Men for All Seasons

As Winter approaches in Britain...Over here, in Australia, Summer and cricket are almost back.... Indoor 'Nets' began weeks ago with a healthy mix of 'old farts' ......young 'pups' and the 'others'....We are now practicing outdoors...twice per week.....
I am playing once again for Ocean Ridge Cricket Club and pre season in well under way. I thought I would introduce you to some of the characters of Ocean Ridge Cricket Club....

Mase..(Cricket Manager)...(picture Homer Simpson with a clip board)...Nice guy who is trying to encourage 'winning' cricket at the club.

Mase

Geoff Smith....loves Ocean Ridge... not the greatest fan of Mr Gill...an attribute that might endear him to many this season.... Not a bad cricketer...not as good as Gilly but eh.....

Geoff Smith

Dunks...A real nice guy a club veteran who is going to have to put up with Mr Gill in the same team... Dunks will drag his aching body through, 'one more season', or so he tells me...'see you next year then Dunks'.....Gilly and Dunks could be a great 'double act'.

Dunks

Dinga...Lingy...Linger....Daniel....(1st Team Captain and Club Coach) A nice guy and very good Cricketer...almost as good as Gilly....(That's a rare compliment)...Dinger is neither an 'old fart' or a 'Pup' as he seems hard to age...some say he's 35...some say he's 12...you be the judge...

Which one is Dinga???

Gibbo....Scares me.... a lot...What the british see as an Aussie....A good cricketer, a 'big' guy with a bashed up patched up body...My first memory of Gibbo was meeting him at nets and on seeing him limping and making the enquiry 'have you injured something'...... half an hour later he had listed 10 injuries that made me wince...and remember I'm a 25 year veteran nurse...I do remember Harves mouthing, 'don't ask him' behind his back....

GIBBO

(Here seen pointing at Gillys Ball before bowling to him)

Gilly...(Me)...The Pom...Well....I love the game and still want to play all the time. I believe in aggressive attacking Cricket and I hope we win something this season....I like to call it sexy cricket...Mind you I have mixed in good Cricketing circles in the past...

Gilly

Training has produced some new players this year...many of them brits. I do hope that they all remember the greatest Cricketer...other than Gilly...was born here...that man of course.......... Don Bradman.....with a batting average of 99.94.

2008 marks the centenary of Bradman's birth and 60 years ago when he finished his last Test match. His achievements remain without equal. From the moment he retired there has been a compulsion both to explain how he did what he did and to try to unveil the next Bradman. (Come on Dinga he might be at training???!!!)

It is one thing to laud the scale of his run-scoring, it is another to contemplate that its like will never be seen again. Usain Bolt has run into history in the past few weeks with two performances which broke the world records for 100m and 200m and demonstrated again what it is that humans do. They get better...(Harves, Smithy..take note..we don't need youngsters)Yet nobody has come close to emulating Bradman by any yardstick. Of batsmen to have played 20 Test innings, none average above 70, only four above 60.....WOW Enjoy 'The Don' here on film...Stew