Joe Marsh - Queensland Veterans Cricket

Queensland Veterans Cricket | February 03, 2023

By Rod Rice

Reading some of the awesome QVC cricketer profiles that have been showcased, I, as a mate and a fan of Joe Marsh would like to share his sporting and cricketing endeavours with you all.

Joe’s service and honours in cricket since the age of 10 as an indigenous person would be unmatched anywhere in the game.

The love for the game through his endeavours as a player and when employed by Qld Cricket saw Joe share his wisdom and talent through the regional areas of Qld, not to mention ruining quite a few bowling averages in his day.

The cricketing talent that flows through the Joe’s family bloodlines and the indigenous youth of South East Qld is something that Joe and his family are extremely proud of. Joe and his family have been instrumental in the development of indigenous players through the system for a long time and I think its way overdue that his achievements are shared!

Check this out…..

Name:            Joseph Marsh

Age:               50 (14 September 1969)

Born:              Nanango, Queensland

Resides:         Sunshine Coast with Wife Jo and daughter Lou Lou

Nationality:   Very Proud Australian Aboriginal

Schooling:    Primary School (Our Lady Help of Christians) & (Sacred Heart)

                       Secondary School (Downlands College)

History Timeline

• Grew up in Toowoomba
• Started playing club cricket at the age of 10 in Toowoomba (Eastern Districts)
• From age 10 to 16 played sport in Toowoomba, Soccer (Willow), Tennis (Holy Name), Indoor Cricket
• Represented Toowoomba in Cricket, Indoor Cricket and Tennis from age 13 to 16

1985 - First game in senior cricket for Railways in C Grade. Scored century age of 16.

1986 - Age 17 - Made A grade debut for Railways

1987 – Toowoomba Senior Cricket Representativ

1988 - Australian Aboriginal Cricket Team - Tour of England - Second Aboriginal team to leave Australian shores – the first Aboriginal Tour was in 1868)

In the Indigenous Baggy Green – Age 18 and Player of the Tour Honoured at the MCG

Highlights of the Tour

• Before leaving Australia – Play the Bob Hawkes Prime Minister XI at Manly Oval in Sydney. Hawkes team included Marsh, Lillee, Pascoe, Chappell I, Davis, Walker,
• On Tour, we played 26 matches – winning 16 and losing 10 (considering we lost the first four matches)
• The first game we played at the Oval against Surrey (Other county teams we played – Sussex at Hove, Glamorgan at Swansea, Lancashire at Old Trafford,
• Scored 44 against Lancashire at Old Trafford (Against Chris Matthews)
• Second Aboriginal player to score a century (101 not out)
• Met the Queen in Buckingham Palace
• Played at Lords against the MCC (Washed out after an hour play), Dean Jones played

My Statistics on Tour

• Matches         17
• Runs               580
• Not Outs        5
• Average         48.33
• Highest Score 101 Not Out
• Third wicketkeeper on Tour
• Second youngest in the touring group at age 18.
• Player of the Tour Honours – Presented with trophy at the Australia Vs West Indies game 1988 in the Members Pavilion at the MCG during the innings break.

1989 – Played third and second grades for Mosman in Sydney. Coach for Mosman was Sir Garfield Sobers.

1989 – Played for NSW Indigenous XI (We will keep this one on the down low ??)

1990, 92, 94 – A grade Premiership with Railways CC in Toowoomba

1991 – Played amateur rugby league in Toowoomba with Warriors (Indigenous Team) won three premierships in a row. Also represented Toowoomba Amateur League

1994 – Played for Pittsworth A Grade in Toowoomba Rugby League. (Represented Toowoomba seconds against Toowoomba Amateur League)

1994 – Represented Toowoomba and Eastern Downs in cricket winning the Davis Shield, Mitchell Shield, Webb Shield.

1994 – Averaging over 100 in Toowoomba cricket and scored a century at Schaefer Shield but didn’t make South Queensland country selection.

1994 – Played Metway Cup preseason comp with Western Suburbs in Brisbane making the final played at the Gabba (only second game under lights), against Valleys (Hayden, Border, Law were playing)

1995 – Played Metway Cup and part of the start of the season with Western Suburbs 1st grade opening the bat.

2000 – Finished playing for Railways A Grade in Toowoomba –

A Grade Stats for Railways

• Matches         124
• Runs               3954
• Highest Score 171 (Bob McGhee had a good view of my highest score)
• 50’s                22
• 100’s              7
• Average          36.28
• Up until 2013 – Only ten players played over 100 games in A Grade for Railways

2001 – Bushrangers A grade, Fraser Coast Competition - Won three premierships 2001, 2002, 2003

2003 – Represented Wide Bay in Schaefer Shield trials - 

Scored centuries on both days and didn’t get selected in the South Queensland Country side?

2004 – Queensland Indigenous XI - Won both 2004 & 2005 Imparja Cups undefeated

2007 – Commenced work with Queensland Cricket as a Game Development Officer monitoring Indigenous Cricket, Multicultural and Cricketers with Disabilities.

2009 – Manager of successful Queensland Indigenous Imparja Cup team

2013 – Manager of successful Queensland Indigenous Imparja Cup team

2014 – Regional Cricket Officer for the Central Qld Region base out of Gladstone (Completed ten years with Queensland Cricket in 2017). Only Aboriginal person to have reached ten years’ service in the Cricket Australia system at that time).

2017 – Commenced Bachelor of Social Work with CQU

2018 - Awarded the CQ University Cares BHP Scholarship

2019 – Represented Queensland in the Over 50’s national championships in Perth (Took 12 wickets in 4 matches) and playing for Logan Village in the Gold Coast Over 40’s Competition and over 50’s winter comp!!

Hope you enjoyed the read and keep’em coming gents, there’s some good reads amongst you old buggers!!

Looking forward to playing with and against all you blokes very soon hopefully!

Cheers

Rod