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Q: For a range of reasons, Jim Dixon from University of New South Wales Cricket Club was the best skipper I played with.
Whilst I didn’t play with him when he as the first-grade captain I did get to know him as a person who engaged with and led the whole club from firsts to 6th Grade and the clubs women’s teams.
In doing so he was always willing to provide both technical and tactical advice, as well as some high-quality mentoring of young players, whilst maintaining a good balance between seriousness and (usually off field) larrikinism.
When he decided to retire from 1st Grade, he made the very valuable club contribution of staying on as a player to skipper or just fit in with our lower grades - whatever the club required.
https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/948/david-jebb/blog/1906/david-jebb-ndash-my-best-captain
blog post
For a range of reasons, Jim Dixon from University of New South Wales Cricket Club was the best skipper I played with.Whilst I didn’t play with him when he as the first-grade captain I did ...
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Q: Growing up in Armidale Northern NSW in the 1970s I was like many youngsters playing backyard cricket at every opportunity and emulating my cricket heroes Ian and Greg Chappell, Rod Marsh, and Dennis Lillee.
In January 1980 at the age of 12 I was on a family holiday in Sydney and dad, and I went to the SCG to watch Australia and England in our first day night 50 over game. We sat high up in the old Sheridan Stand.
Australia batted first and scored 163. Under lights Dennis Lillee bowled first change after Jeff Thomson and Geoff Dymock and the England openers put on around 30 when Lilee came on the bowl.
He took 3 quick wickets and looking back at the old scorecard England had lost 3 for 9 and were 3 for 40 and then 4 for 51.
The crowd was going crazy chanting the famous "Lillee, Lillee, Lillee.." and he ended up taking 4 for 12 off his 10 overs before England scrapped home 8 down for 164 off 48.5 overs.
It was an incredible first up experience. I loved it.
Fast forward 12 or so years later and Lillee was doing one of his fast bowling clinics for young NSW fast bowlers at the SCG.
As a wicket keeper batter in Sydney Grade Cricket, I was invited to come along and after having a hit in the nets the fast bowlers ventured out for a centre wicket session. I did some keeping for an hour or so and then had an opportunity for another hit.
Lillee was working with the fast bowling group and after a couple of minutes batting he must've wanted to show them something and to my surprise grabbed a ball (he must’ve been 43/44 years of age), stood at the top of his mark and started running in to bowl.
It was a strange sensation. All of a sudden here I was facing up to a childhood hero bowling from the same end he was back in 1980 when the entire crowd was chanting “Lillee, Lillee, Lillee”. So surreal
A: I was there too - UNSW, one of the closer clubs to the SCG, were asked to provide some fielders. Sitting in the home dressing room listening to DK talk to the young quicks (remember Glenn McGrath being a particularly attentive listener) and then heading out onto the ground for a run around (remember Wayne Holdsworth made us very welcome) and to walk in from cover as the great man had a bowl, was surreal indeed.
Also remember one of the young blokes asking about bowling on slow, flat pitches. Dennis replied with the sort of fantastic advice you would expect…….and finished with “having said all that, don’t forget I did take 1 for 300 on a tour of Pakistan”.
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Q: In 1999 I jagged a late inclusion in a 50th Anniversary of UNSW Cricket game at the Village Green. Henry (Geoff Lawson) had been given some budget to run the day and had teed up some Test player mates to play (I replaced Mark Taylor at late notice, who had suddenly landed some Australian of the Year duties!). In my team was the one and only Merv. I remember seeing a quote sometime from a Test player that said it all………..”the great thing about Merv Hughes is that he’s more like Merv Hughes than Merv Hughes is”. And so he was – zero pretence, great company and funny all day. One thing I remember about the stars playing is that they were all putting in and, on reflection, having been at the level they had, I guess they just don’t do it any other way. It really helped make it as memorable a day as you could hope for.
Anyway, Livo (Greg Livingstone) , skipper of the “Academics”, decided that I should bowl some of my leggies. Mercifully, my first over wasn’t embarrassing, even though I was bowling to Neil Maxwell, who certainly looked to only know one way to play, having bowled with some fire earlier and now looking like taking us apart. I was expecting to go for about 20 an over. At the end of the first one, Merv came up to me and said something like “Hey, I used to play with Maxie for Victoria and I know how to get him out. Just bowl another over like that, make sure you throw them up, I’ll set your field and I’ll sledge him”.
Next over, Merv set a deep square, a deep cover and put himself at a very straight deep mid-off, halfway back. Neil settled into his stance and then pulled away, showing a bit of exasperation and asking “What’s this?” – pointing at Merv, who was waving his arms behind the bowler (me). Merv called out: “Hey Maxi, where are you going to get any runs? We’ve cut off both of your shots!” Maxi told him to get away from behind the bowler and settled back into his stance. I threw it up – it landed and turned a bit (it was August and there was zero grass out there – refer pic) and Neil came down the wicket to, I think, hit me onto the UNSW Walkway. He didn’t get hold of it and it ballooned – to Merv! He took it, and amongst the uproar, I ran over to celebrate with him where he met me with “Mate, cricket doesn’t get any better than that!”
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Q: The UNSW Cricket Club United Kingdom Tourists in 2001
Memorable Moment
Day 1 of the Edgbaston Test on the UNWCC 2001 UK Tour – 25 of us in silly jackets behind the bowler’s arm watching the Aussies bowl England out for 295 and then our club mate Slats scoring a sublime 77 not out in the time left before stumps.
