Albany and Districts Cricket Association’s Lincoln Joy earns Terry Waldron Medal in debut Country XI tour

WA’s Country XI side found a star of the future as Bremer Bay-based Albany and Districts Cricket Association all-rounder Lincoln Joy emerged as a stand-out performer during the Country Championships tour. Joy left an indelible mark on the travelling State side with key performances with bat and ball in WA’s Country Championships tour in Newcastle earlier this month. He was crowned the Terry Waldron medallist as WA’s best and fairest. In his debut Country XI tour, the 25-year-old showed his versatile talent after scoring 192 runs at an average of 24 and claiming eight wickets at 10.63 across the nine games. Joy celebrated his achievement of clinching the prestigious medal — named in honour of a familiar face — with tremendous pride. “It’s pretty surreal I know Tuck (Terry) well, we’re family friends, and to win something named after such a man as himself is pretty special,” Joy said. “I didn’t really expect it or thought a couple of other guys could have won it so it’s still sinking in, to be honest.” The star Royals all-rounder had to wait until the seventh game before he got a chance to roll the arm over, but insisted it helped his overall game. “I knew I was a good chance to bowl on the day I did because I faced a ball that turned about a metre and I turned to Tim (WA XI captain) and said, ‘I reckon this deck suits me’,” he said. “To take four-fer that day definitely boosted me with a couple of days to go and it was good to say that I could definitely hang with the best of the other States. “Once I got a few wickets and got my tail up it became a lot easier. “To finish off with a couple of wins was a really good reward for effort I thought.” Joy also played a key part in ADCA’s Boan Cup triumph finishing as the third leading run-scorer for the competition with 237 runs at 47.4, including three half-centuries. “It means a lot to me because we have lost two of these grand finals before so it was a weight off the shoulders,” he said. “It would have been nice to get runs in the final but it was good just to help the boys get there and continue my form from over east.” WA Country XI coach Shawn Gillies said Joy was a fantastic addition to the squad in his first tour with the side. “As with most first-time tourers, he was nervous but once he got away he was great,” Gillies said. “I’d say he wasn’t far away from being All Australian and was certainly one of the best performers. “I think moving forward, with the performances that he’s put on the board, it’s hard not to think about him having more of a role with the ball in the future, especially in the Premier T20s.”