• Fueling conversations and igniting meaningful experiences for cricket fans around the world
  • Fueling conversations, igniting experiences

Partner Sponsors

My Activity

answered
Q: Who is the one player from Sydney Grade Cricket who played between 1980 and 2000 you’d want as the first player selected if you had the opportunity to start your own NSW Premier first grade cricket team?
A: Hi -long time lurker and first time poster :)
There were so many greats during the 80's through to the noughties in Sydney Grade. (Of course a pantheon preceded and I'm sure lots more have followed but, we're all happy captives of our own experiences, right?) Each and every club had some extra-special players who could and did single-handedly appropriate games with elegance and finesse; raw, violent force or sheer willpower or, (more likely) a combination of these things.
Every bloke mentioned here is a legend. I never minded too much about (often) being out-competed by any of them - it was mostly fun to be in the field watching them go about their work. Those I played with, including Billy Bang Bang, Emu, Sara - every one of them was inspirational - they all looked 10 feet tall to me - and in plying their trade facilitated what very good cricketers always do; they created opportunities for team mates to prosper - including angry legspinners.
That said, I had the pleasure and good fortune of playing for a brand new club (Campbelltown circa 85/86) and it was mind-numbing to observe what's actually involved in building a competitive first grade side. A rewarding but exhausting task that requires a skillset quite a bit broader than batting and bowling wizardry.
So, with the fully flux-capped DMC Delorean idling away, and having seen him go about it up close, Paul Bourke (Gordon, St George, Campbelltown and Sutherland) would be first picked for my new NSW Premier Cricket first grade team.