Tigers Tales - 1st Grade Captain Craig Cullen 'Cap 620'

Redlands Tigers Cricket Club | March 31, 2023

The latest in our series on Easts/Redlands first grade captains comes from some pretty famous cricketing blood in the Redlands. Craig Cullen had a career spanning every grade in the club between the late 1990s and early 2010s, with a record that includes a club Best & Fairest award and the second fastest club 100 (off 46 balls) behind Razz Bubke. This mild mannered school teacher developed a reputation as a big hitter and gun fieldsman who went very close to higher honours. After he led our top team during the 2011-12-13 seasons he moved north with work and began a successful stint with Emerald Brothers Cricket Club.

What’s your nickname in cricketing circles?

?? It accidentally became Dingo at Redlands thanks to Matty Lunn.

Do you remember your first ever game of cricket?

?? Maybe not the first but an early one. Playing at Birkdale State School. I was probably 8 years old. 23 not out from 6 balls using a Gabba bat.

Tell us about your first game or training session in grade cricket.

?? It was with Easts Redlands. I remember while still a junior getting a run in 4th grade. I took 5/50 something off 21 overs of leg spin and then got dropped the next game back to juniors as too many senior players were available that round. I was gutted.

What was your junior club? What memories do you have of your time there?

?? Alexandra Hills Cricket Club

First time I faced a bowling machine was in the backyard. Dad (Redlands Cricket legend Barry Cullen) fixed the machine, fired it up, I padded up. First ball was a beamer that knocked a paling off the fence behind me.

I have funny memories of training sessions (at Alex Hills). If a batsman was backing away from the ball, Dad would make the young fella face up without a bat. They had to shoulder arms as proof the ball wasn’t going to hit them. Pretty daunting for some of those 12 year olds facing a bowling machine without a bat. Especially when the odd one spat out on a different line and cleaned them up.

What clubs and rep teams have you played for?

?? Clubs: Alex Hills, Easts-Redlands/Redlands Tigers, Great and Little Tew (UK), Gracemere Bulls, Emerald Brothers Cricket Club

Rep: SEQ, BEARS Junior Cricket, KFC T20 Challenge - Blaze team, Central Queensland (Country), North Queensland (Country).

How did your first game in first grade go?

?? I played a couple of short format matches at the back end of 2008/09 season as a wicket keeper batting low. Didn’t set the world on fire. Made my proper First grade debut in Round 1 of the 2009/10 season against The University of Queensland and chipped in with 103*. Uni had a line-up that boasted Nathan Reardon, Chris Hartley, Craig Phillipson, Nick Buchanan, Scott Walter. They passed our total of 220 quite comfortably unfortunately.

Tell me about some of the most memorable characters you’ve come across in cricket (or sport in general).

?? We’ve had a few interesting characters over the years:

Willow (Matthew Williamson): if you’ve met him you know what I mean.

Nathan (Princess) Collins: from around the wicket, taking a slow body line type hat trick, to the random bag of generic medicine in his kit bag (when asked if he had some Deep Heat “here use this, I don’t know what it’s called, the vet uses it on race horses”). Poo-gate (long but funny story).

Kiwi (long time scorer John Thorburn): long socks that are older than half the playing squad.

Hutchy (Paul Hutchison): arriving early to training with Welcome to the Jungle blaring out of the car stereo. Bowling a 12 minute over that only had 6 balls.

Cameron Miers: one of the best cases of White Line Fever you’ve ever seen.

Craig Barnsley: Welsh bowler who the boys convinced had to vote in one of our federal elections.

Nick Hartley: English wicket keeper who bowled a beamer at Ricky Ponting in the nets at the pre-Gabba test training sessions. Ricky Ponting then telling him “get the f#ck out of my net”.

Doug Walters: signing cricket bats and hats at the Carl Rackemann Cricket Clinic. He asked this little kid who else did he wanted on the bat then proceeded to forge signatures of about a dozen other players including Don Bradman who died a few years earlier.

The list goes on...

What’s your favourite ground to play at? If it’s a Tigers ground then also give me your favourite non-tigers ground.

?? Fred Kratzman Oval is great to bat on. Peter Burge is great too. Ian Healy Oval at Norths. I scored runs there a few times. Souths #2 is tiny and I scored a quick 100 there one day.

Do you have a ground or club you don’t like playing at but you have done well at?

?? Souths.

Tell us about the best game of cricket you were ever a part of.

?? U18 grand final win. 4 days of play for a 13 run first innings win. 2nd grade semi-final (lost by 11 runs to Uni but what a battle).

Great Tew vs Bourton Vale in England. Against heavy odds we chased the total down in convincing style.

Playing the Qld Blind XI. Such a fun day. They were some of the best sledgers I have ever witnessed. Upon taking guard I was told by a completely blind player fielding 2m away at short cover that “I have no idea what you look like ... but you smell shit!”

Best win you were involved in?

?? Great Tew vs Bourton Vale (2006).

Redlands 3rd grade vs Souths (2006/07): Chasing 280 we lost a wicket in the 1st over. We went on to make 480 I think in just under a day.

Did/do you have any superstitions or habits when it comes to cricket?

?? Left pad always goes on first. I never look at the wicket before the game.

Who is the biggest name cricketer you’ve played with or against?

?? With:

Shane Watson, Marnus Labuschagne

Against: Andrew Symonds, James Hopes, Chris Lynn, Clinton Perren

Tell me about some of the very best you’ve come up against.

?? Fastest bowler: In England I faced a South African by the name of Booysen. He was lightning on slow pitches. Would have been ridiculous on Aussie wickets. In Australia it is probably a young Ben Cutting or Cameron Gannon. Fastest pitcher was easily Jimmy Spargo.

Best batsman: Aussie test side in the nets at the Gabba. Players included Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Damien Martin, Justin Langer, Matt Hayden. In an actual match it would have been Steve Paulsen.

Best bowler I kept to: Shane Watson. Best keeper I saw: Scottish bloke named Simon Smith.

Scariest bowler to face in the nets?

?? Kyle Morrison (quick), Nathan Collins (bowled from about 13 yards away at night)

Who was your net bunny when bowling?

?? Matthew Wiliamson

Opposition player that you have most respect for: name and club?

?? Mick Durbridge (Gold Coast), Steve Paulsen (Wests)

Best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

?? Only worry about the things you can control (Barry Cullen)

Our time/Their time (Rowdy Freeman)

Do you have any lessons you’ve learned in your cricket life that you’ve taken into life in general?

?? Doing what is right and doing what is easy are rarely the same thing.

What do you do now/outside of cricket?

?? Looking forward to playing more golf.

What’s your advice for a young tiger trying to get up the grades?

?? Nothing speaks louder than performance. Train hard but train in a way that’ll make you perform better. Use setbacks to fuel your desire to play better.

In true Cullen style, he’s too humble to mention his brief foray into boxing in this story. Thanks very much for your time Craig (and for an off drive that blew my hand apart in Emerald a couple of years ago). By the way, wouldn’t we all love to “chip in” with a lazy 103* on first grade debut?