Stephen Bowles - love the game

Stephen Bowles is a proud member of Southern District Magpies Cricket Club in Toowoomba.

A family man who has a deep love for the game and contributes greatly on and off the field.

Let’s find out more about Stephen’s journey in cricket

Oilfield Piping Systems are one of the proud sponsors of Southern District Magpies Cricket Club

Welcome Stephen

Firstly, what year you were born?

Maryborough hospital on 31 May 1986.

Do you remember how you got started playing cricket?

I started playing club cricket when I was 14 and I don’t remember how my season went but I do remember playing with my younger brother running me out for a diamond duck. I wasn’t talented by any means but I did love playing on Saturday mornings and my coach, who was one of the year 12 students from my school, was very intense but fun at training.

Tell us briefly about your cricketing journey? Where you’ve played, clubs you’ve played for?

I started playing cricket for the Bribie Island Bushrangers. The competition included teams from Caboulture, Morayfield, Wamuran and other small communities in the towns west of the area. I played there until I graduated from high school in 2003 and moved away from the area. 

I also played 2 seasons of winter cricket for the Bribie Island Pirates who played in the North Brisbane C grade winter comp. It was my first taste of senior men’s cricket. I felt a lot more comfortable and accepted within the senior team than I did with my junior team. 

I had a couple of seasons away from the game when I moved to the family farm near Gin Gin. During the break mum brought me my first new cricket bat, which I still have to this day. After a gap year I moved to Toowoomba where I began playing AFL for University and this was where my cricket story kicks off again. 

During my first season at the footy club, I made a lot of new friends including a great man by the name of Scott Sowerby, and during a social cricket game I bludgeoned my team mates around the park and over a few fences. After the game, Scott invited me to come along to some training sessions at his cricket club. In 2005 I signed up with the club and have played every season for them since. 

During my time at the club, I developed my game in all areas and managed to play at our top level for a couple of seasons which was rewarded with also representing Toowoomba, being all of one match, but it still felt like a pat on the back for my hard work throughout that particular season.

What other sports do you play?

As a child I was mad about AFL and was the one game I was really good at. I always followed the cricket and watched it on TV when I could, but AFL was my game. I was being approached by scouts when playing at school carnivals and at footy training, but I had a major operation just before my 14^th birthday and I never returned to play the game until I moved back to Toowoomba. While I was unable to play footy, I took up sprinting for my school and represented the school at zone level for 3 years straight in the 100m and 200m formats. I have also played a couple of seasons of social soccer for the Withcott Wildcats which was a blast until I tore my right calf and tore a ligament in my left ankle in the same season. I am a bit of a jack of all trades when it comes to sport, but still haven’t mastered any unfortunately.

Who is your favourite sports movie or documentary?

The 2006/07 Ashes series documentary where we white washed England and witnessed the end of an era for Australia cricket with many legends retiring.

What’s the one thing about you most people don’t know about?

I don’t have a lot of secrets, fortunately, as I am pretty open about myself. Maybe a little too much depending on which of my club mates you may talk to. Not too many people know that I had surgery just before my 14^th birthday to remove a bone eating cancer from my skull. They removed a benign tumor from the top of my left eye socket which was slightly larger than a golf ball. I still live with the scar and have a thinner portion of bone in my skull above my left eye. The cancer was very close to impairing some of my brain functions (another week and I may have lost my eye sight, another couple of weeks would have killed me).

What’s your highest score in senior cricket?

I am ashamed to say that I had to research my stats to find my highest score, despite only having scored a few centuries. My highest score to date is 117 which was in a C grade 1 day game for Souths Magpies against Met Easts on the 9^th of Jan, 2016 at Centenary Heights SHS.

What has been your best bowling figures in senior cricket?

My best bowling figures are 4 for 29. I also had to check my stats for this as well. I was bowling in a Division 2 T20 for Souths Crows and we were playing Souths Magpies. It was a scheduled fixture between our clubs two teams in the competition and I was called up 30 min before the start to see if I could fill in. I should’ve had my first 5 wicket haul what would have been my fifth wicket was dropped twice, once off a lofted chip to cover and the other off a caught and bowled chance. The worst of them both was the dropped caught and bowled which was gently blocked back to me and I dropped at my shoes. It was a lazy effort to bend over and catch it and I was rewarded by watching it hit my fingers then the ground.

Can you tell us which players in the club we should be looking out for in terms of higher representative honours?

We are rebuilding as a club and now have a lot of young players still playing juniors in the morning, stepping up to play seniors as well. We have an older group of players but the kids will be the ones to watch out for over the next decade. Players like Callum Barnett, Arshvir Singh and Samuel Healy. There are a number of junior rep players at our club and we hope that they will also be able to move onto bigger and better things on the cricket field. We hope that they are able to follow the like of Brendon and Samuel Doggett who also played for Souths seniors before moving to Brisbane.

Who has been the fastest bowler you have played against so far?

I’m not sure who the fastest bowler is but the scariest person I have faced was Stuart Keen and John Cleary at training. I do however remember opening the batting on day on a soft green wicket in A grade and Simon Dennis from Mets left me looking like a leopard after that innings.

Who has been the best spinner you have played against so far?

Noel Knight and I became his bunny. He was a left arm chinaman leggie who had me out in a couple of overs on almost every occasion.

Who has been the best batsman you’ve played against?

Brain May is a legend in our region and I’ve have had the ‘honor’ of watching him bat for hours whilst standing out in the heat. He is a great bat and an even better bloke, it’s just a shame that he is not on our team.

Who has been your funniest team mate?

I’ve have played with a lot of jokers and characters in my 15 years. Our current club president is a bit of a laugh on the field, and back when I was first playing for the Magpies, Andrew O’Niell was one of the main jokers at the club. But my hat goes off to the one and only Dean Smith who was a larrikin and always had a witty joke or come back.

Who was your childhood hero?

My cricketing hero is Matthew Hayden. He had the toughest job on the team and just imposed himself. He always looked like a daunting figure on TV and was a mountain of a man when I had the privilege of meeting him in person. I just loved the way he played the game and I idolized him, I would probably have his babies if he asked.

Who are the three sports people in the world you’d most like to meet?

Rodger Federer, Adam Gilchrist and Michael Jordan

Who’s your favourite cricket commentator?

Billy Burmingham (the 12^th man) or Tony Greig.

Who are the two local players you admire most in terms of skills and competitive spirit?

Brian May and John Littleproud. Both are very talented cricketers and very competitive. They are both nearing the end of their careers and have demonstrated how much fun you can have whilst trying their best for their respective teams.

What do you enjoy most about playing cricket?

I love cricket and have devoted nearly half of my life to it. It is hard to pick one thing that I love about cricket, but the atmosphere and environment from being out in the field or out in the middle batting is what I truly enjoy. Be it social or competitive, I love being out in the action having a chat or a laugh, or even consoling a team mate, helping out a young player from our club and even mentoring a young player from the opposition. I love watching someone reach new milestones and when a parent plays their first game with their kids. The hard times can get me down, but there is still a sense of pride and achievement when I get to shake the oppositions hand at the end of a game. I get to meet new people from all corners of the world and I get to hear great stories like my own about someone’s life and adventures. I play cricket to get away from the world with my mates.

Stephen coaching juniors

What has been your most memorable moment in cricket?

I have had the honor of winning a few premierships over the past few seasons and I have played in many tight matches where we came away with an unlikely win. But the most important memories I reflect upon are the long knocks for bugger all runs. There was one game in particular where I carried my bat till the 9^th wicket in A grade and managed to save an outright defeat against University. It was my mental dexterity that I remember and the hours of focus that I draw upon when I feel like I am struggling. It helps me to believe that I can do it and I put my head down and keep on pushing. It also helped me to realize that there is nothing wrong with getting out to a good ball.

What’s the best win you’ve been involved with?

Winning the first premiership was great as we were never in the hunt to win it until one of our bowlers took 3 wickets in 2 overs to destroy the opposition’s middle order. 

But the best win came from a game during a season when our number 10 and 11 batsman had to score 24 to win. Both hadn’t got past 20 runs for the season combined, but managed to knock off the runs and we celebrated like we had won a premiership.

What are your hobbies?

I have 4 kids and have a heavy involvement with the club on the board and with juniors, so I don’t have a lot of time for hobbies, but I do like tending to my veggie patch and growing my own food. 

What’s the best advice you’ve received?

The best advice I have received is “If you don’t love the game, you will never do any good at it. You need to find something you love about it to get you through the hard times, because they do happen and will break you if you don’t love it enough to push through.” 

Another piece of wisdom is “There is nothing wrong with getting out to a good ball, but a shit shot is on you.” 

The final piece of advice that a lot of people seem to forget is “It is just a game”.

What are your cricketing ambitions?

I would love to have another crack at playing for the top grade at Souths but as I am in my mid 30’s I am happy to just be playing. My children have shown a strong interest in playing the game and my eldest has started to play representative cricket for DDSWQ. I now aspire to be a positive role model and mentor at our club and for Toowoomba cricket. I do love coaching and wouldn’t mind making something of it. I have also started umpiring in an official capacity on the occasions when I have been injured and unable to play. I have also taken on curating over the past few seasons which I also could enjoy as a career. My greatest ambition will be play with all of my kids at least once before I retire.