Casey South Melbourne Cricket Club president Graham Yallop with Cr Kevin Bradford and John Hayes, organiser of the Baggy Green breakfast.THE City of Casey and Casey South Melbourne Cricket Club have joined forces to provide a path for young cricketers in the municipality who aspire to play at international level.
That path will involve a proactive push by the club, which will move to Casey Fields this year as part of its promotion throughout the district.
The mayor Cr Kevin Bradford responded to an idea of John Hayes and deputy mayor Rob Wilson by inviting young representatives from clubs in Casey to the Baggy Green Breakfast at the civic centre this month.
Casey South Melbourne cricket club president Graham Yallop outlined the rich history of the club which has witnessed more test baggy greens awarded to its players than any other club in Australia. Names such as Warwick Armstrong, Harry Graham, Bill Woodfull, Lindsay Hassett, Ian Redpath, Keith Miller, Graham Yallop and recently Damien Fleming have all passed through its ranks. Armstrong, Woodfull, Hassett and Yallop were Test captains.
In the next step in the Baggy Green process a group of 20 cricketers aged 15-17 travelled to join Casey South Melbourne coaches at the Melbourne Indoor Cricket Centre that morning as part of the first session of the Damien Fleming Squad, made up of young cricketers nominated to train together to develop their cricket skills.
