Luck of the Irish
The Mariners have announced Irish-born batter Luke Horgan to bolster their line-up as they attempt to build further on last season's success, when they won a first round final and finished in the top four of WA's district cricket competition.
Horgan, 22, this week told Mandurah Times he had always wanted to test his skills on Australian wickets and was looking forward to joining the Mariners at Lark Hill when the season starts in October.
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'A few of my mates have been over to Perth to play cricket and have some great stories and have said how much fun it is,' he said.
'Once I came over to the east coast for a few weeks for the Christmas and New Year period in 2016-17 on a family holiday, but I have never been to Perth.
'Everyone keeps saying how Perth has the best beaches in the world, so excited for that.
'I've heard the summers are hot, so I've been told to stack up on factor 50 and watch out for the heat.'
The right-handed Horgan hopes to slot in anywhere in the top order for the Mariners, having opened for his university team and batted No.5 for his current club Dorridge in the Birmingham and District Premier League.
He has just finished an economics degree in Nottingham and said it was a quick and easy decision to spend summer in Perth once Rockingham Mandurah had reached out.
'I have always wanted to come out for a season after finishing studies,' he said.
'I am looking forward to making new mates and playing cricket somewhere completely different to home will be a good challenge.
'Once my agent messaged about the interest from the Mariners, I was very keen to sign so it was a pretty smooth process.'
Horgan was a relatively late starter in cricket, having grown up in Cork, Ireland, where Gaelic football is king.
'I only started playing when I was 12 when I joined secondary school,' he said.
'I played a lot of rugby, football and hockey growing up and played Gaelic football during the winters at university.'
Being here at the same time as the England tour for what promises to be another compelling Ashes series of Test cricket is another bonus.
'Obviously being Irish I'm probably a bit more neutral than most of the English lads coming over, but I'll definitely be trying to watch as much of it as possible,' he said.
'I'm definitely going to go to the first test in Perth and will try get over to the last two in Melbourne and Sydney but the series could well be done by then.'
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