12 Dec 2006
Where It All Began
Bill Gilchrist (my grandfather - we called him "Pa")) was a cricket fanatic. He loved the game, and played it whenever he could. Pa first learned about the game when he was only a teenager, living with his family in Earlwood, Sydney. Pa's father, mother and sister Joan had a regular tennis afternoon with some neighbours, but he soon arranged for a substitute tennis player so that he could go off with some mates into a vacant paddock to play cricket.A rabbit trapper and kangaroo shooter during the Second World War, Pa and his family travelled to central New South Wales, and into South-Western Queensland, where opportunities to play were rare. My father, Stan, remembers the first time he saw cricket as a gathering of farmers, trappers and labourers on a clay-pan near Dirranbandi, with a pitch levelled by a Ferguson tractor and blade, and an old coir mat pegged out over the pitch. His father (my grandpa), opened the bowling and the ball jumped up and hit the opposing batsman on the nose, sending blood over the coir mat. (Dad often says that there must be cricket in the blood of the Gilchrists!
After moving to Bukkulla, near Inverell in New South Wales, Pa settled into regular cricket every summer in the Inverell competition, and sons Stan (my dad) and Uncle Jack learned their love of the game on the red-dirt pitch that Pa had made in the paddock beside the house - surrounded by chicken wire as a crude net.
Dad and Uncle Jack played all through school, then went on to reasonable levels as country cricketers. Dad enjoyed several tours as a member of the Emu Club (first representative club of Dougie Walters, Rick McCosker and Johnny Gleeson), then played for ten years in Sydney grade cricket.
Whilst Dad was playing in country areas, being moved around as a teacher, his children Jacki, Dean, Glenn and I all developed a passion for the game. Jacki was the first woman to ever play cricket in the Deniliquin area (home of Simon O'Donnell), whilst we boys played many levels of representative cricket. Dean represented New South Wales at Under 17 years level, but Glenn progressed even further in athletics and soccer than in cricket, reaching senior representation for Wollongong Wolves during his training as a Physical Education teacher.
My mum, June, spent many hundreds of hours throwing balls for me to hit and catch while the older kids were away at school. A former representative squash player, mum knew the value of practice and enthusiasm, and she certainly passed that on to me.
My first representation came as captain of the Deniliquin South Primary School team which was the first country school to win the Taber Shield, a statewide competition for primary schools. I then captained New South Wales in the interstate primary schools competition and over the following years, played at every level for my state, and eventually for my country.
Humble beginnings, to be sure, but it just goes to show what passion and dedication can do. I really believed that I could make it to Test cricket level, and you should look at your level of skill and commitment if you would like to become a better player.
To see some pictures of the beginnings of cricket in the Gilchrist family, click here and look in the "Where the Dreams Began" section of the Photos.
