The Australian Over Sixties Cricket carnival was held Nov 15-19. Three Baysidieans joined the Australian Cricket Society’s Eleven to experience the Apple Isles delights – Chain Saw Taylor, Squadron Leader Jenvey (recently demoted from Wing Commander for fielding dismeanours), and yours truly, the ECT.  Much fun was had and the cricket was passable, in view of the advanced age of us all.. The highlight was , once again, the big V’s winning of the John Hammer Shield in first division.  Beating a Queensland side that boasted four ex Sheffield Shield players, was no mean feat. (more…)

Well the Victorian Over Sixties cricket season is underway, with four rounds having been played. The Euphoric Cricket Tragic (ECT) can only comment on those games he has been involved in. There have been some remarkable achievements amongst the aged warriors in his games. (more…)

In my old MBA days we were taught that strategy is determined by structure – or was it the other way? Anyway, lets presume it was the first. It is fascinating watching 50 over matches and 20/20 matches to observe how the captains decide on strategies based upon the structure the rules of the game force upon them. (more…)

Do cricket practice facilities prevent the development of leg spinners? (more…)

It is time for the return of the longstop!!

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Gee! Was I that impressive in my first game? No, I am just kidding myself. It must be just a shortage of players. I had been asked to to turn up at the interstate carnival, starting on Novembert 17th.

Whatever, if I get a game, I can boast to my old cricketing friends I have got my state cap. (more…)

Bayside’s 2008/09 season started on October 5th. Unfortunately I did not participate. My morning on that day, started very early in a steamy Port Moresby. A week on the Kokoda track had taken its toll, and I missed the next few games also. Some weird virus had removed my hunger and seven kilos. My kidney function had shut down, and I was lucky to make it.

Finally the great day came. On November 9th, the once feared “Head Hunter of Dandy High” re-emerged onto the green sward. However there was another twist to the tale. I arrived at the Highett West ground to find I was one of fourteen Bayside players. Fortunately our opponents Whitehorse were understaffed. So three Baysidians joined them I was one of them. (more…)

The RSL!  In my know-it-all Baby boom sixties growth period, the RSL was an icon of what we newcomers saw as the boring, conservative repressed fifties and earlier. Full of pontificating old soldiers and belligerent blokes like Bruce Ruxton.

So my first exposure, face to face, with my impending Bayside cricketing teammates was to be at the Highett RSL. What am I getting myself into? (more…)

The local paper has generally had a minimum commitment to sport. Depending on the journalistic energy expended, it wavers between one and four pages per edition. Sporting news seems to be a begrudging means of putting a gap, a break, to separate the ceaseless flow of ads – the Classifieds and Real Estate Ads.

In this particular edition in October 2007, a heading caught my eye which seemed out of place in the Sports section. “Never Too Old”.  The article started off with a name our now know to be synonomous with Over 60’s cricket.  John Hammer. (more…)

Well here goes my first effort at a BLOG. By the way, what a horrible name for something that is supposed to stimulate creative communications. All it makes me thinks of is BOG, so have ignored ‘blogging” for years. What about changing it to something like CROW – creative ruminations on web?

My title, “The Euphoric Cricket Tragic” is meant to capture the newly common day parlance for a lover of cricket, but give it the uplifting feel the word tragic does not convey.

Why a lover of cricket has to be called a “Tragic,” I don’t know. Apparently it was first coined for the Australian ex Prime Minister, John Howard. I can understand tragedy being associated with him. But where does   “Tragic ” come from.  A noun to describe a person with an enjoyable obsession? Come now.  All the definitions I can find describe it as an adjective. And how does it relate to the enjoyment of cricket, when the word implies sadness, evil, distress and other horrible connotations.

So to provide the counterbalance, I have chosen the adjective “Euphoric” to describe my feelings about cricket. It may be a little over the top to describe my enjoyment of cricket as euphoria, but it does give me a lot of happiness and in recent times, elation , when I have found at age 61 I can still play, take wickets and score runs.

Cricket has always had a hold on me, not an abnormal thing for an Australian male. But is it a cyclical infatuation? So much of our life, our world experience, seems to follow cycles. The present great economic disaster is said to be a major downturn, hopefully not as bad as the Great Depression, before we return to another boom. Climate change sceptics simply believe we are just going through another warming up period which will be followed by an ice age. Personal emotions fluctuate between depression and ecstasy. The level of cycling varies in intensity.

So do people experience cricket in a cyclic way.

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