THE BIGGEST… NSW Blues players Daniel Hughes, Nathan Lyon, Liam Hatcher are encouraging everyone to join in NSW’s Biggest Game of Backyard Cricket tomorrow.

With lockdowns set to lift and the cricket season on its way, Cricket NSW is encouraging households across the state to take part in NSW’s Biggest Game of Backyard Cricket tomorrow, 9th October.

It is a chance for everyone – families, flatmates and even singletons – to get active, have a laugh and experience a form of the sport which everyone can play, even if you don’t have access to a cricket bat, stumps or a ball.

Leading the charge for NSW’s Biggest Game of Backyard Cricket is NSW and Australian star Nathan Lyon, who along with NSW Blues housemates Liam Hatcher and Daniel Hughes, has been enjoying some backyard cricket during the winter months.

“The best thing about backyard cricket is that you can make up your own rules to reflect the space you have at home and the amount of people playing. If you don’t have cricket equipment, backyard cricket is about improvising, so think about using a bin or the fence for stumps, socks for a ball, and a piece of wood as the bat,” said Nathan.

To be in the running to win the major prize of a Weber Spirit II E320 plus an all-new Weber Traveler or one of eleven $100 Weber.com vouchers, participants need to register for the Biggest Game of Backyard Cricket at cricketnsw.com.au and then post on the “Biggest Game of Backyard Cricket” Facebook Event page their video entry for the most creative wicket-taking celebration that occurred during their game.

“The Biggest Game of Backyard Cricket is a light-hearted initiative to get everyone across NSW to prioritise their health and wellbeing, and do a fun activity together,” said Joanne Scanlon, Cricket NSW General Manager – Community Cricket Experiences.

For information or to register for your local club, head to Play.Cricket.com.au.

‘Twas a fine morning on Tuesday with a brisk cross wind, air temperature 15 degrees – anything could happen! As the games began you would have thought we were bowling at the SCG with the ‘cricket scores’ each winning team was amassing!

On wicket number 3, Kim Evans (that silly mid-on), Hilda McPherson (delivers every bowl right in the block hole) and Lea Orr (caught bowling underarm – AGAIN) took the advantage over Carol Reed (scoring a hat trick of touchers), Maria Willcockson (playing some attacking shots late in the game) and Maureen Miller (captain and consistent all-rounder), winning by a fair margin! Kim received an official warning for possession of sand paper!

Six maidens in slips graced wicket number 4. Gwenda Carty (batting on despite the urge to retire hurt), Betsy Johnstone (timing her shots to perfection) and Di Howell (super-sub spinner of the red cherry) proved too strong for Chris Cox (wanting to bail out after turning a year older), Lynn Ryan (at short leg, her favourite spot) and Heather Harvey (usually plays in NZ kit).

Four players went into the attack on wicket 5. Julie Green and Fran Dixon (two multi-talented rookies) were in form and had their eye in from the first bowl. Valmai Westcott and Chris Curteis took their punishment on the scoreboard after bowling numerous dead bowls!

Play was briefly suspended as the No 3 Pennants team members returned triumphant from Dubbo. Congratulations to Maree Grant, Cherie Frame, Joan Simpson, Liz Byrne, Jan McPhee, Rhona Went, Brenda Davies, Merilyn Rodgers and Manager Kay Craft, on becoming Regional Pennants Champions! Next stop – State play-offs. That’s a SIX!

Alex McKeowen bowled by Blake Smith. (See more photos of the historic match on The Parkes Phoenix facebook page.) Photo: Les Finn

Sunday’s remarkable match was exactly what the future of the Grin-sted Cup needed according to Michael Greenwood, who wrote a book about the cup’s history.

“I believe the Cinderella win by Bogan Gate will provide the necessary shot in the arm for the longevity of the famous Grinsted Cup, arguably the longest running sporting challenge competition in regional Australia,” said Michael.

“The past few seasons leading up the cup centenary in 2019 had been plagued by regular forfeits from some of the larger centres and there were genuine concerns that the cup could go by the wayside. Those fears were effectively erased on Sunday, not only for the manner in which the match was played but also by the brilliant atmosphere generated by the largest cup crowd for years.”

Michael said the Bogan Gate Renaissance has drawn amazing parallels to their first win a mere 85 seasons ago. “Interest in the challenge from Grenfell on Sunday week is already generating keen public interest from around the region.” He congratulated all involved.

The victorious Bogan Gate Rabbits are the back (L-R) Craig O’Shannessy, Lachlan Britt, Phil Dunford, Peter Thomas, Ryan Dunford and Joseph Tanswell. In front are Vince Umbers, Andrew Britt, Israel Symington, Alex McKeowen and Alex Umbers. Absent: Paul Dunford. Photo: Les Finn

The 101st year of the prestigious Grinsted Cup delivered another amazing chronicle on Sunday when Bogan Gate produced a Cinderella win in their first appearance in 85 years!

The Bogan Gate Rabbits last held the Cup in February 1936 when they defeated arch-rivals Forbes in a thrilling contest, while Parkes was aiming for their 14th consecutive challenge victory.

The Woodward Oval provided the ideal setting as spectators came from across the state to witness the history-making clash.

Parkes won the toss and elected to bat. They immediately faced some excellent bowling from former Western Zone representative players Phill Dunford and Andrew Britt. Parkes soon reeled at 2/13 after 6 overs with Phil claiming the prized scalp of Parkes captain Myles Smith, who departed without troubling the scorers.

The introduction of Craig O’Shannessy and Ryan Dunford delivered immediate re-ward for Bogan Gate. Craig captured 2/19 off 5 overs, while Ryan finished with 2/16 off 7 overs. Parkes struggled to gain any momentum as the score stood at 7/37 before a valuable late order partnership between Jock Yelland (17) and Blake Smith (16) helped boost the Parkes total to 80 runs off 37.4 overs.

Andrew Britt turned in a superb spell of bowling to finish with 3/31 off 17.4 overs including six maidens, while Phil Dunford collected 3/13 off 8 overs.

In reply, the Bogan Gate opening pair of Lachlan Britt and Paul Dunford were in great form. Paul retired hurt on 14 after suffering a nasty shoulder injury. Talented cricketer, Vince Umbers joined Lachlan to continue the impressive batting performance before Lachlan was bowled by Blake Smith (3/21 off 6.1) for 28.

Bogan Gate only needing 10 runs for victory. Blake Smith produced two more amazing deliveries in succession to achieve a remarkable hat-trick. Vince Umbers (31no) featuring three well-struck sixes and two boundaries combined with Craig O’Shannessy (5no) to hit the winning runs and record a history-making victory for Bogan Gate.

By Luke Nash

The Parkes U/14 cricket team Parkes scored a convincing 91 run victory over a keen Wellington team at a superbly prepared Spicer Oval on Sunday. The Parkes team included a good number of U/12 players who took the opportunity to extend their skills by playing with talented U/14 players.

The scores were: Parkes 8/194 in 40 overs – Joseph Tanswell 75, Hunter Hawke 38, Jack Milne 23, Flynn Thompson 13 n.o, Maddy Spence 9, Isaiah Hill 2/29 off 8 overs, Nate Bradford 2/21 off 4 overs, Lachy George ½ off 6 overs.

Wellington 10/103 in 37.2 overs – Lachy George 23, Amali McNeil 18, Zeke Heterick 11, Callee Black 11, Joseph Tanswell 3/16 off 8 overs, Maddy Spence 2/9 off 4 overs, Ryan Dunford 2/5 off 4.2 overs, Hunter Hawke 1/11 off 8 overs.

Parkes batted first to see a very positive opening partnership between Joseph Tanswell and Jack Milne. They put on 51 runs in 11 overs before Jack was dismissed for 23 with 4 boundaries.

Hunter Hawke (38 runs off 44 balls with 4 very strong fours) then partnered with Joseph in a quick fire 63 run partnership for the second wicket. Joseph (75 runs from 89 balls with 7 well struck boundaries) should be very pleased with his highest score in his young career.

After a middle order collapse, late order players Flynn Thompson (13 n.o) and Harry Kennedy (6) added quick runs at the end of the innings.

In reply Wellington lost wickets at regular intervals. Maddy Spence and Geordie Duncan were impressive in the field, while Jackson Plummer also stood out. Joseph Tanswell completed an outstanding all-round match as he produced 8 accurate overs to capture 3 early order Wellington wickets. Maddy Spence (2/9) and Ryan Dunford (2/5) chimed in to take valuable wickets.

By Greg Morrissey

“I’ve played cricket in lots of places. In the backyard, the driveway, inside the house, but never on top of a radio telescope.” Brisbane Heat star, and one of the world’s biggest hitters, Chris Lynn joined other cricket heroes and local kids to recreate the famous scene from the movie, The Dish, at the Parkes Radio Telescope last Thursday.

Under dark, stormy clouds they tried to ‘blast’ a ball into space to launch Cricket Australia’s new kids program Woolworths Cricket Blast “I didn’t quite get the ball into orbit, but it was a great experience. It was amazing,” said right-handed top order batsman Chris.

He was joined by Big Bash League heroes Peter Handscomb, Alyssa Healy, Ash Gardner and Nic Carey, Parkes kids Nina Richardson-Barley and Nate Henry, and Nate Vincent from Condobolin.

About 60 children from Parkes, Orange, Dubbo, Condobolin, Forbes and Cowra signed up to be part of the exciting day and took part in many cricket activities on the grounds around the radio telescope.

In the famous scene in the movie two engineers turn the giant radio telescope, used for beaming live television pictures of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon to the world, into a makeshift cricket pitch.

Last Thursday the cricket heroes climbed the giant structure under guidance from CSIRO Operations Scientist John Sarkissian to re-enact the scene using soft balls not to damage the dish.

“The cricket scene in the film has become an iconic feature of the CSIRO Parkes Observatory, and to see it re-enacted by real cricketers was a blast,” said John. “It was fantastic to see how much the junior cricketers enjoyed themselves. I’m sure they will remember it for a very long time.”

Woolworths Cricket Blast is a program for girls and boys of all abilities between the ages of 5 to 10 to learn new skills and play Australia’s favourite sport.

By Maggi Barnard