Mr GC's Guest Blog - What School Cricket Means To Me
Mr GC's Guest Blog - What School Cricket Means To Me
I completed Year 12 in 2011 at St Patrick's College, Shorncliffe. St Patrick's or St Pat's as it is affectionately known, is a member of the Associated Independent Colleges (AIC), a collection of eight private schools that along with the Greater Public Schools (GPS), houses the majority of boys that are lucky enough to receive a private school education in Brisbane. Perhaps the culmination of every private schoolboy's time at a particular college is their chance to play 1st's in whatever their chosen sport is. For me, this was cricket. This was partly due to my severe lack of skill on the rugby field (3rd XV 2011 flyhalf and skipper, don't feel intimidated), but that's a story for another day. To tell the story of my journey through grade five to twelve, it is important to look back at where it all began.
I began at St Pat's in 2004, year five. I had played a season of club cricket prior to commencing at the school and was happy to play but had never given the sport much thought at all. Upon arrival at the school, that all changed. In my first ever "Spirit Assembly", in which the First XI boys were presented with their caps on stage in front of the entire school, I knew that one day I wanted to be apart of that. It was all anyone could talk about at school for the rest of that day, and I signed up to play cricket in first term. I made the 5A's (no idea how... I could barely play a single shot on the off-side) and we went on to win six of our seven games that season. The mates that I made in this first St Pat's team are mates I still have today. That's what makes school cricket so great.
We went from dreamers of 1st XI premiership glory in year five through to nearly achieving that dream in year twelve. A fifteen run loss to Marist College, Ashgrove, costing us our chance of becoming the first St Patrick's team to hold up the trophy outright in AIC history. After rolling them for 150, we choked. That's still a touchy subject actually... Yet, it's not what really matters to me. I still remember being chaired off after scoring my first 50 in Grade 5 at Brisbane Boys College, holding my Gray Nicolls Phoenix that was three sizes too big for me aloft. I still remember one of my best mates taking the greatest catch I have ever seen, live or on television, against Villanova in my first year of First XI cricket in Grade 11. And I still remember the Friday's spent talking about our opponent the next day, followed by the Monday's spent dissecting the win/loss.
Getting the chance to play two years in the 1st's was a dream, but playing in that 2011 year with ten of my best mates was truly superb. That's what makes private school cricket great. So good luck on the weekend in Round 1, take the bat you bought from us here at GCCC and do yourself proud.
More about Sam:
For those of you that don't know me (99.9% of you reading this), my name is Sam Phillips and I'm a casual employee of our Albion store in Brisbane, with my other priority being the completion of my Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Queensland.
Catch more or Sam’s work at www.thesportshead.com
Heres a great video about getting English School cricketers to play at Lords