Photo Credit: Queensland Cricket
With the backing of the Queensland Cricket Foundation, Hall of Famer Jodie Purves has delivered an early Christmas gift to a talented Monto teenager.
Purves, who played four Tests, 180 List A matches (with 67 ODIs) and 102 T20 games (featuring 37 T20Is) in her career, has awarded the Jodie Purves Young Cricketer Development Scholarship that supports rural and regional female cricketers since 2014 .
With the backing of the Queensland Cricket Foundation, the 11th recipient of the $2500 scholarship is Monto’s Tarah Staines, currently playing for the Queensland Under-19 team in the Australian Championships in Brisbane.
Staines played her junior cricket in Bundaberg and has been a regular in the Sunshine Coast Scorchers team in the Katherine Raymont Shield in the KFC Queensland Premier Cricket competition.
A hard-hitting top-order bat and off-spinner, Staines is also talented softballer.
She was the Queensland Country Women’s Cricket Player of the Year last year after playing in the Australian Country championships, has represented the Queensland under-19s for the past three seasons, as well as making the Queensland Open Schools team.
Purves congratulated Staines on her efforts and highlighted the importance of her achievements as a regional player.
“It is a big team effort to achieve your dreams when you are from the country, and you and your parents Karen and Rob have no doubt sacrificed a lot to take advantage of the opportunities that have been offered,’’ she said.
“Thanks to the wonderful support of the Queensland Cricket Foundation, I am delighted to present you with the 11th Young Cricket Development Scholarship and hope it enables you to continue to realise your goals on and off the field.”
Purves, the former Queensland and Australian women’s cricket captain, was last month added to the QSport Hall of Fame at a gala dinner where her sporting feats were celebrated along with a host of other prominent Queensland athletes.
The Toowoomba product, who registered 99 one day and 58 T20 games for her State, was the first Queensland woman to captain Australia when she took over from Karen Rolton in 2009.
Purves courageously fought back from career-threatening hamstring injuries to lead Australia to twin World Cup wins.
She took Australia to a second successive ICC Women’s World Twenty20 title in 2012 in Sri Lanka and then led her team to the ICC Women’s World Cup triumph in India less than six months later in February 2013.
The scholarship, which covers cricket and educational expenses, has been backed by funding via a $3000 donation to the Queensland Cricket Foundation from the Brisbane Airport Corporation.
The Queensland Cricket Foundation exists to fundraise and invest in activity that makes cricket more accessible.
The Jodie Purves Young Cricketer Development Scholarship aligns to the Foundations second pillar of its key aims, to support Female, Multicultural and All-Inclusive Cricket programs.
In 2023, the Queensland Cricket Foundation has raised funds from the annual Summer of Cricket Lunch, Corporate Sponsorship Donations, Bullsmasters Golf Day and Allan Border Field Picket Sales.
Previous Jodie Purves Young Cricketer Development Scholarship holders include current WBBL Brisbane Heat and Queensland Fire players Charli Knott, Lucy Hamilton and Bonnie Berry as well as Ruth Johnston (Qld & Hobart), Josie Dooley (SA & Renegades) and Amy Hunter (ACT).
2014/15 – Charli Knott (Mackay)
2015/16 – Josie Dooley (Brisbane)
2016/17 – Renee Irvine (Wondai)
2017/18 – Ruth Johnston (Toowoomba)
2018/19 – Stacy Rockliff (Townsville)
2019/20 – Bonnie Berry (Mackay)
2019/20 – Lucy Hamilton (Bundaberg)
2020/21 – Amy Hunter (Kairi – Atherton Tableland)
2021/22 – Grace Collins (Maryborough)
2022/23 – Mahli Rea (Boyne Island)
2023/24 – Tarah Staines (Monto)
