Over the years I have been involved with many players from overseas countries who have experienced a season or more in Brisbane or local competitions. Whether I have played with them or coached them at various clubs, had them involved as part of our academy programs over the years or played with them in mid-week Wanderer’s club games I shall try and compile a team from the past few decades of visitors that I reckon would go alright!
Qualifications – must be during my time period in playing & coaching (1979 – 2020) as above.
Every one of these blokes at some stage played in Brisbane club cricket which no doubt has helped their career progression.
I will call it the Brisbane Barbarians –
Sam Northeast – (Kent & now Hampshire / Sunshine Coast) - Northy was a revelation as our overseas player at Sunshine Coast a few years back. A super committed top order batsman and deep thinker of the game we appointed him skipper in his second stint. He wanted to hit balls all day on most days he was here! Currently in Australia as part of the England A squad and surely still a chance of playing Test cricket given his very solid career with both Kent and now Hampshire.
Peter Fulton (Captain) – (Canterbury & New Zealand / Sunshine Coast) – “Two Metre” Peter played 23 Tests for NZ scoring two tons. He came across twice to do pre-season as he wanted some fine weather to hit balls leading into the Kiwi summer so we had no hesitation in also having him in the Scorchers early season one day matches. Unfortunately he did not get many runs in those games but his contribution to the overall team in those periods was worth its weight in gold such was his professionalism and the help he gave to local players in the short periods he was with us.
Charlie Hemphrey – (Kent & now Glamorgan / Redlands, Toombul, now Sandgate/Redcliffe & Queensland Bulls) – Charlie originally came across for a few months as part of our old “Australian Sports Gateway” cricket programme which catered for visiting overseas players wanting coaching and a season in Oz. I placed him at Redlands and he was a young bloke who had just been released by Kent with a questionable attitude but plenty of talent. At that point to be honest I just saw another young bloke around 2nd grade standard - but what he did do was practice diligently and he indeed hit plenty of balls in that period. He then matured out of sight. I use Charlie as an example of a player who has climbed the ladder through weight of runs and when he next came to Brisbane he tallied runs up for Toombul to gain Qld Bulls selection as an outsider. No mean feat is that. Now at the Sandgate club with a long term contract at Glamorgan he can be really proud of his achievements so far.
Fabian Cowdrey – (Kent / Sunshine Coast) – What an enigma this bloke is. Retired at a very young age from county cricket he had one season with us at the Scorchers and dominated with the bat with a highlight 180 versus Valleys where he played every shot in the book. A wasted talent but I think he is still playing in the Kent League.
Michael Powell – (Glamorgan / Wests) – Another off of the Abergavenny (Wales) assembly line of excellent young players, Powelly, after a bucketload of runs in the Three Counties League came over for a summer at Wests in the mid-90s where he played some First Grade during that summer. A strong right handed classic style of batsman with a trademark cover drive he then went back to Wales where he began churning out 2nd XI runs for Glamorgan with a clutch of centuries. Scoring a double century on debut for the county against Oxford University he began a fine First Class career that saw him score 27 centuries including a highest score of 299 against Essex. He was a gun fieldsman to go with that. He must be considered very unlucky to have never played for England but was named as a replacement for Marcus Trescothick in an ODI against Sri Lanka only for the game to be washed out. He never got another chance. He could bat!
Mark Wallace – ( Glamorgan / Redlands ) – The record breaking long time Glamorgan wicketkeeper batsman played only as a batsman with us at Redlands at the turn of the century as we already had a regular keeper. Mark captained the England Under 19s as well as Glamorgan and is now the Head of Cricket at that county. As a left hand middle order bat for Redlands he was an integral part of the club.
Geraint Jones – (Kent, PNG & England / Beenleigh/Logan & Valleys) – “Oink” Jones began his grade career at the newly formed Beenleigh/Logan club as a keeper/ batsman in his teens before following his nose across to play firstly for Clevedon in the old Three Counties League where he actually did not keep wickets but bowled ordinary mediums! Obviously he wanted to glove them so next season joined the Abergavenny club in Wales where he tallied plenty of runs and then did the same with Glamorgan 2nds. Given a young Mark Wallace had just inherited the Glammy gloves Geraint went to Kent where eventually his cards aligned and he ended up playing 34 Tests for England. When at Kent early on they sent him over to do 3 months intense keeping training with myself and whilst in Brisbane he lived in Ashgrove and played some lower grade cricket for Valleys just to keep in touch. He was a bloody hard trainer and played regularly also with the Wanderers Club on Wednesdays.
Calum Haggett – (Kent / Sunshine Coast) – Hags had a stint with the Scorchers at the same time as Fabian Cowdrey and loved his time staying at Mooloolaba. Not the worst place for a young Pom for the summer! He was a wholehearted medium pace bowler and handy left hand lower order bat who was a popular club member.
James Tredwell – ( Kent / Redlands) – Fine right arm offspinner who could also bat .Treddy played two Tests for England and took eleven wickets whilst filling in for Graeme Swann and probably could be a little disappointed that he did not get more opportunities based on those numbers. I played with him in the Kent League for Folkestone when he was only sixteen years old and to me he was a class act even then. As soon as he left school he came across to us at Redlands and we started him in Second Grade where in his first game he scored a duck and took none for eighty odd. I promoted him to Firsts next round with much head shaking of others and he then completed two very useful years in our top team. He actually opened the batting for Redlands for much of his time here in Brisbane as well as bowling his excellent offies. He trained like crazy and played midweek with Wanderers and in the years ahead carved out a long and successful county career with Kent. A great bloke who is now launching his coaching and umpiring career.
David Stiff – (Somerset / Souths) – “Bone” was bloody sharp but erratic and pretty low on self confidence but we loved him around our group of young players who were here visiting in those years. He played all of the Wanderers games and all ASG games and under Andy Bichel’s captaincy at Souths gave us a weapon when his radar was on. With plenty of encouragement and an opportunity given to him by Justin Langer who was then the Somerset coach he went back over and played a little more county cricket before moving back to league cricket. A big bloke with a big heart was David.
Ivan Thomas – (Kent / Sunshine Coast) – Yet another of the Kent migration. Ivan was a tall right arm fast bowler who had a short playing stint on the Sunny Coast. He enjoyed his time at the club and indeed at the beach finding many friends with his affable nature. Was keen to have another season but was stymied by ridiculous visa laws which prevented him coming back at the time.
George Dockrell – (Ireland & Somerset / Valleys) – Tall left arm orthodox spin bowler who has played one Test for his country Ireland. Had seasons with Valleys and since has made his Test debut and I’m sure there’ll be more to come. George began his Ireland career at a very young age and enjoyed his time in Brisbane where he was an integral part of the Diehards team.
Now of course there have been plenty of other very good cricketers play in Brisbane over my time but I can’t fit them all into this team – here are some more of them and some memories of them –
Assad Vala – (Papua New Guinea / Souths) – Left hand top order bat. Assad only played 3rd grade when I coached Souths but used to play every midweek Wanderers game during his stay in Brisbane. It was early days in his career and he has really kicked on captaining PNG recently. His wife is also the PNG ladies captain.
Graham Kersey – (Kent & Surrey/ Easts & Wests) – “Eagle” Kersey’s is a very tragic story. Simply a wonderful bloke who firstly came across and had a season with Easts at Bottomley Park and then a few years later being a friend of former Surrey team mate Carl Rackemann he came out to play at Wests when I was there in the mid-90s. He was a very handy wicketkeeper who loved cricket and a good time. A real good lad. He was tragically killed in a car accident in January 1997 whilst driving west of Brisbane. It left an empty feeling throughout the cricket community, something that I’ll never forget.
Eric Swarczynski – (The Netherlands / Sunshine Coast) – Eric was the first of the overseas guys that I had with me at Sunshine Coast when I coached them. He was playing for Holland at that time and opened the batting. In his first game against Toombul at Maroochydore he got some handy runs getting stuck into a very young Cameron Boyce in the second innings but unfortunately after that he just could not buy a run. He was indeed a good player, just had a rough summer with the bat. Top fellow though and he played plenty of good cricket afterwards.
Darren Cousins – (Essex / Gold Coast) – Ripper of a bloke was Cuz. He played midweek with us for Wanderers and also played grade for Gold Coast Dolphins. Right arm quick he also played for Northants and Surrey later in his county days.
Daniel Bell-Drummond – (Kent/Norths) – Another Wanderer he was good mates with our Sunny Coast Kent connection and used to love playing midweek. He was a bloody good bat but strangely he struggled for midweek runs but got them on the weekends! Outstanding character who was highly respected around Brisbane cricketing circles and he has played recently in Sydney.
Daniel Bell-Drummond playing for Randwick Petersham in NSW Premier Cricket
Ian Flanagan – (Kent / Redlands & Norths) – Excellent player who I had at Redlands for one season before I went to Souths to coach and he then went to play with Norths. He was a left hand opening batsman who played for England Under 19s and then with Kent. He now lives in Brisbane and loves his martial arts these days.
John Hughes – (Glamorgan / Redlands) – Hughesy was only young when he had a season with Redlands and afterwards made his county debut with Glamorgan. He was a hard hitting batsman.
Richie Berrington – (Scotland / Beenleigh/Logan) – right hand top order batsman and right arm medium pace bowler who has had a long career with Scotland. Was here with our ASG Academy Programme based at Redlands.
Fraser Watts – ( Scotland / Redlands ) – Here in Brisbane the same year as Berro, Wattsy played the whole season with Redlands in First Grade and performed soundly with the bat.
Simon Smith – (Scotland / Beenleigh/Logan & Redlands) – Scottish wicketkeeper had a summer with ASG and Beenleigh and then another short stint just playing 2nds with Redlands.
Dewald Nel – (Scotland & Valleys) – Also here training with ASG and playing mainly 2nd grade with Valleys he was a right arm fast bowler who also played some county cricket with Kent and Worcestershire. He played one First Grade game for the Diehards.
Qasim Sheikh – ( Scotland / Wynnum/Manly ) – Yet another of the early days group of Scotsmen who were sponsored by Scottish Cricket to train with ASG in Brisbane Sheikhy was placed with Wynnum where he opened the batting.
Kevin Sandher – (Canada / Caloundra & Sunshine Coast) – Kev was a left arm orthodox spinner who mainly played in the SCCA with Caloundra but did play some games with the Scorchers.
Irving Romaine – (Bermuda / Nambour) – Quite a character Irving was part of Gus Logies Bermudan group of six players who stayed for a period of time living at Griffith University and training under myself at Souths facilities with ASG programme. He was captain of the Bermudan side at one stage.
Kwame Tucker - (Bermuda / Main Roads CC) – Kwame was a wicketkeeper/ batsman who we placed with Ronny Michel’s Main Roads Cricket Club in the Warehouse Cricket Association whilst he was here in Brisbane training. Lovely fellow who tried very hard to improve his game. Scored a ton in a game at Caloundra off not too many balls against an Indian touring side.
Tau Au – (Papua New Guinea / Souths) – From way, way back in the late 70s when I was a teenager playing at Souths. Tau Au was bloody good cricketer and was here for the summer with his wife Margaret. I used to drive them around the town in my XW Falcon! He played mainly 3rds with occasional cameos in 2nd grade. He smashed the cover off the ball and was pretty quick off a short run. What I do remember clearly is he used to wear a white belt to hold his trousers up on the field. Champion bloke too. To greet him each day we would say How Now Tau Au!
Hitolo Areni – (PNG / Souths) – A right arm medium pace bowler who earned one game of First Grade for Souths . Unfortunately it was against University and Martin Love and he went the long journey. He could bowl though make no mistake about it and played one game more than many of First Grade!
Willie Gavera – (PNG / Souths) – Was with us at Souths at same time as Assad Vala and lived in a flat at Fairfield. Not renowned for their punctuality the boys would surprise us with their presence and then get stuck into the games. Willie was a very handy right arm quick and he played Wanderers each Wednesday to develop his game.
Patrick Matautaava – (Vanuatu / Nambour & Sunshine Coast) – Patrick was very young when he had a stint on the Sunny Coast playing mainly with the Nambour Cutters in the SCCA and a couple of 2nds games for us at Scorchers. He was pretty rough and ready back then and could hit it a mile without fear of getting out. He had some wheels also but as yet had not developed. It was good to see that he has turned into a very proficient cricketer and ended up playing some First Grade in Melbourne. Fantastic effort that.
Regan Flaws – (Otago / Beenleigh/Logan & Redlands) – A Kiwi, Flawsy, a tall right arm fast bowler was here with me training for 2 years. One spent at Beenleigh/Logan before a winter season for Ipswich Jets in the Warehouse Competition then the next summer he played for Redlands where he played only the one First Grade game where on debut he infamously almost decapitated himself on the Valleys sightscreen at Ashgrove in pursuit of a straight drive and that was the end of his grade career! Virtually over before it could start. The poor bugger did not even end up bowling an over prior to his ambulance trip to hospital. He always played the midweek games with Wanderers and also toured with that club to country Qld before going back to New Zealand to play club cricket.
As well as all of these guys I have lost count and some memories of many more players who have over the years came out to Brisbane to both train and play in the summer sun of Queensland. Long may it continue to happen.
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