Below: Local champion Geoff Wright helped cut the tape and officially unveil the new turf wicket with Kirk Dickson (left), Jake Cutting and Luke Nelson.Above: Maranatha Methodist Cricket Club secretary
NARRE Warren South residents have been bowled over by their new turf wicket.
Last Saturday Maranatha Methodist Cricket Club unveiled the new facility at Strathaird Reserve and Berwick local Geoff Wright was first to bowl a ball.
Mr Wright, 61, is one of the best cricketers the Dandenong District Cricket Association has seen and he said he felt honoured to be invited to the unveiling.
A former player with the Dandenong Methodist Cricket Club, now the Maranatha Methodist Cricket Club (MMCC), Wright took 652 turf wickets over a 20-year career at an average of 10.5 runs per wicket.
Now, more than 20 years since he ceased playing, the life member still holds the club’s wicket-taking record.
“The turf is just terrific.
“I am just stoked with the new facility and being asked to bowl the first ball.
“Coming from the older facilities we had in Dandenong West, it is just great to give younger players the opportunity to get involved in these facilities as they grow up.”
Cr Rob Wilson, secretary of the club, said this was a new step forward for the club and for Narre Warren South residents.
“This is a pathway for kids in Narre Warren South to take part in cricket and to eventually play cricket at the highest level possible due to the quality of these new facilities,” he said.
