Pete Wargent - cricket has shaped the course of my life
Eastern Suburbs Cricket Club Sydney | May 11, 2023
Pete Wargent has a strong connection to the game of cricket. The battle between bat and ball, the companionship, the fun, the tradition, Pete like many is a cricket tragic.
He arrived in Australia as a 22 year old from the North of England to play with the Dolphins and he’s extremely grateful for the memories and experiences.
Let’s find out more about Pete’s journey in the game
What year you were born?
1976, in Sheffield, Yorkshire.
Can you remember you first game of cricket?
9 years old at Elland, a lovely Yorkshire 2nd XI ground. I bowled tidily, and scored 6 not out, including a beautifully caressed (streakily edged) boundary through backward square. I’ve been hooked on the game ever since.
Tell us briefly about your cricketing journey?
I played nearly all my senior cricket for Maldon Cricket Club in Essex, alongside some great guys and players such as Sir Alastair Cook, David Randall, and an array of Aussie guest stars over the years.
Back: Tim Bondin, Glenn Batticciotto, Alastair Cook, Colin Barry, David Randall, Adrian McCoubrey
Front: Paul Symons, Ian Elliott, Jeff Cook, Robert Barber, James Ainscough, Peter Wargent
When I was 22 I came to Australia to play for Easts at Waverley having never flown long haul or consistently batted above the middle order in senior cricket, let alone scored a century. It was a brilliant experience, as there was no such thing as longform club cricket in England back in those days, just 45 overs games (which nurtured me towards bowling non-turning darts and slogging).
1999/00 was an interesting time to be a Pom in Australia. British sport was in a slump - just for a change - while Australia was winning everything: cricket, rugby, footy, swimming, netball…I mean, everything! But Sydney grade was more like real cricket, and I loved it, and guys like my mentor Michael ‘Mud’ Maclennan at Easts taught me about the game, how to train and bat properly, and about life in general.
I reckon conservatively that I faced 10,000 throwdowns through the season at net practices, from Mud, and Kyle Thompson at Sutherland’s indoor centre, where Kyle taught me to hit the ball through mid-on instead of slogging through mid-wicket. I was in awe of those guys and how much they knew about the game, so I hardly spoke and just stood there endlessly hitting balls.
Easts also had an outstanding club coach, the international player Anthony Stuart, who constantly demanded that we should aim to be the best fielding team in the competition, so I always committed to giving 100% effort in the field (even at Raby No. 2 Oval when the mercury hit the 40s). Stuey always had time for anyone who turned up to nets consistently and trained hard. Intense competitor, and a great role model.
One season of Sydney grade cricket must’ve improved my game tenfold, so much so that I averaged 60 in my next season in England and helped to take my club into the newly formed Premier League for the first time. How could you not improve your game, living and breathing cricket in Sydney, and with guys like that around?
What other sports do you play?
GOLF!
In which grade, at what age and where did you make your debut in grade cricket?
Aged 22, and practically straight off the long-haul flight, I scraped together a jetlagged 40-something in 6th grade against Wests. I was triggered out by one of our own players acting as an umpire, caught off my pad, to the amusement of my team-mates. But it was enough to leapfrog me into 4th grade in the next round.
According to the Easts handbook I soon followed that up with a 64 as we chased down 310 against Fairfield and a teenage Jason Krejza, which landed me a spot in 3rd grade where I stayed for the rest of the season. It was a super side that year and a huge amount of fun!
If you can share with our readers, how would you describe yourself as a cricketer?
A regularly self-doubting but occasionally dominant batsman, who bowled a bit of everything.
What was your highest score in senior cricket?
I had many more failures than successes, so excuse some humblebrag: 151 for Maldon in Essex, in a non-League game. My highest score in a Premier League match was 123 not out at Bury St Edmunds.
And my highest scores in Two Counties Division One were 136 not out against Mistley, and 127 versus Braintree.
In my first game in Sydney 3rd grade we racked up 3 for 305 in a great win chase against Hawkesbury, but instead of coasting to a grade century I pulled one straight into the hands of a gleeful mid-wicket and was out the 90s. I don’t have many regrets in cricket, but that still hurts me to recall, even now. Argh!
What were your best bowling figures in senior cricket?
In Premier League cricket I took 7 for 60-odd against Cambridge, and a strikingly similar 7-wicket haul against Norwich. Surprising, perhaps, but those scorebooks don’t lie!
Who have been the best three fast bowlers you have played against?
Josh Marquet of Tasmania was sharp on hard pitches could have an awkward ‘ribby’ length. There was a nagging feeling that if you didn’t have your eye in then there’d be an unwelcome trip to A&E pending. Then he’d fire one into the pads, and it was a case of ‘see you later’. Unusually for an Aussie quick, he didn’t say a lot, but in my case, he didn’t need to!
Colin Barry of Wests: one of the great guys in the cricketing world, but not to face. It was like batting against a metronome, and it could feel like a slow death waiting for the inevitable off-cutter to clean you up. One of my favourite guys to spend time with off the field, an absolute champion.
Some of the wily old pros in England like Paul Newman and Steve Goldsmith in Norfolk could be a nightmare to face because they never gave you anything to hit and had a very clever way of indirectly letting you know if you were rubbish.
As for scariest experiences, I once faced an erratic bowling machine at 100mph for a dare, which was obviously terrifying, but there can be no doubting the #1 on this list: facing Glenn ‘Mother’ Farquharson with a brand new rock in fading twilight at Waverley’s lightly mown grass nets. It was a curious mixture of humiliation and fear - and you couldn’t even walk off if you were dismissed because it was net practice, so the week’s grading ostensibly depended upon your batting ‘performance’.
I still have recurring nightmares about this.
Who has been the best three spinners you have played against?
Jason Krejza, who could rag them with enormous turn and bounce, even on apparently flat pitches.
Adrian Tucker, who thank goodness I only had to face perhaps once or twice in the nets. Cricket can be a humbling game when you don’t know which way the ball’s turning!
In England I faced a couple of international spinners from Asia who were outlandishly good. And there was a left-arm spinner called Andrew Golding who played for Essex and Minor Counties for Suffolk who was simply relentless and often bowled throughout the entire innings. He took 95 wickets one season.
Who has been the best 3 batsmen you’ve played against?
I once bowled at Graham Gooch, and amazingly enough was cheekily close to snaring him a couple of times! No explanation needed, a total legend of the English game.
Back: Lee Kirk, Robert Barber, Peter Wargent, Jeff Cook, Michael Benikos, Michael Maclennan
Front: Neale Harrington, Ian Elliott, Mick Brown, Marcus Gozzett, David Hunter
This is an impossibly tough question. In English Premier League cricket, I think the Kiwi Matt Sinclair did some things that were just outrageous, seemingly despatching sixes for fun even against high quality bowling. He had an amazing eye, and it sometimes felt like he was playing a different game from everyone else. Even his defensive shots were as crisp as anything. Super talent, which you had to admire.
In Sydney 3rd grade, we played three days of cricket over two weekends against Gary Jones at St. George, and we never really looked like getting him out, which cruelled our chances of taking out the 3rd grade Premiership. Solid as a rock.
Who played the best innings you’ve seen first-hand playing with or against?
I had the pleasure of watching Sir Alastair Cook get 164 versus Cambridge from the other end. Keith Fletcher from Essex was watching, and Cookie was playing for England within 2 or 3 years. Technically it was so good, he just made it look easy, but since I was at the other end and scoring at barely half the speed, I knew it wasn’t!
We also chased down 322 against Norwich when Steven Farrell of Queensland bludgeoned 151 not out, and I watched that from the other end as well, with an unbeaten 89. To put his speed of scoring in context, I was batting 3 and Faz at 4. He was brutal.
Robbie Barber of Maldon once hit 40 off an over of quality bowling against Braintree, which was a fabulous display of clean hitting.
Glenn Batticciotto of Queensland I’ve seen execute some unbelievable chases; overall, they’re the type of innings I respect most in cricket: the digs that are delivered under the greatest pressure.
Who has been the best wicket keeper you’ve seen firsthand playing with or against?
David Hunter, who played for Easts and with us at Maldon: committed, super-fit, and very professional, narrowly shading Jimmy Ainscough at Maldon. Huntsman scored 7 or 8 fifties in a row one year, and I had the pleasure of watching some of that from the other end. Great team guy.
Jimmy was involved in one of the funniest moments when he took the greatest one-handed diving catch I’ve witnessed from an inside edge. I was standing at slip and both the bowler’s reaction (a quiet chap called Mark Boraston from Melbourne) and team’s response was an almost comically muted ‘yeah’. After the abject lack of celebration, Jimmy looked over with a disbelieving expression from slip and I just burst out laughing. His furious recounting of the story for years afterwards was even more hilarious. A comedy genius.
Who are the two players you admired most in terms of skills and competitive spirit in the competitions you played?
Alastair Cook at Maldon: never changed much as a bloke through 12,472 Test runs, captaining England to famous Ashes victories, and Ashes drubbings at the hands of Mitchell Johnson. Never got too up or too down, he always seemed to have so much self-belief; one of the genuine nice guys of the game.
Wayne Geber at Easts: a terrific competitor, and the sort of cricketer you always wanted on your side. At the end of the season he signed my treasured Easts playing shirt with ‘thanks for your 100% effort this year’ which meant a massive amount to me coming from Gebes, because it was genuine, and because more generally I was in awe of him at that time.
Who was the best captain you had the good fortune to play with?
Rino Tomasiello at Easts: commanded total respect, never lost a battle, and averaged under 15 with the ball for the season…not to mention runs with the bat, catches, and run outs in the field. A phenomenal leader.
I played under some great captains at Maldon, including Mick Brown, Robbie Barber, and Jimmy Ainscough, but these are some of my longest standing friends in cricket, so picking one would be a bit like choosing a favourite child. Jeff Cook had some great leadership attributes and cricketing smarts, so I’ll go with him. He’s OK as a bloke as well, I guess, ha!
Who has been your funniest teammate?
How long have you got? Greg Matthews, Steven Warner, and Tim Cutler at Easts could all be extremely funny in quite different ways. David Boden, Paul ‘Rubber’ Raymond, and Tim Bondin were constantly amusing, while Ian Elliott at Maldon was involved in most of the funniest events I’ve seen in cricket (Elmo also delivered the consistently highest standard of batting I’ve seen over a couple of terrific seasons). I’ve also shared too many comedy moments with Trent Baker and John McCallum of Easts to even begin recounting, many of which took place on post-season jaunts or trips up the coast.
But without doubt the funniest man I’ve ever met before or after cricket - and especially during rain delays – had to be Michael Horsell at both Eastern Suburbs and Maldon. From births (Michael’s arrival in the world was toasted from the bar at the local golf club) to deaths (tragically one match saw an opposition fielder pass away), to marriages, divorces, and every other life event in between, Horse has an amazing or hysterical story for every occasion.
Horse: a great player to bat with, play golf or holiday with, endlessly generous, and just a wonderful man.
Can you recall some banter or an exchange on the cricket field that still makes you laugh today?
There was one Sydney grade game versus Manly where were chasing 208 at Woollahra, and we were cruising to victory, when I got in a tangle and played a deftly executed late cut, which unfortunately somehow connected my bat with all three of the stumps.
I’ve never done anything like it before or since, and the Manly fielders practically laughed me off the pitch. Even the umpire compounded my pain by following me off and repeatedly yelling ‘Hit wicket! The method of dismissal was HIT WICKET!’ to the scorers, which just added to the humiliation of my long walk to the sheds.
I’ve long tried to erase this incident from the memory banks, but the scorebook records that I was out hit wicket for 39 and we lost by 5 runs. Urgh, that’s a horrible sentence to have to write, even now. Unfortunately, one of the Manly boys Jay Trevaskis has never let me forget this, more than 20 years later. Obviously, this was a lot funnier for them than it was for me!
Ian Elliott at Maldon was usually involved in the highest-octane banter, including one infamous takedown of a follicly challenged opponent, and countless more besides. It wasn’t all one way, lest it sounds that way – in one Premier League game the opposition greeted him as ‘The Penguin’ in an ingenious Batman reference. The best sledges often crack up on the players on both sides, I think. Elmo was always a naturally funny guy.
Who was your childhood hero?
Glenn Hoddle of Tottenham Hotspur. What a talent.
Who are the three sports people in the world you’d most like to meet?
Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, Steffi Graf.
Who’s your favourite cricket commentator?
Previously Peter Roebuck. Lately I’ve been enjoying Alison Mitchell.
What was your favourite ground to play at?
Woollahra Oval as a batsman, because it was really a small rugby oval with a bar, a TAB, a flat deck (at least before Xmas), and a short square boundary. One caveat is that fielding at fine leg was often lethally dangerous because of the golf balls raining in from Royal Sydney.
I didn’t play there as much I’d have liked to, but Waverley Oval was a marvellous venue to play at, and Coogee Oval the ultimate place to watch.
What there a team you especially looked forward to playing against?
I rarely if ever looked forward to playing; I used to get quite nervous and have a Friday night beer (or two) as a relaxant. Mildenhall and Norwich were a top bunch of lads to go out with, so those games were always fun. We often made a full weekend of it.
What do you enjoy most about playing cricket?
Banter and the companionship of team-mates, naturally. And those beautiful but sadly all-too-rare occasions when you could sit down with a beer after a day’s play and feel genuinely proud about your performance. On the other hand, I confess I don’t miss fielding at Campbelltown quite so much.
What has been your most memorable moment in cricket?
Maybe winning our first trophy, a Cup Final win, or winning the League title in 2000.
Back: Neale Harrington, Tristan Webb, Paul Raymond, Jeff Cook, Peter Wargent, Paul Symons
Front: Neil Bannister, Mick Brown, Ian Elliott, David Hunter, Robert Barber
On a personal level I scored 113 in my first ever Premier League game against Mildenhall which was quite special, as it proved to us that we could compete at that level. But mostly it was the team stuff.
What has been the funniest moment you’ve experienced in cricket?
Too many to recount! In Sydney grade, I recall playing at Sutherland once when there was a tremendous commotion on the boundary. It transpired that the team’s gambling cabal, led by Greg Matthews, had landed a $50 long-shot winner on an early race.
And then after I then got out LBW I was itching to get into the sheds and fling my gear around in a fury, but instead got stuck like an idiot on the wrong side of the picket fence when the gate’s lock got stuck. Of course, Horse was involved in each element of the debacle, from being one of the gambling ringleaders, to be the next batsman due in (and thus another victim of the busted gate).
Another time against Randwick their fielders kept repeatedly querying of me after every ball why our wicket-keeper wore no pads (for reasons we never satisfactorily got to the bottom of, our ‘keeper Andy Morris only used shin guards instead of pads). You couldn’t even say they were sledging, because it was a very valid question, and one with no apparent answer…the whole thing was just comical, and batting with a straight face was basically impossible.
What’s the best win you’ve been involved with?
In Sydney grade, an outright win for Easts at Sutherland stands out, where Peter Lovitt and Wayne Geber cleaned up all 20 wickets for Easts between them. I watched much of it from close quarters at short leg. Two tremendous competitors.
Probably the happiest win, if not technically anywhere near the best, was beating Braintree to win the League with Maldon in 2000. I cobbled together a scrappy 50 and we dribbled across the line, according to the scorecard, but I can only really remember the celebrations, or least some of them.
Who is your favourite sports movie or documentary?
Senna was rather good, but how could you pick just one?
What’s the one thing about you most people don’t know about?
I used to live in East Timor.
What are your hobbies?
Golf, travel, and Noosa Main Beach.
What’s the best advice you’ve received?
‘Keep on trying, and the world will give up eventually and let you succeed’.
In sport, all youngsters should read Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success, and about the famous 10,000 hours rule. Some people might be naturally talented, but for most of us mere mortals you need to get 10,000 hours of practice under your belt to become a true expert. Think of Greg Norman: he barely played any serious golf before the age of 16, and he didn’t even bother to play too many rounds of golf, he just focussed on getting 10,000 hours of practice done…and look at the results!
I wish I’d know about this when I was a teenager, but perhaps the distractions and self-doubt would’ve still gotten in the way, who knows?
Are you still involved in cricket and if so, in what capacity?
Sadly, not much, but I’d dearly love for my little lad Stanley to get involved and play the game.
If you were running Cricket Australia what would your 2 priorities to ensure cricket in Australia remained strong and successful on and off the field?
A Pommy-born Aussie should clearly never be allowed to run Cricket Australia, to be honest! But if I were, then I’d lobby for much greater investment in cricket clubs, facilities, infrastructure, and youth cricket in schools. The Aussie economy is in a hole, interest rates are at the lowest level in history, so why not borrow and invest a bit? Sports clubs offer so much more than people realise; cricket has shaped the course of my life, and the people and the stories are what make a community.
What’s your occupation?
I have a property buying business.
Let’s give the business a plug, what the name of the business your work with?
Cheers!
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