1876 SCG Members Edition No.1

M EM BERS EDITION SU M M ER 2019/2020

Pitch perfect ALL SET FOR A MAGNIFICENT SUMMER OF CRICKET

{ I N BL ACK & W H I T E }

{ T H E LOC A L L EGAC Y }

{ BOW R A L & BE YON D }

A TEST 35 YEARS IN THE MAKING

THE NEW GENERATION OF SCG SUPERSTARS

TAKE THE DRIVE TO HALLOWED TURF

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SCG + BRADMAN OVAL EXPERIENCE Full day package Sydney and Bowral The SCG has partnered with the Bradman Foundation for an exciting full day guided tour designed for cricket lovers • Guided walking tour • SCG Museum • Return guided transfers from Bowral • Morning tea at Bradman Centre • Guided tour of Bradman Centre • Visit Bradman historic sites • Lunch voucher for the Bradman Café www.scgtour.com.au

BOOK ONLINE TODAY

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{ FROM T H E CEO }

Welcome to the new 1876 magazine, our redesigned and relaunched Around The Grounds twiceyearly publication for members The name change recognises the first year of our membership program and, ultimately, the foundation of the Sydney Cricket Ground as we know it today.

It also recognises you, the members, and the loyalty you have to the grounds and the trust that you place in us to continue as the custodians of this very special part of Sydney and NSW. Without your generations of support, the SCG might not have become Sydney’s original home of sport and the site of Test matches, grand finals, internationals, concerts and all manner of other events.

So 1876 it is, and I hope you find

much to like in your new magazine.

We have increased our focus on customer experience across our business and we are driven by continuous improvement. We’ve used the redesign to complement your overall membership and everything that the SCG stands for.

There is all you need to prepare yourself for the annual pilgrimage to the ground for the New Year’s Test.

And more than that, we look at options outside our gates before and after play, including an overview of some of the sensational dining options within striking distance of the SCG. We are bounded by some of Sydney’s greatest restaurants.

We have also looked at that wonderful weekend destination.

Bowral, in the Southern Highlands, starting with our fantastic link to the Bradman Museum and the International Cricket Hall of Fame.

Former chairman Rodney Cavalier pays tribute to Australia’s 22nd prime minister, the late Bob Hawke, who was a great friend of, and visitor to, the SCG throughout his public life.

We have called on cricket writers Andrew Ramsey and Peter Lalor to preview the summer ahead of us.

Well-known rugby league scribe Ray Chesterton recalls that famous

day in September 50 years ago when the Balmain Tigers scored rugby league’s greatest upset — shocking the star-studded South Sydney in the 1969 NSWRL grand final.

We were lucky enough to have many of those 1969 Tigers players back at the ground earlier this year to remember, and pay tribute to, that remarkable occasion. Chairman Tony Shepherd hosted the lunch and commented that it was one of the most special functions we have hosted in some years — and great recognition for the footballers, club staff and officials, as well as the players’ families.

Neil Breen’s memories of Steve Waugh’s last-ball century are similar to mine and, I would imagine, to many of you who weren’t at the ground that famous day. His new column certainly took me on an emotional journey back to 2003.

Please enjoy your new 1876 magazine and I look forward to seeing you at the ground over the summer.

Kind regards, Kerrie K E R R I E M AT H E R Chief Executive Officer Sydney Cricket & Sports Grounds

1876

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INDEX

8

49

Straight bat

Highland fling

The new members blazer; Prince Edward pays a visit; a vegan burger for the SCG

Pat Cummins’ summer of hope

Spend a glorious weekend in Bowral, and beyond

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54

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In black & white Not since the ‘80s has New Zealand been honoured with a Sydney Test. Will Australia finally avenge 1985’s humiliating series loss?

16

Superstars of the SCG From Trumper, Grace and Bradman to Smith, Khawaja and Perry, the SCG has a rich heritage of fostering extraordinary talent

21

Game on 134 years after the first women’s cricket match was played in Australia, the SCG is hosting the Women’s T20 World Cup

24

Captain’s knock Bob Hawke fell short of his dream of playing Test cricket.

But the legacy he left the game is profound

4

30

State of play

www.sydneycricketground.com.au

The big show How the Sydney Sixers plan to light up the SCG this summer

36

Pitching in SCG curator Adam Lewis on the secrets of the new year’s wicket

39

24 hours in …

Paddington Strolling, shopping, sipping and supping in this eclectic pocket near the SCG, from the Five Ways to Fred’s

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Eaten track Where to eat and drink once stumps are called

Unfinished business The Wallabies have a poor record against the Shamrocks at the SCG. Will the 2020 Test break the hoodoo?

42

The greatest Half a century on, Ray Chesterton remembers an extraordinary grand final victory

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The guide Tips to help members get the most out of this summer

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Guest instructor: Charlotte Caslick The Australian rugby sevens star takes us through a fitness session

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Where was I when …

Neil Breen on missing, but not missing out on, a famous SCG moment

{ REDEVELOPMENT }

Towards a new beginning PLANS FOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE SYDNEY FOOTBALL STADIUM CONTINUE TO TAKE SHAPE

The NSW Government is progressing with the Sydney Football Stadium redevelopment, with a contractor expected to be appointed by the end of the year.

The new venue of up to 45,000 seats will revolutionise the gameday experience for members when it opens in 2022.

The stadium will include new members levels in the western grandstand, providing excellent viewing, premium dining options and bars, and a roof cover for all permanent seating.

In parallel with the stage two planning works, the Sydney Cricket

and Sports Grounds project team has been working hard to secure the right location for the next generation of fitness facilities.

The driving ambition is to provide a club that is bigger and better than the original Stadium Club, as well as being truly world-class.

The new facilities will be close to the original club site, with the actual position to be refined once the location of services for the stadium is finalised. Further information regarding memberspecific gym and venue facilities will be released at a later date.

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CONTRIBUTORS 6

Stephanie Brantz Stephanie Brantz has worked at the highest levels of Australian and international sports media for two decades. A presenter, journalist and MC, she is a regular on stage at Sydney Cricket Ground events, hosting pre- and post-game functions.

In July 2017 she was appointed as a Trustee of the ground. Brantz is an authority on multiple sports and is much sought-after as a broadcaster for major events in Australia and overseas.

Charlotte Caslick OAM

Rodney Cavalier AO

Olympic gold medallist Charlotte Caslick plays sevens rugby for Australia. Born and raised in Queensland, she now lives and trains in Sydney, and is widely regarded as the best female sevens player in the world today.

In a lifetime dedicated to the service of both the public and our greatest institutions, Rodney Cavalier has been a writer, unionist, politician, NSW education minister and Trustee of the Sydney Cricket and Sports Grounds and their Chairman (2001-2014). He is now a life member of the SCG, as well as an honorary member of the Marylebone Cricket Club and chairman of the southern zone of Country Cricket NSW.

Editor

Elizabeth Meryment

Art director Trevor Timms

Neil Breen

Peter Lalor Freshly returned from the Ashes series in the UK, journalist and commentator Peter Lalor is gearing up for a big summer of cricket. Chief cricket writer for The Australian, Lalor has been a reporter for more than 30 years.

An award-winning journalist and author, he has covered Test cricket in all parts of the world for the newspaper. He has also written, among other things, a history of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, a biography of football legend Ron Barassi and a bestselling true crime book, and he co-authored a biography of cricketer Phillip Hughes.

www.sydneycricketground.com.au

A journalist, broadcaster and columnist, Neil Breen — commonly known as Breenie — is one of Sydney’s pre-eminent sports authorities. Over 30 years in journalism he has covered it all, from three Olympics to cricket, rugby league, rugby, soccer, turf and everything in between.

A longtime newspaperman, he edited Australia’s biggest-selling newspaper, The Sunday Telegraph, for seven years, and has been at the helm of sports sections across the country, from The Australian to The Courier-Mail.

Presently a senior sports reporter and presenter for the Nine Entertainment Company, he works across all sports and makes regular appearances on shows including Sports Sunday and 100% Footy.

Sub-editors Miranda Murphy Alistair Jones Contributors Alexia Biggs Stephanie Brantz Neil Breen Charlotte Caslick Rodney Cavalier Ray Chesterton Charlie Drayton Phillip Heads Peter Lalor Gregg Porteous Andrew Ramsay Cover image Hamilton Lund 1876 is produced by Local Publishing Co in consultation with Phillip Heads and Charlie Drayton of the Sydney Cricket and Sports Grounds

SYDNEY CRICKET & SPORTS GROUNDS

CALENDAR 8

DECEMBER

7--10

SH EFFI EL D SH I EL D

NSW Blues v Queensland Bulls

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BBL: YOU CA N CH A R I T Y M ATCH

Sydney Sixers v Perth Scorchers

22

BBL: CH R ISTM AS CR ICK ET

Sydney Sixers v Brisbane Heat

28

BBL: SY DN EY SM ASH

Sydney Sixers v Sydney Thunder

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JANUARY

FEBRUARY

3--7

14--17

T EST M ATCH

SH EFFI EL D SH I EL D

Australia v New Zealand

NSW Blues v Victoria Bushrangers

MARCH

5

WOM EN’S T20

World Cup semi-final 1, 2pm World Cup semi-final 2, 7pm

16

BBL: PR I DE PA RT Y

Sydney Sixers v Hobart Hurricanes

20

BBL: 80s N IGH T

Sydney Sixers v Melbourne Stars

13

ON E-DAY I N T ER NAT IONA L

Australia v New Zealand

15

ON E-DAY I N T ER NAT IONA L

Australia v New Zealand

25

BBL: BEACH PA RT Y

Sydney Sixers v Melbourne Renegades 1876

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QUICK SINGLES 10

Fit for a prince On September 14, the Sydney Cricket Ground and the Australian arm of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award hosted His Royal Highness, Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, at the ground.

The function was held to mark the launch of the Award’s Duke4Sport program, which involves several of the SCG’s sports partners, including the NSW Waratahs.

The Duke4Sport program gives award participants the opportunity to undertake their volunteer hours as coaches and officials.

Prince Edward, in his capacity as chair of the Board of Trustees of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation, met some of the SCG precinct’s brightest young sporting stars including NSW Blues captain Peter Nevill, Sydney Sixers captain Moises Henriques, Southern Stars and NSW player Lauren Cheatle, Women’s Rugby Sevens player Dom du Toit, Roosters NRLW player Ruan Sims, Waratahs winger Alex Newsome, and Sydney FC captain Alex Wilkinson.

www.sydneycricketground.com.au

What the blazers The SCG has partnered with luxury UK cloth merchant Dugdale Bros & Co and leading Sydney made-tomeasure tailor Oscar Hunt to debut the first ever Members’ blazer.

Several hundred metres of cloth has been transported 10,000km from Huddersfield in the UK to Sydney, where it will be transformed into made-to-measure blazers for members.

Sydney Cricket and Sports Grounds CEO Kerrie Mather is delighted with the garment’s design and will don her own for summer.

“The colours of the new SCG blazer are inspired by our Members and Ladies Pavilions,” Ms Mather says.

“Dugdale’s cloth captures the heritage green of the pavilions’ roofs and the bronze of our SCG logo.”

Members of the SCG XI cricket team wore the new blazer on a two-week playing tour of England this year, when they attended the Ashes Tests at Lord’s and Headingley. The cloth has arrived in Sydney and Oscar Hunt will have fittings in its York Street, Sydney, showroom for members interested in purchasing the blazer. The tailoring process involves multiple fittings and takes up to six weeks.

To express your interest in the blazer, please contact Nick Govers (ngovers@scgt.nsw.gov.au)

The big chill

Culture club

Two dozen elite athletes and former stars gave up their beds for a wintry night without shelter on August 5 to express their solidarity and raise money for some of Australia’s most vulnerable during Homelessness Week.

The athletes had only a sleeping bag and a sheet of cardboard on which to rest, in order to test the harsh realities of life on the street during cold Sydney winters. It was to raise funds for The Chappell Foundation’s second annual Sports Stars Sleepout. The night was attended by NSW cricketers, Paralympians, Olympians and other sporting stars from across the codes.

Cricketer Moises Henriques attended the inaugural Sports Stars Sleepout and has become a board member of The Chappell Foundation.

“Nobody wants to live without a roof over their heads,” he says.

“More often than not (the homeless) are a victim of awful circumstance and I think if every Australian could just have a little bit more empathy for the journey that they have to go on, it won’t take much to help.”

The sleepout raises about $500,000 annually, with the funds going to Back Track Youth Works, Ecumenical Coffee Brigade, Stepping Stone House and Waverley Action for Youth Services.

Those who took the challenge included brothers Greg and Trevor Chappell, Brad Fittler, broadcaster Kerry O’Keeffe, former SCG Trustee Stuart MacGill, cricketers Nick Larkin, Daniel Hughes, Lauren Cheatle, Lisa Griffith, Lauren Smith, Naomi Stalenberg, Jack and Mickey Edwards, Harry Conway, Nick Bertus, Paralympic gold medallists Louise Sauvage and Michael Milton, Young Matilda Ally Green and former Hockeyroo Allison Yeoland.

The SCG is part of a new interactive online project with Google Arts & Culture that showcases a collection of sports stories and knowledge from more than 30 institutions across Australia.

The project explores the tales, traditions, larrikins and legends of Australian sport. It features more than 11,000 archived images and videos, plus more than 100 original stories, that celebrate the unifying spirit of a sports-mad country.

From the SCG, the Members Pavilion and cupboard doors from the away changeroom are among items featured in the online archive.

“I might have been bowled for a duck as a kid on a few occasions,” says Amit Sood, director of Google Arts & Culture. “That’s why I am very excited about the launch of this project celebrating the moments and heroes that have shaped Australian sporting culture — including cricket — on Google Arts & Culture.”

The SCG Museum has installed a giant touchscreen, which is the best way to view the online exhibitions. Pop in next time you’re at the ground.

Other institutions involved include the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the National Sports Museum and Melbourne Olympic Parks.

To visit the site go to: artsandculture. google.com/project/australian-sports

Lifers The SCG is honouring members who have clocked up 50 and 70 years. Celebrations will be held to congratulate our most loyal and long-serving members on the morning of December 9 at an invitation-only event.

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IN BLACK & WHITE IT HAS BEEN 35 YEARS SINCE THE LAST TRANS-TASMAN SYDNEY TEST. CIRCUMSTANCES COULDN’T BE BETTER FOR A RETURN OF A VINTAGE RIVALRY WORDS: ANDREW RAMSEY

T

he New Zealand men’s team may have only graced the Sydney Cricket Ground twice for Test matches in almost 50 years, but those moments are celebrated in perpetuity within the ground’s famous visitors’ dressing room.

High on the wall, framed behind glass, is a calico nameplate salvaged from the historic scoreboard used when Bevan Congdon’s team made their first pilgrimage to the SCG, during New Zealand’s maiden Test tour in 1973-74.

That it reads R. Hadlee tells its own tale.

The first look for Australian Test crowds at the man who would become the game’s leading wicket-taker and his nation’s greatest player came when (the now) Sir Richard Hadlee, then aged 22, played alongside his older brother Dayle.

By the time New Zealand returned for their second Test visit to the SCG, 12 years later, a new electronic scoreboard had been installed as part of the ground’s ongoing development, with the Clive Churchill Stand nearing completion.

The reduced capacity meant that match drew an aggregate crowd of 37,540 — fewer than the SCG attracted on each of the first three days of the 2017-18 Ashes Test, highlighting the New Year Test’s standing as Sydney’s biggest annual sporting event.

There were, however, other key characteristics of the venue that remained stubbornly intact in 1985. The second Test of that historic summer may have been scheduled for late November, but the SCG wicket block had seen more than its share of winter traffic.

While it had farewelled the Bledisloe Cup competition the previous year, it hosted Wallabies rugby Tests against Canada and Fiji. The Sydney Swans played 11 home games in an eventful season in which they were

Cap fits: New Zealand captain Kane Williamson (main left), and Trent Boult.

Pictures: Mark Baker (AP), Hamilton Lund

bought by the flamboyant Geoffrey Edelsten. And rugby league enjoyed a famous year, partly because Canterbury won their second consecutive premiership, but mostly because of New South Wales’ 21-14 defeat of Queensland to secure their first State of Origin series win.

Even by SCG standards of the time, the dry and denuded pitch that confronted the trans-Tasman rivals in 1985 was so demonstrably a spinner’s deck that both teams opted to play a solitary specialist quick.

Filling that role for Australia was current SCG Trustee Dave Gilbert, who was preferred to Craig McDermott, with all-rounder Simon O’Donnell providing new-ball support alongside spinners Ray Bright, Greg Matthews and Bob Holland.

New Zealand’s selection was even bolder.

Not only did they deploy occasional trundler (and star batsmen) Martin Crowe as Hadlee’s pace partner, but also they summoned former gravedigger turned off-spinner John Bracewell from across the ditch and rushed him straight into the starting XI. The Kiwis had good reason for believing Hadlee could carry the assignment single-handedly, even on a surface tailor-made for the tweakers. Two weeks earlier he had destroyed Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane, with his 9-52 in the first innings unsurpassed as the best return by any bowler — visiting or home-grown — in more than 140 years of Tests here.

Given Hadlee’s heroics had led his team to victory by an innings and 41 runs in Brisbane, Australia’s selectors faced some difficult decisions. Which explains why one of that panel, ex-captain Greg Chappell, held a lengthy pitch-side discussion with then skipper Allan Border and his deputy, David Hookes, on match eve at the SCG. The trio’s concern escalated the next day when, having been sent in to bat, New Zealand openers John Wright and Bruce Edgar ground out 79 for the first 1876

13

Starc warning: Mitchell Starc dismisses Kane Williamson (main); Steve Smith (below right).

wicket before the spin factor turned the match.

Holland’s six wickets restricted the visitors to 293, with Bracewell contributing an unbeaten 83 batting at number 10. Australia fared worse, posting a 66-run deficit as minimal bounce and pace meant return catches were almost as prevalent as bowled and lbw dismissals, as players battled to time the ball with any surety.

Holland took a further four wickets and Bright three in New Zealand’s second innings of 193, before rain and failing light compelled Australia to make haste in their victory chase of 260, which they reached with four wickets to spare.

The glaring anomaly on the scorecard was Hadlee.

Spinners claimed 25 of the 34 wickets to fall to bowlers yet Hadlee, in conditions he had no right to enjoy, snared seven of the remainder (with Gilbert picking up 2-63 from almost 30 pinpoint overs).

Hadlee went on to more conducive conditions in the series decider at the WACA, where he claimed a further 11 wickets and carried New Zealand to their first — to date, their only — Test series win in Australia.

His 33 wickets (at 12.15) remains the benchmark for any bowler in a three-Test series during the past 100 years and his name is forever linked to the deeds of that golden summer.

Hadlee partly attributed his success to an inspired move in the practice nets. His coach, Glenn Turner, placed a rubbish bin where an officiating umpire might stand, and encouraged his star bowler to deliver the ball from as close to the trash can as possible, without brushing it. It meant Hadlee was able to bowl from impossibly close to the stumps in matches, where he effectively snaked his right arm behind the umpire’s back prior to release.

“I bowled wicket-to-wicket, got the ball to swing and seam away and always felt that if the Australian batsmen had weaknesses it was on or about off stump, with the ball moving away,” he recalls of that series.

However, Hadlee had benefited from even more salient advice earlier in his career, gleaned from a surprising source.

During Australia’s two-Test tour to New Zealand in 1977, Hadlee sought out fast bowling rival and legendary Test quick Dennis Lillee for a post-game chat.

While Hadlee nursed his preferred soft drink and Lillee downed a beer, the Australian imparted some wisdom that his young counterpart never forgot.

Lillee outlined his training approach, dietary demands and the mental strength he utilised in his rise to the top of their shared craft — and to drive his comeback from a career-threatening back injury.

“When things were going badly wrong, I’d think ‘what would Lillee do?’,” Hadlee has subsequently revealed when asked for the secret to his longevity and success. “And the answer was always that he would not give up.”

Later, when Hadlee overtook Ian Botham (who had passed Lillee’s career tally of 355 wickets) to

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www.sydneycricketground.com.au

Picture: David Mariuz (AAP)

“WHEN THINGS WERE GOING BADLY WRONG, I’D THINK ‘WHAT WOULD LILLEE DO?’ ... AND THE ANSWER WAS ALWAYS THAT HE WOULD NOT GIVE UP” { SIR RICHARD HADLEE } become Test cricket’s most successful bowler, Lillee would describe the New Zealander as “the first truly professional fast bowler I saw”.

That pivotal exchange between the pair of acknowledged greats reveals much about the nature of the sporting relationship between Australia and New Zealand.

While it remains ferociously competitive — whether in both rugby codes, on the netball court or through the women’s cricket rivalry that has yielded some epic Rose Bowl contests — there resides a deep similarity of spirit.

Forged from similar colonial roots, into which is woven a history of shared experiences and collective ambitions, the on-field rapport between Australia and New Zealand is as unique as it is uncompromising.

Like most close bonds, it has known its stress points. Perhaps none more incendiary than the underarm bowling furore of 1981. But while commerce and common sense have dictated New Zealand plays cricket at home during the marquee Christmas-New Year period in recent decades, their 2019-20 return for Boxing Day and New Year in Australia could not have come at a more appropriate time.

The Black Caps’ cricket fortunes have risen to mirror the golden era overseen by Hadlee and then Crowe.

Moreover, they are cited as exemplars for the manner in which the modern game should be played — fiercely competitive and audaciously skilled, but tinged with humility and humour.

To prove that results need not take a back seat to character, New Zealand has reached the past two men’s ICC World Cup finals and — but for some wretched fortune and a contentious adjudication process at Lord’s — they would currently wear the crown of global champions.

But that success has not been restricted to whiteball formats. Prior to this summer’s campaigns against historic foes England and Australia, New Zealand sat second on the ICC’s global Test rankings — behind only India, with England third and Australia fifth.

That rise has been driven by stroke-makers of the calibre of captain Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor (who posted a career-best 290 on New Zealand’s previous

Test visit to Australia in 2015-16) and Tom Latham.

More potent still has been the Black Caps’ bowling, with Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner all among the 20 top wicket-takers in Tests during the past five years. Their strength sets the scene for a delicious match-up against Australia’s batting prowess led by old hands Steve Smith and David Warner, and quality newcomers such as Marnus Labuschagne.

The pace bowling rivalries that pit Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood head-to-head with New Zealand’s kings of swing are also worthy of the decades’ wait. And while Nathan Lyon may dream of an SCG pitch as spin-friendly as that rolled out for the nations’ previous Test meeting in Sydney, he’s realistic about the challenge that awaits.

“New Zealand have some world-class players and I think they’re close to being one of the best teams in the world,” says Lyon, Australia’s most-capped contemporary Test player, who wasn’t born when the teams last met at the SCG. “They’re a well-balanced unit, and they play in very similar conditions to here back in New Zealand.

“So the pace isn’t going to worry them, and the bounce isn’t necessarily going to worry them either.

“With them having Kane Williamson and us having Steve Smith, there’s two pretty good batting line-ups right there, and they’ve got a good bowling attack with Southee, Boult, (Matt) Henry and Wagner just to name a few.

“So it’s a pretty talented team they bring over, but we’re excited about the challenges and it will be great to have them back at the SCG for a Test match.”

Andrew Ramsey has been covering cricket for more than 20 years and is currently senior writer for cricket.com.au

AUSTRALIA v NEW ZEALAND SCG JANUARY 3-7

Test Match MARCH 13

One-Day International MARCH 15

One-Day International 1876

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THE LOCAL LEGACY THE SYDNEY CRICKET GROUND HAS AN ENVIABLE RECORD AS THE CRUCIBLE OF SUPERB TALENT. AND TODAY’S CROP OF SUPERSTARS IS NO DIFFERENT WORDS: PETER LALOR

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www.sydneycricketground.com.au

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T

Cardus: “You will no more get an idea of the quality of Trumper’s batsmanship by adding up his runs than you will get an idea of the quality of Shelley’s poetry by adding up the number of lines written by Shelley.”

he sons and daughters of the Sydney Cricket Ground are as abundant as they are talented.

They are a line that stretches back through time from pioneer women’s state and Australian captain Margaret Peden — a small but sparkling batter who was born in Chatswood and helped organise the first women’s “Ashes” in 1934-35 — to the likes of Alyssa Healy and Ellyse Perry.

That first series against England is said to have helped heal the rift created between the two countries after the Bodyline series of 1932-33, much in the way the achievements and energy of the current women’s team helped nurture the Australian game through its recent turmoils.

Peden and her sister, Barbara, were so keen to practise in the winter months that they installed Sydney’s first indoor nets, at the Salvation Army building on Elizabeth Street in the CBD. The SCG’s sisters were doing it for themselves.

Where to begin or end with the line of incredible male cricketers who called the most historic of Australian cricket grounds home?

Monty Noble and Victor Trumper are commemorated by stands named in their honour; so too is Donald Bradman, whose inspiration is everywhere — most apparent in a note fixed above the door in the home dressing room that reads: “If it’s difficult I’ll do it now. If it’s impossible I’ll do it presently.”

The remarkable thing about that sentiment is its date: 10.12.28. This was not the greatest batsman ever surveying life from the height of achievements never reached before nor since; this was a 20-year-old recently arrived from the country. A young man who’d made his Test debut a fortnight before and one who would be left out of his home Test at the SCG four days later.

And Trumper? Some might ask, as Bradman did, why a batsman who averaged just 39 was so venerated, but those who saw him bat never did. The closest we can come to the experience is, perhaps, in the frozen moment of George Beldam’s famous photograph of the batsman launching into that full-blooded drive at The Oval. Or, we can be guided by the words of England’s greatest cricket writer, Neville

S

The Greatest: The Don in full flight (above) and his dressing room note of 1928 (left)

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porting stadia, it is often observed, are the cathedrals of our more secular times. Certainly, the SCG has been a place of worship for the masses and practice for the faithful since the earliest days of the colony, and the tradition continues unbroken.

Test batsman and former NSW Blues star Usman Khawaja grew up in the neighbourhood. His is a particularly modern Australian experience. The family, recently arrived from Pakistan, lived in a cramped apartment by the cricket ground. He and his brother would rush to Driver Avenue at the tea break, anticipating the moment the ground attendants would throw open the gates for the last session, and in they would eagerly go.

Khawaja made his debut at the SCG in 2011 and noted after scoring 171 in the Ashes Test in 2018 that it was his first at the ground where “I sort of grew up”.

Every player can recall their first experience at the ground. Bradman’s was as a 12-year-old, brought up from Bowral by his father, George, who had been briefly employed there during the construction of the SCG’s cycle track in 1896. Bradman saw Charlie Macartney score 170 in the Fifth Test against England. It was on that day at the ground that he resolved to pursue cricket above his other love, tennis.

“I shall never be satisfied until I play on this ground,” Bradman is said to have told his father during the afternoon.

The dominance of NSW players at Test level has been a cause of not-so-quiet resentment from the other states who cannot produce cricketers of the same calibre as those from Sydney’s cricket nursery.

Khawaja’s debut Test was a case in point. In the last match in the series against England that summer, five of the top six batsmen were Blues: Shane Watson, Phillip Hughes, Khawaja, Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin. Mike Hussey was the odd man out.

Batting at No. 7 that day was a man whose name seems certain to slot in among the greats like Bradman and Trumper, and that was Steven Peter Devereux Smith. No batsman since the Bowral boy has dominated the game in the manner Smith does.

His return to Test cricket in the most recent Ashes series was nothing short of extraordinary, and his return to Test cricket this summer is anticipated more keenly because of that. Smith averaged 64.56 at the conclusion of the Ashes and had played 68 Tests.

The six he has played at home have been even more productive, his runs coming at an average of 68.5.

I

t is not only batters raised on the Bulli Black clay and basalt of the ground’s famous pitch that do the SCG justice. Consider that Pat Cummins, Mitchell

Sons and daughters of the SCG: women’s cricket has come of age (above), the Gregory sisters’ team of the 1880s (left), Usman Khawaja (below) is part of the new generation

Starc and Josh Hazlewood all call the venue their home. They practised their skills in the nets where another famous son, Fred “ The Demon” Spofforth, stands guard — his frightening stare rendered in bronze by sculptor Cathy Weiszmann.

What stories Demon, the Balmain-born son of a Yorkshireman, could tell. The first man to take a Test hat trick, the bowler who removed W.G. Grace for a duck at Lord’s, and one who was playing when a dispute over umpiring saw the game between an England touring side and NSW at the SCG descend into an ugly riot in 1879.

One of the officials in that match — though not the one whose decision was questioned — was Edmund Barton. The keen scholar and sportsman defused the unfortunate situation and later went on to become prime minister of Australia.

Mitchell Starc and Alyssa Healy may well be the First Couple of the SCG. True, they did not have their wedding at the ground — commentator Jim Maxwell did — but it has been their cricketing playground for many years.

The Australian stars have actually slept a night on the sacred soil. It was all for a good cause.

The Chappell Foundation has an annual Sports Stars Sleepout on the ground to raise money for

homeless youth, and in 2018 Healy, Starc and a few teammates joined the fundraiser with only pieces of cardboard and their sleeping bags between them, the grass and the night sky.

The odd member has been known to doze off during a quiet spell in the Sheffield Shield, and more than one fielder has been accused of doing the same by irate bowlers or captains, but to actually bed down for the night on the SCG must be an experience.

(Another former Test player and NSW captain, Steve O’Keefe, was so content he slept through breakfast and a passing shower before being told to get up and make way for the ground staff, who had work to do.)

Talk of Steve Smith’s greatness needs to be accompanied by acknowledgement of Ellyse Perry’s extraordinary achievements with bat and ball.

The all-rounder from Sydney’s Wahroonga was just 16 when she made her debut for Australia, the youngest ever to do so. Despite Australia first playing against England way back in the 1930s, women’s Ashes and Test opportunities are limited — but Perry has made the most of each.

She made 213no, 116 and 76no in her last three Test innings and took four wickets. Her continued dominance had Rina Hore, director of the Bradman Foundation and a former Australian cricketer, commissioning research to establish whether Perry is the greatest women’s player ever.

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reat cricketers and great cricket deserve a great home and the SCG is that. It has a wicket that, when at its best, produces runs and then spin as a match proceeds. It has a physical profile that is historic and unique — that elegant shadow cast on the ground from the Members Pavilion by the setting sun is a stamp of authenticity.

There’s something about walking down Driver Avenue, past the Kippax Lake where Doug Walters is said to have smashed a six while batting at the old No. 2 ground, through the turnstiles and into cricket’s finest ground.

Inside, Richie Benaud seems to be directing you into position, as if you were a fielder moving from the covers to point.

And there you are, escaped from life and focused on the finest of pastimes, watching the stars of today do as the stars of yesteryear did. Time slows down and plays tricks.

Some years back, Indian great Sachin Tendulkar explained the feeling for him.

“The SCG is my favourite ground,” he said. “I have always maintained that. It brings back all the memories.

“It’s just the feel of the ground. Whenever I walked in, I felt I could go on and on batting. I just enjoyed the atmosphere, and the Pavilion especially. It’s a fabulous Pavilion with a lot of history. It is the heritage and the impact all the players have left on this ground.”

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Game I on WOMEN’S SPORT HAS A LONG HISTORY IN AUSTRALIA. BUT THE UPCOMING WOMEN’S T20 WORLD CUP, AT THE SYDNEY CRICKET GROUND IN MARCH, WILL TAKE FEMALE PROFESSIONAL COMPETITION TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL WORDS: STEPHANIE BRANTZ PICTURES: HAMILTON LUND

nternational Women’s Day has been on the calendar in one form or another since 1909.

Growing in prominence over the years, in 2020 it falls as usual on March 8 and, in keeping with recent social discourse, the theme is #EachforEqual.

At the Sydney Cricket Ground (long before “SCG” entered common parlance) that theme actually took shape some 134 years ago.

On March 8, 1886 — a Monday — two women’s teams took the field at what was then known as Association Cricket Ground, in the first organised all-female cricket match in Australia.

The opposing sides were led by curator Ned Gregory’s daughters: Louisa as captain of the Fernleas and Nellie as captain of the Siroccos.

It was a significant day in our great ground’s history.

Several thousand people attended, with “every good hit or brilliant piece of fielding calling forth rounds of applause”, according to The Sydney Globe in the wonderful vernacular of the day.

Next year, just shy of the March date of that very first match, the SCG will host the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup semi-final double-header. When the four semifinalists play on March 5, it will be the biggest women’s sporting moment Sydney has seen since Cathy Freeman ran for gold at the 2000 Olympics.

The ripples created will be felt across the world of women’s elite team sport — which is now well beyond the start of a bold new era.

The AFL Women’s and Women’s Big Bash League rate in the region of hundreds of thousands of viewers on free-to-air television and demand prominent in-season coverage. The rugby codes’ female competitions, the NRL Women’s and Super W, are attracting stand-alone sponsors and interest.

The AFLW is the juggernaut from the south, with much potential for growth in Sydney.

Football’s W-League, which started its 12th season last month, is the veteran of elite women’s team sports.

Like the A-League, the W-League teams attract highquality imports from all over the world. The difference is that the W-League also gives Australian fans the chance to see Matildas superstars at the peak of their powers and in the flesh, every week.

Socceroo sightings are scant in Australia, and with the men’s domestic competition running parallel with many of the lucrative leagues abroad, it’s often club taking precedence over country for the men when an increasingly rare “home friendly” is scheduled.

The women’s competition, however, benefits from the complementary scheduling of the National Women’s Soccer League — the elite women’s football league in the USA, which lures our best and brightest Stateside each year.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) cleverly took this into account for the 2019-20 season when it delayed the W-League kick-off to allow the Aussies abroad and 1876

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the sought-after international marquee signings the chance to complete their respective finals series and play in Olympic/World Cup qualification matches before joining their clubs for the new season.

With a bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023 on these shores well in hand, showcasing the local game has never been more important — and this season is set to be an absolute cracker.

Where women once played football for relative peanuts, the career path for these athletes — who used to spend their formative years playing in boys’ teams to get meaningful competitive matches — is now much brighter.

A landmark new salary deal between FFA and Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), signed earlier this year, increased the W-League minimum salary by a third to bring the women’s game in line with the minimum A-League salary — a further step towards #equality. The knock-on effect saw unprecedented lobbying by clubs for players ahead of the current season and the aggressive pursuit of stars, from the Matildas squad and the international pool.

Sydney FC were first out of the blocks this season, naming their full squad before most clubs had dusted off their training kits. The defending champions are bullish about their prospects — and why wouldn’t they be, with the likes of Caitlin Foord, Chloe Logarzo and Alanna Kennedy on the roster? Their clash against the rich kids from south of the border should be a belter after Melbourne City signed Newcastle Jets/Matildas veteran Emily van Egmond as well as Adelaide United captain Emma Checker.

In the meantime, it’s not just the seasoned veterans on show. Fans will get a peek at the future of football when perennial underdogs Adelaide United come to play in the harbour city, with Matildas prodigy Mary Fowler on their books as well as her sister Ciara, from lowerleague Sydney club Bankstown City.

The derby between the sky blue of Sydney FC and their crosstown rivals Western Sydney Wanderers has yet to ignite in the manner of the men’s equivalent.

However, with the signing of a trio of key Americans the neighbours may start to make some noise. It’s hoped the Wanderers can become a force in the next few years — it would make the prospect of a Sydney derby in the revamped Allianz Stadium truly mouth-watering.

Elite female athletes are always supportive of their cross-code rivals. Still, Melbourne Victory wasted no time in trumpeting the poaching of Jenna McCormick back from AFLW to boost their ranks.

It’s true the W-League is adjusting to a busier landscape with the arrival of the AFLW, NRLW and Super W – but its greatest advantage is being able to attract the homegrown stars back Down Under from the lucrative US and European leagues.

And while the W-League has given fans established professional names at the top of their game in an elite league for more than a decade, there are still lessons

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Top field (from left): women’s cricket in 1886, women’s cricket is on the rise, the Australian women’s rugby sevens team.

from the marketing phenomenon that launched the women’s competition in the AFL in 2017. Despite a short season and early criticism around the quality of the competition, AFL clubs are now clamouring to be included in each new expansion and the interest shows no sign of abating.

The AFLW will gather further momentum when the Sydney Swans establish a team. That opportunity hinges on the Swans’ move to the Royal Hall of Industries, at Moore Park near the SCG, an exciting adaptive reuse of what was once the pavilion where I bought my showbags for the Royal Easter Show. It will be revitalised as a high-performance training facility, a new blood bank, a home for the Swans’ AFL, AFLW and Academy teams, and headquarters for the Sydney Swifts netball side.

The redevelopment complements the recent $15 million upgrade of the Swans’ training facility in Moore Park East, bringing the ground up to AFL standard as a future venue for North East AFL, AFLW and other elite fixtures.

That all-new Lakeside Oval is a ground for current Swans superstars, but also it plays a significant role in the club’s community outreach program. One day, you might see Buddy Franklin and his teammates in action; the next it might be the Swans Academy’s junior girls teams training — the talent pool from which, if all goes to plan, the inaugural Swans AFLW side will be drawn.

Just a few drop punts along Driver Avenue, the new Rugby Australia House is the permanent home of Australia’s highest-profile and most successful international women’s football team.

The Women’s Sevens share the world-leading training facility with their male counterparts from

the Sevens program, as well as the Wallabies when they’re in town. They are elite athletes in every sense of the word. The one disappointment is that their globetrotting circuit means we only get to see them in competition here once a year, at the Sydney Sevens, which is due to return to the new Sydney Football Stadium in 2022.

The precinct is also home to the NSW Waratahs’ Super W team, who are two-from-two in the fledgling national competition launched in 2018.

Those in the know predict that the initiatives at grassroots level in women’s rugby will come to fruition in 2020 and increase the depth across the competition.

NSW and Queensland hold the trump cards in terms of rugby talent — but with limited places available in the Tahs’ and Reds’ top-flight sides, players seeking more minutes may head further afield to realise their rugby dreams.

While that sounds like a negative, the strengthening of other franchises can only make Super W more competitive. Stronger rivalries and greater opportunities for the latent talent pool in women’s rugby will increase interest, attract attention and thus secure financial viability for these athletes.

From its earliest days, the SCG welcomed women’s sport. Now it sits as the nexus of its continuing growth into the mainstream of the business of sport, as well as taking a forward position in the consciousness of the sport-loving Australian community.

There have been significant moments all along the way — and the next leap forward will be on March 5, when a packed SCG cheers on the world’s best four T20 women’s teams.

The 2020 ICC T20 Women’s World Cup contest will kick off with fireworks — actual and cricketing — two weeks earlier. Australia are the defending champions and have won four of the six tournaments since it launched in 2009.

With the likes of Ash Gardner, Alyssa Healy and Ellyse Perry, the host side will again start as favourites.

But challenges will come from 2009 champions England, 2016 champions the West Indies, New Zealand and India — against whom the Australians open the tournament at Sydney Showground on February 21.

After the SCG semi-finals, successful sides move to the MCG for the tournament final on March 8 — International Women’s Day. Whoever is victorious on that landmark day, it’s already assured that the efforts of all participating nations will be recognised — at least in a financial sense.

The International Cricket Council board decided in October this year that the 10 competing teams would receive significantly more reward, as part of the drive for improved standards in the game.

ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney said: “We want to build a long-term sustainable foundation for women’s cricket and that is about more than just prizemoney. It is about building a product that fans want to watch, that kids want to take up, that sponsors and broadcasters want to be part of. Creating a Women’s U19 event also improves the pathway available to young cricketers and ensures they have the same opportunities as their male counterparts.” #EachforEqual indeed.

MARCH 5, SCG WORLD CUP SEMI-FINAL 1, 2PM WORLD CUP SEMI-FINAL 2, 7PM

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Captain’s knock BOB HAWKE WOULD HAVE DEARLY LOVED TO HAVE BEEN A TEST CRICKETER. BUT THE LEGACY HE LEFT THE GAME IS JUST AS SIGNIFICANT WORDS: RODNEY CAVALIER

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ob Hawke came to power in March 1983 in a sweeping victory. Although Labor leader for only a little over a month, he had been preparing for this moment all his life. His first days were studied and unhurried, assessing the true budgetary position and ordering priorities. On just his 12th day Hawke announced he was restoring the Prime Minister’s XI and its annual match against the Test side touring Australia.

Such was the standing of our sublime game in our new prime minister’s priorities.

Here was a truth revealed. Bob Hawke was never lacking a sense of destiny, unshakeable in his certainties, unrelenting in pursuing his ambitions.

One ambition unfulfilled was to play Test cricket for Australia. That rankled in a perfectly harmless way.

At age four, Hawke fell in love with cricket in all its manifestations – batting, bowling and fielding, being at the ground, listening to broadcasts, watching television, reading books, conversations with the 1876

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masters, and regaling audiences with tales of varying veracity.

Clem Hawke, a clergyman, taught his son Bobbie the fundamentals in the backyards of the homes where the family lived. Bob cajoled his father into bowling to him for hour after hour, a familiar story about fathers and sons that does not always end well.

Cricket was one part of a healthy Hawke diet of outdoor activity that embraced tennis and croquet — croquet being a game more likely than any other to evoke raging anger between players. Indoors were bridge, table tennis and billiards. Golf was a later passion.

In sport he was ferociously competitive, a trait not curtailed by adult supervision. Ferocious but fair; Bob Hawke was never a cheat. Winning in every sporting contest was excellent training for student politics and the deadly serious engagements of party and elective politics.

In 1938, the Ashes were in contest in England.

Australians could tune their giant radio boxes to hear match descriptions that were partly synthetic broadcast from the ABC studios, and partly, when conditions were perfect, shortwave directly from the grounds.

For Hawke, age eight, this was a joy nigh perfect. He recalled those nights in his memoirs (published 1994).

“I would come home from the little country school to the farm where I was staying while my parents were on a caravan holiday, and go to sleep so that I could sit up late at night to listen to the simulated broadcast of the Test matches.” He recalled the moment in the fifth Test when Len Hutton passed Don Bradman’s then worldrecord innings score.

Listening inspired a dedication to reach the highest standard. The highest did not come to pass. Hawke was a good cricketer but not quite good enough for firstclass selection. At Perth Modern School, by fourth year, he was in the First XI as a wicketkeeper-batsman. His highest score was 93, given out LBW by an umpire’s error (in Hawke’s opinion) that was blatantly wrong and never to be forgotten.

At the University of Western Australia, enrolled in Law, Hawke’s three passions were politics, the Student Christian Movement and cricket. Religious belief was abandoned, not his secular devotions. He was playing first grade for the university in the Perth competition.

He was a most handy player, the kind any team is grateful to have. His selection was not in doubt.

Winning a Rhodes Scholarship enabled the young man to attend University College, Oxford. He was playing first grade and on the verge of selection in the university side. If he could surmount that final hurdle, he was going to enter the county competition and become a first-class cricketer.

Coaching had eliminated a tendency for wild hooking

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A SPECTATOR WHO OFFERED HIM A CUP OF BEER SAW IT DISAPPEAR IN NO TIME. HE HAD, AFTER ALL, BEEN IN THE GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS FOR HOLDING THE RECORD TIME FOR SINKING A YARD OF ALE IN 11 SECONDS.

that was somewhat ahead of the arrival of the ball. The dasher was more inclined to poke and prod. In the summer of 1955, the Oxford side toured the counties and played in a match against Middlesex at Lord’s.

Hawke was 12th man. He did not crack the XI, he did not earn a Blue, he did field at Lord’s.

With thoughts of an academic career, Hawke returned to Australia and studied for a higher degree at the ANU. He went straight into the First XI. Hawke was playing first grade again — in the ACT competition.

The records of Cricket ACT log RJL Hawke as first-grade cricketer No. 270.

On tour in Newcastle he felt possessed by “supernatural grace” and batted accordingly. Fours and sixes flowed from his bat. He knew it was guided so that it could not miss. The result was a peerless 78 not out that impressed a NSW Sheffield Shield spotter enough to ask him to consider a selection trial.

In a moment of remarkable self-awareness, belying his customary swagger, Hawke told the spotter: “That wasn’t me out there, it was somebody else playing.”

Next game, he recalled, “I was out for a duck.”

Hopes of reaching the ranks of the first class faded with the years. His devotion did not. Presidency of the ACTU made him a celebrity; a face, name and voice recognisable instantly. He and his wife Hazel hosted lunches at their Sandringham home for touring sides and the cricket media.

He had not stopped joining in social games among friends and work colleagues of commensurate ability.

Now that he was a drawcard, Hawke found himself enlisted in charity games playing alongside Test players and other stars.

Elected to federal parliament in 1980, Hawke turned out for the Parliamentary XI in matches against the press gallery and state parliamentary XIs. Reinstating the PM’s XI was the sweetest of pleasures. RG Menzies had started the matches in 1951 in the early years of his second stay as PM. Touring sides were not then annual, and teams other than England were at best occasional.

The PM’s XI matches under Menzies’ close guidance were intended to show evenly matched sides that blended established players and emerging talent. More than cricketing ability motivated Menzies. Being an accomplished after-dinner speaker himself, Menzies chose the NSW all-rounder Ray Flockton — fine player though Flockton was — ­ because the PM had rarely heard a funnier speaker. The Prime Minister’s XI game of 1962-63 was the last public appearance of Sir Donald Bradman as a player.

The PM’s XI had cachet in its own right… so we thought. Fielding a PM’s XI depended on the prime minister of the day, not so readily apparent. What happened when Menzies departed? We soon found out.

Cricketers can tell phoneys.

So can cricket fans ... he took a blow to the eye during a match at Manuka. Avoiding serious damage by a millimetre, he returned to the ground as soon as the hospital cleared him.

Bob Hawke was the real deal.

PICTURE: GRAEME THOMSON

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The last game was in 1965. Menzies’ successor lacked an interest in cricket. For 17 summers, through six prime ministers, cricket was unloved in The Lodge. What Hawke felt for the game required a word stronger than love.

Hawke intended to pay homage to Menzies, build on tradition and ensure the matches attained such status on and off the field that no future PM would dare not to invest the prestige of the Prime Minister’s office in the occasion.

Success was total. With Hawke having a major input into player selection and gently asserting that he had the final say, the PM’s XI was selected each year and turned out at Manuka Oval in Canberra. As well as the national side touring Australia, Hawke introduced matches against an Aboriginal XI. Of the seven PMs who followed Hawke, John Howard alone was a cricket fanatic. Such was the standing of the PM’s XI match, the media continued to turn up in force. That was reason in itself for prime ministers to be present. Perhaps it was the other way around. Whatever, the PM’s XI games are a fixture in the cricket calendar.

It is surely a curiosity that a game that straddles the continent and appeals to people across all demographics has been truly loved by so few PMs — ­ Edmund Barton, George Reid, Chris Watson, Menzies, John Curtin, Ben Chifley, Hawke and Howard. It is notable that the three longest-serving — Menzies, Howard, Hawke — were cricket fanatics.

As prime minister, Hawke was automatically welcome at Test grounds. His hosts knew he was present because he wanted to be — a consideration that counted for more than the office held. Living in Victoria, Hawke was at the MCG for one or more days after Christmas.

When he was holidaying at Kirribilli, the SCG saw a lot of him. If a game entered a heart-stopping phase, it was easy enough to dash across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Like Menzies, he scheduled travel to coincide with Tests involving Australia. Being feted at Lord’s was a particular pleasure. This writer had a long chat with him at the WACA in 1988 when I was covering that season’s West Indies tour. (I had no way of knowing that conversations at the cricket with RJLH were going to become an annual feast.) He had timed his WA barnstorming so he could see the Test. He happened to be in the ABC commentary box with Jim Maxwell and called the Merv Hughes hat-trick as it unfolded.

He knew the language of our game.

Cricket societies were inviting Hawke to be an after-dinner speaker long before he entered parliament.

At the Australian Cricket Society annual dinner in 1976 in Melbourne, he delivered a speech that has lived in the memory of those present. Life and politics he offered as a game with many cricket parallels: there is a leader and people who make up a team. He recalled the first time he played at the parks at Oxford: “It was like playing cricket in heaven.”

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Bob Hawke with Julia Gillard

CRICKETERS CAN TELL PHONEYS. SO CAN CRICKET FANS ... HE TOOK A BLOW TO THE EYE DURING A MATCH AT MANUKA. AVOIDING SERIOUS DAMAGE

BY A MILLIMETRE, HE RETURNED TO THE GROUND AS SOON AS THE HOSPITAL CLEARED HIM. BOB HAWKE WAS THE REAL DEAL.

His first major reading was Between Wickets by Ray Robinson. Hawke did not know Robinson was present. Frank Tyson, England’s typhoon bowler in 1954-55 who was teaching in Australia, looking after Hawke that night, introduced Hawke to the great writer. Hawke had the time of his life, stayed late and was among the last to leave.

Cricketers can tell phoneys. So can cricket fans. Not a lot of conversation is required to work out who is ridgy-didge. Hawke placed his credentials before the cricket world when, as prime minister but claiming no rank, he took a blow to the eye during a match at Manuka. Avoiding serious damage by a millimetre, he returned to the ground as soon as the hospital cleared him. Bob Hawke was the real deal.

As host of lunches in the Trustees Reserve at the SCG, I knew I could sit Hawke anywhere to make a table sparkle. Most people are in awe of former PMs. This former PM was in awe of former Test greats. His attendance was not for the purpose of being seen; though he was always seen and was keen that the crowds should know he was present. His main purpose was to watch proceedings. He reacted to the SCG at its best, its distinctive colours and smells and a crowd enjoying itself. He loved the SCG. The larrikin in him was ever present. He enjoyed wandering into the outer. By then a living legend who had transcended his party-political status, Hawke’s approach to any section of the crowd set off loud, wholesome cheering. Bob exulted in a physical embrace.

In no other spectator sport could he so mingle with a crowd. His disturbances were part of the rich tapestry of an afternoon at the cricket. A spectator who offered him a cup of beer saw it disappear in no time. He had, after all, been in The Guinness Book of Records for holding the record time for sinking a yard of ale in 11 seconds.

Television monitors enabled him to take his eye off the play for as long as was necessary to recount a tale of politics past and heroic moments at the crease. Never did he lack an audience. Hawke was relating politics in the raw — embroidered, of course, but rarely sanitised.

Cricket ACT honoured him with the naming of the Bob Hawke Stand at Manuka. PMs since 1991, whatever their interest, feel compelled to go through the motions of selecting a Prime Minister’s XI and turning up at the match — if only for lunch.

In the tributes that flowed from all sides both in 1991 when he was brought down as prime minister and earlier this year upon his death, the common thread was that Hawke was a good bloke, genuine, irrepressibly a larrikin, who gave all he had to give.

All such words apply to a strain of some of our most memorable cricketers. They were themselves and could not help it. Whatever else Bob Hawke might have been, he was always Bob Hawke. He would have given much to have been a Test cricketer.

Bob, you did okay.

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Q& &A

STRAIGHT BAT PAT CUMMINS Fresh from a leading performance in the Ashes, fast bowler Pat Cummins reveals what retaining the urn meant for him, and his plans for the summer ahead Pat, you’ve returned home from England with the first Australian team to retain the Ashes there since 2001. It must have been very special for you.

It was. It didn’t really hit me until we got to the UK that Australia hadn’t won an away Ashes since 2001. There is normally 18 months’ worth of planning that goes into an Ashes series, so knowing how much work had gone into the series, how long it had been since we’d returned the urn back to Australia, made it a special tour.

We could see how much it meant to the team the way you celebrated after the Fourth Test when you had officially kept the urn. How was the party?

Everyone was pumped and there was a lot of emotion. It is right up there as a career highlight, that Test win. What I will say is, though, the celebrations were fairly subdued, considering! We were all fairly drained from the hard-fought match and only had a couple of days before the fifth Test.

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Steve Smith was epic. As a long-time teammate, how enjoyable was it to watch after all he’s been through?

Steve was a class act and was just about the difference between the sides. We all just know Steve as the teammate, so it’s crazy to think he is setting standards in cricket not seen since Bradman.

We were all so pumped for him and hopefully he has another 10 Ashes series in him.

On a personal note, you finished as the top wickettaker for the series with 29.

How did that feel?

I hadn’t played too much red-ball cricket in the UK before but always enjoyed the Dukes ball and the extra swing and seam movement it can provide. I was really happy with how I bowled and got through the five Tests, and absolutely love playing alongside some of my best mates in the bowling cartel.

You had years of injury troubles but have now strung

together a lot of cricket and are one of the world’s top bowlers. Can Australian fans feel excited about what’s to come from you?

I hope so. Everything in the last 18 months has seemed to fall my way so I’m hoping it continues for me. I’ve loved playing so many games for Australia recently and the challenge of trying to maintain that level. I’ve only played the two home Test summers so still feel giddy every time I play in front of a home crowd.

There’s a lot of international cricket at the SCG this summer.

For the first time since the Hadlee era, Australia will play New Zealand in the New Year’s Test. They’ll be a tough opponent. What are your thoughts on that square-up?

I’ve played a lot of cricket against NZ but yet to play them in a Test series. Since I’ve started playing international cricket I think they have always been the team that slips under the radar but are a quality line-up. They have quite an experienced pace attack, and Kane Williamson is right up there with the likes of Smith, Root and Kohli — so it should be a great match.

quality all-rounders and some really experienced quicks in Boult and Southee. They know the conditions well over here in Australia, so always a great contest against our Anzac mates.

We’ll also play the Kiwis in One-Day Internationals on March 13 and 15, day nighters.

They were unlucky in the World Cup final and have a great limited overs line-up.

Finalists in the last two World Cups! They have a really balanced ODI side with some big hitters up the top,

What is your earliest cricket memory?

Playing backyard cricket with my older brothers every afternoon. We used to mow a pitch, sprinkle some water on it to give it some real zip and go at it for hours.

What are your goals this summer at home with so much cricket on?

My goals are as simple as playing and winning as many games for Australia as I can. I was happy with my home summer last year, so hopefully I can improve on that.

I’m always trying to work on becoming a bit more consistent with my batting and adding a few more options with the ball.

And finally, what’s your favourite memory of cricket at the SCG? My first memory of the SCG was Steve Waugh’s final Test. Mum convinced the family to pack up the car and head in for his last day of Test cricket. I just remember the applause and adulation he received from his home crowd. More recently, the first SCG Test I played in was the 2017-18 Ashes Series.

We won on Day 5 to win the Ashes 4-0 and I picked up the Man of the Match, so it’s a very special memory.

PICTURE: MJ BALE

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SYDNEY SIXERS AT HOME 2019-20 DECEMBER 18 YOU CAN CHARITY MATCH PERTH SCORCHERS SCG DECEMBER 22 CRICKET CHRISTMAS BRISBANE HEAT SCG DECEMBER 28 SYDNEY SMASH SYDNEY THUNDER SCG JANUARY 5 ADELAIDE STRIKERS CEX COFFS INTERNATIONAL STADIUM, COFFS HARBOUR JANUARY 16 PRIDE PARTY HOBART HURRICANES SCG JANUARY 20 80s NIGHT MELBOURNE STARS SCG JANUARY 25 BEACH PARTY MELBOURNE RENEGADES SCG

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Big Show

T he

For huge hits, cult heroes and state-versus-state intrigues, you can’t beat the fun of the Big Bash League WORDS: NEIL BREEN PICTURE: HAMILTON LUND

T

he Big Bash League is the hottest ticket in town every summer. Big hits, flying lit-up bails, fireworks, classic catches… you name it, it’s happening.

There’s nothing you could possibly want more from three hours of entertainment.

And the Sydney Cricket Ground is in the thick of the action. The Sydney Sixers are the rock stars of the competition and the famous ground is their home.

This summer the Sixers will play six matches at the SCG, beginning with a match-up against the Perth Scorchers on Wednesday, December 18.

The following Sunday, December 22, the Sixers host the Brisbane Heat, and between Christmas and New Year on December 28, it’s the cross-town clash against arch-rivals Sydney Thunder.

In January they host the Hobart Hurricanes (January 16), Melbourne Stars (January 20) and Melbourne Renegades (January 25).

SCG members can also attend their other “home” match, at CEX Coffs International Stadium in Coffs Harbour, against the Adelaide Strikers on January 5.

So, if you’re holidaying on the NSW North Coast through the first week of January, brilliant cricket will be at your doorstep at a first-rate facility.

Moises Henriques will captain the Sixers and has a strong line-up yet again.

Englishmen James Vince and Tom Curran love their time here so much they’ll be back for this season, and paceman Jackson Bird returns this summer to the Sixers after playing for the Renegades last year.

Born and raised in Sydney, the Test paceman plays Sheffield Shield for Tasmania and is happy to be spending at least part of his summer on home turf.

“I am really delighted to be back at the Sixers,” he says. “I had three years at the Sixers in the past and didn’t play well so I really want to come back and contribute. Getting back with the guys I have played with before and returning to the SCG is awesome.”

West Australian Josh Phillippe is an exciting batting talent and he, too, will join the Sixers this summer. Also returning will be South Australian leg spinner Lloyd Pope. Regulars Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshius, Daniel Hughes, Nathan Lyon, Peter Nevill and Jordan Silk will be there, as will Northern Beaches cult heroes Mickey and Jack Edwards.

The Sixers are perennial fixtures at the business end of the Big Bash. They won the inaugural tournament in the summer of 2011-12 and were runners-up in 2014-15 and 2016-17.

The competition, played predominantly during the summer school holidays, is the ultimate family fun day or night out. Kids are entertained with neverending music, fireworks and entertainment, seemingly between every ball.

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PICTURE: PHIL HILLYARD

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Great cricketers and great cricket deserve a great home and the SCG is that. It has a wicket that, when at its best, produces runs and then spin as a match proceeds. It has a physical profile that is historic and unique — that elegant shadow cast on the ground from the Members Pavilion by the setting sun is a stamp of authenticity. { P E T E R L A L O R , P A G E 16 }

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Pitching in LOOKING AFTER THE SCG IS AN ART FORM, ESPECIALLY WHEN EVENTS SUCH AS THE U2 CONCERTS. HERE, CURATOR ADAM LEWIS REVEALS HOW HE DOES IT AND WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS YEAR’S WICKET

What can we expect from the SCG pitch this summer?

Hopefully plenty of runs and wickets. We’ve got a great summer ahead with New Zealand touring for the Test and One-Day Internationals and plenty of Big Bash and Sheffield Shield in between. That requires endless hours of preparation to get the table and wickets for each match in first-class condition.

The Test pitch will be similar to previous years, which will make for an exciting contest between bat and ball in the opening sessions, with spinners likely to play their part when the pitch deteriorates on days three and four.

The wicket traditionally has a bit of turn in it. Is that the plan again this summer?

Australia has made a habit of picking two spinners for the New Year’s Test and it will be great to see Nathan Lyon lead from the front again in 2020. The SCG has always been a spinners’ paradise and we’re hoping that the pitch stays true to its characteristics for the upcoming summer, especially in the longer format of the game. That’s what the fans want to see when they watch cricket at the ground and it’s our job to prepare the wicket in a way that’s going to make for an entertaining contest from start to finish.

How do you prepare a pitch differently depending on the format?

For Test and Shield matches the trick is leave more moisture underneath the pitch, which helps the surface hold together over the course of four or five days. This

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leaves a bit in it for the fast bowlers early and plenty of hazards to navigate for the openers. Ideally the pitch then dries out for the batters to play their part on days two and three before the spinners come in to take wickets or, in some cases, get outplayed by those at the crease.

For One-Day and Big Bash matches, our preference is to have our wickets flat and fast, which makes for some exciting cricket.

Those U2 concerts in November — how do you accommodate for those and protect the grass and pitch?

The changeover from the U2 concerts is massive. It takes us several days to replace the turf, which we know is affected. We draw from the reserves of our Matrix ready-to-play grass from the SCG’s farm in Pitt Town, where it is cultivated 12 months ahead of time. In this case, a crew of 25 works around the clock to re-lay the turf. We will have plenty of time to have the field in great condition for the Sheffield Shield clash against Queensland.

What’s the trick to keeping the outfield green all year round?

Lots of sun and water and as little foot traffic as possible. We regularly spray the ground with a combination of iron and nitrogen to keep up the fertility during the dry season, which is a handy trick for your own backyard if you’re interested in keeping it in tip-top shape. We’ve got a combination of rye and couch grass, which ensures the ground is in great condition no matter what the weather throws at us.

SCG assistant curator Tom Fahey and curator Adam Lewis are looking forward to a busy summer.

PICTURE: GREGG PORTEOUS

A GUIDE TO NEW PITCH PREPARATION WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY AFTERNOON 1. String up new pitch (pitch needs to be strung up on both edges at 3.05m) 2. Water pitch if needed (wicket soil should be moist and pliable) 3. Cover any bare areas with grass clippings 4. Start rolling. We are looking for colour change in the pitch (going darker with soil coming through) 5. Water and roll to obtain desired colour change. Can be from light brown to black 6. Light water before leaving THURSDAY/FRIDAY AFTERNOON 1. Check pitch to see if able to roll (should not be sticky to touch) 2. Roll the pitch for 20 minutes 3. Light water if needed 4. Roll again later 5. Light water if needed SATURDAY MORNING 1. Roll pitch 20 minutes if able SUNDAY (if no play) 1. Deep water MONDAY 1. Sweep all debris out of foot holes and fill in holes till level with new wicket soil 2. String up pitch 3. Give whole wicket square deep water TUESDAY 1. Cut wicket table at 8-10mm 2. Keep clippings, dry them for later use 3. Roll on games pitch to crush soil, smooth the surface 4. Roll next games pitch if applicable 5. Water if needed WEDNESDAY 1. Cut pitch at 6mm 2. Cut wicket table at 8-10mm 3. Turn clippings and dry when able 4. Water pitch 5. Cover any bare areas with grass clippings 6. Roll pitch and light water, repeat until pitch starts to change colour (brown) 7. Work on other pitch if applicable 8. Water pitch if needed THURSDAY 1. Early roll pitch 2. Water as needed 3. Roll pitch again 4. Turn clippings 5. Light water FRIDAY 1. Cut pitch at 5mm 2. Cut table at 8-10mm 3. Dry clippings and turn over 4. Roll pitch 5. Mark up pitch SATURDAY 1. Roll pitch before play 2. Clean pitch after game SUNDAY 1. Roll pitch early 2. Re-mark the creases

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RUGBY UNION

Unfinished business A CLASSIC RUGBY RIVALRY WILL REIGNITE WHEN THE WALLABIES MEET IRELAND IN AN SCG BLOCKBUSTER PICTURES: HAMILTON LUND

Full steam ahead: Marika Koroibete surges forward against the Shamrocks during their last tour 1876

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{ T H E L A NSDOW N E CU P }

AUSTRALIA v IRELAND HISTORICAL STATS Matches played between Australia and Ireland since 1927

PLAYED

36 WON

22 LOSS

13

DRAWN

1

AUSTRALIA POINTS

736

LONGEST WINNING STREAK

11

21 Nov 1981– 9 Nov 2002 IRELAND POINTS

535 LONGEST WINNING STREAK

4

8 Jan 1958– 17 Jan 1976

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The furnace

The con job

Dream debut

MAY 13, 1967, SCG

JUNE 16, 1979, SCG

JUNE 11, 1994, SFS

IRELAND

11

IRELAND

9

AUSTRALIA 32

AUSTRALIA

5

AUSTRALIA

3

IRELAND 8

I

t all began 52 years ago, when Ireland brought a formidable outfit to Sydney for a one-off clash. May 13, 1967, proved to be an unseasonably hot autumn’s day, and temperatures were soaring well into the 30s when the pale-skinned Irishmen ran onto the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The bookies had the Wallabies favourites, considering NSW had drubbed Ireland 21-9 in a match a week earlier to kick off the tour.

But 20 minutes into the Test, the bookies were less than happy.

The Irish defence constantly shut down the Ken Catchpoleled Wallabies attack. Ireland boasted seven players from the 1966 British Isles side including brilliant five-eighth Mike Gibson, who set the tone for the match with a try-saving tackle in the opening five minutes that would prove a vital play.

“I believe the early missed try had a catastrophic effect on team morale,” then Wallabies fiveeighth Phil Hawthorne later said of his opposing number’s defensive effort. “You try not to let mishaps like that affect you but, like ghosts, a Test team’s shortcomings come back to haunt it.”

Ireland would take an 8-0 lead early in the second half until referee Roger Vanderfield gifted Catchpole a controversial grounding, much to the disbelief of Irish fans who thought their man had got there first.

Three minutes later, however, Ireland sealed the Test, with centre Paddy McGrath taking advantage of a dropped ball to secure an 11-5 win over Australia in their first match at the SCG.

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lash forward to 1979.

“It was a con job, and I say that in the nicest possible way,” recalled Wallabies captain Tony Shaw when talking about the next Australia v Ireland clash, again at the SCG. “Take the English and the Welsh,” Shaw said. “You hate the bastards and you just want to get out there and beat them. End of story. With the Irish it’s like, ‘Hail fellow, well met’.

“They’re great socially.

They’re all over you, very friendly, then out on the field they’re cold and hard.”

Cold and hard indeed. The June 16 clash was a tightly held affair, the only scores a single penalty to the Wallabies, a penalty conversion to the Shamrocks and two drop goals, for a result of Wallabies 3, Ireland, 9. That followed Australia’s defeat at Brisbane’s Ballymore on June 3, with a scoreline of 27-12 to the green men.

“I still don’t know how we lost those games,” said Shaw. “It was like they came in, made friends and went snatch and grab, and took the two Tests.

“The end of that second Test is about the most disconsolate I’ve ever been. Mike Gibson was playing in the centres and closed us down. They were up on or over the offside line all the time. They spoiled your ball and they did it well. But you have to give them credit. They came here and they played bloody well.”

Shaw would go on to lose the captaincy to Mark Loane for Australia’s Test against the All Blacks six weeks later, and the series loss would forever leave a sour note in the Wallabies’ history against Ireland.

I

njured Wallabies back Tim Horan called 20-year-old debutant Daniel Herbert in his hotel room the night before he would make his debut for the Wallabies against Ireland in 1994 at the Sydney Football Stadium.

“Get involved early,” Horan said to the young gun. “Play your natural game, that’s all you need to do. But get involved early.”

That next day Herbert did exactly that, launching himself into a cut-out pass from fiveeighth Michael Lynagh to race 30 metres for a try just two minutes into the game.

A new-look Wallabies backline, which featured Matthew Burke at fullback and Richard Tombs alongside Herbert in the midfield, seemed to work wonders, with the Wallabies ahead 15-3 before half time.

While the scoreboard was in Australia’s favour, Ireland refused to let up under the guidance of ruthless hooker Keith Wood.

But five penalty goals, a late try to flanker Illivasi Tabua and a man-of-thematch performance by backrower Tim Gavin proved too much as the Wallabies notched up their first win against the Irish in the precinct.

June 23, 2018, Sydney Football Stadium

Controversy corner JUNE 23, 2018, SFS IRELAND

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AUSTRALIA

16

L

uck went against the men in gold in their 20-16 loss to Ireland in rugby’s farewell to Allianz Stadium. Kiwi television match official Ben Skeen was the talk of the Paddington pubs after a controversial call to deny a Samu Kerevi try at the full-time siren.

It was a disappointing end for the Australian fans, who were a part of the then-record crowd of 44,085 spectators who enjoyed a pulsating Test from start to finish.

Australia was also cruelled by a yellow card to Israel Folau after he was pinged for taking Peter O’Mahony out in the air, in what would prove a costly mistake in the scheme of the game.

Coach Michael Cheika was left frustrated and indeed invited lead referee Pascal Gauzere to the post-match press conference to explain his decisions - although the Frenchman declined the offer.

“The only people who can answer your questions are the referees, to be honest, not me,” said Cheika of the loss. “I don’t want to be the guy who looks like a moaner.

“This series was important in itself. We’ve got to get that winning mentality. We’ve got to learn how to win a game, how to win a trophy.”

What it did was light a fire in the Wallabies that they are not likely to forget when they meet the Irish again in 2020 to avenge their record at the SCG.

The Lansdowne Cup SATURDAY JULY 11, 2020, SCG QANTAS WALLABIES v IRELAND The question now is what will the next SCG precinct clash serve up?

Excerpts and anecdotes have been sourced from ‘Wallaby Gold’, by author Peter Jenkins and statistician Matthew Alvarez.

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High of the E Tigers { 1969 G R A N D F I N A L , 5 0 Y E A R S O N }

IT WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST RUGBY LEAGUE GRAND FINALS, BUT BALMAIN’S SURPRISE 1969 VICTORY MARKED A TURNING POINT IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE WORDS: RAY CHESTERTON

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ven now I can still see them through that haze of memories you keep in warm places near your heart.

Captain Peter Provan leading those incredible Balmain Tigers onto the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1969, each step taking them closer to a place of singular esteem in the colossus of colour, controversy and heartbreak that makes up rugby league’s grand final day.

Gladiatorial and galvanised — but largely seen as anonymous and fraudulent grand finalists, except to true believers — Balmain is up against a South Sydney side with names of neon brightness.

And 80 minutes later, with the full-time siren sounding, I can see South African-born winger Len Killeen thrilling the crowd with celebratory cartwheels across the ground.

Not far away, Joe Walsh is jumping in the air like an LA Lakers star. So is Peter Boulton, the 20-year-old

hooker, after playing his first full game in first grade.

Provan and half David Bolton are holding hands and leaping too.

Balmain has won the unwinnable grand final 11-2.

Flashback to an hour or so before kick-off. In the dressing room, Souths’ Test front-rower, the genial and wantonly brave John O’Neill, is languidly quipping to teammate John Sattler about the Giltinan Shield on display in front of the Ladies Stand.

“Fair dinkum, fancy having to play this mob for that,” he says. “We should take the shield now and get down to the Cauli (Cauliflower Hotel in Redfern) for a drink.”

Later, with the final minutes of the grand final evaporating, O’Neill gives voice to Souths’ death rattle, saying to Sattler: “These bastards have got us.”

Those two quotes from the much-admired O’Neill bookend what happened on that Saturday afternoon of September 20, 1969, from around 3pm to 4.30pm in front of a crowd of 58,825.

The Balmain Tigers win the 1969 grand final against South Sydney at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, September 20, 1969.

Picture: Fairfax Media

The intoxicating mix of mayhem, myth and magic has taken on a life of its own as the most talked-about grand final of all time — and an eternal memory for all Balmain fans.

How the Tigers, as 3-1 outsiders and with sparse endorsement to win from impartial experts, created a beguiling mix of wizardry, determination, astute tactics and unity to topple Souths.

For 80 minutes Balmain schemed, planned and doggedly plotted their way to victory, wearing coach Leo Nosworthy’s astute tactics like a straitjacket, allowing absolutely no deviation from the game plan.

Nosworthy’s tactical trident on which to impale Souths was: concede no penalties, play in Souths’ half and slow down the game.

Balmain’s tactic called for players to go down with injuries, real or imagined, as often as possible when Souths had possession.

The rules of the day committed referee Keith Page to stopping the game when a player was injured so he could be medically treated. Balmain slowed the game so much at times that critics claimed it could have been overtaken by draught horses pulling a train.

“They were told to slow down the game as much as they could. But they were never told to lay down, I guarantee that,” Nosworthy says.

The constant interruptions and the restraints of four-tackle football infuriated Souths, adding frustration and annoyance to their mix until their attack became so disjointed they could not score a try.

They had averaged more than three tries a game in the 22 preliminary rounds.

Nosworthy’s memory is at odds with that of Balmain centre Terry Parker.

“We wanted to use the delaying tactics in the grand final and we decided to trial them in the second half of a match earlier in the season,” he says. “At half time I had a shoulder problem and a trainer rubbed it with what I thought was Dencorub but it was undiluted oil of wintergreen and that burns like blazes after a while.

“I was back on the field before I realised something was wrong. My shoulder was burning and I was in agony and I dropped to the ground before we kicked off.

“One of the players ran over and hissed in my ear: ‘Not yet, you idiot. Wait until the game starts’.”

And now, 50 years after that historic day, all available players are here again at the SCG at the invitation of the Trust to celebrate the anniversary of that captivating win. Once again the players are walking onto the ground, their minds drifting back to that wonderful day in 1969. Once again photographs are being taken.

There’s still a spring in most steps although the years have not always been kind. Len Killeen and Peter Provan have died. David Bolton and five-eighth Keith Outten are battling dementia and cannot attend.

Back to ’69 and Bolton, walking head held high onto 1876

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{ 19 69 G R A N D F I N A L , 5 0 Y E A R S O N }

the SCG on grand final day, knows the territory. He played here with the 1958 and 1962 touring Great Britain sides. Joining Balmain in 1965, he engineered the Tigers’ historic win in 1966 against the touring British.

Davey’s accent is as thick as the fog and mist that descend on his native Lancashire in England’s north, but he gets his message across on the playing field and delights in firm fields and sunshine.

He’s playing half in this grand final, swapping places with Outten, who’s five-eighth so he can mark Souths whiz Denis Pittard — who will win the 1969 Rothmans Medal as the premiership’s best player. It was not unknown for Outten to catch a train to Central station and walk the 20 minutes to the SCG in those less pressurised days.

Just before the kick-off in the grand final, Outten fearlessly states his intentions above the crowd’s roar.

“Don’t run away from me,” he yells at O‘Neill and Sattler. “Run at me. You won’t get through.”

It is a gripping, tense match, as Souths — with 11 internationals and an attack as dangerous as juggling live hand grenades — are held out by a tireless defence.

The Tigers lead 6-nil at half time after two goals from Killeen and a field goal from Bolton. The second half — and the match — turns on a try from replacement winger Sid Williams from a clever Parker pass for 9-nil.

Souths are the draughtsmen of their own demise.

They will not kick on the fourth tackle as convention decrees, so the frequent scrums are in their half and mostly won by Boulton.

At the 50th anniversary get-together, prop Garry Leo drives the momentum of the after-lunch speeches, thanking the Trust for organising the day and praising his gathered teammates for the thrills they contributed on that day in 1969.

Such is the unity of this Balmain side and their pride in the ageless pick-and-stick philosophy of the area, before it became gentrified, that two guests mingle with the team, as much a part of proceedings as if they played. Legendary Balmain statesman and former Kangaroos captain Keith Barnes is there. Arguably the greatest goalkicker of all time, he played in three losing grand final sides before retiring in 1967. He answered a club SOS to return in 1968 and then retired for good. He missed an elusive grand final win by one season.

And winger Paul Cross, a leading try-scorer with the Tigers all season, lost his place in the grand final side to fit in with Nosworthy’s tactics.

The SCG — always historic, always imposing, always majestic and always changing, evolving into a sporting ground keeping pace with the times — was a different place in 1969.

The Hill, famed abode of Yabba and the beating

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Brave hearts: Tigers teammates reunite for the 50-year anniversary of the 1969 NRL grand final.

Picture: Hamilton Lund

heart of the SCG, was not far from the wooden “Bob” stand, named because it used to cost a bob (10 cents) for a seat and other wooden structures that were forerunners of the sweeping and comfortable grandstands of today.

Life was changing, too. Overseas, 1969 was the year of Woodstock and new generations brought social upheaval to light the way to a youthinfluenced future. Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. The rock musical Hair opened in Sydney; anti-war protesters condemned Vietnam. Rebellion crackled through the air in films like Easy Rider as youth clamoured to overturn the old ways.

In its own way, a rebellious Balmain was part of that tumultuous time, at least in Sydney rugby league, refusing to give in to the widespread presumption that a Souths win was preordained, and looking for new ways of doing things with a new voice.

Rugby league is all the richer for that grand final.

The game’s oldest axiom is that a champion team will always beat a team of champions.

Nosworthy expressed similar thoughts when asked by journalists about the chasm between the talent available in the Souths line-up and the much-lesserknowns and tyros in the Tigers.

“Man for man, Souths look better than Balmain,” he conceded. “But team for team, we’re at least their equal.”

Parker said: “The tactics we adopted might not have been entirely in the spirit of the game but they frustrated the hell out of Souths. The further it went the more certain we became that we would beat them.”

For Balmain, it was a last great hurrah in a competition they had joined as a foundation team in 1908. There would be losing grand finals (1988-89) and generally everything after 1969 seemed anticlimactic in a rapidly changing landscape. The area gentrified, the junior league contracted, tougher economic times closed the leagues club — the same leagues club thousands of supporters packed into on grand final night to cheer their heroes. The returning players walked over tiger paws on the footpath and steps, painted by local Olympic legend and club zealot Dawn Fraser.

The grand final win was a last act of heroic dissent by the Tigers as the game became engulfed by new ideas, new clubs, new media controls, and the brutal indignity of the new game created by Super League. Balmain is now a partner in the Wests Tigers franchise.

The traditional gift for a 50th is gold. Memories of that day in 1969 are at least gold-edged.

“I see Johnny Sattler from time to time and I always tell him Balmain had to sit down that day because Souths tackled so hard,” the late club supremo Kevin Humphreys once said. “And he always says Balmain tackled very well that day. And they did.”

Think! About your choices.

Call Gambler’s Help, Gambling Help or the ACT Gambling Counselling & Support Service on 1800 858 858 www.gamblinghelp.nsw.gov.au or www.gamblinghelponline.org.au.

You know the score. Stay in control.

Gamble Responsibly.

HOT TIPS FOR A TOP SUMMER

Ready for the blockbuster summer of international cricket at the SCG? Here are the essential tips for Members

CLUB CARDS

SEAT STICKERS

RESERVED SEATING

Can be used for days four and five of the New Year’s Test and all One-Day and T20 Internationals, Sydney Sixers matches and other domestic fixtures this summer.

Members can claim seats on the usual first-in, firstserved basis by collecting a sticker from customer service staff at the turnstiles. One sticker only is issued to each member and seats cannot be saved for others.

Members have the opportunity to purchase reserved seats for the first four days of the Test, ODI and BBL matches. Reserved seats are available via the membership portal on a next-best-available basis until the allocation is exhausted.

DISABLED SEATING Accessible seating and wheelchair spaces are reserved for members with disabilities. To request a spot in this area, please phone Membership Services on 1800 80 11 55.

50- AND 70-YEAR SEATING Some seating on the lower deck of the Members Pavilion is allocated specifically for our 50-plus-year members.

PASS-OUTS If you need to leave the SCG temporarily during the day, please ensure that you scan your membership card at the turnstiles at Gates A or J so you can scan your card again for entry on your return. Only guest and club cards are transferrable.

Full details on how to book reserved seating were emailed to members in November, along with details of the Members’ Breakfast.

Special seating requests could be made once sales opened, by phoning Membership Services.

Please note that membership subscriptions must be paid before applying for reserved seating.

International cricket: $25. Big Bash: $13 Payment is by credit card only. Please do not apply for reserved seats unless you wish to be allocated one as there are no refunds.

DRESS REGULATIONS

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Rosé on tap.

The Riot way.

Wine on tap is better. Every glass of our wine is as fresh as the next and contains far fewer preservatives than bottled wine.

Not to mention that each tap saves over 23,000 bottles from landfill.

—it’s the Riot way to drink wine.

riotwineco.com.au #riotwineco

L I FLIFESTYLE E ST Y LE

Highland fling HEAD SOUTH OF SYDNEY FOR A WEEKEND AWAY WITH A BUCOLIC DIFFERENCE WORDS: ALEXIA BIGGS

The Bradman Oval and Pavilion.

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n hour and a half’s drive from Sydney, the NSW Southern Highlands are an easy escape from the hustle and bustle of the big city. Lush landscapes are dotted with quaint country towns. Cool-climate vineyards present opportunities for wine tastings and selfies among the vines. Grand, historic estates provide comforting rural accommodation. And the streets of towns such as Bowral and Moss Vale are laced with charming cafes offering cracking food, and a bounty of shops, museums and galleries in which you could lose yourself for days. Here’s what to see, do, taste and buy.

What to do Of course, for cricket lovers, the first stop on any trip to this historic region has to be The Bradman Museum.

Sir Donald Bradman hailed from Bowral and it was here as a child he honed his passion and skill for the game.

The Bradman Museum takes visitors on a fantastic cricketing journey, reliving great moments with rare film footage, photos, cricket trivia and memorabilia.

Set aside two or three hours to pore over the scenic ground and the International Cricket Hall of Fame. See the life-size bronze sculpture of the great man, enjoy a cricket-themed kids’ park, have scones at Stumps Café, and gaze upon the historic Bradman Oval. It’s a perfect intro for those who know nothing about the game, and entirely satisfying also for cricket fanatics.

St Jude St, Bowral

Spectacular waterfalls and national parks are a stone’s throw from any town down this way. Pack a picnic for a day trip to Mt Gibraltar Reserve, the highest point between Sydney and Canberra, which has seven walking tracks to explore in a eucalyptus forest.

Oxley Dr, Mittagong

Then there’s Morton National Park, where you can trek until you reach the scenic Fitzroy Falls, stop at panoramic lookouts and keep an eye (and an ear) out for bowerbirds, lyrebirds, eagles and falcons.

Pauls Pass Walking Track, St George

Started in 1886, Bong Bong Picnic Races is one of the nation’s best country picnic race meetings. Held on the second Wednesday every November, it’s open to members (subscriptions are $35) and their guests. Try scoring an invite to a marquee, or organise a car boot picnic, or sit on the hill. 460 Kangaloon Rd, East Bowral Booklovers can bury themselves in the Berkelouw Book Barn, which is teeming with new, second-hand, rare and antiquarian books. It’s in Berrima’s Bendooley Estate, near the winery.

Bendooley Estate, Old Hume Hwy, Berrima

The Southern Highlands’ largest art gallery is The Milk Factory Gallery, encompassing four galleries and an art and design centre that shows paintings, sculptures, glass, ceramics, fine woodwork and

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Grand escapes: (clockwise from above) Bendooley Estate, Harry’s on Green Lane, Burrawang Village Hotel, The Bradman Museum, Fitzroy Falls.

jewellery. 33 Station St, Bowral Nestled into a bushland setting in Mittagong, Sturt Craft Centre supports Australian artists and designers. It features a gallery, design centre, residency programs and summer and winter schools, plus a design shop where you can pick up contemporary craft.

Corner Range Rd & Waverley Pde, Mittagong

For those who love to decorate, the pick of Moss Vale homewares stores has to be Suzie Anderson Home, which has the whole Hamptons-meets-French Provincial country style zipped up. 409-411 Argyle St, Moss Vale And nearby for plant fanciers, The Green House in Moss Vale (sister to The Potting Shed in Bowral) is in the old Station Master’s Residence, a heritagelisted Victorian home with differently themed rooms.

There’s the Wild Violet Room (a perfumery); the Study (a botanical print shop); the Library (stationery); a plant-based candle studio in the Conservatory; and the Parlour, a boutique selling plant-based textiles (think hemp and linen) in botanical prints.

247 Argyle St, Moss Vale

PICTURE: HILARY CAM

Where to drink The Southern Highlands’ cool climate makes perfect winemaking conditions, and the handful of wineries in the area produce some exceptional drops, particularly pinot noir and pinot gris varieties.

Well-known wineries include Bendooley Estate, near Berrima; the family-run Artemis Wines, and awarded wines from Tertini Wines, both near Mittagong; Centennial Vineyards and Diamond Creek Estate near Bowral; Eling Forest Winery and Southern Highlands Winery near Sutton Forest; and Cuttaway Hill Wines and boutique small-batch winery St Maur Wines near Exeter.

Built in 1834, the Surveyor General Inn is Australia’s oldest continuously licensed inn. Pop in for a great selection of ales. 22 Old Hume Hwy, Berrima Settle in fireside for a glass of wine at Harry’s on Green Lane, a cosy wine bar and restaurant in the Acre precinct in downtown Bowral. 21 Banyette St, Bowral

In the tiny village of Burrawang is a post office, general store and run-of-the-mill-looking pub, Burrawang Village Hotel, which belies the enormous back garden with lush lawns and views overlooking valleys of green fields. It’s so picture-perfect that it’s no wonder they used this region as the location for the movie Babe. Expect classic pub food and wood-fired pizzas, plus there are rooms for staying the night.

14-16 Hoddle St, Burrawang

The Briars Country Lodge, set in an 1827 Georgian inn, is a favourite haunt for locals for its intimate bars and country atmosphere. Find English ale, Irish dry stout, a decent wine list, plus contemporary dining by open fires inside or on the outdoor deck. 653 Moss Vale Rd, Burradoo And if it’s gin you’re after … more than 100 local, imported, vintage, rare and craft gins can be sipped at The Gin Trading Co, part of Bistro Sociale, Bowral’s French-inspired European bistro. 6 David St, Bowral 1876

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Where to eat

Where to stay

For coffee and casual eats, try the seriously chic café/ bespoke stationery store The Press Shop in Bowral, and while there pick up some divine luxury stationery.

Coffee Culture is the front door to Bowral’s Empire Cinema and a must-stop when you’re in town.

It’s owned and operated by longtime SCG member Chris Petersen. Shop 6, 327 Bong Bong For a sublime dining experience, the two-hatted Biota Dining, headed by chef James Viles, is a delight.

Viles is a champion of the paddock-to-plate ethos, with produce collected from hyper-local sources. You can stay overnight at the venue to avoid worrying about the drive back to your hotel. 18 Kangaloon Rd, Bowral Within Peppers Manor House and its charming country setting in Sutton Forest is Katers Restaurant, which focuses on the best local artisan produce, growing its own garden vegetables, herbs and edible flowers to create modern Australian fare. Kater Rd, Sutton Forest Eschalot in Berrima operates from an elegant heritage-listed stone cottage. Expect FrenchAustralian dishes with a menu that changes seasonally.

For traditional country style and five-star hotel facilities, try Milton Park Country House Hotel & Spa. It’s a grand estate with sprawling gardens, an inviting indoor pool and an award-winning day spa.

Breakfast is served in the Conservatory, and single malts, ports and brandies are served for nightcaps in the Polo Bar. 200 Horderns Rd, Bowral Peppers Craigieburn sits on 36ha of beautifully manicured estate gardens and is next to a nine-hole golf course. Guest rooms overlook the gardens, and there’s a large lounge and bar in front of open fires in the cooler months. Centennial Rd, Bowral Minutes from the centre of Bowral, the Berida Hotel has the air of a private English club ­— complete with grass tennis court, elegantly tiled indoor swimming pool, dark timber stained staircases draped in burgundy-coloured Axminster carpet, and newly refurbished suites finished with plush velvet bedheads and gilt-edged decorative freestanding floor mirrors. 6 David St, Bowral Bendooley Estate’s one-, two- and threebedroom timber-clad, rustic and glamorous cottages have bedrooms with high fabric-upholstered bedheads matched with bespoke patterned wallpaper and artworks on the walls. 3020 Old Hume Hwy, Berrima Newcomer the Rift Estate is a grand Victorian Italianate mansion surrounded by established cold-climate gardens. The estate’s original 19th-century stables have been sympathetically converted into the Coach House, with clawfoot baths, cosy fireplaces, underfloor heating and luxe linens to accommodate 13 — so perfect for large groups and families. 8 Carlisle St, Bowral For self-contained options try The Hidden Door, which has stylish cottage and villa accommodation a short walk from Bowral’s town centre.

24 Old Hume Hwy, Berrima

17 Bundaroo St, Bowral

5/391-397 Bong Bong St, Bowral

The delightfully quirky Exeter General Store is the village hub where locals meet and get errands done.

There’s a post office, plus second-hand books, gourmet treats (local jams, olives, honey and artisanal lemonade) and a big selection of cakes, pies and fresh veggies.

1 Exeter Rd, Exeter

Stop in for homemade scones with a dollop of fresh cream at Your Vintage Occasion at Dirty Janes in Bowral. Afterwards find it hard to resist combing through the retro homewares and vintage furniture in the Emporium, or swoon-worthy home, garden and fashion stores outside at The Acre, a collection of market-style stalls all in one spot.

13-15 Banyette St, Bowral

Indulge in exquisite pastries, signature sourdough breads, gourmet tarts and take-home foods at Flour Water Salt, Bowral’s baking powerhouse.

374 Bong Bong St, Bowral

Comfort farms: (clockwise from main image): Letterpress/ The Press Shop, Bendooley Estate rooms, Berida Manor, Bendooley Estate dining.

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24

hours in…

Paddington WORDS: ELIZABETH MERYMENT

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F A L L T H E H IS TOR IC A N D C H A R M I NG S U BU R BS I N S Y DN E Y’S E A S T E R N S U BU R BS, few are as beloved as Paddington. Settled as early as 1803, Paddington has the world’s largest area of intact terrace houses, with rows and rows of these tight-knit homes blanketing the rolling hills from Glenmore Road in the north to Moore Park Road in the south. To walk through the suburb is to observe the quirky, the eclectic and the beautiful, as well as to find a bounty of historical artefacts scattered around every corner. From the remnants of convict-built sandstone structures that litter people’s backyards, to an early reservoir complex lost for a century, Paddington is full of surprises. These days, the focus is less on the famed thoroughfare of Oxford Street; rather, it’s inwards to the quaint micro-villages secreted like treasures throughout the area. Seek out William Street, the Five Ways, the Intersection and the gallery precinct around Hampton Street for a series of unique experiences. And of course, when walking the suburb you’ll need to refuel in any of the local cafes, bars and restaurants. Here’s a guide to a perfect 24 hours.

12pm

SHOP THE FIVE WAYS AND THE INTERSECTION

BARBETTA

9.30am

COFFEE AT BARBETTA Start your day at this charming Elizabeth Street cafe with its distinctive Italian feel. The coffee is consistently great and the pastries satisfying. From your leather banquette the view of the passing parade outside will make you feel deeply cosmopolitan. 2 Elizabeth St

10am

WALK HISTORIC UNDERWOOD STREET From Elizabeth Street, head to Underwood Street and turn west to traverse this gorgeous long street with its unbroken rows of terraces.

Get lost down the higgledy-piggledy laneways and backstreets that stem off Underwood in either direction; but be sure to check out the row of sandstone workers cottages on the corner of Underwood and Union streets, and the 1850s Gothic Revival gingerbread houses nestled between Union and Stafford streets.

11am

VIEW ART IN HAMPTON STREET

LIVERPOOL ST

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From Union Street, take a lazy downhill on Cascade Street to glorious Trumper Oval to find tucked into the back streets a mini gallery precinct. Between Hampton and Roylston streets visit Wagner Contemporary, Australian Galleries, Sarah Cottier Gallery and Martin Browne Contemporary, as well as several beautiful design and warehouses.

Traverse up Glenmore Road to the Five Ways, with its clutch of cafes and boutiques that include Camilla And Marc, LoveDuck, Core Optique and the cute magazine shop Journals, before going full retail at The Intersection. This thriving corner junction between Oxford Street and Glenmore Road is home to one of Sydney’s best shopping precincts, where you’ll find Scanlan Theodore, Mecca, MAC, Ginger & Smart, Camilla, Dion Lee, Zimmermann, Sass & Bide, Jac+ Jack and plenty more.

1pm

LUNCH AT JACKIES Jackie herself may no longer be with us but her namesake cafe powers on. Order from one of two kitchens — one offering a very decent cafe menu, the other a high-end sushi bar menu — and on sunny days enjoy the warm little courtyard position nestled between sandstone walls. 1C Glenmore Rd

3pm

VISIT PADDINGTON RESERVOIR Built in the 1860s for Eastern Sydney’s water needs, Paddington Reservoir went out of service in 1899, was covered over and then lost to society for more than a century, eventually buried under a petrol station. Restoration works this century unveiled a glorious historic treasure. Take the stairs down to the sunken garden to marvel at the remnant archways, aqueducts and tunnels, and stay to lounge on the deckchairs provided.

Entry is free. 251-255 Oxford St

4pm

PIT STOP AT THE IMPERIAL HOTEL Across from the Reservoir find one of Paddington’s grand old pubs. With its red-brick frontage

and ruby-coloured turrets, the Imperial is one of the loveliest of the neighbourhood’s many pubs.

On Test afternoons it does a roaring trade sating the hordes who trundle up the hill from the SCG in search of a cool drink, or three. 252 Oxford St

location put you off. It’s a whole lot of fun, worth discovering. 380

4.30pm

If all the day’s dining hasn’t been quite enough, there’s still time for a sneaky snack at this Oxford Street institution. Beloved of chefs, cabbies and frequenters of pubs, this no-frills diner offers a glorious hotbox of curries, samosas, naan and more. Open until 11pm nightly and 3am on Friday and Saturday nights. 86 Oxford St

WALK OXFORD ST

FIVE WAYS

Even if Oxford Street is no longer the shopping mecca it used to be, parts of the thoroughfare continue to thrive. Between Underwood and Elizabeth streets, find a haven for shoppers with numerous iconic stores — from Country Road to Great Dane — making the strip their home.

6pm

PRE-DINNER DRINK AT 10 WILLIAM STREET

10 WILLIAM ST

FRED’S

Despite its diminutive size, this is one of Sydney’s laneway powerhouses. Let the Italian waiters order for you from the long and absorbing (mostly Italian and largely natural) wine list, while you nibble on some of the city’s best snacks.

The pretzel and whipped bottarga is always a favourite. 10 William St

7.30pm

DINNER AT FRED’S

PADDINGTON RESERVOIR

Stumble a few metres up Oxford Street, then, to Danielle Alvarez’s Fred’s. In a gloriously plush dining room around an open kitchen, Alvarez sends out plates of simple luxury, from grilled King George whiting with curry butter, to a braised shoulder of lamb with roasted carrots. Be sure to book ahead. 380 Oxford St

10pm

TIPPLE AT CHARLIE PARKER’S

WILLIAM ST

MRS BANKS

After dinner head downstairs from Fred’s to this supremely cool, speakeasystyle bar. From the street, you wouldn’t know Charlie Parker’s existed, but don’t let its secretive

Oxford St, entry via Fred’s

10.30pm

INDIAN HOME DINER

11pm

SPEND THE NIGHT AT MRS BANKS This newish boutique hotel, nestled in what for decades was the Commonwealth Bank, is developing a fine reputation for being the place to stay in the neighbourhood. 259 Oxford St

7am

EXPLORE CENTENNIAL PARK After so much fine food, it’s a must to rise early and trot up Oxford Street for a walk through Sydney’s most magnificent parklands. Head through the historic gateways to stride or stroll the 3.7km internal walking track.

It will make you feel alive.

8.30am

BREAKFAST AT PADDINGTON ALIMENTARI Round out your 24 hours at this favourite local cafe.

Tucked away on Hopetoun Street, Alimentari has functioned as either a cafe or a deli for more than a century and is currently the most popular local pitstop for its brilliant coffee, joie de vivre and bulging pastry cabinet.

It will make a perfect finale to a perfect 24 hours. 2 Hopetoun St 1876

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{ FOOD & WINE }

EATEN TRACK Perfect nights out after a day of cricket from the Members Pavilion WORDS: ELIZABETH MERYMENT

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E

very year for the past decade or so, Sydney has been abuzz with the arrival of 10 to 20 hot new restaurants. Not this year.

2019 has been one of the quietest years in recent times for new venues, with restaurateurs seeking time out from turbulent financial waters and a fickle dining public.

Still, the Sydney restaurant scene remains hot.

From cheerful bistros to fancy French brasseries to restaurants where chefs cook exclusively over fire, there’s an option for all takers. Know where to go and you will eat — and drink — brilliantly on these hot summer nights. Here’s where.

If one venue has captured the imagination of Sydney diners more than any other this year, it’s Justin Hemmes’ Totti’s. Tucked into the rear of the Royal Hotel on Bondi Road, Bondi, Totti’s is the Italian-style bistro that every suburb needs. Its success can be partly attributed to its breezy, mix-and-match menu, full of eminently snackable plates of deliciousness — think sliced mortadella, salami or prosciutto, sunny plates of tomato splashed with balsamic and olive oil, salty ricotta and cool melon — matched with heavier Mediterranean dishes of, say, lamb ragu with pappardelle. Then there’s the charm of the venue, with its willowy olive trees and backyard feel soothed by the Bondi breeze that sweeps up the hill, laced with the scent of the Pacific. It’s the perfect spot for a flirty little Aperol Spritz after a long day’s play.

Franca Brasserie, on the other hand, is the French dining experience you didn’t know you needed (but

do). Housed in a grand space elevated from the street in Potts Point, Franca is the place for jewels and high heels, dinner jackets and pressed shirts. You wouldn’t feel out of place in a smoking jacket. For all of the $2.5 million splashed on the fit-out — cash that manifests for the diner in glorious, buttery banquettes and plush velvet chairs, roomy tables on parquetry floors, fine curtains on the windows and art on the walls — Franca is fun rather than stuffy, and the food is surprisingly well priced, with mains largely in the sub-$40 range. Dine on elegant starters that include tuna cru with avocado or a gloriously gelatinous pork jowl with sweet roasted pear; then move on to sirloin with French fries and Béarnaise. It’s so Frenchie, so chic — and if you find yourself indulging in one too many post-match martinis, well, so what?

Closer to the Sydney Cricket Ground, one small restaurant making big noises on the world stage is chef Josh Niland’s Saint Peter. The tiny fish cafe was shortlisted this year in the World Restaurant Awards’ ethical thinking category — deserved recognition for Niland, who takes an obsessive approach to sourcing sustainable seafood. The restaurant itself may be earnestly furnished and inhabiting an old terrace-front shop on Oxford Street, but the plates that emerge from Niland’s kitchen are beautifully prepared seasonal offerings presented with simplicity and elegance.

Down the road at Surry Hills’ Firedoor, a world superpower of cooking is emerging. Chef Lennox Hastie learned his trade at Spain’s famed Etxebarri under Victor Arguinzoniz and has adopted the

Fine form: (clockwise from main image), Franca Brasserie, Lennox Hastie’s $200 steak, fishy business at Saint Peter, Icebergs Dining Room and Bar.

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Easy and breezy (clockwise from above), the Totti’s courtyard, O Tama Carey’s hoppers, tomatoes and ricotta at Totti’s.

same technique of cooking exclusively with fire.

At Firedoor, then, you’ll find a kitchen that runs without electricity, with Hastie preparing his meticulously sourced meat, seafood and vegetables over woodsmoke, charcoal and raw flame. Much has been said about Firedoor’s $200, 199-day dry-aged Blackmore wagyu steak, as exceptional a piece of meat as you might experience, but a newly introduced $150 chef’s menu offered over 10 rollicking courses manages to thrill, enthral and delight.

For an easy and enjoyable option, Woollahra’s revitalised Hotel Centennial is quietly emerging as a favourite Eastern Suburbs hotspot. At once comfortable yet sophisticated, Hotel Centennial is overseen by a pair of culinary talents in Ben Greeno (who also runs The Paddington) and Danielle Alvarez (Fred’s — see our guide to Paddington on page 54). Dine on quality bistro dishes such as duck sausages, confit yellowfin tuna or John Dory with butterbeans and confit lemon. The service is slick and the room a delight.

A N D I F T H AT’S NOT E NOUGH, T RY …

Eliza Food & Wine. This chic bistro of chef Jeremy Bentley (ex-The Devonshire, Surry Hills) moved into a formerly tired space on Victoria Street, Darlinghurst, and immediately challenged thinking that dining in this part of town was dead. Bentley produces a very satisfying English/French bistro menu, with charming service in a sweet corner space.

Lankan Filling Station. Chef O Tama Carey does a mighty line in modern Sri Lankan cuisine at this slim East Sydney location. Start with superb hoppers offered with a variety of delightful sambals and move

on to enticing curries and very moreish sub-continental snacks that may include fried crab cakes or beef rolls.

Icebergs Dining Room and Bar. Even after 17 years, this quintessential Sydney venue remains at the top of its game, staunchly looking out over our most famous beach through fair weather and foul.

Go for chef Monty Koludrovic’s intelligent modernItalian food, or just pop in for a drink at the bar with the best view in the world.

The Dolphin Hotel. If a cold beer and a chicken schnitty is more your style, head down the hill from the SCG to this reinvented Crown Street, Surry Hills, pub for a schnitty with a difference. Sup on schnitzel done Italian-style (with lemon cheeks, guanciale and fried sage) or Sydney’s best caesar salad, or perhaps a Roman-style pizza.

The Paddington. Chicken and chips is rarely more satisfying, or fun, than it is at The Paddington.

This cheerful Oxford Street pub has received a very modern facelift but the spirit of good times remains.

Find cheering salads and bowls of fries, whole fish and cold beverages… everything for a satisfying good time after a long, hot day in the Members.

Azure Cafe’s new home in the Entertainment Quarter is the perfect place to start your morning after the gym, or to catch-up for excellent coffee throughout the day. There’s also great bacon-and-egg rolls and other welcome snacks at outstanding prices.

Black Star Pastry. For a classic Sydney afternoon pick-me-up, this seminal cafe/patisserie is now located handily near the SCG, inside the Entertainment Quarter. If you haven’t tried the signature watermelon cake, with its layers of watermelon, sponge, and rosewater cream, now’s the time.

THE LIST Totti’s 283 Bondi Rd, Bondi; merivale.com/venues/tottis; Franca Brasserie 2/81 Macleay St, Potts Point; francabrasserie.com.au; Saint Peter 362 Oxford St, Paddington; saintpeter.com.au; Firedoor 23-33 Mary St, Surry Hills; firedoor.com.au; Hotel Centennial Corner Oxford St and Victoria Ave, Woollahra; merivale.com/venues/hotelcentennial; Eliza Food & Wine 247 Victoria St, Darlinghurst; elizafoodandwine.com; Lankan Filling Station 58 Riley St, East Sydney; lankanfillingstation.com.au; Icebergs Dining Room & Bar 1 Notts Ave, Bondi Beach; idrb.com; The Dolphin Hotel 412 Crown St, Surry Hills; dolphinhotel.com.au; The Paddington 384 Oxford St, Paddington; merivale.com.au/venues/thepaddington; Black Star Pastry Entertainment Quarter, 210 Bent St, Moore Park; blackstarpastry.com; Azure Entertainment Quarter, Shop 5a, Building 205, 122 Lang Rd, Moore Park; azurecafe.com.au

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{ WINE }

Long innings WINE AND CRICKET MAKE A GREAT PARTNERSHIP, ONE THAT HAS HISTORIC ROOTS AT THE SYDNEY CRICKET GROUND WORDS: PHILLIP HEADS

SUMMER DROPS At the cricket 2018 HUNTER VALLEY CHARDONNAY A medium-bodied drop that displays all the characteristics that the world loves about Hunter Valley chardonnay.

An ideal companion to a day’s cricket, particularly as the sun sets behind the Members Pavilion.

At home for a special occasion 2014 VAT 1 SEMILLON One of the great Australian wines, with a record and pedigree that is all but unmatched. Vat 1 is one of those rare wines that makes any occasion celebratory.

Three generations of the Tyrrell family have had an association with the Sydney Cricket Ground, stretching back to the early 1990s when a handshake agreement gave the winery the rights to sell its wine at Sydney’s original home of sport.

Tyrrell’s had been wine sponsors of the then Australian Cricket Board and it was natural that one of NSW’s most-loved wineries should have a presence at its favourite sporting ground. The Murray Tyrrell Bar in the Members Pavilion is one of the few areas that carry the name of someone other than an elite sportsperson.

It was built from repurposed material from the pavilion’s original Long Bar and in 1990 was named in honour of the “Mouth of the Hunter”.

It bears that name in recognition of Murray’s contribution to his industry, his state and a cricket ground that he dearly loved. It also marks the family’s contribution to, passion for, and support of, cricket, rugby league and the other sports played at the grounds.

A Tyrrell family member has always run the SCG account; first Murray, then his son Bruce

and now Bruce’s daughter, Jane.

The Hunter Valley family’s history is nearly as long as that of the SCG. It was in 1858 when Edward Tyrrell acquired a prime parcel of Hunter Valley agricultural land in the shadows of the Brokenback Range.

Just six months or so earlier, the SCG’s founders — the 11th North Devon Regiment — had marched out of Victoria Barracks to Circular Quay, bound for England. Their everlasting gift to the colony was the Garrison Ground, established in 1854.

The SCG exists, as former chairman Rodney Cavalier would say, to serve the glory of sport.

Particularly, it serves the glory of NSW sport — providing the home venue for the best sportspeople our state produces.

Similarly, the SCG exists to showcase the best of NSW to the many overseas visitors that attend our events.

Tyrrell’s very much qualifies among the best of NSW. Prior to joining the SCG, Phillip Heads spent more than two decades in newspapers unsuccessfully trying to convince his editors that he should be given the golf and wine writing rounds.

GYM SESSION

CHARLOTTE CASLICK GUEST TRAINER O

ne look at Charlotte Caslick in the flesh is enough to dispel any notion that female athletes aren’t the equal of their male counterparts. Built strong, rippling with muscle and, on the day we photograph her, wearing a cloak of bruises and scratches after a particularly physical training session, Caslick is the epitome of tough. The star of the Australian Women’s Rugby Sevens team, with a Rio 2016 Olympics gold medal and a Medal of the Order of Australia in her trophy cabinet, the 24-year-old Queenslander knows her way around a fitness session. She does four to five gym sessions a week, usually for about an hour at a time, on top of her usual team training sessions. Here Caslick runs us through her series of fitness exercises, from warm up to warm down — a routine designed to build strength, resilience and general fitness.

PICTURES: GREGG PORTEOUS

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BAND SIDESTEP Place band above ankles. Bend your knees, activate your glutes.

Start feet hip-width apart, then big step sideways, back to starting position, then little step. 8 reps on one side, then change.

8 EACH SIDE x 3

BAND UPPER BODY ROW Bands between wrists, bend forward.

Pull hands up to chest, squeezing the back of your shoulders together 1–2–3x8

BAND SQUATS Bend your knees and push your butt back to lower into a squat. Push knees against band. Repeat.

UP AND DOWN x 3

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BALL LUNGES

STAR JUMPS

Stand with feet a step apart.

Bend both knees, lowering your body. Holding medicine ball in front of you, twist from your waist.

Complete all reps one side then change.

3 SETS x 10 REPS

EACH SIDE 3 SETS x 6 REPS

SKIPPING ROPE Cardio work 2 MINUTES

DUMBBELL LEANING LATERAL RAISE Lean forward.

Raise 8kg dumbbells out to the side.

Halfway stop.

Repeat.

3 SETS x 6 REPS

DUMBBELL LATERAL RAISE Raise 8kg dumbbells out to the side.

Stop halfway, extend to above shoulders.

3 SETS x 6 REPS

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BOX JUMP From standing position, jump and land on box.

SUPER SET 3 ONLY

SQUATS

LUNGES

With bar on your upper back, and feet shoulder-width apart, squat by pushing knees to the side and moving hips back.

Squat until hips are lower than your knees. Rise up.

Begin in a splitstance lunge position, resting the bar on your shoulders. Brace your core, keeping your upper body straight. Lunge down so your front knee is 90°.

Rise up.

6 SETS x 3 REPS

EACH SIDE x 8 REPS

CHIN-UPS 4 SETS x 5 REPS

DUMBBELL SHOULDER PRESS Bend to one knee.

With the arm holding the dumbbell on the same side, extend upwards.

3 SETS x 6 REPS 1876

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{ A ROU N D T H E GROU N D }

Days and nights to remember at the SCG The Sydney Cricket Ground has hosted several fantastic events for members this year.

On September 15, members of the legendary Balmain Tigers 1969 grand final-winning team met for lunch at the ground, reliving old memories of that glorious day 50 years ago when the team upset the highly fancied Souths. Many Balmain greats from the time attended, including Garry Leo, Keith Barnes and Paul Cross.

Also in September, His Royal Highness, Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, visited the ground to appoint the SCG as a Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award employee. At a reception, Prince Edward met sports stars including rugby league’s Ruan Sims and Sydney FC’s Alex Wilkinson.

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VEGGIE VEGAN

KALE & CHICKPEA

Make sure you try some of the delicous new options available throughout the SCG

TRUFFLE & PARMESAN TATER TOTS

THAI BEEF SALAD - YAM NUA

CHICKEN POPS IN A BOX

L

{ J A N UA RY 3, 2003 }

WHERE I WAS WHEN …

As an almost broken Steve Waugh took to the crease in the fifth Ashes Test at the SCG in 2003, Neil Breen found himself on a beach a long way from the action, but gripped by one of the greatest days in Australian sport 66

www.sydneycricketground.com.au

iving a mere kilometre from the Sydney Cricket Ground, it’s strange that my favourite memory of the magnificent venue occurred when I was 1100km away.

It was January 3, 2003.

I’d been watching the cricket all day; it was Day 2 of the fifth and final Ashes Test. Australia had already won the series, but a major subplot had developed. At 37, skipper Steve Waugh’s celebrated career was on the ropes.

He’d been banished from the one-day side, and selectors had gone public saying they could no longer guarantee his place in the Test team. Waugh’s Ashes campaign had produced only two half-centuries.

He strode to the crease with Australia at 3/56. England had scored 362. It was tailor-made for a backs-to-the-wall Waugh effort.

If he failed, he was gone.

I watched for a while as he scrapped around, compiling a score and doing nothing spectacular.

The tension from the ground oozed through the television screen.

My wife and I decided to head to Noosa Main Beach for an afternoon swim. I took my little transistor radio. Sitting on the sand, we listened as Waugh stood his ground ...

At drinks in the last session, he is 47 not out. There is only an hour left to play before stumps. Hopes are he’ll survive the day.

Suddenly, he starts hitting boundaries… then more boundaries.

As he hits them, cheering erupts from Noosa Surf Club, confusing the thousands on the beach who wonder what the fuss is about.

The ABC commentary team starts talking about the chance of a century before stumps.

As the overs trickle away, Waugh climbs to 70. Then 80. Then 90.

Adam Gilchrist is at the other end.

The din from the surf club gets louder and louder.

By now it is too late to make it home to watch on TV. So we sit there on our towels, listening.

It’s the most thrilling cricket we’ll ever hear.

With one over to go, Waugh is on 95. Richard Dawson, for England, is bowling off-spinners.

Waugh blocks the first one back.

A mixture of “oooh” and “ohhh” rises from the surf club. The second and third balls bring the same result: blocks down the pitch. More “ooohs” and “ohhhs”.

Off the fourth ball, Waugh belts one and for a moment I can’t figure out what has happened because the roar drowns out the radio commentary. Eventually I realise Waugh has run three and is 98 not out at the non-striker’s end, with two balls to stumps.

Gilchrist, for his part, delivers, hitting a single off the fifth ball.

Massive roar. Waugh is now on strike: one ball left, two runs for the century.

On the beach, families and groups of people are standing facing the clubhouse, wondering what’s happening.

Dawson strolls in and puts one outside off stump. Waugh slaps it through the off side for four.

The surf club erupts. I start telling those nearby that Waugh has scored a century off the last ball of the day.

The news is elatedly relayed from group to group across the sand.

Spontaneous applause breaks out; beachgoers are facing the surf club clapping. Complete strangers are celebrating together and the people in the club are going berserk.

As the years roll on, I have never regretted not seeing it live on TV or at the ground. Instead, I saw what the century — and what Steve Waugh the cricketer — meant to the general public.

I have told Waugh this story and he has said in return that everywhere he goes people tell him similar stories about that day. Where they were. What was happening. Their reactions.

We weren’t alone on Noosa beach that afternoon. The whole country was together.

A perfect day.

The SCG — always historic, always imposing, always majestic and always changing — is now evolving into a sporting ground keeping pace with the times. { R AY C H E S T E R T O N , PA G E 42 }

PICTURE: HAMILTON LUND

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