Josh Lalor - Penrith Cricket Club First Grade Cap #168

Penrith Cricket Club | September 23, 2024

Josh Lalor is First Grade Cap number 168 for Penrith Cricket Club and also captained the club in First Grade. He was involved in the 2016/17 Limited Overs Premiership and has featured for various T20 Franchises around the world. As well as representing New South Wales in both List A and First Class formats.

1.   What year were you born?

1987

2.   Can you remember your first game of cricket? How old and do you remember how you went?

Absolutely. I was 8 and it was across the road from my house, playing for the Colyton/St Clair Colts. We lost outright in a day, having been bowled out for 8 and 12. Ironically, in my last two-day match for Penrith we won outright. So quite the unique bookends to a career.

3.   Tell us briefly about your cricketing journey? Where you’ve played, clubs you’ve played for?

I was fortunate to have a very diverse cricketing journey. I have played all over the world professionally, but the journey also provided me opportunities to play Premier Cricket in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Penrith (NSW) has been where I have always lived and played, however I played in matches across several seasons for Redlands (QLD) during Big Bash campaigns and loved my time there. I also had a short stint at Greenvale (VIC). I am grateful for the chance to pull on each of those caps and represent each club.

4.   In which grade and at what age did you make your debut in senior cricket?

I was 16 when I made my fifth-grade debut for Penrith, perhaps the most daunting time of my cricketing journey.

5.   What was the highest grade you played, and can you remember how you performed in your first game in that grade?

I made my first-grade debut for Penrith at 18 against a strong Northern Districts side. I think I took 1-42 off 8 in a one-day loss. From memory, the wicket was a left-arm half-volley that was smacked to extra cover. Plenty more of those would follow!

6.   If you can share with our audience, how would you describe yourself as a cricketer?

Left-arm, swing bowler

7.   What were your strengths as a player?

These are tough questions to answer and you might get more accurate responses from team mates. If I had to guess, it would be very early wickets with the new ball, breaking partnerships and taking wickets in clumps and truly believing we could defend any score.

8.   What was your highest score in senior cricket? For which club and where

60-odd several times against Mosman at Allan Border Field, perhaps even in back-to-back seasons.

9.   What were your best bowling figures in senior cricket? For which club and where

7-58 on two occasions for Penrith. Once at Blacktown International Sports Park against UNSW and once at University Oval No. 1 against Sydney University. There was also a 6-6 in there.

10. Who were the best three fast bowlers you have played against?

Unfairly, two of them played in the same team in Steve Green and Trent Copeland and the other was Adam Semple. Green and Copeland gave you nothing paired with often unplayable seam movement. Semple was effortless, slippery quick, skillful and could dismiss any player at any time.

Trent Copeland

11. Who were the best three spinners you have played against? 

Jarrad Burke, Devlin Malone and Brendan McDonald.

Burke amazed me with his bluster and bravado. It was an event facing him. He was deadly accurate and had an unnatural ability to read the batter.

Devlin came onto the scene later in my career and dismissed me three times in the first four balls I faced from him. And the other was a bad LBW decision from memory! For such a diminutive guy, who wasn’t very vocal, the aura of the game changed when he came on to bowl. His teammates believed he would take wickets and so did the opposition.

Brendan McDonald is an outlier here, and that’s why he belongs. A good leggie with great lungs and hair. Gave it a genuine rip regardless of the consequences and embodies everything that grade cricket should be. A quality cricketer, fiercely competitive but left it on the field to get to know you off it. An excellent character to play against who made some otherwise dull Saturday afternoons quite enjoyable.

12. Who were the best 3 batters you’ve played against?

Ahillen Beadle, Justin Avendano and Adam Crosthwaite.

AB enjoyed playing against his former club (Penrith) and it felt as though he always saved his best for us. His fluid stroke play was easy on the eye and he appropriately put the foot down against spin.

It felt like Avendano scored 80-200 every time we played him. He was always putting you under pressure with his aggressive style. It felt like you were a chance of getting him out but the more you searched for it the quicker he scored.

Crossy, I just could not get out. He made it hard to take wickets in clumps, which is how we attacked as a bowling unit. There wasn’t a day that he just took us apart, but he constantly put his team in a great position to win against us.

13. Who played the best innings you’ve seen firsthand playing with or against? And if you could add a few words as to why

Stewart Rhodes was like a mythical creature at Penrith. He was an uber-talented but not always available player due to school cricket commitments. Eventually, he played several seasons of First-Class cricket in New Zealand. In a second-grade match at Manly Oval, he was dismissed for 83 at drinks in the first session. I was only 17 at the time but that’s how I learnt that the road adjacent was named Sydney Road, because that’s where the ball kept being fetched from.

Kevin Geyer had two exceptional knocks on terrible surfaces that spring to mind. I’ll leave it to him to share those stories over a (short) beer.

14. Was there any bowler or batter in particular who for whatever reason always seemed to cause you a few problems?

When your 178cms and a fast bowler, plenty of batters give you problems. Adam Crosthwaite and David Dawson I found hard to dismiss if they didn’t want to be dismissed. Ed Cowan was another who played me in an unorthodox style when I was young. I would bowl big hooping away swingers (Ed being left-handed) and eventually he just set-up a foot outside off-stump. I was 18-19 at the time and didn’t have an effective response. Well played.

15. Can you recall a time when you thought, wow, this is a step or two up from what you were used to in grade cricket?

After a relatively successful half season in first-grade in 2006/07, I was eager to get better and do well the following season. I was watching the first-grade final at Bankstown Oval, Fairfield-Liverpool versus Bankstown. As a teen, I had heard that no one could bowl short to Brett Van Deinsen because he was so dominant with the pull/hook. A raging Doug Bollinger steamed in and bounced BVD, who ducked (not smacked a hook shot as expected), had the ball hit his helmet and fly over the wicket keeper with once bounce over the boundary. I distinctly remember that I would never be able to do well at this level!

16. Who was the best wicket keeper you’ve seen firsthand playing with or against?

Peter Nevill was excellent and took immense pride in his work. Tim Cummins had short sleeves and excellent natural hands. His pickup on the half-volley from a boundary throw to complete the runout on the final ball of the 2016/17 One-Day Final was a perfect example.

17. Who are the two players you admire most in terms of skills and competitive spirit in the competitions you played?

Grant Lambert was unlike any player you could imagine. The early 2000s Fairfield Lions were full of talent but Frank was the standout at the peak of his powers with bat and ball.

Jarrad Burke would be the other. I’m not even sure if he liked winning but I know he despised losing. I played with Burkey very early on in my career and his ‘sink or swim’ approach was a big part of my early development. I played with him in teams that were struggling and his constant want for the contest shaped my belief that we were always still in the game with runs on the board.

18. Who was the best captain you had the good fortune to play with? And if you could add a few words to why

Matthew Halse was the captain I played under most at Penrith and his consultative style and intuition for where the team was at were excellent. Moises Henriques was the best captain I had at any level. He, too, was highly consultative and you knew any decision made had his full support which gave you immense confidence.

19. Who has been your funniest team mate?

Peter Betros. Coconuts for afternoon tea, crashed cars, pace bowling which occasionally missed the cut strip, hard-hitting square drives and all the talent in the world. Never a dull moment.

20. Can you recall some banter or an exchange on the cricket field that still makes you laugh today?

None initially spring to mind but I look forward to others reminding me of a few.

21. Who was your childhood hero?

Michael Jordan

22. Who are the three sports people in the world you’d most like to meet?

Lebron James, Aaron Rodgers, Caitlin Clark

23. What was your favourite ground to play at?

Only one, Howell Oval.

24. What particular team did you especially look forward to playing against? And if you could add a few words to why

Randwick-Petersham were a great team that we always performed well against. It was a nice mix thinking I could have a good day out, in a great contest against a high-quality team.

25. What’s been your most memorable moment in cricket?

Winning our One-Day title in 2016/17. In more than 20 separate finals series across two-day, one-day and T20 competitions, I was only fortunate enough to be part of one premiership. It was a nail-biter at Howell Oval in front of a great crowd.

The team that brought the Limited Overs Premiership to Penrith, Josh positioned behind Captain Matthew Halse

26. What’s the best win you’ve been involved with?

In the 2015/2016 finals we played Campbelltown-Camden and were 8-70 or there abouts. Matthew Halse and Ryan (Bomber) Smith put on a huge partnership and got us close to maybe 230 or so. We bowled them out late on day two with just a few runs to spare. Bomb took a flurry of wickets late to finish off an incredible solo effort and seal the win.

27. Who are the three players from your playing days at the top of the list for a Saturday afternoon barbeque?

Three? Can’t have three. Let’s go eight. Max McNamara, Peter Betros, Ben Betros, Kevin Geyer, Dale Turner, Matthew Halse, Paul Goldsmith and even Luke Morrissey.

28. What are your hobbies?

DIY/renovating would the biggest hobby I have. I’ve also become one of those people that does Christmas lights on their lawns. That has been enjoyable now that I am able to spend more time at home over Christmas.

29. What’s the best advice you’ve received?

Be where your feet are.

30.  What is your occupation?

I work in sports administration for the Mounties Group. Mounties is Australia’s largest registered club group and makes significant contributions into sport communities in south-western Sydney, the northern beaches and central coast. I oversee semi-professional sporting programs across a range of sports and help shape the Group’s future strategy in relation to sport.

 31. Are you still involved in cricket and if so, in what capacity?

Not right now. I spent the majority of my playing career serving on club and competition committees and national working groups. I have nearly completed a return to study and will look to contribute to the game again once that load has eased up.

32.  If you were running a state cricket association what would your 2 priorities be to ensure cricket in the state remained strong and successful on and off the field?

Cricket faces several challenges, many of which are not unique to our sport. Firstly, over the last decade or so there has been a widening gap between the amateur and the professional in many sports. At one end, professional environments are moving forward quickly with technological advancements and enhanced education and training for sports professionals. At the other end, amateur environments are deteriorating equally as quickly with a decrease in volunteerism and anecdotally a greater decrease in volunteer capability. There is a void in the middle where Premier Cricket sits that requires a refreshed approach through a redesign of a cricket ecosystem that was purpose-built for a time 150 years ago. To resource this redesign, we need to elevate the commercial capability of our state sporting organisations (ie Cricket NSW).

Priority One: redesign the cricket ecosystem with new and clearer roles for volunteers, local clubs and Premier Cricket and where and how they complement the professional environment.

Priority Two: build commercial capability with our organisations to provide resources to complete Priority One.