Bundaberg Veterans Cricket Wide Bay Over 60s players took to Kendalls Flat on Saturday for the first time since COVID-19 restrictions came in to play.
Bundaberg Veterans Cricket Wide Bay Over 60s took on the Over 60s team from the Sunshine Coast in a 45 over match.
Bundaberg Veteran Cricket president Kevin Pratt said the veteran cricket season would normally go from March through to September, and although a number of the games and trips away had been cancelled the players were excited to be playing again.
“Before the COVID-19 started Vets Cricket was the fastest growing sport in Australia,” he said.
“Over 70s were the first, then they brought in the Over 60s and then they brought in Over 50s.
“It’s a great opportunity and a lot of the older guys are coming back. As I like to say, all because you have walked away from cricket at Salters Oval doesn’t mean your career is finished.
“Vets Cricket gives you another opportunity to get out and keep playing – and we are not playing for sheep stations!”
Kevin, who been president for quite a few years, said when it came to playing Bundaberg Veteran Cricket there was more to it than seeing who could hit the most runs.
“It’s about the camaraderie, we do play 40 overs but it’s a social thing for us,” Kevin said.
“We have been around since the first game in 2001.
“It’s about the opportunity to play cricket, have a good time and join in with some of the older players and experience the camaraderie – it’s all about the enjoyment of the game.”
Kevin said there were players who hadn’t played cricket since high school who were able to step out on to the pitch and play cricket as if they had never stopped.
“The muscle memory is still there, and they are playing cricket like they were back at high school more than 30 years ago,” he said.
“It’s all about having fun and we hope to get another game in before the end of the season, and we will wait and see what is happening with all the COVID-19 stuff.”
Bundaberg Veteran Cricket Patron Jim Deem took the opportunity to get out of the house to watch a game of sport in person.
“It’s a beautiful day for it and it's good to be back,” Jim said.
“We have a great complex here, and who would have thought 50 years ago that we would have something like this.”
Results:
Sunshine Coast Over 60s made 9/145 from 45 overs, and in reply Wide Bay Over 60s were 8/148 from 42 overs.
Man of the Match
Wide Bay: Ian Laycock
Sunshine Coast: Bryan Hurst
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