Emerging cricket star Craig Dean

Mangalore Today News Network

Dubai, Feb2: Godwin Pereira and his wife Macktilde Cristaline observed before anybody else did that their son Craig Dean was a born cricketer. As soon as they realized this, the couple encouraged young Dean to practice continuously at the cricket grounds in Jadhafs, Dubai.

The family moved to Australia in 2006 and settled down in Brisbane, after which Dean continued playing cricket. Today, he is a Grade XI student at Ferny Grove State High School, Australia and grabs every opportunity to hone his cricket skills. He can score runs at will and plays for several teams in Brisbane. In 2009 – 10, he scored 201 runs in 134 balls for Ferny Fireballs in the Under 15 competition and thereby broke the record set by James Hopes, the Australian cricketer. He also scored 541 runs in the season for a batting average of 108.2. Ferny Fireballs statistician Geoff Cowles said that this has never been achieved in the Ferny cricket club or in Brisbane North Zone, but admits that he will have to check the archives to confirm.

Australia has several cricket competitions for cricketers of all age groups; and Dean has scored several high scores while playing for the Ferny District Cricket Club. He also proved to be an excellent batsman while playing for the Valleys District Cricket Club of Brisbane in the T20 Inter State Tourney.