Seamer, I am also from Queensland (Brisbane) and growing up I use to use the tapped tennis ball in playing cricket - it was not a case of not having the money for a cricket ball it was a case of not being able to use a cricket ball in the back yard or at school.

But certainly was playing club cricket at the same time and practicing in the nets with pads and a cricket ball.

The thing I liked about the tapped ball is that you where able to get swing from the ball, so it helped quite a bit with the moving ball in batting in club cricket. But its bounce was usually predictable and was alot harder to scare batsman (I am a pace bowler) so you had to use differences in speed and change up the length to get the wickets.

So I think there is a place for it - but it needs to go hand in hand with the real thing.