Gary Crowfoot - look for the best

Bankstown District Cricket Club | March 12, 2023

Gary Crowfoot involvement in Sydney Grade Cricket dates back to 1977 when he selected to play Green Shield for Bankstown District Cricket Club.

He’s been a player, captain, and coach and served on the committee. He’s made a tremendous contribution to the game and continues to do so as Head Coach of Bankstown.

Gary scored 4,984 runs in first grade for Bankstown at an average of 29.84 including 8 centuries. In all grades he scored 7,328 runs.

He played NSW Colts during the 1983 and 84 seasons and has twice been named coach of the year in what’s now known as NSW Premier Cricket, 2006/07 when coaching St George and again in 2019/20 for Bankstown.

Gary is a Life member of Bankstown Cricket Club and the proud owner of Bankstown first grade cap number 134.

Let’s find out more about Gary’s journey in the game

Where were you born?

Bankstown Hospital

Can you remember you first game of cricket?

My first game of Cricket was with South Bankstown. Pretty sure I was eight as I had 2 seasons in the Under10’s competition in the Bankstown District Cricket Association  

Tell us briefly about your cricketing journey?

I played all my Junior Club Cricket with South Bankstown in the BDCA. Was fortunate to captain Bankstown in all underage Representative Teams (Foster, Arch Cawsey & Harold Moore Shield) before working my way into Grade Cricket and played Green Shield, PG and progressed through the grades every season to eventually to play 1st Grade with Bankstown DCC 

What other sports do you play?

Soccer was my Winter Sport as was Indoor Cricket when it first emerged back on the scene in the early to mid-1980s. It was a new game for cricket and assisted in developing skills during the off season. Great fun and even better tours around the State and Country competing in Australian Championships.

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

I was 14yrs when I was called into my first game of 5th Grade 

At what age did you make your first-grade debut?

18 years of age

If you can share with our fans, how would you describe yourself as a cricketer?

I played the majority of my 1st Grade career as an opening batsman and looked to value my time at the crease. Worked hard in regards to my preparation with a passion and love of the game. Valued my teammates that I played with and looked to also enjoy their successes. Liked to compete hard on the field of play, however enjoyed the dressing room after a day’s play with my teammates and the opposition.

What was your highest score in first grade cricket?

135 against Mosman

What were your best bowling figures in first grade cricket?

4/43 I think also against Mosman. Some gentle out swingers.

Who have been the best three fast bowlers you have played against?

Dave Chardon– as mentioned previously by Rod Bower, good pace, good control and hit the seam regularly. Excellent Outswinger. Richard (Dick) McCord still reminds me every year I see him scoring for Randy/Pete’s. Got me again this year at Kensington Oval as he was scoring in the 3rd Grade Game. Same conversation, remind Dick of a second innings hundred but that is pretty much the end of discussion as Dave was an extremely skilful bowler 

Mike Whitney - Whit early in his career was quick with swing. Only played against him a few times early in my career and he was a handful and every ball was a contest.

Geoff Lawson -Similar to Whit , only played a few times against Geoff due to his Australian and NSW commitments - Awkward bounce , quick and good swing and seam both ways .

Bankstown coach

Who has been the best three spinners you have played against? 

Greg Matthews – excellent variation for an off spinner. Great control and spin with well disguised arm ball. Took the new ball also on occasions that we played against him

Murray Bennett - Great control and variation. Difficult to score off and put batsman under pressure by bowling to his field. Excellent Arm Ball

Ken Hall - Great competitor. Turned his left arm medium pacers into left arm spinners later in his career. His record speaks for itself with both ball & bat

Special mention - Steve Whitfield

Who has been the best 3 batsman you’ve played against?

Mark O’Neil (Gordon) - great technique and excellent timing of the ball. Once set had the ability to post big hundreds

Steve Barry Smith (Fairfield) – Similar to Mark , very good technique also had the ability take an opposition attack down . Quick between the wickets and once set would always look to bat deep

Rod Bower (Penrith) – Just loved scoring runs. Powerful and clean hitter of a cricket ball

Mark O.Neill

Who played the best innings you’ve seen firsthand playing with or against?

This is a real tough question to answer so I need to just look at my own first class teammates I have played with over the years .Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh , Rod Bower, Steve Smith & my good mate Steve Small I have seen all play wonderful innings to win us cricket matches . All outstanding players and I have been privileged to have played with them.

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

Steve Rixon was an exceptional keeper with brilliant agility especially over the stumps where he made your time at the cease as difficult was possible.

Special mention - Terry Davies Glamorgan/Bankstown Keeper

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

Phil Marks - always was in the game with ball and bat. Outstanding all-rounder with great skills in both departments and with those big hands was also excellent in the field. Played the game in great spirit

Darren & Rod Tucker - Both very skilful lefthander batsman and both good to watch when at the crease. Darren bowled useful outswingers and Rod was a more than useful bowler and went onto have a very good first class career. The brothers were both very competitive on the field of play and enjoyed their company after a day’s play.

Who was the best captain you had the good fortune to play with?

Terry Davies. He provided great confidence to his playing group, excellent tactics / game management and very professional in his approach to all aspects of his cricket.

Special mention to Bob Vidler who took on a very young team as his time of captaincy at the club however guided the majority of the playing group into eventual very good 1st grade cricketers

Gary presented with Bankstown first grade cap number 134

Who has been your funniest teammate?

I have enjoyed a lot of fun times with my teammates both on and off the field. However probably Wayne (Cracker) Holdsworth comes top of mind especially in the dressing room after a day’s play. Celebrating a win at home with Cracker at full voice with his antics was a lot of fun

Who was your childhood hero?

Dennis Lillie – Loved watching him bowl as a youngster and steaming in for Australia

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

• Muhammad Ali (if still alive)
• Babe Ruth (if still alive)
• Craig Johnston

Who’s your favourite cricket commentator?

I enjoyed Ricky Pointing with Mark Waugh when they used to be together for the Big Bash Coverage

What was your favourite ground to play at?

 SCG – just an awesome ground and experience to play on

What there a team you especially looked forward to playing against?

Always looked forward to playing against the top teams in the competition every year, not necessarily any particular team. However, St George was always tough to play and when first coming into 1st Grade cricket and still as a young team we needed to be tested against a side like St George for our group to improve.

Gary coaches St George to the 2007/08 first grade premiership

What do you enjoy most about playing cricket?

Not only the friendships you make but also the character of the game itself

What’s been your most memorable moment in cricket?

I would probably have to say as a player winning the 1st Grade Belvidere Cup in 1987-88. We had an exceptional team and it was the club’s 1st Premiership for over 29 years

What’s the best advice you’ve received?

If you look for the worst in people, you’ll find it. If you look for the best, you’ll find that instead

What is your current occupation?

Cricket Business Manager

Let’s give your employer a plug, who do you work for?

I work for New Balance Australia/NZ which is a subsidiary of New Balance Athletics Inc. New Balance is one of the World’s major sports footwear and apparel Brands. New Balance is a privately-owned company owned by the Davis family

You’ve been coaching for many years now, what’s the difference between coaching a grade club in 2020 compared to when you first started?

I started coaching when I was playing first grade cricket with the Club and coached our Green Shield side successfully in that year. However, I guess my real journey in coaching started out at St George way back in early 2000 where I coach for (6) seasons starting out as a batting coach, PG’S Coach and progressing into a Club Coach. Great Club / People & playing group with wonderful memories. I then took up an important (3) year stint with CNSW Under 19 Male Pathway program obtaining a Level 3 High Performance Coaching Accreditation which helped me enormously to develop further as a coach..

The big difference to now in 2020 from starting my coaching journey basically is the evolution of T20 Cricket. Red Ball Cricket and White Ball 50 over cricket was not as difficult to measure performances against the new format of T/20 Cricket and coach accordingly. As a cricket coach not actually having played T20 Cricket I needed to adapt and learn this new format of the game like the players. I reached out to a lot of good coaches and players around this format especially at CNSW during my time around the organisation. In fact, Trent Woodhill and I still regularly communicate not just on the learnings and development of the T-20 format but all things around coaching and cricket in general.

The only other point I would like to make about the difference in coaching now to compared to when I started is that the fundamentals of coaching are still very important across all formats  You still need to have a clear coaching balance and structure around the Physical , Technical, Tactical & Mental components of the game . However today and more so than ever in the environment we are all living in its more about better communication, building of relationships and coaching the person to support future team & club success