My Story: ODI Cricket 1st January 1996

In conversation at my neice Olivia's birthday party the other day I was reminded my other sporting love besides Rugby Union has always been cricket! I played on Saturday mornings in late Primary School and persevered through more than one season without ever being asked to bowl. In the school team I had to challenge another player in a one on one net session to get a game [a formative belting of my self esteem from an early eage]. Deep in the box of childhood mementos however is a trophy and pennant from those early days.
I took the game up again in Year 10 through friendships with the local Metford Baptist Church team and then founded a Uniting Church team myself with a bunch of peers and keen mentors. During this time my school mates and I also enjoyed some success in the Maitland Mercury Twighlight Seven-a-side Comp on the old Mt Pleasant St wickets behind the hospital. This was a challenge with keeper and six fielders, two overs each and retiring at 30 when batting!! Many a ball was dispatched into the potato farm across the road.
Later on it was a wider network of mates in the Upper Room XI [another story], one season in Normanhurst [Sydney], Hamilton Station Hotel XI and Newcastle City Fifths... until my knees finally gave up!

There are lost of fond memories and frustrations:
i. Playing three short for Maitland Uniting we almost pulled it off defending 130 with the opposition 7 or 8 down for 80 and my own figures of 7-30
ii. 98 no high score [although we were ahead by about 15 runs in the end] hitting sixes to left, right and then over the head of long on while seeing the ball like a footy
iii. Chasing ten runs per over for the last 17 overs against Greenleaf we actually kept pace until in the last 2 overs the opposition had to resort to legside line to prevent us from winning.... I think we fell 12 runs short in the end. Loved seeing schoolboy and future senior rep bowler John Allinson completely lose the plot as the innings unfolded
iv. "The Blob' Steve Power's many huge innings and especially one where various players lectured him at Shortland about settling in and having a look at the bowling. Steve nodded and went out to hit the first ball of the game for six into a neighbourhood swimming pool at the house where a bikers bbq lunch had just started
v. I reckon I had a shot at 8 or 9 'hat tricks' [3 wickets in 3 balls] but never got one
vi. The left handed opening bowler surnamed 'Darcy' who I never scored runs against... sliding deliveries that cut back and bowled me or I snicked for few runs almost every time including a return to the Maitland comp some ten years on and finding him still there plugging away
vii. Avoiding an outright defeat at Tomago promoted to open after making a fist of the first innings. Scored 1 run in 90 mins but didn't get out
viii. Bowling to my Year 9 Science teacher for 40 mins where he couldn't get off strike and finally in frustration skied a catch for caught and bowled... he was unimpressed
ix. Falling about a boundary short in a Final against arch rivals at Waratah Oval next to the drain... just couldn't get onto that one more six...
ix. The many many hours of fun and the part timer ring ins who made us laugh and made sure we had a game every week

The memories come flooding back!!

BUT I actually started this post to talk about one of my best cricketing memories which is Michael Bevan's SCG innings on January 1 1996...

We sought out and found 'scalped' tickets outside the ground with supposed 'obscured views' on the hill and found ourselves in brilliant position [although it rained a bit in the middle of the day]. I had been coming to the cricket for years [including driving to see half a game one year because I was bored at work] and for some reason didn't have a plan that year but was in Sydney for other reasons.
At one point chasing 173 against the West Indies, Australia were 6-38 and Michael Bevan cemented his reputation as 'the finisher' by timing his areas, shots, risks and tempo perfectly to score a remarkable win at 9 down including a well struck single from Glen McGrath in the final over... its the one and only time I was glad to be among the 'great unwashed' in the hill area as that atmosphere was up there with Cathy Freeman's 400m Olympic win and Kefu's last gasp try to send John Eales out a winner at Homebush in a rugby test.

The following 3 mins plus was exactly what the previous 90 mins with as much at stake at any point... Michael Bevan is one of those players who changed how the game was played!!