David Jebb - my best captain
David Jebb | January 09, 2024
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.
Here I had the fortune playing several seasons with him.
In terms of “Disco” leadership qualities there’s two that resonate with me.
1.Despite owning some significant achievements at 1st Grade level, Disco skippered the lower grade teams with, an almost complete lack of personal ego and extraordinary selflessness. He could have personally dominated lower grade cricket, opened the batting, bowled lots of overs and bolstered his already impressive grade career stats. But instead, the team and the development of (especially) young players always came first and wherever he played he encouraged an environment of supported learning and development of all players.
I’m sure Dan Christian would be one who would happily acknowledge this. I’m not actually sure if this is still the case but at UNSW we always “read the book” in the dressing room after play where, over a drink or two, the game was analysed and not a small amount of humour would find its way into discussions - these chats were “gold” under Disco.
2.His absolute commitment to playing attacking, but nonetheless technically sound, cricket. In doing this he set a great example for others in the way he was always tactically looking to “make something happen” on the field in search of a win, even a miracle. He also continued to train hard and work on his skills and he constantly analysed the way to get the best out of both he and his team mates.
There’s one example of Disco’s captaincy I’d like to share that particularly inspired me.
Disco’s handling of a 16-year-old Dan Christian at a critical time in his development was a young player captaincy masterclass at a point where many talented youngsters can go off the rails.
I’m sure he never thought it might appear in such a public space, but his report in the UNSWCC annual report from that season gives an insight to this:
DANIEL CHRISTIAN: I think everyone in the Club has come to realise that Daniel has the potential to be a star of the future. His “numbers” both in 4th Grade and 3rd Grade belie his actual contribution and fail to tell the story of a 16 year old’s mature approach to the arduous task of competing in senior cricket. Dan’s big asset is that he listens, he wants to learn, and he loves playing his cricket. I did not mention his obvious talents because for a kid of his age these will always be wasted without the assets I mentioned and which he possesses. The Club clearly sees a very bright future for Daniel and some might say that we rushed him too quickly into 3rd Grade. I don’t think so and I believe his performances at the end of the year showed that he can easily handle 3rd Grade. With the patience, maturity and confidence he shows, the test for our club will be to ensure that he has the appropriate opportunities and that senior players continue to support him in his developing years.”
