The following are excerpts of the address given by Mike Coward, respected cricket writer and commentator. Mike grew up in Adelaide but has lived in Sydney for the past 35 years.
On both a personal and professional level I am delighted and proud to be with you to celebrate The Willows Cricket Club’s 25th Anniversary — silver in definition but golden in reality.
Cricket has provided me with a wonderful life as a writer and broadcaster and with so many friends and acquaintances — surely the game’s greatest gift to us all. Like so many in this room, I had a “summer god” growing up — the incomparable South Australian and Australian batsman Les Favell who twice toured New Zealand and captained here in 1966/67.
And how fortunate I was to know him and to find he was the giant I always imagined him to be. He has been gone 32 years now but rarely is he out of my thoughts. Les was an inspiration to me and to so many of my generation growing up in South Australia. He taught me much about the game and its people, its humour and, above all, taught me that the game was always to be joyful; always to be celebrated.
He was a compulsive hooker and cutter and among the most thrilling and attacking batsmen of his generation. One of my proudest possessions is one of his sweat and Brylcreem- soaked South Australian caps. When he left the game, Les worked in public relations for The Advertiser newspaper in Adelaide and famously conducted cricket clinics for schoolchildren throughout the state. How Les would have thrilled to the philosophy and exploits of The Willows Cricket Club. How he would have endorsed the mantra of the Club ... one where senior players, many from the first-class arena, provide emerging cricketers with a priceless insight into all aspects of the game. Also to learn of the game’s rich history and its time-honoured values. And its etiquette. Tonight is a celebration of Club history; therefore cricket history.
And it comes at the very time the game’s history is being diluted if not devalued, even discarded. Never has it been more important to talk loudly about the heritage of the game and its traditional virtues. And while many of us seniors have a role to play, it cannot just be left to us. So this becomes a rallying cry for you young men and women to get to the barricades and fight for the preservation of the pure game and its ethos.
Even in this fast-paced and often irreverent world of social media and instant gratification, is it too much to ask that respect be shown for what has gone before? In fact, today’s technologies provide priceless tools for examining what has passed and must not be forgotten. There must be wholehearted resistance to the game’s avaricious governors who care more about the bottom line than the welfare of the game and its foremost exponents.
The short forms have their place, no doubt but they must not be allowed to monopolise the conversation of the game. And, in my view, this has been a blight on the game in recent years. Administrators have been seduced utterly by the frivolous T20 game. Indeed, the number of meaningless bilateral T20 and ODI matches jeopardises the overall welfare of the game. Hopefully, the world test championship which is now underway will help to right the wrongs and, in time, balance the ledger.
Since retiring as a touring cricket writer I have busied myself with archival and interview matters at The Bradman Museum and Hall of Fame at Bowral in New South Wales. It is one of the great repositories and research centres in cricket. But neither Cricket Australia nor, indeed, government, considers the museum a cultural institution so precluding it from any arts and cultural funding. And this, in a country, whose international identity, much like New Zealand’s, largely has been forged by sporting lore and accomplishments. And at a time when Google, that monolith of the modern media, is investing heavily in filming precious artefacts. In time the museum and hall of fame will reach the world on the fantastic Google Arts & Culture site. When the work is complete you will be able to take a virtual walk through the museum and pause before the most priceless and telling of objects.
Last year I had the pleasure of speaking at a dinner to mark the 50th anniversary of Western Australia’s first Sheffield Shield success as a full member of the Australian cricket family in 1967/68. While it was a night to celebrate cricket history there was, amongst the nostalgia, more than a tinge of sadness and regret at the shameful diminution of the Sheffield Shield. Once the world’s pre-eminent domestic competition it is now little more than an irritant in the greater commercial scheme of things. Thankfully, there is a much more enlightened view in this country and I commend New Zealand Cricket for its decision to reinstate the Plunket Shield in 2009/10.
More significantly, the governors declared the naming rights for first-class cricket in this country are no longer for sale. To safeguard the future of the first-class game demonstrates a vision that should be applauded everywhere the game is played. It is a respectful nod to history.
Indeed, respect has become a by-word for the game in this country and it should be a rallying cry for cricket in the rest of the world. Its consistent winning of spirit of cricket awards and the grace with which Kane Williamson and his men accepted the injustice of the World Cup final will never be forgotten. Indeed, it shone a light on cricket in this country that will never be extinguished. More power to the Black Caps.
John Arlott said that cricket is a microcosm of society — whatever is happening in wider society is reflected in the game. And the pace of change in society has been mind-numbing and so it is in cricket. The established cricket world, the old world, has had to recalibrate. This is cricket’s new world in the new century. Contrary to popular belief, cricket is not just a sport of the first world. It is a significant sport of the developing world.
Indeed, only four OECD countries play test match cricket — New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom and Ireland which, with Afghanistan, recently was afforded Test match status. The other eight countries belong to the developing world. And I firmly believe that the international cricket community has failed to recognise this and its attendant responsibilities. Cricket is now a very rich sport and in a position to play a more socially significant role in its constituencies. In my view it should be far more conscious of issues well beyond the boundary — specifically in health, education and welfare. There is need for a more equitable, thoughtful and compassionate cricket world. The abuse of privilege among some of the constituents is damning.
Tonight’s gathering is important for so many reasons. Not only does it celebrate a milestone for The Willows but it enables cricket fellowship and conversation. And we can celebrate so many of the game’s values and give thanks for relationships the game engenders. It is a time for reflection and stories, some true, some apocryphal. The conversation and humour of the game is to be observed, hailed and treasured. This is a night for the Willows cricket family.
My partner I are very grateful for the invitation to spend this special time with you all and wish The Willows another prosperous 25 years. Long may The Willows flourish.