• Fueling conversations and igniting meaningful experiences for cricket fans around the world
  • Fueling conversations, igniting experiences

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2 years ago

I’m a young offspinner playing grade cricket in Melbourne and have a question about bowling in one day games.

Our captain wants me to bowl flat and full-to middle stump so we can have 3 players on the boundary to keep the runs down and look to get the batter out bowled or LBW.

My preference is to bowl with more loop just outside off stump and spin the ball back towards the stumps. I feel more comfortable as some balls will turn more than others and I’m hoping to beat the outside and inside edge of the bat.

I’d like to get some advice on which is the better way. He is the captain, so I do as I’m ask but I find it difficult.

Thanks

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2 years ago



Like many men my age, I love a good Yum Cha. Salty, spicy and fast! This food is instant gratification served on a cart with a cold beer. Amongst the prawn dumplings, salt and pepper calamari and football shaped treats are Fung Jiao or better known to the Yum Cha expert as Chicken's feet! Are they serious? Surely we are scraping the bottom of the barrel or chicken coup to be more precise if this is our only option. We may as well eat its arse whilst we are it. No one can be that hungry that they are happy to eat at chooks foot. YUCK!

I was first introduced to the world of Yum Cha by one of my best mates, Richard Chee Quee. Cheeks is half Chinese, half Fijian and ‘fully' Australian! A superb combination and example of how assimilation works best. Cheeks has often stated that an upside of our multi-cultural society allows him the freedom to choose and celebrate different parts of his heritage when it suits him best. He said, on one hand, I am happy to celebrate Chinese New Year with a Yum Cha, chase a big red dragon around China Town and then claim to be a dinky-di Aussie following the COVID 19 outbreak. By the way, for all you ‘do-gooders', we are both joking!

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2 years ago



I had a young coach ask me recently for my advice on coaching and a career in it. He really loves coaching cricket, and his aim is to follow that passion and work in the sport fulltime in the future.

We had a lengthy discussion and whilst I could certainly answer plenty of questions for him, some were quite tough, and a few queries were on issues that either I had long forgotten or possibly never thought about.

Basically, when I was a kid most of what I did revolved around sport. Our family owned a tennis centre and my dad, and his brother were fulltime tennis coaches. I played plenty of tennis on our courts after school and quickly got into cricket, Australian rules and rugby league which meant every afternoon, evening and all weekend was occupied with sport. Like lots of kids all I wanted to do was play for Australia - Davis Cup, Test cricket, VFL etc, etc - unrealistic but a pretty healthy way to grow up!

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2 years ago



Let me tell you about the first time I saw Jeff Thomson bowling in grade cricket. It was a game against Bankstown at Waverley Oval around 1972.

We batted first and of course in those days we only turned up 20 minutes before the start of the game. We won the toss. Elected to bat and thought we would be in for a leisurely day getting over the previous night's festivities.

Lenny Richardson, later to play for NSW and Queensland, was opening the batting and took strike. Ian Gorman was the keeper and Thommo marks his run up. Right to the edge of the southern practice wickets. About 40 metres.

There would have been nearly 100 metres between Thommo at the top of his run up and Gorman, who was planted not far from the northern practice wickets.

We thought. On Waverley Oval. This bloke is having a lend of us.

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2 years ago



Sydney University Cricket Club Hall of Fame Article - Thomas William Garrett 1858-1943

Since 1999, the Sydney University Cricket Club’s Best and Fairest Trophy has been named for Tom Garrett who was one of the early ‘fathers’ of the Club. No cricketer has ever made a greater impact on the Club than Tom Garrett.

When he first played for the University at the age of 15, there was no formal cricket competition and eligibility rules were fluid at best. Matches were arranged between clubs on an ad hoc basis.

It seems that Garrett studied at the University but for only a few terms having been educated at Newington College from the age of nine. Because of his having once been a student at the University he kept his eligibility for 25 years.

In the 1870s, Garrett was one of the youngest representative players who have ever played for University.

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2 years ago



Who remembers the Gabba Cricket Camps when they were run by Lew Cooper at the Queensland Cricketers Club?

I thought I would touch on one of my most enjoyable childhood memories.

During the 90s, the time when the Queensland Bulls were firing, many young junior cricketers were lucky enough to attend these camps. I am fairly sure every member of the Bulls first Sheffield Shield side either coached at the camp or was a guest coach for the day.

Boys from all over Queensland and even Northern New South Wales would come together for a week and receive expert coaching. We played on specially made hessian mats out on the Gabba.

During the lunch breaks a 3-a-side competition was held and this was an opportunity for a junior, intermediate and senior player to compete for the prize of a Gabba bat.

At night, as boarders we would eat at the Cricketers Club, play squash, indoor cricket and indoor soccer and then sleep under the Sir Leslie Wilson stand. And what about the greyhound track - who can forget that. It was a great childhood. Many of my club teammates would attend. It was fun to be around other young cricketers who were all so enthusiastic. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a school like this – where you study select academic subjects of your choosing and cricket intertwined into the syllabus. I always loved my school holidays going off to the camps – I remember one year going to four cricket camps in a row during January.

Some of the coaches included: Alan Free, Brad Murphy, Peter Drinnen, Brendan Creevey, Michael Kasprowicz, Bob McGhee, Jimmy Maher, Alan Skuse, Scott Muller, Jeff Pfaff, Wade Secombe, Bob Joyce, Paul Pink, Matthew Mott, Joe Dawes and Richie Robinson.

Wouldn't it be fantastic to see a return to the 90s when life was a bit more care-free and less clinical and there was a return to the Gabba Cricket Camps. Did you attend a camp? Do you remember your coach?

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2 years ago



Just finished another great cricket experience playing for NSW in the Div 2 side in the national championships in Christchurch NZ. A few ‘toight’ games beating Qld, then SA on one of the coldest ever days any of us have played cricket. Then Greg Hall and I put on 70 odd in 8 overs as a 10th wicket stand to steal a thrilling semi final against the host NZ to book a spot in yesterdays final against the other NSW team. As the pictures below illustrate……. of course the Cinderella story continued and we won Great team effort, great bunch of guys superbly led by my great mate Mark Tranter
Thanks for the memory’s guys
For those wanting to know how I went personally, well, ‘I got a few’

Picture - Luke Stoodley, Mark Tranter, Greg Hall, Stephen Leathley

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2 years ago



This isn’t a story about a game of cricket or a cricketer but it is for all cricket fans throughout Australia especially those with kids or grandkids between the ages of 8 and 14 (tweens or teens as they say).

I love promoting businesses when I can clearly see value they can add and bring to the community. It’s even better when the business is founded and owned by people within the cricket community.

My kids have progressed through their teenage years (well almost all the way through) and they’ve grown up with all the new technology platforms. They’ve been hooked, distracted, entertained, and interestingly become bored and tired of their negativity.

When I heard about Zown, I thought why not share it with as many people as possible.

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2 years ago



NSW Over 55s Kangaroos Division Two National Champions

NSW Over 55s Kangaroos defeated NSW Waratahs by 87 runs in the Division Two Final of the Over 55s National Championships held in Christchurch, New Zealand from the 22 to 28 November 2023.

Back Row: Mark Freeman, Grant Ryan, Matt Hardman, John Toohey, Luke Stoodley, Tim Weilandt, Andy Eastcott,
Front Row: Mark Favell, Paul James, David Craig, Mark Tranter (Captain), Stephen Leathley, Greg Hall

Match Scorecard -

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2 years ago



Glenn Barclay is a very proud Life Member of Crib Point Cricket Club and has played for the club since he joined back in 1985.

If you were running a state cricket association what would your 2 priorities to ensure cricket in the state remained strong and successful on and off the field?

Keeping kids in the game once juniors have finished. For smaller clubs this is a problem

If it’s wet let’s be realistic and if we aren’t gonna get on, call it and open the bar. Clubs benefit financially and better friendships are made between players and clubs.

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2 years ago



South Brisbane District Cricket Club 2nd Grade Premiers 2014-15

Back Row - U Samsudeen, D Lennox, H Jones, N Bischoff, J Eccles, A Hart (wicket keeper)), B O’Leary, S Henwood (Scorer)

Front Row - L Lunt, D Wilson, R Yorke, A Wilson, A Wells-Peris

Second Grade shone brightly, taking the 2014/15 Premiership, the first for Second grade since the mid 1990’s.

The Grand Final team consisted of 12 players, but the Skipper, Rhys Yorke, and the team acknowledge that it took 30 players to go through the season to win the Minor premiership and the Grand Final.

The combination of bowlers, including Rhys Yorke, Arlen Wells-Peris, Daniel Lennox, Brendan O’Leary and Uhmar Samsudeen took a combined 201 wickets in the regular season between them.

The Grand Final on Norm Gray oval was a classic match

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