Cricket: Gunnedah teen Carter McIlveen finds joy in work and cricket

But for Carter McIlveen, it was pretty easy.

The Gunnedah product spends his days working either on the family farm or on their neighbour's property, which are both situated about halfway between Gunnedah and Boggabri.

"Working for my parents or neighbours, you look forward to the weekends so you get to go work, or you look forward to school holidays so I can go away harvesting," McIlveen said.

"I really enjoy it."

Having grown up on the land, McIlveen's passion for the work was instilled by his parents. And, in much the same way, so was his love of cricket.

The teenager is a talented pace bowler who has played the game since he was about six, and has donned the light blue of South Tamworth since the age of 12.

"Dad used to play cricket, and I'd go and watch him and want to be like him," McIlveen said.

His father, Grant, and older brother, Kaleb, were both role models in work and cricket for McIlveen.

And since they lived far enough out of town to make going to training a hassle, the McIlveens came up with a pragmatic solution: to build nets on their property.

It was on this home wicket that McIlveen honed his bowling at every spare opportunity.

"It's convenient. Whenever I'm at home with half an hour or an hour to spare, I can go over and do my thing," he said.

The wiry young man likes to stay fit for cricket through bowling. And his commitment paid off in spades over the weekend, when he sent down the best spell of his life to produce the best figures of his life.

In dying light, with dark storm clouds overhead near the end of the day's play, McIlveen ripped through Bective East's top order to the tune of 5-5.

On two occasions did he have a chance at a hat-trick, and though neither came to fruition, he couldn't wipe the smile off his face after play.

"I really enjoyed that one," McIlveen said.

"I'd gotten a couple of four-fors before and hadn't really been able to crack the five. I was pretty happy with that."

In just his second full season of first grade, McIlveen has made himself a key fixture of Souths' bowling attack.

So much so that his captain, Chris Skilton, acknowledged the importance of his role in their 2023/24 campaign.

"He's definitely one of the bowlers that provides a bit of an X-factor for us," Skilton said.

"He can genuinely take wickets, he can come in and the ball hits the bat a bit harder than people expect at times. We're looking forward to what he can produce for us this year."

With eight wickets to his name from just two matches (and the chance to extend his five wicket haul this weekend), it seems McIlveen's impact is already being felt.

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