Sport Lived Boys Racking Up The Big Runs!

Sport Lived’s cricketers in Australia and New Zealand have been racking up some big scores for their respective clubs in recent weeks.  Our latest centurion is Craig Wallace who scored a swashbuckling 127. 

Craig's stressful life in Oz!

Craig, from Aberdeen, has made terrific progress with his club in Melbourne.  Craig started the season playing for his club’s 4th team and is now playing in their 2nd team in Melbourne’s Premier District Competition.

We hope to report more success shortly.

Sport Lived XI 20/20 Match in Melbourne

Aussie Rules champ and mentor, Mathew Pell, recently organised a 20/20 match between a Sport Lived XI and Croydon Cricket Club in Melbourne. Here’s a recap of the hugely successful game:

SL Opening Pair Matthew Jackson and Alex Groucott

Sport Lived Captain Robin Irving from Winchester won the toss and elected to bat and put some runs on the board. Alex Groucott and Matthew Jackson opened for the Sport Lived XI and got the team off to a steady start before Jackson was caught.  This brought Scot Craig Wallace to the crease.  Craig produced a sublime innings of 97 where he dazzled the opposition with some destructive hitting which included five sixes and seven fours.   Craig was ably supported by Will Sach from Birmingham, who was clearly a crowd favourite, and Shamit Nathwani from Middlesex who helped Sport Lived reach a very respectable total of 157, a total the team were confident of defending.

Captain Irving opened the bowling with quicks David Nicholson and William Sach hoping to take early wickets and put Croydon under some pressure. However both openers were severely dealt with by the Croydon opening pair which included Alex Hales, the Croydon overseas professional, who recently represented England U19 and signed a two year contract with Nottinghamshire CCC. However the Sport Lived attack got stuck in and Nicholson rushed Hales with a quick, short delivery leading to his pull short being caught in the deep.  After their brilliant start, it looked as if the home side would cruise to their victory target, but on came off-spiner Nathwani who beautifully to take 2-24 which included a super one handed catch from Liverpudlian Jackson. With 4 overs left Croydon required 21 runs to win and completed victory shortly afterwards with their batsmen getting after Sach in his second spell.

The SL XI and Supporters

It was a terrific effort by the Sport Lived team who can surely only get stronger from here. Craig Wallace was voted Man of the Match for his excellent innings.  Thanks to all involved particularly our hosts Croydon CC who provided a very successful opening match of the Sport Lived 20/20 season!

Stay tuned for the Sport Lived team’s next game against the Aussies where they’ll be looking to avenge this defeat!

If you are looking to Play Cricket in Australia then why not check out www.sportlived.co.uk for exciting playing and coaching programmes Down Under!

Sport Lived cricketers impress in Melbourne

Congratulations to Richard Moore for winning the Third Grade District One-Day Cricket Premiership! In a thrilling Grand Final, Richard’s club beat Geelong by just four runs!

Rick Moore (top row, 3rd from the left)

Congratulations also to Harry Moores for winning the 2nd XI Premiership beating Bentleigh by 75 runs.

Congratulations to Thomas Crosse who played for his club in a 2nd XI Grand Final. Unfortunately his team were beaten at the last hurdle but Tom performed extremely well taking 1/26 off 10 overs in the first innings and 2/21 off 8.1 overs in the second innings.

A very special mention must also go to Charlie Cooke who scored not only one, but two centuries in consecutive weeks! His latest effort was a

Charlie (right) with Tom Parfett

sparkling 116 not out. This is an outstanding achievement to score two centuries at District Cricket! Charlie, a wicket-keeper batman from Sherborne, has consistently scored runs throughout the season.  Prior to his 2 centuries Charlie notched up a classy 98 in early January. Congratulations on this excellent achievement! Well Done Charlie!!

Harry Moores – Player of the Month

Sport Lived has awarded Harry Moores the March player of the month award. Harry has been on a Sport Lived play cricket programme to Melbourne where he’s played for one of the top clubs in the city. He has been living comfortably in one of Sport Lived’s city centre apartments and thoroughly enjoying his cricket. Harry hails from Somerset, England where he plays for Castle Cary CC 1sts. Harry also played First XI cricket for his school Sherborne prior to his trip Down Under.  Harry is playing for his club’s 2nd team and paid testament to the standard of Australian club cricket when he claimed that the standard is considerable better to his team back home.

Harry at the Boxing Day Test Match in Melbourne

But Harry has excelled in this environment and has had a remarkable programme having been in excellent nick with the bat. The highlight of his time in Australia came in October when he scored a century for his club on debut.  It was a knock that ultimately changed the course of the match. His team were serious trouble at 10/4 before Harry’s 103 helped them to reach a match winning total of 340 from their 80 overs. He described it as an ‘amazing experience,’ one which I’m sure he will carry with him throughout his playing career.  Harry’s performances have helped his team reach the end of season Grand Finals which will take place later this month.

Sport Lived organise sporting gap year programmes to numerous destinations in Australia and New Zealand. You can also play cricket in Australia by finding out more on our website www.sportlived.co.uk

Golf Day and Fancy Dress Christmas Party

On the 17th December Sport Lived organised a Golf Day and Fancy Dress Christmas Party for the players and coaches based in Melbourne.

The Golf Day was held at the ‘13th Beach Golf Course’ which is located 90 minutes from Melbourne and is rated as one of the top ten courses in Australia.  Nearest the Pin and Longest Drive Prizes were up for grabs as well as the Sport Lived Shield for the overall winner. 

Congratulations to James Herbert who won the Nearest the Pin Competition, Michael Brown who had the Longest Drive and Robin Curtis who was the winner of the Sport Lived Shield.  Well done too to Simon Dorrington who shot the lowest round of the day (83).

The following evening the Sport Lived Fancy Dress Christmas Party was held at  Transport Lounge in the city.  The Fancy Dress Theme was ‘When I Grow Up I Want to be…’.  Everyone made a great effort and there were some outstanding costumes on display.

During the evening some amusing prizes were given to the Sport Lived players.  Harry Moores received Performance of the Year for the hundred he scored for his club in October and Rick Moore received the Ian Bell Award for ‘Always getting a start but not going on’. 

Rick Moore displaying his Ian Bell Award

Lots of fun was had by all the Sport Lived players and coaches based in Melbourne.

Richard Moore – Playing Cricket in Melbourne

Richard Moore, member of the Cheshire County League, Lancashire Under 19’s and Cheshire 2nds, is a young and dedicated cricketer, who chose to travel with Sport Lived on his gap year, and experience cricket the Australian way. Richard left the UK with a desire to focus on his cricket, and improve all levels of his game, “I wanted to take it to the next level.” He left with the intentions of concentrating on and improving his fielding and fitness, and an underlying curiosity to learn the differences between playing cricket in the UK and playing cricket in Australia.

Upon Richard’s arrival in Australia, he was fortunate enough to be chosen to play for a club handpicked by Sport Lived, and one of Victoria’s most elite cricket clubs. Richard, who is a member of the 6 month ‘Playing Sport’ programme, describes playing cricket in Melbourne as, “absolutely brilliant, it is just such a good experience.”  In terms of technique and training methods, Richard describes his club as being of a very high standard, “each session is so intense, it is amazing because you see yourself improving after every training session.” Richard and his team-mates train on outstanding facilities, having access to five nets and a full-sized astro pitch. Training twice a week allows him to acknowledge his improvements and growth as a sportsman. He feels he has succeeded in achieving his goal since coming to Melbourne, “when training at the intensity that we do, it is really good for your game and you definitely see the benefits.”

When Richard is not playing cricket or watching cricket, he is experiencing the Melbourne culture and nightlife with both locals and fellow Sport Lived travellers. Being placed with such a tight-knit sporting club has given Richard the chance to embrace his new community, and learn from his team-mates about more than just cricket, “they are a great group of lads! We have social events throughout the season which are a lot of fun.” Richard speaks just as highly of the social benefits of playing sport in Melbourne, as he does the physical. The highlight of his trip so far involves a fancy dress pub-crawl with his team-mates, whereby the club is divided into groups and given challenges throughout pubs around Melbourne.

Outside of the cricket club, Richard and the other Sport Lived participants are provided with incredible support from their local Melbourne mentors. Richard’s mentor took him and the other Sport Lived participants away from the fast-paced city life in Melbourne, and gave them a taste of the Victorian countryside. During this bush fishing trip, the group were introduced to the laid-back Australian country life, native flora and fauna, and given a chance to bond and relax after an intense period of training and matches. Richard described the weekend trip as an amazing experience; “it was an experience I will never forget.”

Richard’s advice for people thinking about attending the Sport Lived programme on their gap year was simple, “Do it. And make the most of everything you do. Because you will always look back and always remember this time.”