Club cricket no longer makes the Grade
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Is Michael Clarke the new Donald Bradman?
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Michael Clarke will be the first Test captain since Steve Waugh nine years ago to play club cricket in Sydney. Clarke will turn out for Western Suburbs this weekend.
Waugh played for Canterbury-Bankstown in 2003.
It’s rare now, but that was far from the case years ago.
When I was playing first grade for Mosman in the 60s and 70s, we had Ian Craig, still Australia’s youngest Test captain, Test quicks Gordon Rorke and David Colley, with NSW keeper Doug Ford, the best gloveman never to play for Australia in the era of Wally Grout, Gil Langley, and Len Maddocks.
We played against Test and NSW reps every week, making the first grade competition very strong, with good crowds.
St George was all-powerful, with Test batsmen Billy Watson, Norm O’Neill, and Brian Booth, plus NSW batsman Warren Saunders and all-rounder Ray Flockton.
Then came leggie Kerry O’Keeffe, with pacemen Peter Leslie and John Martin.
Wests had Bobby Simpson, the great all-rounder Alan Davidson, and Gary Gilmour.
When I became Mosman captain in 1961, my first toss was against Richie Benaud, who had taken over as Test captain from Craig.
In that Cumberland side were Doug Walters and John Benaud.
Petersham-Marrickville had Test left-arm spinner Johnny Martin and NSW batsmen David Martin and Col Blackman, with pacemen Dave Chardon.
Northern Districts had Test batsmen Neil Harvey and Jimmy Burke, plus NSW left-handed brothers, Neil and Lyn Marks.
Gordon had Test keeper Brian Taber, and NSW reps Sid Carroll, Dick Guy, and Marshall Rosen.
Balmain had Test fast bowler Dave Rennberg, and NSW reps Tony Steele, Ross Collins and Tim Grosser.
Canterbury-Bankstown had Test batsmen Grahame Thomas, and arguably the fastest opening attack ever in grade cricket with Jeff Thomson and Len Pascoe, with NSW batsman Dion Bourne.
Glebe became Sydney with Test men Frank Misson and Rick McCosker, with NSW offie George Griffiths,
Manly had Burke towards the end of his career, with NSW captain Barry Rothwell, and spinners Terry Lee and Mick Pawley.
North Sydney had Walters for a period and NSW opening batsman Allen Anderson who also played rugby for NSW as a fullback.
My apologies if I’ve overlooked anyone, it’s really stretching the memory.
The point is, in those days, the very best regulary played grade cricket, so the transition from grade to NSW was just about automatic.
Now it’s a major leap because they have no-one to learn from on a weekly basis.
The second point is, we learned more about cricket over a few beers by talking to the very best. RBT has since dented that and the best players are missing anyway.
All those major plus points are long gone, and grade cricket these days hardly rates a mention, nor a crowd. Two men and a dog max.
More’s the pity, and grade cricket’s the poorer.
The era I played in never had it so good.
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October 11th 2012 @ 4:21am
Johnno said | October 11th 2012 @ 4:21am | Report comment
More needs to be done to promote grade cricket and bring the crowds back, and get the grade cricket fans back throughout he turnstiles. Some great teams David played against let’s get those clubs strong again and bring the big crowds back I say.
Some great memories David.
Also the Wuagh brothers at bankstown with cracker Holdsworth and David Freedman.
Greg Matthews at Ests and sydny uni paying till he was almost 50, Tony Greig at Easts and the late west Indian great Malcom Marshall. From memory Micheal holding had a season at Tasmania and would of probably aligned with a tasmanian grade team either at hobart,Devonport, Beaconsfield, or Launceston. Imran Khan im pretty sure had a year of shield cricket too i think at QLD or NSW,.and probably would of played a bit of grade too. Ian Botham had a season at QLD and would of played probably some QLD grade cricket too. England test player Ian Salsbury had a stint in grade cricket was a hit in sydney grade comp in the last 10 years.
Shoaib Akhtar had a season of grade cricket with Norths him and Brett Lee fearsome opening bowling combination would of rattled a few cages. Carl Hooper in south australia was a hit in grade, as was west indian test player Clayton Lambert in Ovens and murray cup in Albury Wodonga. Paul Collingwood has a season of grade as did Alec stewart and both said it did them the world of good.
SO lets get the stars back , the star foriegn imports and star locals and bring the crowds back and we have a dynamic grade scene again.
October 11th 2012 @ 4:52am
David Lord said | October 11th 2012 @ 4:52am | Report comment
Johnno, Wes Hall had a season with Randwick in my time, Geoff Boycott followed Tony Greig at Waverley as it was known then, and Mike Gatting at Balmain, both after I’d finished. What you are suggesting is brilliant, but the big names you want to lift Sydney first grade cricket can’t play for NSW or their clubs will never see them. That’s the whole point of my column, these days a rep player NEVER sees his club, and all clubs are paying a huge price.
October 11th 2012 @ 11:00am
Timmuh said | October 11th 2012 @ 11:00am | Report comment
Beaconsfield? I think we played against them in the bush league which is the TCL, on synthetic pitches.
Anyway, I don’t think its realistic to expect crowds to turn up to club cricket; even state games don’t get crowds.
It is difficult with more Shield games than decades ago, a limited overs state comp and the BBL all not existing at that time, but getting more Shield players playing at club level would be good for development at that tier. The earlier start to the Shield season and more crowded rep schedule will make it difficult though.
As for Test players, it is rare enough that they turn out for their state. That is at least an equal problem to that of rarely seein state players turn out for their club. If the state players can be tested regularly against national team players and club players against state players that would be an improvement, and possiblyas good as can be feasibly done given the modern schedule.
October 11th 2012 @ 6:17am
Rob said | October 11th 2012 @ 6:17am | Report comment
I can’t believe that no Aussie cricket captain has played in sydney grade cricket for a whole 9 years. That’s a phenomenal statistic. Especially when you consider the other captains since that time came from Tasmania and Western Australia (gilly).
October 11th 2012 @ 8:15am
A1 said | October 11th 2012 @ 8:15am | Report comment
I hope you’re being sarcastic? Because my first thought was of course an Aussie captain hasn’t played Sydney grade cricket for 9 years, because Ricky Ponting is from Tasmania!
October 11th 2012 @ 8:31am
Disco said | October 11th 2012 @ 8:31am | Report comment
He lives in Sydney though.
October 11th 2012 @ 8:59am
A1 said | October 11th 2012 @ 8:59am | Report comment
He plays grade cricket for Mowbray in Tassie.
October 11th 2012 @ 1:22pm
Disco said | October 11th 2012 @ 1:22pm | Report comment
Well, I’m sure he looks really good in the Mowbray nets.
October 11th 2012 @ 9:03am
David Lord said | October 11th 2012 @ 9:03am | Report comment
A1, that’s quite true about Ricky Ponting. But Allan Border, before he went to Queensland, Mark Taylor, and Steve Waugh rarely played Sydney grade cricket once they won NSW then Australian selection. It’s the system that’s wrong ignoring grassroots cricket and the same with rugby with so such emphasis on state and internationals. In the end it will come back to bite the representative teams because tomorrow’s players are underdone and lack basic skills and knowledge.
October 11th 2012 @ 9:12am
A1 said | October 11th 2012 @ 9:12am | Report comment
I agree with you entirely, David. I just felt that statistic had a strong reason behind it.
I’d never thought about the impact on grade cricket, but I had on state cricket, which is almost the exact same issue. It all filters downwards. Cricket across the board would benefit from having the best players play more regularly at home but scheduling, professionalism and the amount of international games makes it very hard.
October 11th 2012 @ 8:10am
sheek said | October 11th 2012 @ 8:10am | Report comment
Good morning David,
Gee, those stories & names bring back memories. Reading the Sunday or Monday papers to see who got what in grade cricket was always fun back in the “good ol’ days”.
With so much test cricket, ODIs & now a plethora of T20, something has to give & grade cricket it is that is suffering. Exactly the same thing happening with rugby – too many tests, too much super rugby, too much 7s – consequently no-one has time to play premier rugby.
I believe things can be done better in both sports, not that anyone is listening. It seems the modern day world is all about money & content.
October 11th 2012 @ 9:23am
David Lord said | October 11th 2012 @ 9:23am | Report comment
Morning sheek. Phil Kearns is the perfect example of how rugby careers changed. In 1991 when rugby was still amateur Kearns was a regular Randwick player if he wasn’t playing rare games for NSW and the Wallabies. In 1999 with rugby professional, he never played for Randwick.
October 11th 2012 @ 8:47am
nachos supreme said | October 11th 2012 @ 8:47am | Report comment
Agreed, it wasn’t that long ago it was a real ask for a kid coming out of high school to get a run much higher than 4th or 5th grade…I was watching Mosman 3rds last season and they were flat out running between wickets.
Rugby is not the only sport in NSW with grass roots issues.
October 11th 2012 @ 9:22am
Ian Whitchurch said | October 11th 2012 @ 9:22am | Report comment
Not coincidentally, they are also the two sports that value rep games the most and club games the least.
October 11th 2012 @ 1:21pm
nachos supreme said | October 11th 2012 @ 1:21pm | Report comment
Of course , and it’s always been that way but I would put it to you also that they seem to be heavily focussed on the money.
You just have to look at the first class and limited overs calenders to see this.
Perhaps a more retro scheduling approach would free these guys up to play less rep cricket and give something back to their clubs?
October 11th 2012 @ 9:12am
josh said | October 11th 2012 @ 9:12am | Report comment
Real issues in NSW cricket, Hughes, Khawaja, Haurtiz all leaping off. I’m not sure about this season, but in QLD it wasn’t unusual to see Shield players back up for their local clubs.
CA had an initiative years ago where all the test team went back and played club cricket. Not sure if this is the same thing, or just batting practice for Clarke. But that’s the “problem” with professionalism. Professional sport needs money to run. The calendar is packed to make money, doesn’t leave room for grass roots returns.
However, there is an exception to everything, in case its’ Dave Warner. Club cricket to International T20 and back again.
October 11th 2012 @ 9:21am
Ridley said | October 11th 2012 @ 9:21am | Report comment
I believe Darren Lehmann is a big fan of having the Qld players involved in club cricket where possible.
They train with their club sides at least once a week and play on weekends when schedules allow.
October 11th 2012 @ 11:02am
josh said | October 11th 2012 @ 11:02am | Report comment
It is probably out of necessity Queensland has a strong bowling line up, we can’t play 7 bowlers each game.
October 12th 2012 @ 2:38pm
smithha said | October 12th 2012 @ 2:38pm | Report comment
Correct. Ben Cutting blasted a hundred for South Brisbane and four days later repeated the effort for the Bulls. I was at the Uni watching Peter Forrest and Hartley play a couple of weeks ago. There is something special about watching these blokes play on a Saturday afternoon.
October 11th 2012 @ 9:12am
Tigranes said | October 11th 2012 @ 9:12am | Report comment
Stadiums hosting sheffield shield and ryobi cup are hardly packed, why would you expect them to turn up to club games?
October 11th 2012 @ 9:31am
David Lord said | October 11th 2012 @ 9:31am | Report comment
Tigranes, that’s not the point. I reckon about 90% of current Sydney first grade cricketers will never play with or against a NSW or Australian player in their entire careers. Maybe jag the odd game if a rep player is coming back from injury, but the demands on state and intermational cricketers are so great, there’s no time for them to play grade. And that’s where the grade cricketers are missing out on all that priceless experience pitting themselves against far better cricketers on a regular basis.
October 13th 2012 @ 7:30pm
Daniel said | October 13th 2012 @ 7:30pm | Report comment
I respectfully disagree.
There are plenty of good, State/International quality grade players floating about; often they just aren’t the obvious big names. Last year, state representatives David Dawson, Ian Moran, Greg Mail, Scott Coyte, Sean Abbott, Nic Bills and Phil Jaques (to name but a few) played alongside or against International blokes like Sam Robson, Cameron Merchant and Monty Panesar quite regularly. I’ve attended games where Sutherland put out a grade side with Jaques, Maddinson and Smith featuring.
Andre Adams played Grade over here for years (the best NZ bowler to never play a second Test) until recently. Moises Henriques and Trent Copeland come down whenever schedules allow. Ben Rohrer made a 50 this weekend, and Dom Thornely is still hanging around. Peter Nevill played 11 Grade games last year. Corey Collymore averaged 16 with the ball last season, and Stuart Clark played 10 games for Sydney Uni. Mitch Starc played 5, Bollinger 2, MacGill 9, Hauritz 6 and Copeland 10. Usman Khawaja made it to 9 matches.
Not to mention the Zimbabwean players we’ve had over the years, developing in First Grade all around the country. Vusi Sibanda forewent Test selection to play in an Australian grade competition.
With no real digging, that’s around 15 International players (plus State reps) floating around the competition. Maybe not the same as the 1960s, but by no means are all the Grade sides made up of park cricket hacks. It’s still a fantastic breeding ground (as the rises of Copeland and Patterson attest).
I suspect the rose tinted glasses may have found the way out of their case.
October 11th 2012 @ 10:05am
JohnB said | October 11th 2012 @ 10:05am | Report comment
Cut out most of the one day games and all the 20/20 comps and the test players would play most of the Shield games, and the Shield players would play a lot more club cricket. That’s how it was into the mid to late 70s. Cut Super rugby back to a 6 team competition, lose the Rugby Championship and have one incoming test touring team per year, and the rep players would play much more club footy. All of the progress at the top levels comes at a price. But you can’t have both.
October 11th 2012 @ 2:40pm
Steggz said | October 11th 2012 @ 2:40pm | Report comment
You make a good point. The reason why players could come back to grade more was because there were more opportunities to. The national side wasn’t always off overseas somewhere around the start of the season. The increase in formats adds to the packed international (and domestic) schedule. There’s more to it than David suggests, which is pretty much par for the course.
October 11th 2012 @ 10:25am
Jay said | October 11th 2012 @ 10:25am | Report comment
Here’s a completely theoretical question David, and perhaps you’d rather not engage because it is “pie in the sky” and won’t happen.
But for the sake of argument, do you think Australian Cricket would be better served dispensing with state competition completely? Or almost completely, and just have grade cricket being played across the country? Or if necessary have a much shortened state competition?
Having Australian players playing in grade is fantastic. To wander to the local oval and see these guys, and players aspiring to their level is the core of the game.
October 11th 2012 @ 12:42pm
mds1970 said | October 11th 2012 @ 12:42pm | Report comment
The problem there is grade games are only one day a week, two day games. If you only get a bat once a fortnight, you’re one wet Saturday away from going a month without a hit – which doesn’t make it easy to press a claim for Test selection.
October 11th 2012 @ 1:17pm
Jay said | October 11th 2012 @ 1:17pm | Report comment
Good point. I wonder then if weekends could be freed up for grade, and mid week for state. Of the course the bean counters might not like it as far as crowds go for state games…but that being said the state games I’ve been to have had virtually no-one there anyway.
October 15th 2012 @ 7:04pm
Evan Askew said | October 15th 2012 @ 7:04pm | Report comment
I think that is an excent idea Jay. It doesn’t solve the problem of club cricketers not playing against test players but they would at least get a hit against regular first class players and players out of the test side. Remember the likes of Hayden, Langer, Hussey, Symonds, McGill, Fleming, Wood and Thommo from an earlier age have spent large chunks of their careers not in the test side and all of those were either good or great test players.
October 11th 2012 @ 6:58pm
Russ said | October 11th 2012 @ 6:58pm | Report comment
Structures are merely the division of available talent horizontally and vertically. Rather than removing state cricket it could be expanded (and probably should be) to an 8 (or 12 or 16) team competition. You could grab the best 16 grade teams in the country and play them in a 4 day competition, with a finals system and relegation back to state level for the weakest. The standard would be lower, but they’d play more first class cricket (which at the moment they aren’t doing), and there’d be more opportunities for keepers and spinners – particularly spinners, who seem to go straight from grade cricket to the test side, as often as not.
October 11th 2012 @ 10:31am
Col said | October 11th 2012 @ 10:31am | Report comment
Good times David.
I think its a case of “actions speak louder than words” when it comes to the case of grade cricket these days. The contracted players at both international and state level, as well as the administrators at these levels can bark on all they like about how important grade cricket is and about how club cricket plays a huge role in the development of players etc, however the players absence from any lengthy participation throughout the season when available, both of their own choice but mainly from administrators at higher levels telling them to rest, says what they truly think about grade cricket.
BTW I played in that game in 2003 when Steve and Mark Waugh turned out for the Dogs against the Michael Clarke led Magpies. It was a huge buzz for us first grade nuffies. However none of these guys really featured. Both Waughs were out inside the first 10 overs and Mick was out to Mark Waughs offies for not many. Perhaps this is a reason they dont play grade….
However, David, the beer in the sheds after the game with Mark Waugh never tasted better and you are right, thats where their true value to club cricket lies.
October 11th 2012 @ 10:57am
josh said | October 11th 2012 @ 10:57am | Report comment
I remember when Andrew Symonds would turn out for the Gold Coast. After scoring heaps for QLD he’d be out for 10 in grade cricket. Didn’t make sense.
October 11th 2012 @ 1:24pm
Disco said | October 11th 2012 @ 1:24pm | Report comment
Symonds, score heaps for Qld – when was that?
October 11th 2012 @ 2:15pm
josh said | October 11th 2012 @ 2:15pm | Report comment
He scored 14 hundreds and 23 50′s…
October 11th 2012 @ 11:04am
David Lord said | October 11th 2012 @ 11:04am | Report comment
Col, you’ve nailed the real benefit of rep players in grade in just one game in 2003. Imagine if you had the same benefit of that memorable day every weekend. Priceless.
October 11th 2012 @ 11:04am
Rellum said | October 11th 2012 @ 11:04am | Report comment
I would like to congratulate Micheal Clark for getting back to the roots of the game. He could have easily found a way to avoid playing for his club, but as others have said it does wonders for his club and the wider cricket community to have test players dropping down the levels.