My best Warringah Cricket Club team - Anthony Caruso 2011 to 2020

Anthony Caruso | June 19, 2023

Season 2020-21 was my 10th season at Warringah Cricket Club, after spending 17 straight years at my park club, Cromer Cricket Club. During that time, I have had the pleasure of seeing some amazing players staying at Warringah and some who have gone on to bigger and better things. The Pathway Program between Warringah Cricket Club and Manly-Warringah District Cricket Club has produced some truly amazing players and, when you see the players included in this list, it just gives an indication of the strength and talent that I have had the pleasure of playing alongside.

I have kept it very tight in terms of the rules as well in that the player had to have been in the same team as me in the Bottle Green and White at some point. There are also going to be some players who would have just missed out

Opening Batsmen – Nick Cohen and Dom Wheeler (Wicket Keeper)

I’ve very much a person who likes combinations and thinks that chemistry is critical. I could have gone with Hamish Ferguson and Scott Ryan, who both had very distinguished careers at Warringah Cricket Club but I have gone for two mates who, after playing together for the first time in 2014-15, are still playing together, now at Manly, and appear to have a bromance that could rival Hayden and Langer. Nick ‘The Sloth’ Cohen belies his nickname by being an attacking, fluent batsman while ‘Mr Cash Money’ Dom Wheeler has a toughness that complements Nick perfectly. These two played a crucial role at the top of the order when we won the 2nd Grade Premiership in 2015-16, especially the match against Strathfield where Dom Wheeler carried the innings on his back, scoring 104 in a total of 213. I’d also have Dom Wheeler with the gloves on, giving an added element while Nick Cohen’s left-arm orthodox spin ended up playing its biggest part in our charge to that 2nd Grade Premiership, where he cleaned up the tail with only 10 runs to defend in the Semi-Final against Mounties.

3. Jack Edwards

Jack came into our team as a 14-year old and by the end of his debut match in 3rd Grade, he had already shown a glimpse of things to come, smashing a run-a-ball 26 against bowlers double his age, before being given out to a questionable LBW decision (aren’t they all?). 2 matches later, he brought up a run-a-ball 50 against Macquarie University and backed that up 2 matches later with 49 off 32 deliveries against Georges River. That was the last we saw of him as he got snapped up the very next round by Manly. While he was still developing his technique against spin, Jack Edwards was the best player of pace bowling I had seen (at that time), with his tall elegance and tremendous eye. By the end of that innings against Macquarie University, I made the statement to our skipper that he would go on to play for NSW. I think Blind Freddie would have made that call if he was there.

4. Tim Cruickshank

Believe it or not, I have played one game with Tim Cruickshank in the Bottle Green of Warringah. Granted, it was a charity match, but to have Tim give up his time to come down and help WCC raise money for the Movember Foundation (a match where we raised nearly $2000 for the cause), playing his first game for Warringah in nearly 20 years, I got a first-hand glimpse of Tim as a player and a cricket brain. Incredibly astute and intense, Cruickshank still had a presence on the field, despite not raising a bat in anger for over a year since his retirement after winning the 1st Grade Premiership as captain in 2014-15. He still holds the record for the most runs scored in Warringah 4th Grade, scoring over 600 runs in a season at the age of just 16. In a move that might surprise a few, I’ve opted not to give him the captaincy, allowing him to focus on his batting.

5. Oliver Davies

If I thought Jack Edwards was something special, nothing could prepare for me for when Ollie Davies came onto the scene. Again, so gifted with his hands, his full array of shots would often be on display for everyone to see, with the demeanor that is typical of the Davies Family: relaxed, switched on and devil-may-care. Like Jack, Ollie was snapped up by Manly very quickly but not before he played an early vital role in positioning 3rd Grade under Ian Bassett (who can consider himself very unlucky not to be in this line-up) for their successful tilt at the Premiership in 2016-17. You wouldn’t pick a ruthless streak in him when you meet him, but it is there when he has a bat in his hand.

6. Matt Lamb

A bolter into the line-up that not many people outside of Warringah would know about but Matt Lamb is my English Import and a cracking import at that. While I got to train with him, I never got to play with Khalid Sawas (who broke the record for most runs scored in 1st Grade Shires in a season, until that record was broken this season by Peter Donovan), which makes him ineligible. Matt Lamb, on the other hand, I had the pleasure of playing 3 times with and, when relaxed, was a class batsman, with the ability to play slow and steady until the opportunity came, whereby he would engage beast mode and completed destroy bowling attacks on his own. Now playing for Warwickshire, Lamby came here as an 18-year old and really did so growing up in Australia. It has molded him into a fantastic cricketer.

7. Billy Lloyd-Green (Captain)

‘Oh Captain, My Captain’. A term used by poet and writer Walt Whitman in his book about Abraham Lincoln and revitalized as a signature line in the move Dead Poets Society (which starred the late and equally great Robin Williams). I’ve had a somewhat chequered history with my position with captains, which can’t be surprising, given my personality. But one person I always found myself at my best with is someone who, in many ways, is very different to me. Billy Lloyd-Green was my 1st captain at Warringah and the 3 years that I spent playing underneath his leadership are the 3 most memorable seasons of cricket I have ever played. From Bathurst with that laconic country personality, it would be a major culture shock to have to lead a brash, loud Italian from the beach. But Billy had this calm and quiet intensity that brought the best out of everyone in the team and his belief in players gave people freedom to play their natural games, which instilled confidence and gave a real vibe of fun and excitement in any game we played. A solid bat and more than handy medium-pacer, Billy would come in at Number 7 (only because of the sheer depth of the batting) and would be a very handy change bowler on slower decks

8. Danny Reynolds

Red Bull is a no-brainer in this line-up and my VC in the team. On his day, he is fast, belligerent, intelligent and adaptable to the situation at hand. An excellent cricket brain, ‘Red Bull’ could pick out moments in the match before they happen, at will. He forms a strong leadership team with Billy Lloyd-Green (again, going to that theme of playing combinations). Under-rated as a batsman as well, with the ability to score quick runs at the lower order with some exceptional hitting. Off the field, he is very sharp-witted and has an uncanny ability to playfully mess with people’s minds. Aa great person to have around the changerooms.

9. Ben Rowse

Warringah has developed a reputation for being a haven for seam bowlers. As a result the spinners usually get left out of the equation but, on grounds like Frank Gray Oval on Day 2, they are imperative when defending totals. There are two spinners for me to choose from, but I am starting with a more traditional leg-spinner in Ben Rowse. Rowse’s style of leg spin takes more from the mold of Shane Warne than most leg-spinners today (who tend to bowl a bit more upright). Rowse follows similar advice that Shane Warne received from Richie Benaud, which was to develop a fiercely spinning leg-spin delivery that you bowl 90% of the time, and can he turn them! It really is a joy to watch him drop the pace down and beat a batsman with a ball that has spun the width of the stumps

10. Glyn Archer

Probably the bowler that I connected with better than anyone else. This was another case of opposites attracting, in that Glyn had brooding anger whenever he had the ball and was all about hitting the deck hard and intimidating the batsmen. Here was a kid capable of some truly frightening performances with the ball and he was ruthless with it, bowling with the same intensity at the Number 11 that he would to an opening bat. His finest performance was the Demolition Job at Pennant Hills, where he bowled with pure hostility and anger, after being dropped from 1st Grade and proceeded to focus his anger in dismantling Pennant Hills. Certainly made bowling at the other end a lot easier.

11. Luke Parkinson

Completing the starting XI is one of my other bowling partners, one that offers quality swing bowling from the left arm. Luke Parkinson is an incredibly craft bowler with a deft turn of movement and excellent variation of pace on whatever deck you may be bowling on but he is at his best with a ball moving sideways in the air. Another player with an excellent cricket brain, Luke gives the pace attack the guile and smarts needed to complement the rest of the bowling attack that has its fair share of pace and hostility

12th Man – Tim Bourke

The ideal person as a 12th man (especially with this current situation of being able to use the player as a sub if someone suffers a head injury) as he can fill any role needed. A solid mid-order batsman and a two-purpose bowler, along with one of the best fielders I have played with. Another one who can turn a match on its head all by himself, Tim Bourke is a ball of energy and great fun to have around.

Coach – David Gainsford

One of 3 people who helped to get me my start at Warringah Cricket Club (the other two being Geoff Tucker and Simon Lyon). I was surprised with Gainsy allowing me the freedom to carry on as my own style of bowler, when plenty of others would have not even given me the chance or try to radically change aspects about my place. David encourage attacking, positive play and allowed the players to play with freedom, much like the way Billy Lloyd-Green would captain.

My Men in Green Warringah XI. Decent looking line-up, if you don’t mind.