When Gordon Greenidge Played First Grade Cricket In Canberra
Tony Goodfellow | July 08, 2023
It’s probably a little-known fact, outside the ACT, that West Indian great Gordon Greenidge, who was still playing Tests at the time, played First Grade cricket in Canberra.
It was the 89-90 season and my old club Northern Suburbs had just amalgamated with City-Daramalan to form Canberra North-Daramalan. The amalgamation came about as some of the older inner-city club’s Junior resources had started to fall.
This combining of clubs also put at risk the deal City-Daramalan had put together, through several major sponsors, to secure Greenidge’s services for playing and coaching young cricketers.
The Canberra Times reported at the time “The deal is believed to involve about $30,000 plus car for October to February, when Greenidge has to return to the West Indies to qualify for the 1990 tour of England”. This obviously was a significant amount for the time.
On arrival in Canberra in early October, Greenidge was immediately included in the ACT representative side, replacing Michael Bevan, to play Manly at Manuka Oval. Greenidge offered that one of the main reasons for coming to the ACT was to help the fledging State achieve Sheffield Shield status.
In a press conference Greenidge said “There were no concrete offers from other states to play. Even if there had been I am certain I would have accepted this one anyway. With no other world-class players involved in the game here, it has given me a great opportunity to pass on some of the knowledge that I have gained from cricket at Test level. There is plenty to gain here with the ACT chasing a position in the Sheffield Shield competition and I would hope to be a help in achieving that. My job here includes raising the standard of cricket with coaching and other duties and I hope to make the Canberra North-Daramalan club a successful one."
Greenidge struggled to make an impact at club level, due in part to the sub-standard wicket and outfield at Canberra North-Daramalan home ground Reid Oval. An unbeaten 96 against South Canberra was the highlight at club level, however, playing for the ACT Representative side scores of 77 against Manly and 125 not out against a Victorian 2nd XI showed his obvious class.
Greenridge’s stay in Canberra was cut short by a directive from the West Indian Cricket Board to return in early January to participate in preliminary trials for the upcoming tour of England. Greenidge was unhappy about the decision citing personal reasons, as well as a long and distinguished career, to be exempt but the Board stood firm.
During his stay Greenidge noted the lack of continual cricket as a stumbling block in the development of players. In The Canberra Times, Greenidge was quoted as saying “Continuity is the best thing for learning and it could be a good move to look at playing grade matches over two weekends. Playing two-day games over two Saturdays does not give the players the chance to settle into a pattern as it leaves a big gap between playing days. The matches played now could be construed as one-day games and this is not helpful in getting players to settle into the longer hours. To mould a player into the style of Sheffield Shield cricket there is a need to promote closer cricket and the answer could be to play Saturday-Saturday-Sunday. In my experience in the West Indies whenever a club player has been selected to play in a higher-grade competition he has appeared to be lagging at the tea break as he is not used to the longer playing hours.”
Although Greenridge’s stay was cut short his influence on the game in Canberra was profound. Crowds came to watch him bat and, like Bradman decades before him, disappeared when he was dismissed. Bowling to him in the nets he was very respectful of my spin bowling abilities, or rather he took pity on me after dispatching my deliveries ninety metres down the road.
Greenidge was a great lover of red wine and a charming host to wide eyed young cricketers listening to his Test match experiences and stories of the greats of West Indian cricket. A passionate lover of the game and coaching he spent many hours tutoring players and passing his great knowledge on. Wonderful memories from my cricketing past and wonderful experience to meet the great man.
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