The Country Connection - 1988-89

Image: Unbeaten century. A wristy Brian Wood (100 not out) had too much class for North Sydney at Howell in January 1983. Terry-towelling hats were fashionable, but useless.

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In its earliest days the Club, and its players, had attracted this ‘put-down’: because Penrith was on the outskirts of the ‘big smoke’ they were ‘cowboys’. Indeed, travelling from Penrith to a match at Sutherland or Manly then was a trek, not a trip. Possibly it was that image which encouraged so many country cricketers to Howell. A ‘pioneer’ was Trevor Everest, a top-order player of unflappable temperament, from up Lismore way. Mostly though our Country cousins have come from the west, occasionally the south.

Bill Newell came from Narrabri, where one sporting opponent at youth level was Jason Stoltenberg, later the Davis Cup tennis player. “I finished cotton-chipping in January and my Dad told me I’d got a teaching appointment to Collarenebri (three hours away). I said, ‘no way am I going there, I’m going to Sydney to play cricket. I’m going to play for Australia’. It was 1990 and Border’s team had just won the Ashes. I came to live with my Aunt Marion at St Marys, and played the last bit of the season in Fifths under John Rennie.”

Bill was tall and fair, willowy, sunny, full of character and, occasionally eccentric. When driving to matches team-mates noticed his unusual habit of taking his foot off the accelerator when talking. As a package, he was everything you’d hope for in a spin-bowler. In his second season he’d leapt to Twos, but then back to Threes with an instruction from the Seconds captain Greg Douglas to “bowl a better line and length more consistently”. In 1992/93 it was Thirds, where skipper Rod Evans remarked on another eccentricity, “Bill, remember to wear shoes in the warm-ups”; and Fourths, where Captain Matt Langdon reported: “snared the final wicket in the tie against Uni of NSW. Who will forget the pigeon incident at Trumper?” Not Bill. “My ‘roo shooter mate Chet Simms was down to watch the game. He played five-eighth for St George RL, and, when he was younger bowled at 138km/h against Wayne Holdsworth in a Gestetner Pace Bowling Challenge at the SCG—could have played both, easily. This pigeon was cruising around the grandstand being a pest. The rest of the boys scoffed when Chet told them he could take it out. Grabbed a six-stitcher, and, a direct hit from ten paces.” Bill bowled left-arm orthodox and was mostly ranked third behind Paul Thomas and Phil Chie, similar types.

Frustration may have revealed itself in his captains’ references to inconsistency, possibly a sign he pressed too hard to take wickets in what is a game of patience. Tim Sullivan recalled Bill and fellow spinner Karl Danenbergsons spending hour’s together working on varieties. When Bill got a wicket he’d joyfully announce: “I’ve been working on that all week!” He bowled around and over, but had good success over with good curl back in the air to test the batsman’s blind spot, and, a neat toppie, backed up with subtle field placement for the drive. He played at Penrith from 1989/90 to 1995/96 and took 137 wickets @ 23.52, his best 7/41. That was in Seconds against Northern District in what turned out to be his best season, but last with the Club. That season he also took 11 for 106 (6/64 and 5/42) against Wests. Next season Barry Knight lured him to Campbelltown with the promise of a First Grade spot. He also played for Mosman and Manly. In 2005 he moved to Wauchope and got a teaching appointment at Beechwood, “five minutes away—I waited for a posting like that for 20 years.”

There was a Bathurst Connection, Brian Wood, Wayne Comerford and Kirk Yates to name a few. Maybe in a different era ‘Woody’ might have shown enough to win a State cap but head-to-head with opening batsmen like John Dyson, Steve Smith, Mark Taylor, Steve Small and Rick McCosker, it was a mighty tough challenge. Woody was an accumulator of runs with a strong competitive streak, an artist at using the pace of the bowling to his advantage. Fleet of foot, his speed, run judgement, and reliability between the wickets was legendary, as was his patrol of the cover region. He didn’t have a strong arm but was ‘run out aware’. A classic example of that was one day at Howell where his nippiness and clean pick-up created a running mix-up. Woody’s choice? Try for a direct hit on the striker’s end stumps, or throw behind the stumps to the keeper still making his way in. He chose the latter, threw perfectly to the keeper, then watched in amazement as the keeper, ball in gloves, missed with his first swipe at the bails; and then, on the turn, missed with his second swipe!

Woody wasn’t a ‘sledger’ in the modern sense, but he was chatty and knew how to niggle the batsman. He once sent a letter to the umpire Rocky Harris with a copy of the run-out rules after Rocky gave him run-out at the bowler’s end—without the bowler having even attempted to stop the straight drive! He was in the Guinness Book of Records during his time with the Club, but as a Rugby player. Playing for Penrith (Joe Poulter, later a Club official, was a team-mate) he scored seven tries and kicked 22 goals, then the most number of points in a First Grade Rugby match. His Penrith cricket record: scored 3730 runs in 114 innings at an average of 31.71.

Woody has fond memories: “It was a huge decision for a born and bred country boy to leave Bathurst in the early 80s. I had played for NSW Schoolboys in the National Titles in Adelaide in 1980, and, for NSW Country. I came to Penrith when Bob Clarence brought a PGs side up and I captained the Bathurst Under-21s. Bob was doing some ‘bush scouting’. The Club boarded me (and Trevor Bayliss) with Bill and Helen Ball at Leonay. ‘TB’ and I used to sneak into the golf course for a few rounds. Boarding was how things happened in those days rather than young blokes getting into a flat, or a house with their mates. It helped keep you in check. I remember Helen, if she was looking for us, calling at the top of her voice: ‘Trevor Harley … Brian Francis … where are you?!’ I vividly remember the first net sessions, and the ‘real’ quicks like Mick Puzny, Ian Monaghan and ‘Watta’ Pitty, with new balls(!) bouncing me, watched by all the other young hopefuls that turned up to trial, going “ooh” and “aahh”, as the ball flew, sometimes over the top of the back net.

On Clubmates: “Bob Clarence—taught me how to ‘sledge’ opponents, but with humorous one-liners not invective; Ian Redpath—came out from England and Ken Hall thought him ‘soft’ so one day ran him from fine leg to fine leg, and, moved him five metres right or left to keep him out of the shade of the big tree; Howell Oval—when it used to be a couch outfield. Man, it was fast and so smooth then that groundsman ‘Thorpey’ could have mown it by hand; Graeme Beard—never wore a cap because it mucked up his hair so we called him ‘Danny La Rou’, but, on a serious note, he was the first bowler I ever saw with a ‘doosra’.

Kirk Yates and ‘Woody’ were mates who attended school together at St Pats at Bathurst. Cricket lured them to Penrith, and took them overseas to the Essex League where both were prolific run-scorers with Orsett and Thurrock. Physically, Kirk was not unlike Rod Bower. He batted right-hand in the middle-order, and, played two seasons, Firsts and Seconds, scoring 742 runs at 29.68. He was highly rated as a ‘boundary-rider’, speed in the outfield second to none.

Young Dave Anable came up from Goulburn—every Friday afternoon, so he could get in some vital practice. An easy trip today, not so on the ‘old’ dangerous Hume in 1987/88. He was a tall, strong, right-arm medium fast bowler who was graded Fourths but got to Seconds in his first season, and won the Bob Thomas Encouragement Award. In ensuing seasons, he would be joined by his brother Gary. In three seasons Dave took 50 wickets at 19.30, Gary 70 wickets at 23.85.