Despite coming from all over the state and having just three training sessions behind them, Nick Bole-Brown and his Victoria Blue teammates came together beautifully to secure the inaugural Veterans Cricket Australia Over-50 National Championship, played at Orange over the Easter weekend.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Vics did so in the most dominant of fashions too, running through the opening three rounds undefeated before thumping Queensland Burge by 114 runs in Monday’s final at Wade Park.
“We’d never played together before but once we’d had a few training sessions together, it was tough to get everyone together being from so far apart so we only had three, we thought we’d do okay,” Bole-Brown said.
“So we didn’t know what to expect coming up here but after the first couple of games I think we realised we’d be a pretty big chance to win it, it’s incredibly pleasing to go on and do so.
“It was a big effort playing four days straight, we’re not spring chickens anymore and we had a few little injuries through the tournament, but we came to play.
“It’s nice to make a little bit of history being the first championship as well, we couldn’t have asked for better venues as well. Orange is huge compared to what we thought, the grounds are great and Wade Park in particular is superb. The whole weekend was just great.”
Led by David Roach (43 retired), Craig Gislingham (40 retired), Darren Hill (45 retired) and Rohan Pike (40 retired), the Vics piled on 5-268 from their 45 overs, before skittling Queensland for 154 in reply.
The Queenslanders were best served by Allan Bougoure (40 retired) with the bat, while Gavin Brown (28) also put up some resistance.
The rest had few answers for the Victorian attack, led by Scott Teesdale (3-12) and John Murphy (2-31).
“David Roach retired every day, opening their batting there, he was excellent,” Bole-Brown said.
“Darren Hill was great too, retiring in that final, but everyone chipped in. I tell you, it was seriously tough leaving someone out of the final but even then he was in the field the entire time. Everyone did their bit.”
Having sealed the inaugural title, Bole-Brown said he’s hopeful of leading the side against next year, and leading that outfit to a second straight win.
“We don’t want to share the trophy with anyone,” he said.
“Will it be the same 13? Probably not, but whether it’s under 10s or over 50s, everyone always wants to play for the big V.”
The consolation play-offs were all still in play at time of publication, as were the division two finals.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
