FORMER Australian team manager and selector Steve Bernard led the tidal wave of tributes for Orange cricketing legend Carl Sharpe, whose death earlier in the week left a huge section of the sporting, and wider, community in mourning.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Sharpe, a pillar of Orange City Cricket Club, Orange District Cricket Association, Orange District Junior Cricket Association, Mitchell (formerly Western Districts) Cricket Council, Western Zone and NSW Country Cricket, passed away at around 9.30am on Tuesday morning after a continued battle with illness.
He was 78, and surrounded by loved ones in his final moments.
Since then, an inundation of tributes have flowed in from all over the country and several different corners of the world.
An emotional Bernard spoke to the Central Western Daily on Wednesday afternoon, to pay homage to a man he labelled “irreplaceable”.
“Carl was an outstanding man in any respect you can measure and judge a person,” Bernard said.
“He is one of those very rare individuals you could describe as irreplaceable, and also a rare person in that I could describe him as one who never made an enemy in his lifetime.
“For me and many others, he was an outstanding mentor and life coach.
“It would not be unfair to describe him as a giant in the game of cricket for country cricket as a whole, and especially the ODCA and Orange City.”
Bernard, a foundation member of Orange City, explained how pivotal of a role Sharpe played in his early cricketing years, helping him reach the heights he did in the game - he played 29 First Class games for NSW.
Sharpe had a similar influence on former international umpire Darrell Hair, another Orange City foundation member, along with countless others who achieved higher honours in a number of different sports.
“I met Carl when I was 14, and he provided me and many other aspiring cricketers with the chance to play in a men’s competition for the first time,” Bernard explained.
“He also provided me with my first overseas cricket tour when the Western Districts Cricket Council under-21 team toured Otago in 1969.
“In 1970 when I first played for NSW Country against NSW City at the SCG, it was Carl who drove me to Sydney and back and looked after me for the match.
“Throughout my career and beyond, he took a great interest in my progress and was always ready with good sage advice when I asked him for it.
“His loss is not only a blow for cricket and the many cricket people who loved him, but the community has also lost a great man.
“He will be a huge loss to a great number of people, and I am certainly one of those people.”
Born in 1937, Sharpe moved to Orange with his family in 1956, where he remained until he passed.
Sharpe was a handy cricketer and hockey player but after retiring in the mid-1980s administration and junior development is where he truly shone.
He served on countless cricketing committees throughout his life, remaining an active member of Orange City and Mitchell’s administration until his final days.
In particular he was renowned for his dedication and tireless efforts, together with business partner Beth Norrie, in the development and coaching of junior sportspeople in western NSW, through their business Quality Sporting Services.
Throughout his years Sharpe was awarded life memberships from eight different sporting clubs and associations and in 1998, he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for 30 years of continued service to sport in Orange and western NSW.
Sharpe’s influence in founding the Orange Eight Day Games and Orange Sporting Hall of Fame also had a huge role in him being bestowed his much-cherished OAM.
He also umpired in the region, helped to instigate a number of international cricketing tours and single-handedly produced the book The History of Orange Cricket - the game and its people 1911-2011 for the Orange District Cricket Association’s centenary celebrations.
He is survived by his wife Kath, sons Allan and Col and daughters Kym and Lyn, and their children.
His funeral service is scheduled for Monday, March 7, at St Joseph’s Church, from 11am.
