In Between Balls With Ollie Rayner
St George Cricket Club | October 29, 2024
By popular demand we return with our "In Between Balls" feature where we delve into the minds and history of our players. We kick off with our returning Welsh International Ollie Rayner. Ollie recently was capped as St George DCC First Grade Player No.479.
IN BETWEEN BALLS WITH : Ollie Benjamin Rayner
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS (Nickname) : Rayner, Big Red, Marn
YEARS ON EARTH : 19
BIRTHPLACE : Leicester, England
ANY EXOTIC CRICKET or NON CRICKETING ANCESTRY : Welsh and English combination
TEAMS SUPPORTED : Wales Rugby, Swansea City, Thunder, Sharks, Swans and of course Welsh Fire
FIRST CRICKETING MEMORY : Going to watch my Dad every weekend play his club cricket
PREVIOUSLY PLAYED FOR (Jnr & Snr) : Chepstow CC and the Welsh age groups growing up at home. Currently playing for Usk Cricket Club in South Wales.
FAVOURITE GROUNDS: Sophia Gardens (Cardiff), Usk CC and Hurstville Oval
GREATEST INFLUENCE : Hard to look past Joe Root growing up, and then more recently I've enjoyed watching the way that the likes of Harry Brook and Marnus Labuschagne go about their work. My Dad has always been a huge influence on me growing up in all walks of life.
HIGHEST LEVEL PLAYED : Glamorgan 2nd XI last season after returning back from Sydney
GREATEST CRICKETING MOMENT : Winning the Kingsgrove T20 competition with St George is now top of the list!
WORST MOMENT : Travelling from Bondi to Parramatta on public transport last year to get called for heat before even facing a ball is up there.
BEST CRICKETER PLAYED WITH : Kurtis Patterson and Billy Root are two of the best left handers in the game and I've been lucky enough to play with both.
BEST THING ABOUT CRICKET : Some of the friendships that I have made through playing with people
WORST THING ABOUT CRICKET : Bad umpiring decisions, getting given out when you're not is up there with the worst feelings.
HOW DID YOU END UP AT THE SAINTS : Through the ICP programme last year, my allocated club was Saints. I enjoyed it so much that I'm back again this year!
WHAT MOST EXCITES YOU ABOUT PLAYING FOR THE SAINTS : The way that you're always playing in a team with lots of like minded guys that would all do anything to win.
FAVE. SAINTS PLAYER : Vansh Jani that I played with last year is an awesome player and now one of my best mates.
Ollie Rayner with Vansh Jani in the 2023-24 season.
MOST MEMORABLE TEAM MATE / WHY : Matt Baden, I played some 3rd grade with him when I first came over last year and he is very funny on the pitch.
OTHER SPORTS PLAYED : I played all sports growing up and enjoyed them all, all the way from Golf to Cycling!
HIGHEST LEVEL IN OTHER SPORTS : I cycled at a decent level and travelled Europe a bit with it at the age of 16/17. Think there was a cheeky Welsh time trial silver medal in there somewhere too!
FAVE. SPORTS COMMENTATOR : Kerry O'Keefe is one of the greats! Helps that he has a St George number too!
FAVE. BEVERAGE : Australian coffee is on a different level to home. I also enjoy a Guinness if I've earned it on a Saturday
FAVE. FOOD : Tough. Hard to look past a good curry.
FAVE HOLIDAY DESTINATION : Easy. Sydney.
FAVE WORST INJURY : Splitting the webbing in between my spinning fingers wasn't great
HOBBIES : Love a round of golf in my free time
DREAM DRAGON LADY : Tate Mcrae.
THREE ARTISTS YOU WOULD INVITE TO SAINTSTOCK : Coldplay, Myles Smith, Zach Bryan
IF YOU WEREN'T PLAYING CRICKET HOW WOULD YOU SPEND YOUR SATURDAYS : Probably on the golf course or at the beach
IF YOU WERE DOWN TO YOUR LAST $50 HOW WOULD YOU SPEND IT : Sydney smash at the SCG
