abe Crawford (Tintenbar-East Ballina)[35]
- 2016/17: Caleb Ziebell (Cudgen)
- 2017/18: Caleb Ziebell (Cudgen)
- 2018/19: Caleb Ziebell (Cudgen) and Will Chapples (Murwillumbah)[36]
- 2019/20: Jason Caught (Lismore Workers)[37]
- 2023/24: Kaleb Auld (Marist Brothers)
References
[edit]- ^ Attewell, Paul (12 March 2005). "20 years of Far North Coast LJ Hooker League". The Northern Star. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ Miller, Adrian (29 March 2007). "Tweed set to join cricket?s Hooker League". The Northern Star. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ Miller, Adrian (11 May 2007). "THE GREAT DIVIDE". The Northern Star. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ Craig, Mitchell (10 October 2015). "New cricket captains will be keen to make their mark". The Northern Star. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ "Ballina wins cricket final thriller". The Northern Star. 30 March 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ Spinks, Steve (10 March 2006). "Vintage crop ripens". The Northern Star. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ Spinks, Steve (25 March 2006). "Cloud over final". The Northern Star. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ Craig, Mitchell (31 March 2012). "The love of the game". The Northern Star. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ Craig, Mitchell (31 March 2012). "The love of the game". The Northern Star. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ Attewell, Paul (7 February 2014). "Batsman's Ballina century show's a ton of tenacity". The Northern Star. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ Spinks, Steve (25 March 2006). "Cloud over final". The Northern Star. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ Attewell, Paul (7 February 2014). "Batsman's Ballina century show's a ton of tenacity". The Northern Star. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ Spinks, Steve (25 March 2006). "Cloud over final". The Northern Star. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ Spinks, Steve (25 March 2006). "Cloud over final". The Northern Star. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ Attewell, Paul (7 February 2014). "Batsman's Ballina century show's a ton of tenacity". The Northern Star. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ Craig, Mitchell (10 October 2015). "New cricket captains will be keen to make their mark". The Northern Star. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ "Cricket final was an epic match". Ballina information blog. 19 March 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ "Ballina wins cricket final thriller". The Northern Star. 30 March 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ Sproule, Amanda (18 November 2009). "Victory stays with Bears captain". The Northern Star. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ Craig, Mitchell (31 March 2012). "The love of the game". The Northern Star. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ Craig, Mitchell (31 March 2012). "The love of the game". The Northern Star. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ Craig, Mitchell (24 March 2014). "Ballina Bears take out LJ Hooker League cricket premiership". The Northern Star. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ Craig, Mitchell (1 April 2017). "Weather for ducks?". The Northern Star. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ "Bears to face Cudgen in cricket final at Kingscliff". The Northern Star. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ Craig, Mitchell (24 March 2014). "Ballina Bears take out LJ Hooker League cricket premiership". The Northern Star. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ Craig, Mitchell (21 March 2016). "Cudgen the benchmark in FNC cricket after going back-to-back". The Northern Star. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ Craig, Mitchell (21 March 2016). "Cudgen the benchmark in FNC cricket after going back-to-back". The Northern Star. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ McKenzie, D (10 January 2017). "Pottsville down as Bears go on attack". Tweed Daily News. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ Craig, Mitchell (27 February 2018). "Season sinks for Soilers in Hooker League cricket". The Northern Star. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ "Cudgen cricketers enjoy a decade of dominance". Tweed Daily News. 28 March 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- ^ Craig, Mitchell (5 April 2013). "The Cricketer of the Year (for the third time running)". The Northern Star. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ "FNC LJ Hooker League - Former Cricketers of the Year". The Northern Star. 16 April 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ Spinks, Steve (29 March 2008). "Crawford wins fourth award". The Northern Star. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ Craig, Mitchell (16 April 2014). "Potter wins title on count-back". The Northern Star. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- ^ Craig, Mitchell (29 March 2016). "Bears trio make FNC cricket's Team of the Year". NewsMail. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- ^ Craig, Mitchell (20 April 2019). "Two Share FNC Player of the Year Honour; Caleb Ziebell and Will Chapples LJ Hooker League Gong". Tweed Daily News. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- ^ "39 wickets, 192 runs: Meet our cricketer of the year". The Northern Star. 22 March 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.