Cricket community backs McGrath Foundation

By Tim Howard

The Clarence River Cricket Association has been able to donate more than $1700 to cancer charity the McGrath Foundation after the association’s Pink Stumps Day.

The carnival of T20 cricket was held at the McKittrick Park complex in South Grafton on December 21 and featured some stunning cricket as well as great support from the cricket community.

CRCA president Anthony Dickson thanked the clubs who played and those who came to support the event.

“We think it was a successful day, we hope all who came down and supported the event had a great time socialising and watching some great cricket,” he said.

“With donations, the barbecue and the raffles we raised a total of $1726.80.

“That money will go to the McGrath Foundation to support those individual’s  and their families who are impacted by breast cancer.

“We thank all the local businesses and members who dug deep and gave generously to support a great cause.”

Dickson also thanked the local businesses who dug deep to provide prizes for the raffles held at the ground during the carnival.

They were:

• Content Stone
• The Book Warehouse Grafton
• Naeco Blue Seafoods
• Dan Murphy’s
• @ Bunnings Grafton
• Horseshoehooky
• @harveyjewellersgrafton
• South Grafton Ex Servicemens Club
• Full Function Remedial Therapy
• Sportspower Grafton

The McGrath Foundation raises money to fund McGrath Breast Care Nurses in communities across Australia and invests in their professional development to ensure people with breast cancer receive the highest standard of care.

The foundation has 233 McGrath breast care nurses, who help people and their families experiencing breast cancer by offering medical expertise, clinical care and psychosocial support, for free.

From the time of diagnosis and throughout treatment, the foundation’s nurses are available to help.

So far more than 143,000 families have been supported since 2005, but the foundation looks to build on that record.

More nurses are needed to meet the growing rate of breast cancer diagnosis in Australia.

McGrath Foundation nurses work across Australia including many regional and rural centres, where breast cancer treatment and support may be harder to reach.

The McGrath Foundation has become one Australia’s most recognised and respected charities since Jane and Glenn McGrath’s very public experience with breast cancer.

When Jane was diagnosed with cancer for a second time, she had the support of a breast care nurse, who both empowered and comforted her, and her family.

This experience set the mission for the foundation, which has become an enduring commitment: to ensure every family experiencing breast cancer has the support of a Breast Care Nurse, no matter where they live – for free.

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Cricket reduced to one dayers

By Tim Howard

The Clarence Valley’s first grade cricketers get a chance of playing one day cricket on Saturday after rain washed out the first day of the first game of 2025.

The shortened format can suit some teams and hamper others, but most interest remains on the clash between South Services/Westlawn and Lawrence at Ulmarra Showground.

Souths Westlawn tops the competition table while Lawrence is in third spot and looking to improve its position.

Lawrence had the best of the corresponding game at the start of the season when we weather enabled Souths/Westlawn to secure a draw despite being well behind in the game.

The shortened format should not affect the barn storming Harwood outfit which has been in devastating form in the first half of the season.

Easts left arm spinner David Bruton-Duroux is one of the players his team needs to perform to lift them further up the CRCA competition ladder.

Despite trailing Souths/Westlawn, they have been the form team of the season, boasting century makers in Coby Tabor – with two – and Adrian Turner as well as match-winning legspinner Jacob McMahon, who already has 30 wickets for the season.

Harwood line up against Coutts Crossing at Lower Fisher Turf on Saturday and it is hard to predict anything but another big win for the premiers.

It’s hard to believe that GDSC Easts and Tucabia Copmanhurst are battling each other to get off the bottom of the table at Ellem Oval, Grafton.

Both are fairly recent premiers in the CRCA first grade competition and have a wealth of talent in their playing ranks.

Easts all-round Shannon Connor is one player who has not disappointed this year, but needs more support from the rest of the team.

For Tucabia it’s a matter of getting the best players on the paddock week in, week out.

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Classic Ashes Series

By The Sportzologist

Although Australia were victorious in the Border-Gavasker Trophy, winning the series 3-1, India’s premier fast-bowler Jasprit Bumrah, was an unstoppable force against Australia this summer.

The way that Bumrah dominated our batsmen, reminded me how Englands John Snow did a similar dismantling operation for his country on the infamous Ashes tour of 1970-71.

As a wide eyed eleven-year-old, I was able to watch this series on television, as this was the first time our national broadcaster the ABC, had provided ball by ball coverage of Test cricket, albeit in ghostly, grainy black and white, filmed with a solitary camera behind the bowler from only one end.

John Snow, who had reinvented his action in his mid-twenties, became a bowler of genuine speed and with his habit of targeting batsmen with short deliveries, he found the pace and bounce of Australian pitches much to his liking.

Snow’s aggressive and hostile bowling, which had all the Australian batsmen ducking and weaving, was a decisive factor in England winning back the Ashes by a 2-0 margin.

The Sussex fast-bowler, finished with 31 wickets at 22.83, the best return by an England bowler in Australia, since Harold Larwood’s 33 wickets at 19.51 in the 1932-33 Bodyline series.

By winning that series, Ray Illingworth became the only English captain, to win the Ashes in Australia without losing a match, in a series of five Tests or more. Also, in another rare occurrence, England did not receive one single LBW decision from the Australian umpires, during the six completed Tests matches.

Australian opener Keith Stackpole, through his powerful stroke play, was the only batsman to weather the snowstorm. If the first ball of a Test match was there to be hit, then Stackpole’s solid frame would launch into it.

In the series, Stackpole accumulated 627 runs at 52.25 with a top score of 207, however, that 207 scored in the first Test at the Gabba, was clouded in controversy when he was not given runout on 18, by Australian umpire Lou Rowan.

Stackpole, who was a master of the hook and cut shots, was the first aggressive opener I saw and he set the blueprint for Australian players like Michael Slater, Matthew Hayden and David Warner to follow.

In a controversial move by selectors, 36-year-old Victorian opener Ken Eastwood, on the back of 737 runs in the Sheffield Shield at an average of 122.83, was selected to replace the incumbent Australian captain Bill Lawry, for the historic seventh and final Test at Sydney.

Lawry was reportedly told of his sacking from the captaincy and Test side by a radio broadcast, as the Australian selectors headed by Sir Donald Bradman, apparently couldn’t get in touch with him.

In this his one and only Test for Australia, Eastwood scored just 5 and 0, however, in an error by officials he has two baggy green caps. In an interview many years later Eastwood stated, “They gave me two caps to try on for size, and nobody asked for the other one back, so it stayed in my bag.”

Famously the third Test of this series at Melbourne was washed out without a ball being bowled, resulting in the hasty arrangement of the first One Day International (ODI) on the scheduled fifth day, January 5, 1971.

The 40 eight ball over a side match attracted 46,000 spectators through the MCG gates to watch Australia defeat England comfortably by five wickets on the same ground they had won the first Test match in 1877.

With England having to win the 1970-71 series to take possession of the Ashes, the final result was in doubt till the last session of the seventh Test.

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Baseball Returns to Tweed with New Arkinstall Park Facilities

By Robert Heyward

Baseball enthusiasts in the Tweed can rejoice as the sport makes its long-awaited return with the completion of new facilities at Arkinstall Park in Tweed Heads South. The state-of-the-art facilities include two baseball diamonds and training fields, offering the community the opportunity to enjoy baseball locally for the first time in years.

This exciting development was made possible through a $325,000 grant to the Northern Rivers Baseball Association from the NSW Government’s Stronger Country Communities Fund (Round 5), with the project reaching completion in July 2024.

The Northern Rivers Baseball Association, which caters to players aged 4 to 15 through competitions such as T-ball, rookie ball, and little league, is thrilled about the new opportunities these facilities provide.

Tweed Shire Council Manager of Parks and Active Communities, Murray Smith, shared the enthusiasm:

“It’s a fantastic feeling to deliver something entirely new for the Tweed community. The Northern Rivers Baseball Association has worked tirelessly to make this facility a reality, and we are delighted to have partnered with them to bring baseball back to the Tweed,” Mr. Smith said.

Arkinstall Park continues to evolve as a hub for community sport, with additional projects underway to support the growing needs of local residents.

Soccer Field Lighting Upgrade

Soccer players at Arkinstall Park now benefit from cutting-edge, energy-efficient LED lighting. The upgrades included replacing halogen lights with LEDs on three fields, complemented by a new automated lighting control system.

The project was funded with $319,811 from the NSW Government’s Regional Sports Facility Fund, with Tweed Shire Council contributing $10,000.

These fields serve the Tweed United Football Club, which boasts over 500 members across junior, men’s, and women’s leagues. The energy-efficient lighting will deliver up to 40% in cost and energy savings, aligning with Council’s Sports Field Strategy and its broader commitment to reducing emissions and fostering sustainability.

New Operator for Arkinstall Park Regional Tennis Centre

Tennis and pickleball players will see fresh opportunities at the Arkinstall Park Regional Tennis Centre, now operated by Voyager—a leading racquet sports organisation with a track record in managing facilities across Sydney, Melbourne, and Singapore.

Voyager’s diverse programs cater to players of all ages and skill levels, with their operations beginning at the centre in December 2024.

Netball Amenities Building Enhances Facilities

Netballers at Arkinstall Park are also celebrating the completion of a new $825,000 amenities building, finished in November 2024, just in time for the 2025 season.

The project was funded through a combination of grants from the Stronger Country Communities Fund ($400,000), the Female Friendly Community Sport Facilities and Lighting Program ($225,000), and Tweed Shire Council ($200,000).

Investing in Active Recreation

The upgrades at Arkinstall Park underscore Tweed Shire Council’s dedication to providing top-tier sports facilities for the community. These projects are part of Council’s broader Tweed Shire Sport and Active Recreation Strategy, aimed at fostering active and sustainable lifestyles.

For more information on Council’s initiatives, visit here.

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Cricketers look to woo Lady Luck

By Tim Howard

Clarence cricketers return to action on Saturday with an eye to booking finals action when March rolls around.

The key match first up is the clash between competition leading South Services/Westlawn and Lawrence at Ulmarra Showground.

Souths/Westlawn has ridden its luck all the way to the top of the table from game one of the season, when it escaped with a washed out draw against Saturday’s opponent.

While the escape has become symptomatic of Souths/Westlawn’s season, the dose of bad luck that accrues when your opposition is eight down and 100 behind and it’s raining, has stuck with Lawrence all season.

Beaten comfortably in last season’s grand final, the Lawrence outfit, containing a number of former Harwood players, including skipper Nathan Ensbey, started the season aiming at nothing less than a rematch.

The second game went to plan, crushing Tucabia Copmanhurst 100 runs to spare, but a wet November and a devastating loss, just avoiding outright defeat at the hands of premiers Harwood wasn’t part of the script.

For Souths/Westlawn the good luck has turned into good cricket as results and fortune combined.

Wet weather has been their friend on more than one occasion, with Souths/Westlawn securing a win while other teams were washed out or had rain interfere with the chances for outright points.

But it would be churlish to put the team’s good position down to chance.

As the season has progressed, a couple of clinical wins shone out, although it was unfortunate that one of the washed out games was the much-awaited clash with Harwood.

Dylan Cleaver has been opening the batting and already has a match-winning century under his belt in that position.

Harwood leg spinner Jacob McMahon has 30 wickets at the halfway point of the season and is one of a number of match winners in the team, on track to defend its premiership this season.

Opening bowler Adrian Boyd returned after missing earlier games and has been important with wickets and his lower order hitting regularly provides handy runs.

And veteran opening bowler Nathan Blanch has been in vintage form taking wickets and keeping runs tight.

It’s hard to predict anything but shellacking for Coutts Crossing when they meet Harwood at Lower Fisher Turf.

In round one this game provided a detailed preview of the Harwood game plan.

A brutal assault, including the first of two centuries to Coby Tabor, netted 8/254.

Then Harwood unleashed leg spinner Jacob McMahon onto the 2024/25 season.

In Coutts first innings he snared 7/15 and a further two wickets in the second as Coutts just staved off an outright loss.

Harwood has turned their leggie into a wicket taking machine, with 30 for the season so far, despite missing some opportunities due to rain.

The only missing part in the Harwood game plan has been a failure to convert dominant positions into outright wins.

Three times so far this season Harwood has been two wickets or less away from an outright win and a spot on top of the competition ladder.

Failure to get some of its best players onto the field has cost both GDSC Easts and Tucabia Copmanhurst dearly this season.

Easts all rounder Aaron Macfadyen is a match winner and showed how important he was to the team during the early games of the season.

Similarly Tucabia misses its left-arm quickie Brad Chard, who has not played a lot of cricket so far this season.

Both teams are languishing at the foot of the table, but have relatively recent premierships under their belts.

Easts all rounder Shannon Connor hit a purple patch just before Christmas with blistering ton to back up a stack of wickets.

He holds the East attack together with long spells of accurate medium fast bowling and when his batting comes off, it’s spectacular.

Left-arm spinner Dave Bruton-Duroux is another key player for Easts, capable of tight spells and big wickets.

Tucabia’s ever green Matt Pigg continues to defy Father Time, bowling long spells and scoring valuable runs.

These players will need to perform as both these teams try to climb off the bottom of the ladder.

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