Warren Saunders - a debut to treasure
St George Cricket Club | March 01, 2023
By John Rogers
One of the great joys of my life is spending time with an old mentor and great friend Warren Saunders.
Warren is a former NSW Shield Cricketer and patron and legend of the St George Cricket Club in Sydney. He’s also a great storyteller.
I could sit with Warren for hours and just listen. It’s fun and invariably his yarns turn to an Australian cricketing legend and someone to this day, he remains in awe of, Keith Miller.
Keith Miller was the NSW captain when Warren made his first-class debut in 1955. To be picked for NSW was a dream come true but Warren’s first game was more than a game of cricket.
The pitch was green and the toss won. Being 21, an opening batsman and on debut, you can imagine Warren excitement, anxiety and nervousness “are we batting or bowling?”
Apparently, Miller was not one for letting his teammates know what they were doing until he entered the dressing room and on this day he found a familiar face at the members' bar at the SCG and got talking. It was until another legend of the game Richie Benaud yelled out to his skipper to ask what was happening.
“It’s green but I couldn’t be bothered bowling today so we’re batting. “Miller’s replied.
So Warren on debut puts the pads on and in tough conditions top scores with a fine 66. NSW are bowled out for 215.
NSW is now in the field and Miller is opening the bowling. After a couple of balls, the South Australian opening batsman appeal against the light and the umpires agree. Stumps day 1… not a bad first day of first-class cricket for Warren.
Day 2 is due to start at 10.30am and the captain was due to pick up another debutant Peter Philpott on his way through from Sydney’s North Beaches at 10.00am. Philpott apparently lived near Neutral Bay and back in those days the trip across the bridge was only 10 minutes and Miller had no truck with warms ups.
It’s now 10.15am and Peter is starting to panic. At 10.20am he’s about to call a cab when the skipper turns up and clearly not in great shape. Miller had been out most of the night celebrating the birth of his fourth child.
They arrive at the ground 5 minutes after play was due to start but were saved by a 17-minute rain delay.
With play about to start Miller leads his team onto the field and, still clearly suffering the effects of the night before, points to another legend of the game Alan Davidson (not a bad team was NSW in 1955) to bowl and tells the rest “scatter boys.”
What the captain had forgotten, was he’d bowled a couple of balls the night before and it was he who had to complete the unfinished over.
Miller grabs the ball, “scatter boys “and completes the over. Seven over later Keith Miller has the incredible figures of 7 for 12 and South Australia are dismissed for 27.
Not bad for a first outing, Warren backs up his first inning of 66 with being out hit wicket for 31, NSW wins the game and leaves the SCG very content after witnessing first-hand the brilliance of Keith “Nugget”Miller. Warren was hooked.
