David Jebb - cricket is a great leveller
UNSW Cricket Club | June 02, 2023
David Jebb has had quite the cricket journey. He’s made not only a terrific contribution to UNSW Cricket Club but to the game itself.
A player, an administrator, a curator David is a student of the game, its history and to the spirit of cricket. David Jebb was made a Life Member of UNSW Cricket club in 2010.
Let’s find out more about David’s journey in the game.
The cricket world is rich. Respect and enjoy your little bit of custody and put in where you can.
What year you were born?
1962
Can you remember you first game of cricket? How old and do you remember how you went?
As an 8 year old playing Under 11s for Norths Juniors (Canberra) at Southwell Park. I batted 11 and got a first baller – we were all out for 20, chasing 22. Gutted.
Tell us briefly about your cricketing journey? Where you’ve played, clubs you’ve played for?
Mmmm, sorry, I don’t think I can make this brief.
I played in Canberra until 1984 (Norths Juniors, City CC and Woden CC), opening the bowling for the ACT from Under 10s to Under 17s and ending up playing 1st Grade, where I had a reasonably successful season with the ball in 1983/84. In those days, Canberra always got a fixture against the touring Test side and I decided to go hard in the off season with a view to being picked as an all-rounder to play against the great West Indies team! Aside from being an extremely long shot………..what was I thinking!! I bought a Casey bowling machine (off Fred Bennett in Sydney) and commenced a 3 night a week winter indoor nets regime at the Canberra Showground with a mate, Greg McLellan, who also had some ambitions. For three months we didn’t miss a night and did a lot of fitness stuff as well – and by that stage, albeit somewhat bruised, each of us could bat for 45 minutes against the machine on full speed, religiously and secretly varying our lengths, with few errors. It was an education in what was possible if you worked hard. Sadly, we lost a month when the thin pile carpet in use at the centre, which was a fantastically true surface, was replaced in a major refit by something far less suitable and our batting regime fell off the rails and never really recovered.
Anyhow, Greg wanted to try his luck in Sydney and I went up with him to watch him trial at Mosman. At Rawson Oval, Sydney Harbour in the background, in the days when a bloke called Terry Calvert used to produce absolutely first class conditions in both the middle and the nets, it was like we had arrived in cricketing heaven. I was invited to throw my boots on and, after doing the rest of the pre-season I was picked in 2nds. Canberra days over. Playing at Mosman’s grounds in those days was an absolute pleasure – I distinctly remember pausing at the end of my run up late on a sunny day at the northern end of the Mosman Oval amphitheatre and having this moment of thinking what a privilege it was.
I developed back problems late in that season and spent the next few years unsuccessfully trying to rehabilitate, ultimately being advised by an orthopaedic surgeon to “stop playing cricket”. Took some time off, but then missed the game and my mates too much and had a crack at playing as a batter. Overall, that didn’t end up going so well and, instead of playing the 1988/89 season, I went travelling, ending up in Yorkshire (near Leeds) and playing a couple of seasons before lobbing at the UNSW Cricket Club back home in 1990, where I’ve been ever since.
Although, at 28, it was getting a bit late in the piece, that switch was something of a life changing decision – on the field I’ve never been hugely successful (I think in about 300 games I’ve probably got around 7,500 2nd to 4th grade runs across two clubs), but I got heavily involved in all aspects of the Bees, particularly the social side, including our satirical newsletter (The Saturday Sledge) and the SCG Test Breakfast, and the experiences and friendships I’ve made along the way have been significant and rewarding. It’s a truly unique club – a bubble of cricket loving, egalitarian, witty, unpretentiousness lunatics, driven by a culture that goes back decades and took a quantum leap when the great John Rogers got involved in the club in the 1970s and instilled some traits that still exist today. Still central to this is Geoff “Henry” Lawson, who has been there for about 45 years and is the high water mark of a Test player staying involved in their club (although I also experienced Dave Gilbert doing something similar at Wests when I was groundsman at Pratten Park). He still sets the scene for each season with his selection night speech. Nothing is beneath him – I remember once he turned up before play at David Phillips Field, our lower grade venue, helped out with a few fielding drills and put the stumps in on his way out. I went out and opened and lasted perhaps half an hour. Unstrapping my pads in the pavilion I noticed that Henry was commentating on the radio live from the SCG! He had popped in to help out on his way there.
As well as all the fun stuff, I was on committee for 22 years at the club and made a Life Member in 2010.
Batting at David Phillips North
After I wrote a disparaging editorial about Greg Livingstone in The Saturday Sledge, he sought to humiliate me by posting my mediocre statistics at the next UNSWCC annual dinner, including getting Slats to pose for photos pointing at my mid-20s grade batting average.
I ended up playing a total of six seasons in Yorkshire, 3 each for Hall Park and Calverley CCs in the Aire Wharfe League. Great experiences, and taking in the 1989 and 1993 Ashes – enough said. Later on, I played a few seasons of Masters with the Burwood Briars before one of my knees started saying “no”. I also played in some more social sides – 6 seasons for John Breare Printers in a Yorkshire evening league (T20, 25 years ago) - extremely funny blokes and up there with the most fun I’ve ever had on a cricket field and, in Sydney winter(!) cricket, The Bumblers, a bunch of UNSW “doers” playing just for fun, bowlers batting, batters bowling, and The Doshies – a ragtag bunch of friends, cricketers and non-cricketers alike who take the great Dilip Doshi (and a Gideon Haigh article written about him in 2006 - Dilip Doshi - The man apart (espncricinfo.com) ) as our inspiration. Doshie-like and unDoshie-like behaviour is a thing. We have a BBQ during the game and beers afterwards whilst reading the scorebook and taking the piss out of our efforts that day.
I should mention the last piece of my “cricket nuffy” jigsaw – I have been a groundsman on and off since 1982/83, when I volunteered to be “assistant groundsman” at Woden CC (clubs did their own pitches in Canberra) and found myself “head groundsman” three weeks later. All up, I did 3 years of 1sts/2nds in Canberra, 6 seasons at Hall Park CC in the UK, and 15 years full time in Sydney Grade cricket - 12 years in 1st/2nds at the Village Green (5) and Pratten Park (7). The “buzz” of 1st Grade in Sydney is very enjoyable – in the greater cricket world, it’s a very special weekend scene where Test players show up when they can and there is a good level of respect throughout the participants in the competition, players and non-players alike. Something to own, preserve, and to continue to develop, I reckon. I think Cricket NSW does a great job of this.
In which grade and at what age did you make your debut in grade cricket?
My debut was for Norths (ACT) in 4th Grade at the age of 14.
At what age did you make your first grade debut in grade cricket and can you remember how you performed in debut?
1sts in Canberra at age 18 against Weston Creek. I think I nicked off for a couple and remember getting one wicket, future Victorian Police Commissioner Simon Overland!
If you can share with our audience, how would you describe yourself as a cricketer?
Until I was 23, I was a fast-medium outswing bowling all-rounder. Batted 7 in 2nd Grade in my first season in Sydney and I often got the nightwatchman job. Loved that. Chronic back problems beset me and eventually forced a reinvention into an opening batsman but I would say I remained a bowler in a batsman’s body – bowling came naturally to me but batting for my spot in the top order was always a great challenge as, really, I can be a bit of a dreamer – not great for concentrating all day and putting situations completely away. I got myself out with a concentration lapse far too often. I also bowled a bit of leg spin in my reincarnation, mainly in 3rds at Mosman. Probably should have stuck more at that but it drifted away when I went up to 2nds and there was no way I was getting a bowl!
What were your strengths as a player?
I was very dedicated to my training and fitness and very coachable. I also pretty much always regarded other players as just blokes with arms and legs, like me.
What was your highest score in senior cricket? For which club and where.
131 in 4th Grade at David Phillips North, sadly soon to be dug up to become the NSW Waratahs Centre of Excellence. To drop a name, my second best was 128 in 3rds at DP South, opening the batting with future England Test player Sam Robson and putting on 174.
What were your best bowling figures in senior cricket?
I took 7 for 33 for City in ACT 2nds at age 17 in the last game of the season when our opening bowler didn’t turn up after a car accident. I thought I would be good for a bowl from then on but didn’t bowl a ball the following year after they continued with their position that I was a bat!
In Sydney, my best was 5 for 23 against St George 3rds, the same day I first started feeling a twinge in my back. That game was also notable for the Saints opening attack of Paul Stepto and Marty Wood, who were the NSW Under 19 quicks and looked pretty good to me!
Who were the best three fast bowlers you have played against?
I came across Richard McCarthy, who had played a couple of Shield games for Victoria, in England in 1989. He was quick, had a beautiful Lillee-like action, and swung the ball away late. Another bloke I played against over there with a Shield game on his CV was David Ritossa from South Australia, not as pretty to watch but also bowled late outswing at pace and was capable of outright unplayables.
In Australia, I managed to find myself facing an enraged Danny McLachlan on a synthetic pitch playing for the (winter) Bumblers. He was just back from playing for WA, so still at some sort of peak, and wanted to kill me and my opening partner. Years later I ended up getting on really well with him when he played for Wests at Pratten Park, where I was groundsman. I have never known a player so in tune with things when reading the pitch. “When did you last water this, Jebby? Thursday afternoon?” Right every time.
Special mention to facing Wayne Daniel in the nets at Mosman. He was a total professional and put in properly at training – what a great experience and luckily the practice decks were good that year!
Daniel McLauchlan
Who were the best three spinners you have played against?
One of the joys of lower grades in Sydney is that 1st Grade spinners often come down when their best days are over. Through this, I got to face David “Cracker” Hourn against Easts on a spinning Trumper Park deck in a two day game. I didn’t last long in the first dig in a low scoring outright game but got a week to think about how I would play him on the second day and got 91 not out in the second – faced him a bit that day and I guess I would rate this as one of my better achievements with the bat. He was such a challenge and you could hear his fingers flick for some balls. His “zooter”, and the subsequent loss of dignity for those attempting to play it, was generally accompanied by guffaws from his teammates. I faced another ex-State player, Wayne Mulherin, on a turner at Marrickville Oval and felt quite inadequate that day.
On the UNSW UK Tour in 2001 I faced a Pakistani leggie who had played ODIs, had no idea, and didn’t last long.
Who were the best 3 batsman you’ve played against?
In Canberra, I came across a local legend, Neil Bulger, who didn’t try the “big smoke” but routinely touched up touring sides when they came to Manuka. I remember my playing friend at the time, Peter Bowler (who later had a successful County career on an English passport), opening against Pakistan with him and coming off very excited about them scoring runs – apparently Neil said, “mate, they’re just cricketers”. At 18 I bowled a lot of overs to him one day while he got a 100 at Deakin Oval. It was a lesson in simplicity - block the good ones and brutally despatch the bad ones. I’d never seen a ball hit so hard. Incredibly, Neil recently passed away just after I had written this. Amongst the tributes was someone noting that Doug Walters had never seen the ball hit harder – so I wasn’t imagining it!
In England I played a couple of games against Tim Neilsen – he was very correct, a strong back and across technique and played very late, with great timing.
In 2004 at the age of 42, I decided I couldn’t continue to be a captain and a groundsman anymore (had been skippering lower grades for a while) and threw myself open to the selectors. Some runs in 3rds and an injury saw me opening in 2nds against Easts, who had a young David Warner. On a deck that was way too moist in the circumstances, 17 wickets fell in the day. Everyone struggled, except him. He was 70 odd not out, played very straight and late, and looked an absolute cut above on a pitch with dents all over it.
Neil Bulger
Who played the best innings you’ve seen firsthand playing with or against?
At Mosman I did a fair bit of opening with Jason Gallian in half a year of 3rds and then we both went up to 2nds for the start of the next season - he had bulked up enormously in the off season and had been working very hard. In Round 1 he got 160 at Trumper Park – it was technically perfect and brutal at the same time. I never played with him again and he ended up playing a couple of Tests for England.
Was there any bowler in particular who whatever reason always seemed to cause you a few problems?
I can’t think of anyone in particular in Sydney, but I’d say any decent spinner. A couple of leg cutting medium pacers used to chalk me up regularly in England on seaming decks.
Can you recall a time when you thought, wow, this is a step or two up from what you were used to?
A couple of times, both in centre wicket practice situations:
1) Facing John Skilbeck in the middle at Rawson – a first class line and length and everything kept going behind point, even middled stuff, and
2) Ian Salisbury one time at UNSW – two wrong ’uns, one he would let you pick and another you just couldn’t, and huge turn at quite a pace. A young Dan Christian and Tim Lang didn’t give me much to drive that day, either. Definitely a step up.
Who was the best wicket keeper you’ve seen firsthand playing with or against?
Probably Mark Atkinson, when he played some lower grades at the end of career.
Who are the two players you admired most in terms of skills and competitive spirit in the competitions you played?
I played some 2nds with Henry when, obviously, he was well past his peak but his competitiveness and skill with the ball (use of wrist and grip, in particular) were very much intact.
Jim Dixon, UNSW, who could turn his hand to any skill and be technically excellent at it – batting, fielding, fast swing bowling and, when his body started to pack it in, offies. He always gave it absolutely everything and was always looking for a way to win, whatever the position.
Geoff Lawson
Who was the best captain you had the good fortune to play with?
Jim Dixon, when he came down the grades after his 1sts career was over. A great mentor and example to his teammates, very competitive without being a dickhead, hugely knowledgeable about all aspects of the game, absolutely selfless in his approach, and always looking to attack and make things happen.
Jim Dixon
Who has been your funniest team mate?
Rob Stark, lower grade legend at UNSWCC, probably stands out in a club full of very funny people. I have a few “go to” stories involving him (and John Howard in one case), that probably can’t be shared in this forum but always bring belly laughter when told.
Can you recall some banter or an exchange on the cricket field that still makes you laugh today?
In 1999 I jagged a late inclusion in a 50th Anniversary of UNSW Cricket game at the Village Green. Henry had been given some budget to run the day and had teed up some Test player mates to play (I replaced Mark Taylor at late notice, who had suddenly landed some Australian of the Year duties!). In my team was the one and only Merv. I remember seeing a quote sometime from a Test player that said it all………..”the great thing about Merv Hughes is that he’s more like Merv Hughes than Merv Hughes is”. And so he was – zero pretence, great company and funny all day. One thing I remember about the stars playing is that they were all putting in and, on reflection, having been at the level they had, I guess they just don’t do it any other way. It really helped make it as memorable a day as you could hope for.
50th Anniversary of UNSW Cricket – the great Jungle Robson lurking at midwicket
Anyway, Livo, skipper of the “Academics”, decided that I should bowl some of my leggies. Mercifully, my first over wasn’t embarrassing, even though I was bowling to Neil Maxwell, who certainly looked to only know one way to play, having bowled with some fire earlier and now looking like taking us apart. I was expecting to go for about 20 an over. At the end of the first one, Merv came up to me and said something like “Hey, I used to play with Maxie for Victoria and I know how to get him out. Just bowl another over like that, make sure you throw them up, I’ll set your field and I’ll sledge him”.
Next over, Merv set a deep square, a deep cover and put himself at a very straight deep mid-off, halfway back. Neil settled into his stance and then pulled away, showing a bit of exasperation and asking “What’s this?” – pointing at Merv, who was waving his arms behind the bowler (me). Merv called out: “Hey Maxi, where are you going to get any runs? We’ve cut off both of your shots!” Maxi told him to get away from behind the bowler and settled back into his stance. I threw it up – it landed and turned a bit (it was August and there was zero grass out there – refer pic) and Neil came down the wicket to, I think, hit me onto the UNSW Walkway. He didn’t get hold of it and it ballooned – to Merv! He took it, and amongst the uproar, I ran over to celebrate with him where he met me with “Mate, cricket doesn’t get any better than that!”
“The Academics” 50th Anniversary Match, 1999
W Saunders D Jebb P Emery T Buckett J Dyson K O’Keefe M Hughes J Niland G Clarke
G Milliken B Nott M Kovacs G Livingstone A Pratt
What was your most embarrassing dismissal in senior cricket?
In a lower grade game at Petersham Oval against Randwick Petersham, I was out batting for a while and noticed a dismissal that they seemed to be hatching – a leg side stumping, to one of their meds, keeper standing up. So, as an experienced captain, I felt compelled to advise a couple of our incoming bats against it. You know the rest.
Who was your childhood hero?
It changed from Doug Walters to Dennis Lillee to Thommo.
Who are the three sports people in the world you’d most like to meet?
Ronaldo, Vitali Klitschko, Michael Holding.
Who’s your favourite cricket commentator?
Jim Maxwell. I declare some bias here from Jim hosting our Test Breakfast for many years and always being the consummate, unpretentious professional that you might expect. We can be a pretty loose bunch at UNSW, including when organising events, and Jim, with a minimum of preparation, is the glue that has held many memorable Brekkies together. His ability to speak off the cuff and go straight to the nub of the issue is an incredible talent, in my view.
What was your favourite ground to play at?
The Village Green, sadly gone for cricket now and currently a building site for a synthetic multi-sport facility.
The Village Green, December 2007
Was there a particular team you especially looked forward to playing against?
Not really. Anywhere with a good ground and/or arvo teas, probably. In the UK, an important factor in favourite ground considerations was the pubs and food venues nearby.
What’s been your most memorable moment in cricket?
Sorry again, more than one and I guess they’re not single moments, although I’m sure there was a crystallising moment in each of them.
As a kid, watching Lillee and Thommo against the Poms at the SCG in 1975, day 2 under cloudy skies and with 42,000 in, was very memorable.
As a groundsman, probably hosting an Australian vs England Women’s ODI at the Village Green. The day went perfectly. So sad that cricket the VG is just a memory now.
And as a Bee:
1) Day 1 of the Edgbaston Test on the UNWCC 2001 UK Tour – 25 of us in silly jackets behind the bowler’s arm watching the Aussies bowl England out for 295 and then our club mate Slats scoring a sublime 77 not out in the time left before stumps.
A patch of black and yellow near the scoreboard at Edgbaston and Slats on the big screen.
What’s the best win you’ve been involved with?
In Yorkshire, league cricket is taken very seriously. I’ve never been sledged so much and the league I played in attracted heavy newspaper interest and live radio coverage of the match of the day and progress scores in the others. There is also promotion and relegation. Relegation from the 1st Division is seen as an unthinkable disaster. In my third season at Hall Park, we struggled all season and in the second last round sat in the dressing room listening to the radio and accepting that we had been relegated. A ridiculous turnaround in another game reprieved us and we lived to fight another day. Despite that, in the final round we again looked like losing and going down until, literally in the final half hour of the season in near darkness a, shall we say, no nonsense guy up from 2nds hit us to victory when all looked lost, and we stayed up. Postscript – the next season they got rid of me and paid big money for a top-class West Indian and won the comp!
In Sydney, well before the days of T20, we had to chase 10 an over for 20 overs to get a 4th Grade outright and push into finals contention, and did it. We all chipped in before Jim Dixon and a young guy, Alex Braid, took us home over the last 9 overs. It had been a bit of a spiteful game too, which made it seem even better.
Who are the three players from your playing days at the top of the list for a Saturday afternoon barbeque?
I notice Dave Carson couldn’t narrow it down to three when he did this exercise and I must agree with him. I could easily name 50 guys from my club that I played with or came to know from previous eras who would fit the bill – and I catch up regularly with them through our Old Boys events (3 monthly drinks, annual Golf Day, Test Breakfast, annual cricket game, book launches etc. etc.).
So, with any two of those blokes, I would add my long-time friend, Greg Rowell, who I’ve known since 1985 when we used to travel up to Sydney in the car from Canberra on Friday evenings to play for Mosman. His life has been full of achievements – a successful Shield career across 3 states, near Ashes selection in 1993 (5 out of 6 Channel 9 Shield final commentators had him on the plane, all except Greg Ritchie!), a run against Campbell Newman for Lord Mayor of Brisbane, a huge contributor to his grade club Wests (Brisbane), and now member of the CA Board. We see each other rarely these days but, when we do, he’s the same dag from the ACT he always was, albeit with a lot more stories to tell.
What’s the best advice you’ve received?
Received via reading it a in a book (Keith Stackpole’s?): “Cricket’s a great leveller and you don’t talk” (before the event), which was an Ian Redpath quote.
What is your occupation and who do you work?
I just started a job as a gardener on a large private property who would prefer I didn’t plug them.
Are you still involved in cricket and if so, in what capacity?
I live an hour out of Sydney these days, so my main involvement is as a work from home administrator for UNSWCC. I haven’t worked as a groundsman since September 2019. I am a regular at UNSWCC Old Boys events and will re-start our SCG Test Breakfast when our venue, (formerly the SFS!), comes back.
If you were running a state cricket association what would your 2 priorities to ensure cricket in the state remained strong and successful on and off the field?
Good facilities throughout the State. It’s an expensive business and can be a bit of a fight with councils and other codes, but so critical to making the whole cricket scene work well.
Good coaching and mentoring. I’m a big believer in the “transition to adulthood” service offered by good cricket clubs being a very important contribution to the wider community. When I was a player this was a little thinner on the ground but, these days, with support from grants and good competition structures, a person usually gets a good shot at achieving his or her playing potential, and many valuable life lessons along the way, if they want to.
