The beauty of the Tooheys Cup - Wagga Wagga v Albury
Craig Dodson | June 21, 2023
Can you imagine half the Australian Test cricket team playing an exhibition game in the county regions a week before the first Ashes Test? Well, it happened in the 1990s thanks to the magic of the Tooheys Cup!
As a cricket mad kid growing up in Wagga Wagga, there was nothing like the thrill of when the Tooheys Cup rolled into town. The concept saw the full strength NSW Sheffield Shield Team play an exhibition match between two local towns (in my case Wagga vs Albury), with 6 shield players on each side intertwined with 5 of the best local players from each town.
A brilliant concept that gave the bush boys a chance to pit their skills against cricketing royalty and a chance for all country cricket lovers to see their heroes in the flesh. A legitimate match where the lads went hard.
In 1990, only a week out from the first Ashes test, the Tooheys cup made its way to Wagga and former local boy Mark Taylor was the start attraction. At one stage during the match Tubby found himself at the bowling crease rolling out what can only be described as ‘gentle’ offies.
One of the local lads from Albury was no doubt keen on a story for the grandkids and tried to put Tubby into the Bolton Pak Swimming complex, belting back a straight drive at full pace.
Tubby, in self defence mostly, got his hand’s up which resulted in a badly busted right index finger. I just happened to be in the dressing room with my old man when Tubby burst in saying, ‘I’ve dislocated my bloody finger, can you put it back in mate?’
With no formal medical training and realising the seriousness of a mistake my old man went as white as a sheet and suggested Tubby find some ice and make his way to the Wagga Base Hospital for a more ‘expert’ opinion.
Can you imagine with all the 468 support staff that surround the Australian Cricket Team a situation like this happening today? No chance. That was the rustic beauty of the Tooheys Cup.
NB: Tubby played the first Test with the finger strapped and wearing a special guard on route to making 10 and 67 not out! Not sure if he told Bob Simpson how the injury occurred!
Thousands packed into Robertson Oval to see the spectacle. The NSW side of 1990 would have beaten many Test Teams. Taylor, S Waugh, M Waugh, Whitney, Matthews, Lawson (another proud Wagga boy) – all legends of the game.
Trevor Bayliss has reached the holly grail of coaching a world cup win with England, but I’ll always remember him as the bloke who hit the biggest six I’ve even seen – A majestic pull shot off the Symonds Tusker that cleared the Robbo Grandstand and had the lawn bowlers ducking for cover in the adjacent green. A memory that still burns bright after 30 years.
For the local lads it was an opportunity to see if you could mix it with the pros. Back in the 1980s/90s cricket in the Riverina was extremely strong. I still recall with fondness the late great local legend Anthony Baker (who had played firsts in Sydney with Randwick) in partnership with Mark Waugh. As was the style both were sporting resplendent mullet hair cuts and from the distance of the grandstand, and in tribute of Baker’s ability, it was hard to tell who was on strike.
Legend has it that Dougie Walters spotted Glenn McGrath in a Tooheys cup game in Western NSW back in the day and made a few phone calls that helped set in train him moving to Sydney to try his luck and then go on to become an all-time great – perhaps the greatest legacy of the Tooheys Cup.
Old Dougie even dusted off the creams to play in the Wagga match – I can still hear the groans of the crowd as some young wiper snapper from Albury gave him the ‘yes, wait, no!! call and he was run out by three metres. I’ll also fondly remember Dougie at the pre-match function the night before in his natural habitat of chatting to the punters with a cheeky grin and schooner in hand.
No doubt the travelling NSW team enjoyed the opportunity to unwind and enjoy each other’s company with a few pre game sponsors beverages in the name of team bonding as part of the trip as well.
The cricket was played hard on the field and the standard high. When the NSW boys crossed paths, the simple issue of bragging rights ensured a good contest. I’m not sure Mike Whitney even knows how to bowl gentle half volleys. It was brilliant to see him steam in and drop a few short ones into Tugga.
A few years down the track in 1993 the Tooheys Cup returned and this time Wagga had both its local legends in Tubby and Slats opening the batting.
I found myself playing in the U16 representative game that was the curtain raiser for the main event. The highlight being a coaching session with the NSW Blues the day before. Whit regaled us with stories of sharing the new pill with DK and impersonations of Patrick Patterson and Viv Richards before rolling his arm over to us in the nets.
Here I was on strike and clinging to my unhealthily heavy 3 pound Symonds Grand Monarch as big Whit charged in. He was at a fair clip and I was equal parts shitting myself and starstruck. In the moment I decided if it was short I was defending for dear life but if it was full I was going to have a dip. As Whit got into his final few strides, my mate Blocka broke net etiquette and didn’t check his rear vision mirror, cutting in to bowl one of his pies, while Whit was forced to return to his mark. My net session was over and I had missed my chance. 30 years later and I still tell Blocka off every time I see him.
The opportunity as a 15 year old to be within touching distance and interacting with your idols leaves such a lasting impression, especially so for a country kid.
Come game day and I find myself fielding at fine leg and coping abuse from school mates who were part of the 5,000 plus crowd. I even managed to sign an autograph for some uninformed 7 year old who thrust a piece of paper over the fence. I tracked him as he returned to his dad to proudly show him the piece of paper, and the look of bemusement on his Dad’s face still lives with me.
I recall Steve Waugh getting cleaned up for a golden duck by another Wagga ace Greg Cox (who also had played firsts for Randwick back in the day) and saying it was the best pill he had seen all summer. I also remember Steve looking up at the grandstand in disgust as some smart arse punter gave him the ‘well batted mate’, compliment has he made his way to the sheds.
The Tooheys Cup was played in the days of semi-professionalism (even for the Test Guys) and sadly it just wouldn’t happen today. It is a shame and to the detriment of cricket. It seems with each year our elite cricketers are moved that little bit further away from the average punters reach.
I, and thousands of country kids, were so lucky to have grown up in the 1980s and 90s when the Tooheys Cup was in full swing. The memories remain bright. A simple time. A great time.
