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Q: "NSW Cricket and the Baby Blues, Rest In Peace” was the headline in the Australian newspaper December 1993 following a humiliating Sheffield Shield defeat in Perth in only two days. To make matters worse, the article was illustrated with individual tombstones of each player who participated in the match. Ouch!
If a team ever needed motivation, this was it!
NSW had to win the last seven Sheffield Shield games in a row to make the final. Almost an impossible task based on current form.
Before our next match at the SCG, a young fan gave Adam Gilchrist, our then number 5 batsmen a tiny figurine of Scooby Doo for good luck. When asked why Adam had a small dog on top of his locker he replied “Boys he is good luck. Everyone rub Scooby’s head before we take the field today.” That we did, and we won the match convincingly.
https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/538/shane-lee/blog/2104/scooby-doo-where-are-you
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"NSW Cricket and the Baby Blues, Rest In Peace” was the headline in the Australian newspaper December 1993 following a humiliating Sheffield Shield defeat in Perth in only two days. To make matte ...
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Q: As the years wear on, some stories become folklore. The original version of the tale is enhanced and embellished into a legendary yarn. Sometimes, the story itself takes on its own life and becomes bigger than Ben Hur!
Wayne ‘Cracker’ Holdsworth stormed onto the domestic cricket scene in 1989, taking six wickets on debut for NSW in a performance even Ben Hur would have been proud of!
Wayne’s nickname ‘Cracker’ according to his mother is derived from hitting numerous batsmen on the head with his fast bowling feats. Smashing helmets and intimidating batsmen with raw pace and aggression his superpower in the game of cricket. His team mates having a different version of the chosen nickname
https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/538/shane-lee/blog/1979/absolute-cracker
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As the years wear on, some stories become folklore. The original version of the tale is enhanced and embellished into a legendary yarn. Sometimes, the story itself takes on its own life and becomes ...
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Q: “It is better to remain silent and appear a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”
Wise words from Sir Winston Churchill and advice I probably should have given to my Mosman team mate Nick Grover.
Sledging comes in many formats, from abusive over the top vulgar tirades to subtle creative thought provoking strategies. Whatever the flavour, when you open your mouth on the sporting field you need to be able to back it up. In saying that, it is the stories of sledging that gave me the greatest humour on the cricket field.
I first met Nick Grover when I made the trip down the M4 from Campbelltown Cricket Club to the Mosman Cricket Club. Nick was this brash private school kid with a panache to ‘knuckle' at every chance
https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/538/shane-lee/blog/1948/whats-an-arm-ball-shane
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“It is better to remain silent and appear a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”Wise words from Sir Winston Churchill and advice I probably should have given to my Mosman ...
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Q: NSW Colts cricket team v QLD Colts - November 1992 at Hurstville Oval
Left to Right - Matt Whitby, Jeremy Bray, Shane Lee, Paul Wilson, Adam Gilchrist, Paul McLean, Heath Muller, Scott Thompson, Anthony McQuire, Darren Quint, Jason Arnberger
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Q: "Play the game for the game sake, and keep your eye on the ball.”
Bradman’s famous quote in response to a sporting journalist’s question on his secret for batting success. Bradman is a sporting enigma. No one in the history of any sport has been almost double the mean. That is, in the history of cricket most elite batsmen averaged in the ’50s (except for Steve Smith currently averaging 63), whist our Don Bradman averaged 99.94.
That is like someone running a five second 100 metres or someone winning 36 majors in Golf. Simply astonishing!
Forty seven years ago almost to the day, a good mate of mine Kerry Penfold from Oak Flats High school lost his eye when he fell on a knife aged three. When the doctors told his parents he was going to struggle in the future to play ball sports, they ignored the medical advice and enrolled him in cricket anyway.
https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/538/shane-lee/blog/939/keep-your-eye-on-the-ball
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Q: "Roll on with your head held high" - The first line to the Living End song 'Roll on' and a moment in Simon Cook's life he’d rather forget.
Simon Hewitt Cook the former Victorian and NSW fast bowler, made his Test debut against New Zealand in 1997 taking an amazing seven wickets for the match as Glenn McGrath’s replacement. What followed next is beyond belief!
Simon known to his mates as ‘Cooky' is a product of the Mornington Peninsula - Crib Point to be exact. And is probably the most laid back person ever to slowly walk the face of this earth. He is so laconic that it is often hard to know if he is asleep or awake sometimes.
https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/538/shane-lee/blog/889/cooky-you-just-electrocuted-me
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Q: 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!
https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/538/shane-lee/blog/998/no-mean-feet
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Q: Former Petersham 1st grade cricketer and NSW junior representative Corey “Slug” Pearson changed his sporting career focus at the age of 21 from Cricket to Rugby League and I may have played a small part in his decision making.
I preface this story by saying Corey is one of my best mates and he's also the Godfather to my five-year-old son Thomas - God help Thomas and I mean that literally.
I first met Slug when playing Green Shield at the age of 15. I was the quiet blonde quick from the South Coast of NSW and Corey had already been cutting his cricketing teeth in the lower grades at Petersham Cricket Club.
Corey’s introduction to the world of “Man Sport” was honed by the Petersham elite. Graham “Heaps” Hughes (why did they call him Heaps? When you saw him in the shower he had HEAPS!), Brian Riley (the greatest sledger of all time) and the Sullivan Brothers or “Slut” Brothers - Worm and Fuss. The Petersham hierarchy had developed their own language, designed to distract and sledge the opposition on the field and attract the ladies off it!
https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/538/shane-lee/blog/859/corey-pearson-from-no-5-to-no-8
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Q: In the 1970s and 1980's in Australia, if you played cricket, you had a moustache, an unbuttoned shirt and skinny pants. Pre-season was a lap around the SCG and ice was used to keep the beers cold not bath in post-match. Some fashionistas even wore the occasional safari suit, baby blue: (isn't that right Stumpa?)
Steve 'Jack' Small (He/Him) was all of the above. Strong with facial hair, Mal Meninga thighs and a three-pound bat. The biggest bit of wood ever held by one man without help from a draft horse. If Jack was born in the 1800s he would have replaced his bat with an axe and cut fucking trees down. He could probably ringbark a tree with his bare hands if he wanted to - a true blue Aussie with a hard-earned thirst. He would probably even share a beer with the tree itself after he cut it down. What goes on the field, stays on the field! No hard feelings.
https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/538/shane-lee/blog/1308/jackball-steve-small
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You can get it walkin’You can get it talkin’You can get it workin’ a plough.(Matter of fact, I’ve got it now)Victoria Bitter.Ah remember those days. When ...
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Q: In 1998 John Buchanan drafted in an American AAA baseball player and former Major League Baseball coach by the name of Mikey Young as our new fielding coach. Mikey was your typical fast talking, tobacco chewing American sports coach that wore a big bright white smile and an old leather baseball glove on his left hand.
The Australian Cricket team had arrived at the Gabba for a pre-season camp of which fielding was going to be a major part.
John Buchanan said with his slight lisp “Boyz Mikey Young is going to take us through some fielding drills today, and he will be spending the entire season with the team as our new specialist fielding coach. Please make him welcome.”
What Mikey said next in his broad American accent still makes me laugh but also still amazes me today;
“Hey Warno, I watched you on TV last night. The crowd loves you man. I watched you run after the ball in the outfield Warno (You’re not that fast Warno), then pick up the ball, off balance Warno and throw the ball into the catcher like a parabola. Do you know what that is Warno? That parabola throw means time. You won’t run anyone out and you will blow your arm out Warno and you won’t be going to the bank. I bet you like going to the bank Warno?”
The look on Warney’s face was priceless as all the boys sniggered.
“Hey Ricko (Mikey is now talking to Ricky Ponting), I watched you in the field. You’re good man. And faster than Warno. Why do you walk in every ball in the field?”
In 20 years of my then cricket life, no one had ever asked the question. Why do we all walk in, in the field?
“I start deeper in the field, then walk in to create momentum and try to anticipate where the batsmen will be hitting the ball to hopefully create a catch and/or a run out”
“So you’re talking about deception Ricko?”
“Yeah I guess so.”
“Only one problem with that Ricko, you do it every frigging ball. Where is the deception in that? You are also walking in ten metres every ball and if you spend one hundred overs in the field, you are walking an extra six kilometres you don’t need to be walking Ricko. Listen, think like a tennis player returning serve. Take two steps, split step and then go”
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Shane Warne once said “a coach is something you get on to travel to and from the ground.” I know Warney was being facetious when he referred to the Australian team coaching staff, but when you ...
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Q: We have all heard the jokes about ‘Little Johnny’. Remember him? The little prick at school that would wind up the teacher, his class mates and ladies in the tuck shop. Most jokes ended up with “Little Johnny” seeing his teacher’s breasts or tricking a girl into an embarrassing position.
When I first moved to the Mosman Cricket Club in 1995, the teams “Little Johnny” came in the form of “Little Chris”, or Christopher Barry Muldoon to be more precise.
Chris captained the first grade team, bowled off spin with perfect shape and was my flat mate for more than four years. The little prick got me into more trouble than the early settlers but his school boy humour still makes me laugh today.
The art of finger spin has always intrigued me. Subtlety and patience are the key ingredient - two words you’ll never read on my CV.
https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/538/shane-lee/blog/1201/little-chris
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We have all heard the jokes about ‘Little Johnny’. Remember him? The little prick at school that would wind up the teacher, his class mates and ladies in the tuck shop. Most jokes ended up with ...
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Q: An all-rounder and two strippers
An all-rounder and two strippers walk into a bar - they are all brothers. All talented. And all from Campbelltown! They are Craig, Adam and David Hughes.
We have all played in teams when we wished we had a little more man power. A little more pace from our opening bowlers. A little more determination and resolve from our batters. A little more turn from our spinners! The all-rounder is responsible for more than one of these wishes. Mr All-rounder strives to be the option, the solution, and the answer in times of need. Unfortunately most the all-rounders find it hard to get both their batting and bowling firing at the same time. But when it does…the team almost certainly wins!
Craig Hughes is the first genuine all-rounder I played with at Campbelltown
https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/538/shane-lee/blog/1148/an-all-rounder-and-two-strippers
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An all-rounder and two strippers walk into a bar - they are all brothers. All talented. And all from Campbelltown! They are Craig, Adam and David Hughes.We have all played in teams when we w ...
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Q: Michael Bevan's "Bev attack"
If there was a world record for the number of expletives expelled after being dismissed in cricket, it would have Michael Bevan’s name next to it! The anger and aggression shown to his bat, helmet and pads following his dismissal was unprecedented. If there was a DOCS for cricket gear, I would have called the 1800 number.
Saying that, his self-ridicule and tantrums following a low score often gave his team mates some light hearted humour.
“How many F’s today boys?” Mark Waugh would ask as he framed a quick market for the boys to place bets on an incoming Bevan and how often he would swear.
https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/538/shane-lee/blog/1066/michael-bevans-quotbev-attackquot
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If there was a world record for the number of expletives expelled after being dismissed in cricket, it would have Michael Bevan’s name next to it! The anger and aggression shown to his bat, helme ...
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Q: Don Bradman once said Bob Radford, the former CEO of NSW Cricket, was the best sporting administrator before lunch!
It is well documented that Mr Radford was a superb sporting executive and also loved a little more than a tipple of alcohol.
Bob was the CEO at NSW Cricket when I was first selected in the NSW State squad when I was 18. It was legendary that his ability to consume alcohol over lunch and remember every business detail was uncanny. He was direct, unique and hard working. He also could tear shreds off people for underperforming. He demanded excellence.
I remember being summoned to his office for the first time at Cricket NSW to be greeted with the following;
“Welcome! Do you like beer?
“Yes, Mr Radford.”
“Good - You will go a long way here. Let’s go to lunch, my shout.”
https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/538/shane-lee/blog/1049/you-say-tomato-bob-says-bloody-mary
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Don Bradman once said Bob Radford, the former CEO of NSW Cricket, was the best sporting administrator before lunch!It ...
blog post
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 f ...
blog post
"Play the game for the game sake, and keep your eye on the ball.”Bradman’s famous quote in response to a sporting journalist’s question on his secret for batting success. Bradman is a ...
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Underneath the Southern Cross I stand, a sprig of wattle in my hand. A native of our native land, Australia you bloody beauty! Second verse, same as the first.That is the entire version of t ...
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"Roll on with your head held high" - The first line to the Living End song 'Roll on' and a moment in Simon Cook's life he’d rather forget.Simon Hewitt Cook the former Victorian and NSW fas ...
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Left to Right - Matt Whitby, Jeremy Bray, Shane Lee, Paul Wilson, Adam Gilchrist, Paul McLean, Heath Muller, Scott Thompson, Anthony McQuire, Darren Quint, Jas ...
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Former Petersham 1st grade cricketer and NSW junior representative Corey “Slug” Pearson changed his sporting career focus at the age of 21 from Cricket to Rugby League and I may have played a s ...
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This was actually a lot harder than I first thought.I played 5 years with Campbelltown in first grade from the age of 15 years to 20 and then moved to Mosman Cricket Club and played 10 seaso ...
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Q: With perspiration pouring from his forehead and a shirt lathered in deodorant and sweat, he walks off the ground, bat in hand and with a face more tanned than Julio Iglesias. One would expect a man with clothes this wet to have just scored 150 in Madras in 40-degree heat. But no, its pre-season at NSW cricket, mid-winter and the man is Steve Stumpa Rixon, the COACH.
Stumpa is the only person I have ever met that could sweat in the shower. A product of his commitment to practice as both a player and a coach. In my opinion, the greatest coach I ever played under. Direct, focused, well planned and a panache for finding key moments in any match and rallying the troops to execute on said opportunity.
I will never forget the day he pulled me aside as a senior player and asked me to room with Rodney ‘Horse’ Davidson’. Horse was a talented left-hander with interesting social skills. Stumpa thought I could bring the best out of him and the team would be rewarded as Horse continued to pile on the runs. The combination had immediate success as he started to make runs consistently, the only issue being is I found my new roommate using my toothbrush one morning. “For .... sake Horse, that’s my toothbrush.” “Sorry mate, I forgot mine,” Horse said.
“Stumpa, I can’t do this mate,” Stumpa replied with his typical laugh followed by a deadpan response. “I'll buy you a new one, we need his runs!”
That evening we had a team dinner. Rodney ‘Horse’ Davidson settled right next to Stumpa at the head of the table with a smile from ear to ear and his clean fangs shining. Those who have dined with Stumpa know he will not start his meal until everyone has received theirs. I have seen him wait for half an hour on one occasion. Even when asked to start by others, he will refuse. As Murphy’s law would suggest, Stumpa’s meal arrived that night before the rest of the team. He sat patiently and only occasionally looking down lovingly at his 400g ribeye on the bone, chips and pepper sauce. To my amazement, my little left-hander ‘Protege of Etiquette’ Rodney started to steal a few chips from Stumpa's plate while waiting for his meal to arrive.
After the third chip was about to be removed, Stumpa picked up his fork and stabbed our opening bat in the back of his hand. “Ouch,” Horse screamed as his hand quickly moved off Stumpa’s plate. “Don’t touch my food” our coach said with sweat starting to bead on his furrowed brow.
Come on Stumpa I’ll buy you some new chips. We need his runs!
