ISLANDER Zak Tribe is pursuing his hopes to follow younger brother Asa’s footsteps and land a professional county cricket contract in 2024 by dominating for Western Australian side Pinjarra Cricket Club.
Tribe, 22, is a regular of both Farmers Cricket Club and the Jersey national side, as well as a recent graduate of Nottingham Trent University.
After a successful 2023 with both Jersey and his university team, coupled with a minor counties trial with Oxfordshire, his goal of achieving a professional contract has taken him across the world to the warmer climes of Perth, Australia.
Representing Pinjarra A in the Peel League A grade, a top club-level competition, the former De La Salle student has starred with both bat and ball, notching up some impressive numbers.
Recently, Tribe has been competing for Peel Country in the Senior Men’s Country Week Competition, playing three group stage matches on his side’s route to the semi-finals.
Tribe scored 199 runs at an eye-watering average of 99.5 through the group stage, the highest of any batter, as well as taking six wickets averaged at 7.17, the lowest of any bowler.
These remarkable individual numbers included a personal highlight of 100 not out off just 82 balls in an eight-wicket victory in their second group match, his first century scored overseas.
“The season is going really well,” Tribe said cheerily.
“I’m being tested each week, whether it be the different conditions, the heat or my mental focus to score big runs.”
As well as being successful in this current competition, Tribe is also second in the league’s leading run scorers’ chart.
Pinjarra CC currently occupy second in the A Grade 50-Over Wyllie Cup, just one point off top spot, with Tribe having scored 384 runs at an average of 38.4, with a top score of 74.
The Jersey middle-order batter has admitted he has struggled internally with his conversion rate with the bat, something he feels he is improving in his time away.
“I feel like my game has lacked the ability to turn decent scores into massive scores more consistently,” he added.
“I have big goals for this year and if I want to achieve those, I know I need to be converting my opportunities to put big performances on the board more frequently.
“I have always believed that I have the ability to score runs against any bowling attack I come up against, it’s just having that mental focus to do it.
“This competition has been an amazing opportunity for me and I’m so pleased to have been able to perform well.
“Scoring my first hundred in the second match was particularly satisfying, especially considering the opposition had some Western Australia state level players bowling at me.
“It was around 40 degrees as well, which made it really tough.
“I had to dig deep mentally during that innings and I feel it was a real turning point psychologically for me.
“I’m hoping this breakthrough can really help me kick on in the second half of this season and perform to my full potential.”
Unfortunately, Tribe and his teammates fell in the semi-final of the Country Week competition, but the Caesarean enjoyed a highly successful week from a personal standpoint.
