Kurtis Patterson - Life Member of St George District Cricket Club
St George Cricket Club | August 06, 2024
It is with great satisfaction and pride that I put forward this nomination for Kurtis Patterson to be considered for life membership of the St. George DCC.
I feel like I could say this moment was coming from the day Kurtis was born, given that he entered the world on the 5th of April 1993, in the suburb of Hurstville.
Kurtis started his schooling at St. Joseph’s Riverwood, where he also represented the St. Joseph’s Riverwood Sports Club in his first few seasons of cricket in the St. George Junior Association. His final few cricket seasons were spent at South Hurstville Carss Park.
Kurtis joined the St. George District Cricket Club in the 2006–07 season as a 13-year-old playing Green Shield, but I must admit, there wasn't much of him. Kurtis was one of those talented kids who spent three years in Green Shield, and during his middle season, he scored 442 runs at an average of 88. Unsurprisingly, after his impressive performance, the following happened:
One of my most vivid memories as a captain at St. George was a discussion with the then CEO of the club, Jon Jobson, who instructed me that I’d have this young fellow in my team and that he would not be dropped and would not be promoted for the entire season, and I was to teach him everything I knew about grade cricket. I will never forget that conversation, because it outlined a few things for me.
1. Some pretty wise men knew that this kid was going places.
2. The St. George is a great club.
3. I better pull my head in and do a good job.
What did I experience in the first season of Kurtis’ grade career?
To be honest, given his dad's cricketing background, I was a little surprised that Brad would run around the place before the game, offering him his favorite Maccas meal. I'm not sure if I ever broached the topic with them, but I presume that the pre-game ritual didn’t last very much longer.
Most importantly, I witnessed the emergence of an extreme talent who, after a handful of games in 3rd grade, promptly found his way and began plundering bowling attacks with his somewhat unique technique. Let it be said, for a weedy looking kid, he had no trouble bombing a few balls over the boundary. Perhaps it was the Maccas!!
Kurtis wasn’t meant to play this standard for too long. The following season, he had a full season in 2’s under the captaincy of Matthew Hoggett. Kurtis enjoyed his first St. George Premiership title on his way to 716 runs with 3 centuries. The next step was obvious; it was straight into 1's, where at age 17, he became St. George 1st Grade Player No. 407.
When another St. George life member, Chadd Porter, offered Kurtis a sponsorship with Puma, the well-known St. George support system went into overdrive. Kurtis produced 572 runs in his first season of 1's with a top score of 123.
In November 2011, he made his debut for NSW, becoming the youngest NSW cricketer to score a century on debut. He was just 206 days past the age of 18, and he finished with 157.
From this moment on, we saw a cricketer committed to going all the way, and that day would come in 2019, when, through sheer weight of runs, he gave the selectors no choice but to select him from outside of the chosen test squad to make his debut for Australia against Sri Lanka. Famously, he scored a century in front of Brian Booth in the 2nd Test. Sadly, another opportunity to play for Australia has not materialized, but Kurtis knows that anything is possible, and that’s what we love about him. That Aussie batting average remains at 144, but I know we all wouldn’t mind if that came down a bit at some point.
Despite all this, I still enjoy reviewing his Saints statistics. For our club, the numbers look like this:
In all grades, including PG’s and Greenies, over 18 seasons, Kurtis has amassed 7904 runs at 45. In the first grade, Kurtis scored 4813 runs at 47. As a result, he is ranked 12th on the all-time Saints list.
What a blessing it was to have Kurtis as an integral part of last season’s Premiership-winning team, where he finished with a whopping 908 runs at 69, including his amazing 192* in the semi, which provided all those who witnessed him reaching three figures with just how much passion remains for the game. I have never seen him celebrate with so much vigor, not even when he scored his test century. It gave me goosebumps! This innings also won him the inaugural Bradman Award for the highest score of the season. All in all, he has scored 12 first grade centuries, equal with the legendary Norm O’Neill.
In first-class cricket, he has scored 5,653 runs, including 11 centuries and 31 half centuries.
What I have witnessed over all those seasons, during the good times and the challenging, was a talented young cricketer becoming a top St George Man.
Off the field, he has represented the club on numerous occasions at cricket presentations as well as making himself available to help at club functions where he always articulates himself brilliantly and treats everyone as equal.
Lastly, let me talk about family. In Kurtis' world, I have witnessed the love and care of family, as well as how important it is to him. His mum, Dana, a former Australian volleyball representative, and dad, Brad, a former First Grade cricketer with Northern Districts, have walked through the gates at Hurstville so many times and have experienced so many of the big moments of his career. Dana manages to light up the place each and every time, and Brad, well, who could forget Brad on national TV when Kurtis scored his ton for Australia, and he was ready to drink the Australian Capital dry!!! Kurtis has built his own beautiful family after marrying his lovely wife Jocelyn from the US, and they recently became the proud parents of future St. George cricketer Hayden.
I am so proud of this guy's accomplishments that I'm at a loss for words. But obviously, I’m not. I applaud you, Kurtis Patterson, for a career that leaves most of us in awe. More importantly, when I recently asked Kurtis Patterson what chapter he was currently working on in his 10-chapter cricket story, he responded with Chapter 5. May you achieve even greater things in the final five chapters. This amazing club is lucky to have you.
