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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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last year
Anthony Barranca
Anthony Barranca
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
7 Likes
0 Followers



Anthony Barranca - my best captain

One of the best captains I had the pleasure of playing for and with, is a man by the name of Mark Hullet.

He had a great cricket brain, but it was how he managed the team and more so the individuals within the team, a real man manager.

I’ll never forget when we were playing in our first grand final and we were all in a tight circle and he made it clear that the 11 blokes that were going to take to the field that day could share in something very special together and that the odds of the same 11 guys to get the chance to do it again was extremely unlikely.

“This side will never be the same 11 ever again”!

It really made me think about the opportunity ahead and that I would do anything for the other 10 men taking the field. He was right, we won, and those same 11 blokes were never a team again even though we won 3 premierships in 4 years.

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last year
Mark Tranter
Mark Tranter
I.T Manager
Newcastle, NSW, Australia
13 Likes
0 Followers



Bob Black was awarded a Legend of Sydney Shires Cricket in 2009. Not only being a fantastic cricketer and baseballer himself, but Bob was also a leader and a great tactical captain across the top 2 grades in our club.

Playing under Bob in the 1980s and 90s he wasn’t big on announcing a batting line up prior to a game. He would rather chat at training or on the phone during the week, and it was clear what role you were to play. 1:1’s was important for an individual which assisted you buying into the team’s success.

Off the field, "Boston" (as we called him - a reference to Fenway Park) would let you know the real facts and sometimes you may get your nose out of joint for a short time but if you were smart, he was asking you to step up.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/886/mark-tranter/blog/1849/mark-tranter-my-best-captain
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last year
St George Cricket Club
St George Cricket Club
Sydney, Australia
53 Likes
54 Followers



In this “in between balls” St George District Cricket Club feature Nick Shurmer who made his first grade debut for the Dragons on 23 January 2021 against Western Suburbs. Nick is St George’s first grade player number 456.

What year you were born and where?

1991 Bathurst

Can you remember your first game of cricket?

Can’t remember the exact game but it was for Rugby Union Cricket Club probably playing at Learmonth Park or Police Paddock

Tell us briefly about your cricketing journey?

Standard country kids cricket life. Juniors Saturday morning, Seniors Saturday afternoon, Representative cricket Sunday. Outside of School cricket. I’ve only really had 3 clubs. Rugby Union in Juniors, City Colts in Seniors then St George.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/275/st-george-cricket-club/blog/586/st-george-in-between-balls-with-nick-shurmer
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