The top fast bowlers of my time in Dubbo - Mick Davis
Mick Davis | February 07, 2024
OK you’ve seen the batsmen now it’s time for fast bowlers. Let’s qualify first. They have to have played in Dubbo while I was here, and I have to have seen them live in a Dubbo team. So just for the record Don Nash is out. He came along in Dubbo after me.
I’m not doing spinners. I’ve not seen too many good ones. Most of them are part timers who don’t really turn the ball that much. Bowling slow to wait for a miss-hit for a catch at cow is not my idea of clever bowling. Glen Shepherd was probably the best I saw. Jame Patterson for Cyms and RSL back in the 80s was pretty good. Nick Duffy was phenomenal given his age. But this article is for the quicks.
10. Russell Peet I might be a bit biased here cause Peety, also known as “The Shrine ”, was one of the best group of mates I played cricket with and injury ended his career far too quickly. We are still good mates today. Russ was a wicket taker and whilst not express he bowled with a heavy ball and seemed to hurry the batsman along. I reckon he cleaned up Wayne Munro every time they played, which was no mean feat. I saw him get 4-8 in a night game final including Killen, Tink, Steve Wilson (the batsman) and Grub Grady. He was on fire that night and was getting bounce on number one like I never saw. He hit the deck hard. But he always injured himself. He was a real lair on the field and rated night cricket where he could try for classic catches and biggest hit. In fact, I saw him step away from a catch and dive back once so he could win. He was one of the best fieldsmen I ever saw and never missed the stumps in a run out. He won the Whitney cup average one year with 7. He tied with Adrian Simpson in the aggregate with 28. One night game he hit Geoff Mann in the head and left a seem mark in his forehead. Peety was so aggressive. I can’t remember seeing a batsman get the better of him for more than an over. He always came back.
“The Shrine” looked this mean when he played too. He was one of the best sledgers as well!
9. Peter Rogers was known as Buck Rogers and was a teacher at North Primary the same time as Warren Boyd. He was the next fastest bowler in Dubbo after Boyd. Buck was a sprinkler, he sprayed ’em everywhere. His action was amazing. He would just saunter in and then produce this rapid quick step and arm action and the ball would just fizz out of his hand. Tub Wheeler used to hate being in slip because he would likely have to catch one on the full, he was so erratic. And to make matters worse he was a lefty. There were no no balls over the waist when he was there and if there had been he probably would have bowled half the amount he did. But when he got it right, he was unplayable nearly. I used to love watching the battles between him and Dave Tink. Tinky would pick him off, but he was the only bowler I saw hurry Tinky up.
8. Andrew Grant was a big strong lump of a lad, and I opened the bowling with him many times. There is no one I preferred to bowl with than Grunter. Grunter was massive and could bowl fast from a young age. I think he was 15 when he first played Whitney cup. He could come off two steps and bowl as fast as he would off 10. He was so fast and again could bowl all day. And when we played together, we needed too because there wasn’t much else. Grunter didn’t do much with the ball and if he had he would have really been something. I would play cricket with Grunter any day of the week. He was a fantastic mate and he and I complimented each other well. We just seemed to know how to build pressure. My bet is if Grunter picked up a ball tomorrow, he would still bowl fast, still make first grade and still be scary.
Grunter was fun to bowl in tandem with!
7. Don Skinner came to Dubbo in the mid 80’s and with his left arm slingy action was so intense and quick. There were a few fast bowlers around at the same time like Humphries, Grant, Luccini but Skinner could bowl quicker than all of them on his day. He didn’t say much until he appealed and then the whole town knew, he was going up. I thought poor old Frank Warren was going to die of fright when he first saw Donny appeal. He looked evil too and would just stare at you if he was getting mad. If you chirped him look out, the next few were going to be quick. Skinner was, and still is, a sheer competitor. Always at you and always making a game of it. He just never stopped competing and would bowl all day if asked to do so.
6. Andrew Zell is just smart, smart, smart. He always seemed to look quicker than he was but could change his pace easily and used everything he could think of to get batsmen out. He was no slow poke but probably the slowest in this pack. I have been fortunate in my time to only be out LBW 6 times (counting last Saturday). Zelly has two of those and they were both plumb and both golden ducks. Zelly could get something out of the worst conditions. He was a master and far too smart to be a fast bowler. He always had a plan and could execute prodigiously. A tall man he got a lot of bounce too.
Andrew Zell was a smart bowler.
5. Tim Cox (pictured) is one of the hardest workers I ever saw (at bowling). He and brother Brad were the perfect pair because Brad always wanted to bat, and Tim always wanted to bowl as kids. Tim has a beautiful action, and he always amazes me how much he gets over his front leg. He just seems to me to deliver the ball from a lot closer to the target than others. He gets uncanny bounce because of it. Tim is not express but bowls good areas, consistently and hits the seem a lot. He is hard to get away and even in Dubbo batsmen rarely get on the front foot to him.
4. Mitchell Luccini only played one season in Dubbo. He was from Wellington and is the brother of Marie Cornish. Luccini played for Colts United the year they won the premiership in the mid 80’s. He was quick enough but not express. But he was very smart, could move the ball any way he wanted and was deadly accurate. Mitch’s upper frame and chest were huge, and he looked like he could crush you with his bare hands. He cleaned up Newtown’s Stuart Webster in the grand final and even called how he was going to do it. Something like “leg stump out of the ground third ball”. And that is how it happened. In fairness it was a wet deck. He is the best fast bowler Colts ever had in my view. And a nice bloke when he didn’t have the ball in his hand.
3. Cameron Humphries just loved bowling fast and had an aggressive streak to him. He was so athletic and seemed to generate pace from nothing. He was so efficient. Cameron was mostly in my team, so I didn’t face him much except in the nets. And I would have preferred not to. “Chimp” would generate a lot of pace from a final flick of his wrist which is hard to do and maintain control. I think he was clocked at around 130KPH. Again, the fastest bowler in Dubbo at one stage. He played in the match where Doug Walters found McGrath. I personally thought Chimp was the better bowler at the time but that shows how poor my judgement was. He bowled out-swingers and could nip the ball back in off the deck as well.
Cameron Humphries was lightning quick in his day
2. Warren Boyd played for both Cyms and Souths in the late 70s, early 80s. He was a strong big red-head and approached the wicket fast with small quick steps. His arm action was so quick it was hard to find the ball. He was deadly accurate though and swung the ball away from the right handers. They were two-piece balls in those days. When it looked like South Dubbo were going to fold, he came across from Cyms with two others to keep them going. He taught me how to bowl an outswinger. He was the fastest bowler in Dubbo at his time and oddly enough both he and Peter Rogers were primary school teachers at North Public.
1. Chris Killen is the fastest bowler I ever saw live. Not just in Dubbo but anywhere including Brett Lee. I want to Qualify that. I saw Killen bowl in a night match against Orange with a howling wind behind him. He was no balled because the keeper and slips were outside the fielding circle. In the first over he got a regulation nick that carried to Tub Wheeler who caught it on the third man boundary down toward the Cenotaph. He was lightning fast and meaner than mean person in a mean person shop. He truly was an animal. And he could bowl all day. Fast, fit, and aggressive. The perfect combo.
