Michael Rees - runs and mateship
Wingham Cricket Club | August 02, 2023
Michael Rees opens the batting for Wingham Cricket Club in the McDonalds Mid North Coast Premier League.
Welcome Michael
Firstly, what year you were born and where?
I was born in Liverpool Hospital, Sydney in 1993
What was your most memorable moment in junior cricket?
All the junior representative weekends away with dad were great and playing and developing great friendships. Individually I took 8 for 2 off 6.3 overs in a local derby representative game which was great or maybe my first hundred.
Who is the fastest bowler you’ve played against?
I’ve been lucky (or unlucky) to play against some pretty fast guys. Gurinder Sandhu was awkward but my older brother Dave I’d say would be the quickest. On a damp synthetic wicket at the local high school nets bowling no balls by a metre, it felt like he was bowling 200kmph. A couple of local blokes might back that story up
Who is the best spinner you’ve played against?
When I was playing a season in England we had a guy named Derek Chapman who was in the mid 80 year old range and was still playing first grade and cleaning teams up. Another one is a local guy, Joe Willman, awkward to play but he was on my team which was good.
Who was the best batsman you played against?
Kurtis Patterson was classy against us one day but I’ve played against Henry Nicholls a few times who is the current NZ number 5 and he was on another level.
Tell us briefly about your cricketing journey? Where you’ve played, clubs you’ve played and greatest sporting achievement.
I started when I was around 10 or 11 just to be with mates on the weekend for Wingham CC, played with them all through juniors and backed up in the afternoon for seniors as well. Representative cricket was on Sundays so it was cricket all weekend and I really enjoyed it growing up.
I played my first 1st grade game around 13 or 14 and I’ve been lucky enough to do a few tours to NZ with some northern NSW teams and Emu Teams which was great fun.
Playing a season in England when I was 18 was amazing. I’d say the England season would be one of my biggest achievements, 988 runs in 14 games and 30 wickets as well as my first double hundred.
Two others include getting five wickets and a hundred in the same one day game and scoring 143 for Western Suburbs in the Maitland first grade grand final to help the boys to their first win in some time.
Michael on his way to match winning 143 to help Western Suburbs win the grand final
Which singer/band would you like to see perform live?
Garth Brooks or Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Who is your favourite actor?
Denzel Washington has to be up there.
What’s the one thing about you most people don’t know about?
I really enjoy trivia, any weird facts I’m all over
Who has been your funniest team mate?
Tom Irwin, the skipper and keeper from Maitland, Absolute Idiot but fantastic bloke
Who was your childhood hero?
Adam Gilchrist and Michael Hussey
Who are the two local cricket players you admire most in terms of skills and competitive spirit?
Mick Stinson- Curator, President and first grade player at 53 with 350 first grade games.
Dave Rees- my older brother. He was a very fast bowler but struggled to hold a bat. He would have made Chris Martin look like Bradman but now bats in the top order through sheer will to be better. Great bloke to have in the team.
What do you enjoy most about playing cricket?
Definitely the mateship with the guys in our team and the couple of beers we have together afterwards.
What has been your most memorable moment in cricket?
Personally my double hundred. As a team the premierships but overall the great mates I’ve made through the game
What’s the best win you’ve been involved with?
Probably the Maitland first grade grand final. We weren’t expected to win and had to chase 225 to win. A really good mate Azza and I took the other team apart to cruise to an easy win in the end. Pretty good night after too
What are the three things you’re looking forward to doing outside cricket?
Playing some golf, having a beer with mates when the pub reopens and spending some time with my partner Tegan and our Border Collie Archie.
