The Story Behind Our Meeting Rooms

Alan Davidson AM MBE is remembered as one of cricket’s finest players, but he’s also celebrated for the devotion he displayed during his post-playing days to ensure all Australians could gain enjoyment from the sport.

Davidson retired from Test cricket in 1964 as the sport’s pre-eminent allrounder. In 44 Tests his fast, left-arm swing bowling captured 186 wickets at 20.53 while he scored 1328 runs at 24.5. 

He’s best remembered for his lion-hearted showing in cricket’s historic first tied Test, the 1960 nail-biter against the West Indies at Brisbane. During that match, Davidson defied a broken finger to become cricket’s first player to take 10 wickets and score more than 100 runs in a Test. 

‘Davo’ displayed the same determination - and character - as President of the NSW Cricket Association from 1970-2002; as Vice-Patron of Cricket NSW from 2003-2021; as chairman of the Rothmans National Sports Foundation, and by helping as a benefactor and mentor to a long roll call of junior cricket officials. 

While his 33-year reign as the NSW Cricket Association’s president yielded seven Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup titles, he remained committed to ensuring the bush and junior cricket were well serviced. 

Even in his later years, Davidson kept a close eye on the grassroots, and in 2018 – aged 88 – he became a vocal supporter of Cricket Australia’s junior formats for children aged between 9-12, urging all club officials to ensure it succeeded. 

“The officials who are against it are the ones who want a badge on their blazer to say they coached a full-sized kid’s team,” he said. “You want young kids to get a go, and playing a game that has less players in a team allows greater involvement for every player - and [junior formats] will give them a greater opportunity to enjoy the game.”  

Davidson had many honours bestowed upon him, including his inductions into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame and the ICC Hall of fame. He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1964 and a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1987. 

However, Davidson, who passed away aged 92 in 2021, took the greatest pride in being acknowledged as a ‘true gentleman of cricket’ and ‘friend to the game’. 

Brian Freedman’s first foray into volunteering for Bankstown Cricket Club was as a 14-year-old scorer for the club’s 1951 second grade team. In 2022, the 85-year-old was still serving the club as its assistant secretary.

In between, Freedman was the club’s president from 1982-2006; a delegate to the Sydney Cricket Association for 30 years; a board member of CNSW for eight years and Cricket Australia for seven, while he managed the Australian under-19 men’s team for seven years. 

Freedman said his time in cricket showed how two years can quickly stretch into a lifetime. 

“When my son [and former NSW player] David was graded with Bankstown, the captain said that we needed new blood on the committee,” Freedman recalled. 

“They encouraged me to put my hand up – which I did – and the following year the president said he couldn’t go any further and he thought I should take over. I said I’d do it for two years, but I ended up in the role for 24. It was a long two years!” 

When he stood down as president in 2006 Freedman accepted the role as assistant secretary, and after 16 years in that role he credited his involvement in cricket for keeping him young in spirit. 

“It’s been a big part of my life,” he said. “I love mixing with the young people, and I’ve attained a lot of personal satisfaction from it. Cricket keeps me going. I lost my wife Rosemary in 2006, and it gives me a reason to get out of bed every morning.” 

Freedman said his proudest achievement was realising how far Bankstown had progressed over the last 40 years. 

“When I first became involved, Bankstown was a club that didn’t have a lot of vision,” he said. “I didn’t do it by myself, but we were fortunate to have a group of people with a similar outlook and together we made a difference. 

“I feel a proudness about the club’s culture. We do such things as collect playing equipment for Uganda, sending 16 container loads of gear there since 2004.  

“We also have a program for people with disabilities. NSW Blind Cricket is based at our ground and we work closely with them. We pride ourselves on being good citizens and a club that produces decent young people.” 

Gerard Price OAM, is fondly remembered as an outstanding member of the state’s cricket fraternity and as someone who dedicated his life to ensuring the sport united communities.

Price’s cricket journey commenced in 1980 when he joined Burwood Briars Sports as a junior player. While he amassed 8000 runs, captured 1200 wickets, and celebrated eight premiership victories over 40 seasons, Price is enshrined in the club’s history for his achievements as its Chairman for 31 years. 

By utilising his personal qualities of leading by example, fairness, dedication and determination, Price guided Briars to becoming the most successful club in the history of Shires cricket. During his reign, Briars won 18 Club Championships and 40 premierships. 

This success was underpinned by Price’s determination to grow the sport, and one crowning achievement during his stewardship was the formation of 42 junior female and male teams. This feat made Briars the envy of their rivals. 

These successes were attributed to Price’s implementing strategic planning; school programs and a raft of other initiatives. He also helped to foster a culture at Briars which nurtured young players through individual coaching, attention and support. 

Price also served cricket by starting work at Cricket NSW in 2013 as a Cricket Manager for the southern Sydney Region after working in a similar capacity for Cricket Australia.  

In this role, Price inspired communities in one of Sydney’s largest multicultural regions to unite through cricket. He achieved this by working in conjunction with associations, clubs, 150 schools, and all levels of government.  

In 2013, Price was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer, but despite the illness he continued in his role as chairman at Briars. He also inspired many by participating in major cancer fundraising events. 

Sadly, Price passed away in December 2020 while surrounded by his loving family.  

Besides his achievements with Briars, Price was inducted into the Shires Cricket Hall of Fame, and he was presented with the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his services to cricket and the community. 

His legacy endures. 

Despite not knowing the first thing about scoring a cricket match, Joan Tolhurst was recruited by a school teacher to take on the job for Jetty High School’s under-14 B grade team in 1972.

“I learnt by trial and error,” she said with a laugh. “There was no manager or anyone in charge, so I looked after the team. However, that meant I was also the scorer. You learn things quickly enough.” 

She mastered the nuances of scoring so well, Tolhurst spent the next 20 years as the scorer for the Diggers club which competes in the Coffs Harbour District Cricket Association. 

However, she also kept note of thousands of runs, no balls, wides, boundaries and a plethora of wickets and catches for the St George club in Sydney when her son Paul played in its first-grade team; the Poidevin-Gray Shield competition; inter-District matches; Country Carnivals; Tooheys Cup games, and a host of other competitions. 

However, Tolhurst – who was 88 when she pulled up stumps after 50 years of service with Diggers in 2022 – nominated scoring the 1990 tour match between NSW and Sri Lanka at Coffs Harbour as her personal highlight. 

“I’ve scored some big games, met a lot of people, and had some great experiences,” she said. “But scoring that match with Ernie Cosgrove was the highlight. Although, scoring for Sri Lanka had its challenges because some of their players had surnames up to 15 letters long!” 

When Tolhurst retired from scoring for Diggers in 1991 – “a woman with two sons in the team was keen to take on the role ” – she threw her energies behind helping the club and the Association by making the afternoon tea; laundering “thousands of shirts” over the years; working on the Annual Report since the 1980s; compiling the newsletter; recording the history of the Association, and tracking down dozens of lost trophies and shields. 

“I was at a presentation night when Diggers won the first grade grand final and no-one knew where that trophy – or any of them for that matter  - was,” she said. “So, I started looking for them with my husband John, and we must have driven thousands of kilometres around the countryside looking for them. 

“I found the first-grade competition’s trophy in a garage, and we located the others too. John worked as a builder, and he’s very good at woodwork, and he restored them beautifully.  Now the Association has a cabinet full of these marvellous trophies.” 

While Tolhurst received life membership of Diggers in 1991, and then the Coffs Harbour Cricket Association in 2000, she told her daughter, Robyn, the reason why she was so willing to play her role in keep cricket strong throughout the Coffs region. 

“Mum said if it played some role in keeping just one kid off the street, it was worth it,” she said. 

If Pat Kerin OAM – umpire, member of numerous committees, publicity officer, curator, and former player was paid a dollar for each minute of his life that he’s devoted to cricket he’d be a multi-millionaire.

However, Kerin, who has umpired over 600 matches since taking on the role in 2003/04, is adamant cricket has enriched his life in so many ways.  

“It’s been a great journey, and while it has had its moments, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed myself,” said Kerin, who played 36 seasons in Goulburn and Cootamundra before dedicating his energies to the sport’s ‘other side’.  

“I’ll keep going for as long as I can.”  

“When I started umpiring, I thought I’d only do local matches. However, I’ve umpired zone carnivals, second grade games in Sydney, and an over 50s World Cup match between England and New Zealand at Bradman Oval in Bowral. 

“That was probably the highlight. There were six former first-class players on the field, and one of the Kiwis had represented New Zealand. It was a great thrill.” 

In 2007, Kerin received the OAM for his services to cricket and Australian rules football to accompany his seven life memberships with organisations  – but he didn’t have time to rest on his laurels, as his CV notes his achievements include: 

• Forty consecutive seasons of service with the Cootamundra District Cricket Association as its secretary since 1989 and the combined role as secretary/treasurer since 2006-07 
• Twenty consecutive seasons as a member of the NSW Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association 
• Serving as the secretary/treasurer of the Cootamundra District Cricket Umpire’s Association since its reformation in 2004 
• Serving as the Riverina Cricket Zone umpire’s representative since 2005 
• Thirty years as a member of the Northern Riverina Cricket Council, 10 of which he was Secretary/Treasurer 
• Serving the Riverina Cricket Zone for 25 years, which (since 2005) has included editing the annual report 
• The role as Cootamundra’s publicity officer 
• Being a member of the Management of Country Cricket from 2007-10 

Not content with an already demanding schedule, Kerin put his hand up for yet another job in 2010 which took him out of his comfort zone.  

“They needed someone to give the other curator who looks after our two turf wickets in Cootamundra at Albert and Fisher Parks a hand,” he said. “So, I did - and even after 12 years I still have a lot to learn.” 

Creating history as the first woman to serve on the Cricket NSW board was a far cry from Rina Hore’s early days as a cricket administrator. Her initiation included mowing the outfield of an oval 70 kilometres away from her home so a women’s second grade team could use it.

The story behind how an oval at La Perouse was secured for women’s cricket illustrates how Hore forged her reputation as an administrator who was willing to roll up her sleeves to get a job done. 

“The local council earmarked a ground for women’s cricket after Gil Weaver, an umpire who lived in that area, lobbied to get the ground,” said Hore. “They said if we mowed it, we could play on it.” 

“Gil formed a working party, and because I was a country girl - I lived at Cobbitty -  I had a ride on mower. So, I put it on my trailer, drove to Sydney and mowed the outfield.” 

Hore, who is NSW Women’s Player No. 164,  said her willingness to volunteer was a by-product of playing in the 1980s. 

“In those days players were roped into administration,” she laughed. “I was such a keen player if it meant I needed to help organise cricket to play, well, I did. And, once you put your hands up for administration, they never let you go!” 

After starting in 1980 as the Grade Cricket Convenor, Hore became the third president of the Sydney Women’s Cricket Association. Her work as vice president of Women’s Cricket Australia, and then as a member of the Cricket Australia Women’s Advisory group, helped bring men’s and women’s cricket under the one body.  

Hore’s talent was recognised in 2004 when she joined the board of CNSW.  Among her achievements at HQ was providing women’s cricket with a strong, passionate voice. Hore, who accepted the role as the Executive Director of the Bradman Museum in 2006, boasts an outstanding list of achievements which include: 

• Member NSW Women’s Cricket Association Grade Committee (1980-85) 
• President Sydney Women’s Cricket Association (1992-1994) 
• Member NSW Women’s Committee (1995-2013) 
• Appointed Manager NSW Women’s State Team Manager (1995-2002) 
• Appointed Manager U/23 Australian Shooting Stars (1996) 
• Appointed Manager U/19 Australian Youth Team (1996) 
• Elected vice president Women’s Cricket Australia (1998-2001) 
• Member of Cricket Australia’s Advisor group (2001-10) 
• Appointed Director Cricket NSW Board (2004-2010)  
• Highlands District Cricket Association (HDCA) Board Director (2008-2016) 
• HDCA delegate to Southern Districts Zone (2016-2019)  
• HDCA delegate & Deputy Chair of Greater Illawarra Zone (2019-2022)  
• Zone delegate to Country Cricket NSW (2019-2022)  
• Member of CNSW Life Members committee (2015 -) 
• Member of CA Women in Cricket Recognition committee (2020 -) 

While Hore was presented with an Australian Sports Medal in 2000, and bestowed life membership of CNSW in 2006, she nominated helping to get the women’s cricket double header on Channel 9 television in 2007 as her personal highlight.   

“That was a game changer” she said. “The exposure was the beginning of growing the women’s game and the players’ ability and appeal has done the rest.”  

When Wagga Wagga’s livewire cricket coach Warren ‘Wazza’ Smith OAM met Sir Donald Bradman in 1989, he was shocked by the size of the biggest giant of Australian sport and the advice he offered during their chat over lunch.

Smith admitted to feeling starstruck when he was introduced to The Don in Adelaide during a junior cricket tournament. 

“He was only so high,” recalled Smith of Bradman, a freakish talent who didn’t receive any coaching. “He had a squeaky voice and when we sat down, I didn’t know what to call him. ‘Sir’? ‘Don’? ‘The Don’? 

“Sir Donald said to me: ‘so, you’re a cricket coach?’ When I said I was, he replied ‘you know what you should do with all of your cricket material? Throw it into Sydney Harbour. I replied ‘yes Sir Donald.’ 

There are thousands of young cricketers throughout country NSW who are grateful Smith didn’t follow Bradman’s suggestion. Since 1969 ‘Wazza’ has clocked up thousands of kilometres and taught countless numbers of boys and girls in far flung country centres the fundamentals of batting – and his guidance has helped some fulfil their wildest dreams. 

Three Wagga Wagga products who attended his coaching clinics include former Test opener Michael Slater, former Test all-rounder Andrew McDonald, and former NSW skipper, Dominic Thornely. 

“I just happened to be there,” he said of his role in their careers. [Coaching] is something I enjoy; I like to see kids enjoy themselves and to have a smile on their face. It’s not just about cricket – it’s people skills and life skills.” 

Slater, who played in 74 Tests, provided an insight into the positive impact a coach can have on a youngster’s life when he wrote about his relationship with Smith in his 2005 autobiography, Slats.     

'Without a doubt, one of the strongest influences on my cricket was local coach Warren Smith,” he wrote. “From the time I was seven, Warren was my personal coach and advisor.  He is one of those no-nonsense country blokes, with a strong, direct gaze, who has only to look you in the eye to convey his commitment and passion…  

“Warren and I are still close today – and there have been times in my life when he's been almost like a surrogate parent to me.” 

When Ross Martin’s eldest daughter Kate returned home from primary school one day in 1991, her desire to play cricket inspired him to eventually form a breakthrough all-girls competition.

With no junior team in his area, Martin became the co-founder of Summer Hill Cricket Club in Sydney’s inner-west. In time, his duties included: 

• Serving as Summer Hill’s founding President (1991-2001) 
• Sitting on the club’s committee (since 1991) 
• Coaching and umpiring (since 1991) 
• Joining the Canterbury & Western Suburbs Cricket Association committee (2003-08) 
• Acting as the Association’s Representative Girls Team Organizer 
• Co-founding the Sydney Rivers Girls Cricket Association (2007) 
• Serving as Sydney Rivers Girls Cricket Association President (2007-14) 

Martin, who has received the OAM, the Australian Sports Medal, and recognition as the CNSW and Cricket Australia 2008 Volunteer of the Year, said it helped that Summer Hill was built on a solid foundation. 

“I was president for 10 years, and we went through a significant growth period where we had an enthusiastic group of parents who were keen to make it happen,” said Martin, a former St George grade cricketer.  

“Everybody wanted to create the club and to build a strong ethos of having fun and playing together. We based the teams around friendships rather than trying to win competitions – and it worked!” 

When Martin realised girls were dropping out of the (mixed) teams once they turned 12, he identified there was a need for an all-girls competition. It took him plenty of hard work – and three attempts - but the formation of the Sydney Rivers Girls Association in 2007 is viewed by many as a crucial breakthrough for cricket.  

“I teamed up with Russell Grimson who worked at Cricket NSW, and he provided great support,” said Martin. “Julie Stafford joined Cricket NSW [as a Participation Manager] eight years ago and the Association has evolved into the Thunder Girls Cricket League. 

“Cricket Australia realised they had a market they hadn’t tapped into, and a lot of funding came into it.” 

While Stafford described his impact in driving change as “extraordinary”, Martin said even though there’s tremendous opportunities now available to female cricketers, it was important to keep working hard. 

“There’s been significant growth,” he said. “But some places in Sydney still have a way to go to reach that potential.” 

“It’s hugely important for Indigenous people to be represented in cricket  . . . many people don’t realise it, but Australian cricket’s foundations were built by Aboriginal people. That’s why I say history tells us we definitely have a place in cricket . . .

With that, Peter Cooley - a proud Bidjigal man from Sydney - explains the reason he’s so passionate about having Indigenous people represented in Australia’s national sport. He also reveals why he’s working overtime to mend a century’s worth of exclusion. 

“If we go back to 1866 when the first All-Aboriginal team played against the Melbourne Cricket Club, and then 1868 when an All-Aboriginal team became the nation’s first international touring team in any sport when they went to England, you realise Australian cricket was built on foundations laid by Aboriginal people,” said Cooley. 

“We have a place in cricket, and while we have incredible natural athletes who are suited to cricket, we’re in a situation where we’re working to bridge a gap from that first team in 1866 to encouraging Indigenous people to take up the game 156 years later. 

“A lot of the exclusion happened through the colonisation period; a time when [Indigenous] people were excluded from participating in numerous public activities.” 

Cooley, who was presented the No.1 playing Cap for the NSW Indigenous team in 2003, is trying to encourage more people with Indigenous heritage to play the sport through programs that emphasise the benefits of cricket including friendships, team work, goal setting and good health. 

While he ran the La Perouse Cricket Club from 1997 until 2017, and spent 25 consecutive summers as an opening fast bowler, Cooley is adamant the Indigenous role models who’ve emerged through NSW cricket - including Ash Gardner, Hannah Darlington, Anika Learoyd, Dan Christian and Josh Lalor - will encourage more youngsters to play. 

“It’s important for the younger generation to see these guys on our screens,” said Cooley, who was selected as Mentor for the 1868 remembrance tour to England in 2018. “To see them belting the ball and wearing the Big Bash, NSW and Australian colours is exciting because it can inspire them to believe they can do that. 

“I also know the more that’s invested into the Indigenous program, the more amazing cricketers we’ll develop. But, it’s just as important that our kids know they have a place in cricket.” 

In 2018/19, there was a momentous shift in the NSW District Cricket Association’s 115-year history when Matina Moffitt and Karen Collins became the first females to simultaneously serve on its Committee of Management.

Morris Iemma, the former NSW state Premier and chairman of the NSWDCA, hailed the election as a new chapter in the ‘DCA’s’ history, before acknowledging the ‘great energy’ and ‘new thinking’ the women would inject into the organisation. 

"Their talents have seen growth in participation, stronger competitions and exciting new formats which have broadened cricket’s appeal in their local communities,” said Iemma. 

For Moffitt, it was yet another challenge she was happy to embrace after gaining her first taste of cricket administration in 2001 as the Treasurer of the Concord RSL Junior Cricket Club, which became Concord Briars Junior Cricket club in 2011. 

Moffitt, a Chartered accountant, was approached to become the treasurer of her son Thomas’s club, and she couldn’t help but to want to give her support: “It was a very small club being run by one volunteer, and he asked if I’d assist by becoming the treasurer. I find that a lot of volunteers find the finance side complicated, so I was happy to step up.” She still holds that role after more than 20 years. 

This then led to her taking on the treasurer role for the local cricket Association, Inner West Harbour in 2013, which she continues to do.  

However, the title ‘Treasurer’ doesn’t cover Moffitt’s all-consuming commitment to cricket, as she’s devoted over the years her time to: 

• Working as the Inner West Harbour’s competition manager 
• Administration support for both male and female Youth Championships program for Inner West Harbour. 
• Joining Ross Martin and Greg Healy to establish the Tigers Girl’s Academy to help female players to gain cricket confidence by improving their skills 
• Helping to formulate - and present - a proposal to the-then CNSW Chief Executive Andrew Jones to employ a Conference Administrator 
• Being elected as treasurer for South Eastern Junior Association and turning their finances around to allow it to transform from needing advances by its clubs to having funds in the bank to cover over a year’s operational costs 
• Managing the Inner West Harbour seniors’ competition 
• Overcoming barriers to help implement Cricket Australia’s highly successful junior formats   
• Her role extends to all operational aspects of running her local junior club. Which now has more than 500 young cricketers - both boys and girls. 
• Becoming a huge advocate and supporter of young girls playing cricket and has devoted many hours in the growth of female participation in the inner west region. 

Moffitt conceded ‘satisfaction’, and the desire to ‘give back to the community’, drove her commitment. She added another factor was knowing how Thomas benefited from his involvement in the sport. 

“Some of my son’s best mates have come from cricket,” said Moffitt. “But, for me, whenever I drive past a park on a Saturday morning, I can’t help but to smile, because when I see the children playing cricket, I can’t help but to think that I and a lot of other volunteers enabled for that to happen.” 

A cricket match that was staged at the SCG in March 1886 sparked such an outcry the city’s citizens wrote letters to their newspaper dismissing the game as ‘unacceptable’ and ‘positively dangerous’.

The reason for the shock and horror was news that the SCG – then known as the Association Ground - had hosted a match between two female teams! This rocked Sydney society, compelling gentlemen to express their concern for public order. 

They fretted that spectators might see a flash of a woman’s leg in public and feared for the safety of the participants. Wrote one: "Even with men, playing with pads the bruises they get on their shins, to say nothing of other knooks [sic] on the body and fingers, are no child's play.” 

Despite the outrage, Helen – aka ‘Nellie’ – Gregory and her sisters Louisa, Alice, Gertrude, and the other women who played in that 19th-century match, laid the foundations for the opportunities today’s generation of players enjoy. 

Nellie Gregory and her sisters were born into the first royal family of Australian cricket. While their father Ned - who played in the first Anglo-Australia Test - was the curator of the SCG, their uncle Dave captained Australia, and their brother Syd would play 58 Tests between 1890-1912.  

Indeed, when given the opportunity in that first outing at the SCG, Nellie proved she’d inherited the family’s ‘cricketing gene’ with hauls of 8/37 and 6/12 as well as top scoring for her team. In the following years the women played matches against all comers – including a team of male actors who played in theatrical costumes, and lost – to raise money for the disadvantaged.  

These early matches pathed the way for the first women’s intercolonial representative matches in 1910. Nellie, Alice and Gertrude were selected for the NSW team which played in Victoria and included Nellie’s daughter Irene and Louisa’s daughter Muriel. 

Nellie’s onfield success was transferred to administration. She worked as a teacher and championed cricket at Sydney Girl’s High School before accepting the presidency of the NSW Women’s Cricket’s Association. Madeline Lindsell, who wrote Nellie’s superb entry on the People Australia website, noted this wonderful pioneer of women’s cricket was the Association’s executive, promoter, selector, captain, coach, manager, and mentor to many until her death in 1950. 

When Jessica ‘Jess’ Henry was asked one evening if she had a ‘minute’ to step into a meeting for the Gordon Women’s Cricket Club, she couldn’t have imagined it would grow into 35-years of outstanding service to cricket.

Henry left that meeting in 1987 as an official for Gordon’s Women Club, and, in time, her association with the club included a 25-year reign as president, and a list of other impressive achievements.  

“When I started playing at Gordon, Erica Sainsbury was a member of the club’s committee,” said Henry, who has played in over 500 matches for Gordon. “And she made a huge contribution to women’s cricket. 

“When I was into my third season as a player there was a meeting in the pavilion after I finished training. Erica tapped me on the shoulder and said: ‘Hey Jess, can you come and join us for a minute?’  

“I left that meeting as the club’s treasurer, eventually became the deputy president and then the president.” 

That first meeting also put Henry onto a path which has also included: 

• Chairing the Sydney Cricket Association women’s sub-committee for 20 years 
• Serving on the Cricket NSW Women’s Committee 
• Working alongside the likes of Ed Cowan and Lee Germon on the Cricket NSW Board’s sub-committee for cricket 
• Managing the NSW under-18 team for 14 years. 
• Organising the inaugural 2022 Women’s Veterans National Championships in Geelong, Victoria. 

“I have a deep passion for developing the women’s game,” said Henry, who was bestowed Life Memberships of the Gordon Cricket Club Women’s Division and Sydney Cricket Association. 

“I like to bring girls into the game and watch them develop, not just as cricketers but as people as well.  

“I do a lot of coaching and mentoring, and I’ve received a lot more out of cricket than I’ve put into it. There are the friendships, and it has been incredibly rewarding to watch so many girls go on and play at the highest level. 

“There are also the people you meet, and the opportunities that present themselves: I was in leadership roles in cricket – and leading people in cricket – before I was professionally. The  experiences I gained from a young age through cricket definitely influenced my professional career.”   

As a dual World Cup winner; former vice-captain of Australia’s women’s cricket team; and crafty spin bowler Marie Cornish has long prided herself on never forgetting where she came from, or the people who helped her to reach the top.

That mantra has committed Cornish to give her all to the small township of Wellington, 355 kilometres west of Sydney. It’s her hometown, and in keeping with her need to ‘give back’ Cornish devotes her incredible energies to the region’s cricket community.   

The former deceptive spinner, handy lower order batter and sharp fielder is considered throughout Wellington and its surrounding area as ‘all things cricket’, having served as the Western NSW region’s Cricket Association secretary, Western Zone female coordinator, and even helped out as the Academy Program’s coaching assistant.  

Schoolgirl cricket teams throughout the state are familiar with her because they’ve played for the Marie Cornish trophy since 1985. 

In the 40 years since Cornish retired from playing in elite cricket, it says plenty about her determination - and drive - to do all she can for the region that she’s missed only a handful of NSW Country Championships. Over the years her involvement has included being a player, a selector, a team manager, co-ordinator and even the secretary. 

Typically, she put in the hard yards during the lead-up to the 2022/23 season, spending a winter’s afternoon huddled over her laptop at Dubbo RSL and training to use the newly introduced PlayHQ player registration platform.  

“It was so typical of Marie,” said a Cricket NSW employee. “She’s just one of those people who just keep giving to their town. She’s universally respected, and someone who will go out of her way to do what she can to help a player or a team.”  

Her efforts have been recognised with a series of life memberships with Cricket NSW; Country Cricket NSW; Western Zone Cricket Council; Combined High Schools, and Western School Sports Association.  

However, what probably pleases her most of all is this: Wellington High School holds the record for winning nine Marie Cornish Trophies.  

Such was the example Danielle Chivers set as a 16-year-old volunteer, she scooped the field to receive the prestigious 2020 CNSW Young Community Leader of the Year Award, and Cricket Australia’s Young Community Leader of the Year.

The swing bowler, who worked her commitments as a volunteer into her schedule with Northern District’s second grade team in the NSW Women’s Premier Cricket competition, was acknowledged for the passion she displayed while participating in a number of community initiatives. 

The two awards rested proudly alongside her other well deserved ‘gong’, the Hornsby Kuringai District Cricket Association’s Rookie Coach of the Year in 2020.  

The teenager’s wholehearted commitment to the sport also included coaching the Blowfly Cricket All Abilities Program; spending her school holidays coaching at Junior Blasters programs in the West Pennant Hills-Cherrybrook area, and umpiring women’s social matches.  

“I love being able to share my passion for the game with everyone else,” said Chivers. “And I love passing on my knowledge of the game, especially to the younger generation because it is really fun.” 

Chivers’s coaching career began when she was an eight-year-old Year 3 Primary School student. Her father Graham ran clinics during the holidays through the West Pennant Hills-Cherrybrook club, and Chivers helped with the Kindy kids. She enjoyed working with the younger children, and was soon kept busy by coaching at five local schools.  

When she was 12, and a coach was needed for the Saturday Junior Blasters program, Chivers had her name forward despite having other responsibilities. She proved to be such a natural, the Hornsby Kuringai District Cricket Association invited her to coach at its holiday clinics. 

On top of her busy workload, Chivers found it ‘rewarding’ to spend her Friday nights assisting at Blowfly Cricket, a wonderful program that was designed for children with special needs. 
 
“It was so nice to see them with huge smiles on their faces when they got someone out or hit a big shot,” she said. “It felt special to share that moment. I also liked that for an hour or two their family could see the children have fun.”  

While Chivers said she hoped to one day play in the WBBL and for Australia, her teenage years will be long celebrated for being a role model for other young cricketers to aspire to.