Tim Cutler is a former grade cricket in both Sydney and Brisbane. He also played cricket in Hong Kong and became the first CEO of Cricket Hong Kong. He has a passion for cricket which extends beyond the major test playing countries.
Welcome, Tim,
What year were you born?
1982
Where did you go the high school?
Engadine High
Do you remember your first ever game of cricket?
10Cs for Engadine Dragons 1991/92 – 12 per side ‘average’ cricket where every pair bats for 4 overs with runs scored similarly to indoor cricket. I don’t think I set the world light in my first game but top-scored with 34 not out in the 2nd. After 3 games we got promoted to A grade and played regular 50 over conditions, and I’m not sure if we won another game all year!
Where did you play your junior cricket?
All for Engadine Dragons in the Sutherland Shire area
Which clubs have you played for?
Engadine Dragons, Sutherland (one year there was a second rep team in an age group I made, but I was always a “Shadow Player” in the top teams, Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Western Suburbs (Brisbane), Gravesend Cricket Club in Kent U.K and Hong Kong Kong Cricket Club
How old were you when you first played grade cricket?
17, 5th Grade for Easts
What age did you make your first grade debut?
19, for Easts; Adrian Tucker had just moved to Hong Kong, and after playing the first round in 3rd grade against North Sydney on Trumper Park the next weekend I was at Bankstown Oval against someone who was on posters on my bedroom wall!
What is your highest score in any grade?
101*, against Blacktown in the last game of season 2013/14 at Waverley Oval in Second Grade, which was also my last game in Australia before moving to HK.
What are your best bowling figures in any grade?
8-35 for HKCC against Kowloon CC at Kowloon, it was just one of ‘those days’.
What’s been your most memorable moment in cricket?
Debuting in first grade against Mark Waugh, whose posters were still on my bedroom wall was memorable; and being there in Dublin to watch Hong Kong defeat Afghanistan and qualify for the 2015 T20 World Cup was awesome.
Who’s been the biggest influence in your cricket career?
My Mum was always my biggest supporter and most frequent spectator. Without Syd Harris and Bob Wilson, I’d have never have played at Easts, and some great coaches and captains over the years including Greg Matthews for whom spin bowling is an art (and a brotherhood)
Who was the funniest cricketing team mate?
Dead heat between John McCallum, who once suffered first degree burns from an 11 am Waverley Oval pie, and Steve Warner, whose various finable infractions probably deserve their own article.
Who is your favourite all time cricketer?
It feels a bit naff now that I know the guy but Dean Jones was my childhood hero and it’s hard to compete with a young kid’s obsession, even in later life as the game has changed and there as some amazing modern performers. There is no stronger emotion that the rage at Ross Emerson giving Jones out LBW as he played for Aus A v the Windies in 1995 as he tried to force his way into the 1996 World Cup squad. I’m still dirty!
What was the best win you were involved in?
After being behind on the first innings we came back to beat UNSW in a 3rd game when cricket was still being played at Woolhara Oval. The most memorable win was putting on 20 odd for the last wicket to beat Randwick in a rain-reduced PGs game, in gale force winds that had blown both sightscreens 90 degrees, it was dark, big spots of rain coming in sideways, there may have been some aeroplane celebrations from both Beckett Tucker and myself when we got the winning runs, as Bob Wilson, club stalwart yelled at us from the stand to get in our creases because if we got run out the score would recalculate (they don’t haha)
Being able to star in some big wins in HK were fun too – 8-35 defending 180 after going for 20 in my first 2 overs, and 70* after coming in at 6-36 chasing 170 amongst lots of happy HK memories!
If you’re in the middle seat of the middle row of Qantas QF1flight to London which team mates would you choose to on your left and right?
That’s a tough one; but I’ll choose David Waner on one side, because if he’s next to us, we’re in First Class, and on the other would be Max Abbott; who even after playing together at Easts, working together in HK, we still can bounce back and forward with Simpsons quotes and commentary snippets from the 1993/94 World Series Cup to keep ourselves amused.
Did you have any cricketing superstitions?
Not really, there was pretty heavily imitation of various stars over the years but nothing that I’d ever call a superstition
Which ground in Sydney club cricket did you enjoy playing at the most?
To have a home ground like Waverley was amazing and loved every minute but in terms of away games, some great memories are playing at Campbelltown with some memorable wins and even more memorable bus trips there/back – so, despite the conditions being rather oppressive, they have the fondest memories
Who was the fastest bowler you ever faced?
Kym Daley from NDs, I was sent in as nightwatchman and my second ball went glove, helmet, ‘keeper’s gloves.
Who was the best spinner you played against?
Well, it was a few years after he stopped playing but Adrian Tucker was on the other side for the SCG Trust XI when HKCC toured there in 2014. The only bad ball he bowled was the first I faced – I was so scared to face him I just left a half-tracker outside the off stump…..
What’s the best advice you ever received?
Nobody ever learnt too much from winning, so don’t brush away losing, embrace it; learn how you can be better.
And, what I’ve learnt is that life is too short to act like someone you’re not to be ‘liked’; just be yourself, be happy being you, and all of a sudden you’ll find yourself surrounded by people with similar interests and values.
Are you still involved in Cricket and if so, in what capacity?
After moving to Hong Kong K I was lucky enough to escape the insurance world and was Cricket Hong Kong’s first-ever CEO. After departing that role in 2017, and a bit of consulting, after frustration at how haphazardly the game was covered beyond the Test world, I started Emerging Cricket.
What’s Emerging Cricket?
It’s is a global collective of people who are passionate about growing the game, who provide news and views from Associate cricket and beyond, including reporting on international cricket, and the issues and domestic events in the emerging cricket world. We also explore broader topics such as global cricket funding, world cup formats and the game’s governance, and currently count the captains of Scotland, the Netherlands and PNG as Ambassadors.
Beyond the website, we also produce a weekly podcast which is already on Sport FM in Perth and we are hoping to get on more global stations in 2020.
In terms of Emerging Cricket, which countries are improving to the extent they could be playing Test matches in say the next 15 – 20 years?
Nepal has a similar population to Afghanistan and is similarly as cricket-mad, but they have not had a functioning cricket administration for several years. Now the board has been re-admitted to the ICC, and with a new domestic system to be created in the next few years, I can see Nepal being next to sit at the big table of the ICC.
They won’t play Test cricket, all they play at home is T20s but Papua New Guinea has over 200,000 of their 6m people involved in the game and there are some talented cricketers (men & women) coming through the ranks. Look out for them at the T20 World Cup later this year.
What advice would you offer a young 13 year old who has the ambition of playing test cricket?
Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, everybody develops at different rates. Just listen to advice, find out what works for you, and never over-think it. If you train too long and hard to allow a stressing-mind to take over from your natural talent and muscle memory, just relax, trust in your skills, and success will follow
What are your hobbies?
Beyond my cricket obsession, I enjoy my crime/thriller drama series especially Scandinavian Noir, i.e. the original versions of shows like The Bridge, and The Killing. I'm loving Peter FitzSimons’ recent books on Aussie history, too.
What is your occupation?
Day times I’m back in insurance broking working for Aon in Brisbane, but Emerging Cricket take most of my hours outside 9-5.
Are there any lessons from your time in cricket that you take into work or life in general?
Gee, where to start? There are so many parallels between cricket and life, I think –it’s interchangeable; learning about working as part of a team of different skills, personalities and backgrounds; leading from the front; influencing from behind; developing winning cultures; how to cope with loss. I could go on…
Cricket is such a great petri-dish for so many life lessons you only realise you’ve learnt once you go out into the real world and find yourself falling back on skills you’ve picked up during your years of playing the best sport on earth.
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