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Q: Who is the one player from Adelaide 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 South Australian Premier Cricket first grade cricket team?
A: I’d like to highlight 2 unique players i played with regularly - rather than those I might only have played against a couple of times.
Darren Webber played for SA and hit the ball as hard as i ever saw. He was strong but had economy of movement and natural timing. He perhaps wasn’t the best starter but if he got through the first 30 minutes it was going to be tough for the opposition. He could hit a long ball with nonchalance. He had a couple of good seasons in Shield but didn’t dominate like expected.
The other was the unheralded Ben David who was a genuine swing bowler with late movement in both directions. University Oval was a little green and conducive to seam, but Ben got a lot of his wickets bowled with late swing. For a few seasons Ben was a sensation with the number of wickets he took. I recall one season where we had three outright wins where if memory serves me correct, we 20 wickets each time; and it was largely due to him. You were expecting a wicket every over and slips were always in the game. He may not have broken bowling records for his opening bowling partner Nick Roberts was a great foil and took almost as many wickets.
Ben’s greatest effort was in the 94/95 grand final on Adelaide Oval where he led our under-strength bowling attack to take 8 wickets in a marathon couple of spells.
Both were memorable players who retired in their 20s. I consider myself lucky to have seen them in their prime.
Darren Webber played for SA and hit the ball as hard as i ever saw. He was strong but had economy of movement and natural timing. He perhaps wasn’t the best starter but if he got through the first 30 minutes it was going to be tough for the opposition. He could hit a long ball with nonchalance. He had a couple of good seasons in Shield but didn’t dominate like expected.
The other was the unheralded Ben David who was a genuine swing bowler with late movement in both directions. University Oval was a little green and conducive to seam, but Ben got a lot of his wickets bowled with late swing. For a few seasons Ben was a sensation with the number of wickets he took. I recall one season where we had three outright wins where if memory serves me correct, we 20 wickets each time; and it was largely due to him. You were expecting a wicket every over and slips were always in the game. He may not have broken bowling records for his opening bowling partner Nick Roberts was a great foil and took almost as many wickets.
Ben’s greatest effort was in the 94/95 grand final on Adelaide Oval where he led our under-strength bowling attack to take 8 wickets in a marathon couple of spells.
Both were memorable players who retired in their 20s. I consider myself lucky to have seen them in their prime.