Sydney grade cricket is strong. Its 20 clubs produce players for New South Wales, which in turn feeds the Australia team. It is the same across the land. In Victoria, Queensland, WA, metropolitan clubs develop talented teens who move into the state system and upwards and, if they are special, into the holy order of the baggy green. Clubs are the base bricks of the great Australian cricket pyramid.
But with year-round international, first-class and franchise cricket, the top players rarely, if ever, turn out for their clubs. There was a time when Jeff Thomson and Lenny Pascoe played for Bankstown and frightened the pants off many Mosman accountants. But today, for a Test man to play for his club, stars must align.
Or a really big scandal.
We are in east Sydney, home of Randwick Petersham Cricket Club, as David Warner takes his first nascent steps on to Australian cricket soil since the sandpaper-in-the-pants imbroglio. His one-time captain, Steve Smith, is doing the same at the Glenn McGrath Oval in Sydney’s south: turning out for the club that made him. The pair were banned from international cricket until April of 2019. There are bridges to build in the meantime.
Tidy ground, Coogee: checkerboard surface, ringed by palm trees and apartments, just near the beach. There is a white picket fence outside a long white rope. Little girls in the community centre do jazz ballet. Ladies in the canteen sell cold cut rolls for $5. Admission is free. So is instant coffee. Photographers abound with huge fat lenses. Coiffed TV stars talk into cameras. The club president, Mike Whitney, who played 12 Test for Australia, has been doing media all week. Coogee may not have seen this much media since the All Blacks played Randwick in 1988.
“It’s a really big day for the club but I’m pretty sure David would tell you it’s a really big day for him also,” says Whitney. “His journey back has got to start somewhere. And his greater journey started here, at club level.”
After St George post 277 from their 50 overs the players adjourn for lunch. Cameraphones are pointed at the famous opener. He poses for photographs with kids, signs autographs, quips with dads. There is a hug with a lady in a purple hat. More autographs, more photos. He shakes hands with a kid who is all eyes. It looks well-practised, this glad-handing. But it is real. It is part of the gig and not the worst part.
Warner changes into rubber flip-flops and shorts, exposing red leggings – cricket mufti. He has a yarn with beer-drinking friends. More photos. His wife, Candice, arrives with the couple’s little girls. He heads into the sheds to pad up. The crowd swells to perhaps 200 strong.
Out they go through a gaggle of fans, the 74-Test man Warner and Matthew Everett, once of Tamworth. There is applause. The sandpaper thing is not forgotten. Might never be. But it seems our man is forgiven, at least by these people. They just want to see him bat, especially against Josh Hazlewood, who has been rested for Australia’s tour against Pakistan in the UAE.
Warner is reserved early outside a whistling cover drive. After nine overs there is a mid-pitch chat with Everett. Then Warner explodes. A mighty straight drive flies high over the fence and bounces off Alfreda Street. A lofted off-drive dents the fence. A square drive whistles east. A cover drive nearly takes Trent Copeland’s fingers with it. A straight drive heads to 12 o’clock and a hundred cricket fans exclaim as one: “Shot”.
Warner gets to fifty with a tasty back-cut boundary. There follows a short-arm pull shot. A sizzling cover drive. A square cut frightens kids playing footy by the fence. He runs between wickets like a fast little horse. He reaches his century with his patented – and super-productive - tuck off the hip, runs down the wicket and leaps into the air. There is a badge kiss and a dual hat-and-bat raise to the people. It is clear it means plenty. He goes on to score an unbeaten 155 from 152 balls and wins the match for his team.
At the Glenn McGrath Oval, Smith batted within himself to compile 85 from 93 balls (six fours, one six) and help Sutherland to 238. But it was not enough. “I reckon David will be quite happy he’s scored a few more than Smithy and that he’s also got the win,” says Whitney, smiling.
“His reaction after his hundred, that bit of emotion. What it says is he values this as much as playing for the Blues or Australia. He kissed our helmet. It shows respect for our club.”
