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last year
In The Cordon Cricket Podcast
In The Cordon Cricket Podcast
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
9 Likes
0 Followers



Insight into running the Melbourne Stars with GM - Blair Crouch

Running a BBL club is not an easy thing to do. There is so much involved with a club behind the scenes and in the day-to-day operations of a club. Blair Crouch does exactly that for the Melbourne Stars in the Weber WBBL and BBL competitions.
Blair talks us through the challenges of list management and salary cap management, as well as the impacts of various rule changes on the BBL. He also tells us what to expect from Glenn Maxwell and the Melbourne Stars in BBL13.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/1213/in-the-cordon-cricket-podcast/blog/1855/insight-into-running-the-melbourne-stars-with-gm-blair-crouch
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last year
In The Cordon Cricket Podcast
In The Cordon Cricket Podcast
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
9 Likes
0 Followers



Deandra Dottin is a female cricketer from Barbados and has been a force in the women's game for a number of years. She made her debut for the West Indies at only 17 years of age. She had to make the difficult choice between athletics and cricket at a young age. After playing for her country for many years, Deandra now plays on the T20 circuit. Deandra is fighting for her fellow female cricketers to receive better pay for the high-quality entertainment they provide.

Thanks to Macron Sports Hub Adelaide for sponsoring this episode of the podcast. Big shout out to Rory and the team at PodBooth for filming and editing the episode.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/1213/in-the-cordon-cricket-podcast/blog/1854/deandra-dottin-athletics-in-barbados-to-t20-powerhouse
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last year
Andre Burger
Andre Burger
Cricket Coach
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
8 Likes
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Hitting balls only in practice, while beneficial for honing technical batting skills, may not fully prepare a batter for performing under pressure. While technical skills are fundamental, they need to be complemented with mental, cognitive, and vision skills for a player to be well-rounded and successful in the dynamic and varied contexts of cricket.

1. Limited Adaptability: A player with excellent technical skills but lacking in cognitive and mental aspects may struggle to adapt to varying game conditions and situations.

2. Poor Decision-Making: Cricket involves quick decision-making, like choosing the right shot or ball, or making tactical field placements. Without strong cognitive skills, a player might repeatedly make poor choices, diminishing the effectiveness of their technical prowess.

3. Struggle Under Pressure: High-pressure situations are common in cricket, such as a close run chase or defending a low total. Players who have not developed mental toughness might falter in these scenarios, unable to perform to their technical potential.

4. Difficulty in Long Formats: In formats like Test cricket, mental endurance and focus are as important as technical skill. Players who haven’t developed these aspects might find it challenging to maintain concentration and consistency over prolonged periods.

5. Over-Reliance on Technique: There's a risk of becoming too mechanical or predictable. Opponents can easily strategize against a player who is technically sound but lacks the unpredictability that comes with strategic thinking and situational awareness.

6. Difficulty in Self-Improvement: Without cognitive and mental skills, players might find it hard to critically analyse their performance, learn from mistakes, and make necessary adjustments. This can hinder their growth and development as a cricketer.

7. Reduced Longevity in the Sport: Players who rely solely on technical skills might have a shorter peak period. As physical abilities decline with age, it’s often the mental and cognitive aspects that help experienced players maintain high-performance levels.

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last year
Mark Van Epen
Mark Van Epen
Gosford, NSW, Australia
15 Likes
0 Followers



Mark Van Epen – my best captain

The best captain I played under was Keith Stimson at Balmain.

He was captain of the 3rd grade team at around 50 years of age. He played many years of first grade as a successful left hand bat and captained the 1st grade team for a number of seasons leading them to the 1st grade premiership in 1967/68. His oozed experience on the field and in the dressing shed.

He was always calm and read the game well, knowing when to attack, when to defend and when to try something different. He had the respect of the players through example and knew how to get the best out of his players.

Keith’s two best leadership qualities were reading the situation of the game and man management.

One specific example of his leadership was in a game against Uni of NSW in which we had 6 overs to get 55 runs to win outright. I wasn’t confident we could do it, but Keith was always positive and looking for a way to win.

I was an opening batsman and Keith batted 6. Keith said, “Mark you and I are opening, and we are going to get these runs”. After 5 and half overs we got the runs at 0-56, I was 5 not out and Keith was 51 not out.

Keith was a life member of the Balmain District Cricket Club and the new Sydney Cricket Club. He passed away in 2018, aged 92.

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last year
Queensland Country Cricket
Queensland Country Cricket
Townsville, Australia
0 Likes
1 Followers



The Queensland Men’s and Women’s Country team have been selected to play in the Toyota Australian Country Championships in Newcastle, NSW In January 2024.

Teams from NSW, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, Queensland will play at grounds in the Newcastle area.

The men’s competition commences on Wednesday 3rd January and the Women’s competition on Thursday 4th January with both finishing on Wednesday 10th January.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/339/queensland-country-cricket/blog/1853/the-queensland-country-mens-and-womens-cricket-teams-to-play-in-the-australian-country-championships-in-january-2024-have-been-announced
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last year
Joe Maiorana
Joe Maiorana
Sydney, Australia
40 Likes
2 Followers



Born in Gujarat, India, Hanif Mohammad - the original Little Master- was a batsman with yogic powers of concentration.
Hanif authored the longest ever Test innings in the history of Test cricket - a marathon 970-minute 337 for Pakistan against West Indies at Bridgetown, wherein he compiled century stands with four different players including his brother, Wazir. The hot steak continued as he made 499 for Karachi versus Bahawalpur before being ironically run-out whilst attempting the 500th run, the very next year in 1959. The record stood tall as the highest first-class individual score until Brain Lara eclipsed it in 1994. He also held the unique distinction of making a ton against all his Test opponents in 'away' conditions, which highlighted his adaptive abilities.
Interestingly, Hanif was ambidextrous with the ball and also served as an occasional keeper. Following his retirement, he ran the Pakistan International Airlines colts scheme before taking up the position of Pakistan's batting consultant in 2002.
Many other members of Hanif's family were also cricketers: his brothers Mushtaq, Sadiq and Wazir all played Tests for Pakistan, as did his son Shoaib. Another brother Raees was once twelfth man for Pakistan, and four nephews had first-class careers. His mother Ameer Bee was a national badminton champion in pre-independence British India.
He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2013. He had been undergoing treatment for lung cancer in Karachi's Aga Khan Hospital. He passed away on 11th August 2016 at age 81.
In 2018, a Google Doodle was created to celebrate his 84th Birthday.
Hanif's triple-century against the West Indies team in 1957/58 made him a legend in the cricketing world. He was one of the original inductees into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
Pride of Performance Award in 1959 by the Government of Pakistan
Hanif Mohammad was born on this day 21 December in 1934

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last year
Max Bonnell
Max Bonnell
Lawyer
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
10 Likes
0 Followers



Australian cricket used to built as a pyramid. It was widest at its base, where we all started, playing at school, or in the juniors in a local park. A few hundred stepped past that on to the next tier, joining a Grade club. From there, at least in theory, you could scale to the very top of the pyramid – the Australian team – if you were good enough.

Today, the pyramid is looked on as a clumsy, inefficient and amateurish method of talent selection. Bright young kids are handed State contracts after bossing around a bunch of seventeen year-olds in age-group tournaments. People are picked on the basis of what they can become, rather than on what they’ve done. And maybe that’s better. Except that the pyramid worked. If you were good enough, you reached the top, having earned every promotion along the way. And if you weren’t – well, the pyramid delivered that message, too

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/436/max-bonnell/blog/1037/scaling-the-pyramid
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last year
Matt Ellis
Matt Ellis
Cricket Coach
Dubbo, NSW, Australia
59 Likes
7 Followers



The mood was bubbling with excitement as my family gathered together for a birthday celebration. Family members exchanged stories with an assortment of food and drinks to add to the merriment.

My mood on the other hand was somewhat tense as the Australians had their backs to the wall in the Boxing Day Test Match. I had just turned nine and I had a love of cricket that was deep in my veins, so while the family were outside enjoying the festivities, I found my way inside to witness one of my fondest Boxing Day Test Match memories.

It was 1987 and Michael Roy Whitney was in the middle of the MCG facing the music trying to defy Sir Richard Hadlee from taking the final wicket and win the Test Match for New Zealand. The larger than life fast bowler was not known for heroics with the willow joined Craig McDermott at the crease with the task of seeing out the remaining overs. To add to the challenge, he would be facing the man who would be awarded player of the series and who finished his distinguished career with 431 Test wickets.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/182/matt-ellis/blog/1146/23-minutes-that-had-me-hooked-on-cricket-for-life
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last year
Cricket Australia Community
Cricket Australia Community
Melbourne, Australia
24 Likes
21 Followers



Australia and India are set to meet in their first Test on Indian soil in almost 40 years – so how do Alyssa Healy and Harmanpreet Kaur's sides stack up?

The openers
Australia will have the same opening combination from their previous Test at Trent Bridge in June, with Beth Mooney partnering fellow left-hander Phoebe Litchfield.

The pair put on stands of 35 and 99 in that Test against England, in what was their first red-ball game opening the batting together. Litchfield hit 23 and 46 on debut, while Mooney struck 33 and 85.

https://www.cricket.com.au/news/3830281/australia-india-test-mumbai-match-ups-healy-kaur-captains-women-perry-mooney-litchfield-mandhana-verma
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last year
Andrew Knight
Andrew Knight
Business Advisor
Brisbane, Australia
12 Likes
6 Followers



Andrew Knight - my best captain

I played under some very astute captains however, undoubtedly the best captain that I played under was Former NSW and Queensland batsman Peter Clifford.

Peter was always thinking 2-3 overs ahead of most players on game days, however he was also thinking about his team winning matches 2-3 games ahead. In Peter’s side you knew your role and what was expected of you. If you got it right, he told you – if you got it wrong, he told you! There were no grey areas, however you had the opportunity to grow and develop as a player. He always wanted players to improve, and he backed those players who wanted to improve.

He was also prepared to try something different, sometimes to the surprise of his players, however he had built up credits with his players and they had confidence in him that he had seen something different, or an opportunity was available. It was no surprise when it came off and more often than not it did.

An example of this came during a semifinal in Premier 1st grade. South Brisbane had our Toombul side in all sorts of trouble. I hadn’t been having a great year with the bat and was playing more as bowler than a batsman and was slated to come in at no 9. At 4 for less than 40 he told me to pad up and go in next. Why, who knew? Cliffo had a thought. Soon we were 7-70 and as minor premiers not looking great. He came up to me at the lunch break and said, “just bat”. Hardly inspirational stuff! I knew that he had confidence in me. Time to repay the faith. Well, some 7 hours later I was the last player out. We had recovered a bit. All out 303 – I finished up with 157. We ended up making the Grand Final and winning the premiership 2 two weeks later.

Sometime later, I asked him the question as to why he put we in at 7 that day, his reply – “You were hitting them well during the week, I knew it would be your day”. As I said earlier, he had seen something and seized the opportunity!

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last year
Country Cricket NSW
Country Cricket NSW
Newcastle, NSW, Australia
8 Likes
41 Followers



The best men and women country cricketers from around Australia will soon be making their way to Newcastle in NSW to compete in the Toyota Australian Country Championships.

Teams from NSW, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, Queensland will play at grounds in the Newcastle area.

The men’s competition commences on Wednesday 3rd January and the Women’s competition on Thursday 4th January with both finishing on Wednesday 10th January.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/284/country-cricket-nsw/blog/1851/the-nsw-country-mens-and-womens-cricket-teams-to-play-in-the-australian-country-championships-in-january-2024-have-been-announced
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last year
Jim Robson
Jim Robson
Sydney, Australia
13 Likes
4 Followers



Jim Robson - my best captain

The best captain I played under was John Rogers at UNSW Cricket Club in the 1970s.

John was such a good captain, and it was because he had these attributes.

1. Good captains need to be good man managers. If they have this skill, they can be very successful, Mike Brearley for example. Talented players who weren’t good man managers have often not been successful captains.

2. Good captains have total control of the team and they “run the show”. The coach and teammates might offer a view off the field, but the captain has total charge on the field. They may occasionally ask for some advice from his vice-captain on the field. Nothing looks worse than the captain talking to two or three other players and his bowler as they talk about field placements at the start of a new over. I’ll never forget seeing Bill Lawry in conference with Froggy Thomson, Geoff Dymock and Tony Dell in 1971. My head was spinning.

3. Good captains respect and communicate with all players in a positive manner.

4. Good captains realise every player has their own idiosyncrasies and supports all of them. Now I am old and cynical, but I still marvel at the outstanding job Mark Taylor did with so many high maintenance players in his team.

5. Good captains… just like good players… do everything they need to do to win. Sometimes they need to be very attacking, sometimes very defensive. You should always play according to the teams needs for success.

John Rogers had all these attributes and was incredibly inspiring and caring at the same time. He turned 80 this year and at his birthday party were two other outstanding captains John Benaud and Mick Pawley. Listening to these three in conversation was like listening to Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin in discussion in 1945.

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last year
John Rogers
John Rogers
Melbourne, Australia
23 Likes
7 Followers



Always graceful and often flamboyant, Billy Watson amassed almost 8,700 runs for St George at an average of 45. He tallied 500 runs in a season 12 times. Yes, 12 times.

That he should be so consistent was reflected in a comment he once made: “I may fail twice, but I won’t fail a third time.” He wasn’t boasting, just stating what he thought was an obvious with his typical, remarkable confidence.

Short, trim, yet immensely strong thanks to working in the wholesale potato business he took over from his father, Bill feared no bowler, always cocking a snoot at the most fearsome – Wes Hall, Ray Lindwall, Gordon Rorke, Alan Davidson – and, as he approached 40 years of age, the fearsome Thommo and Lennie Pascoe. He also loved taking on the top spinners – Benaud, Philpott and Martin.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/531/john-rogers/blog/1850/billy-watson-a-joy-to-watch
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