A Cinderella Story

by Raj Singh

Pembroke Old Scholars Cricket Club is a small club based in Norwood South Australia in the Adelaide Turf Competition. It is your typical Old Scholars club run by 1 or 2 volunteers with 2 two day sides and a one day side. Their last premiership was won in 1992.
When I joined in 2000 the club was in A3. We lost 2 premierships in 2 years but still progressed to A1. We lost one is A3 where we had a bad day but the A2 was one that we lost due to factors beyond our control. Every other game in Adelaide was called off due to rain but we batted on in hail and mist with batsmen unable to grip their bats. The Opposition batted in sunshine the day before. We lost by a mere 6 runs. I won’t talk about it any more. Despite it being 10 years ago it is still too raw. The good thing is that the Club has gone up to the top Grade of Adelaide Turf and stayed in A1 since that day .This is a great achievement as we do not pay players like a lot of other teams in the competition. The club runs on the good bloke test of Boof Lehmann. My 2 day playing days are over with 3 young kids and I have resigned myself to the fact that I won’t play in a premiership side. I now just play the odd one day game when home life allows it and still love every minute of it.
What I do have is lifelong friends and memories of great times and great blokes that will be talked about forever. I can count the weddings of 7 players I have been to over the journey with another current player having his this year after playing his first game at the age of 17 at the club and having a stubby poured on his head by the President. These are things to cherish. Days at the pub on washouts, beers after the game, fines, end of season trips these are the reasons why we play the game.
It is getting harder and harder to fill sides, with family life and young blokes finding better things to do than stand in the field for 6 hours. Rulebook Ashwood who joined our club 3 years ago may well have saved it. His dedication and commitment to filling sides is second to none and he now has fathers and sons playing in the same side. I played in the one day side last week where a father and son opened the batting and the father took 3 wickets after having not bowled for 23 years. All clubs need someone like that to survive.
The Kings despite struggling to field a team for the best part of the year have progressed to a T 20 Grand Final to be played at Adelaide Oval on Sunday Feb 16 at 7pm. What an opportunity for guys to play on the hallowed Turf something I was never able to do. This presents a great chance for past players and supporters to share in an occasion this club has not experienced for a long time. We will go in as massive underdogs against a side with former state players Brad Young and Mark Harrity and district player Tom Plant but whatever the result it will be a privilege to see a mixture of ex-teammates and newcomers to this great club compete for silverware again.

Comments

  1. Malcolm Ashwood says

    Thanks Raj and yes while it is frustrating at times trying to fill sides having 3 father sons play has been brilliant . Pembroke has been a great reminder on what is important in sport , quality people and friendships is so much more than just winning
    Overall thank you Pembroke for 3 of the most enjoyable years of my cricket career

  2. Great stuff Kings. Let’s hope the champion team beat the team of champions!!!!

    Whatever the result, it is a great achievement for the lads to make it to play on Adelaide Oval.

    It is good to be green.

  3. Great story Raj – captures the essence of every amateur sporting club’s culture – good people.

    GO YOU KINGS!!!

  4. Nice article Run Machine.
    Will be good to get a crowd on the fence for the final. A certain left arm bowler hates a heckler..

  5. Great to be a part of this story! So glad that Michael Wilson convinced me to have a hit with a bunch of good blokes some 12 years ago!

    Not the first time beer was poured on my head, and here’s hoping it flows again next Sunday!

    And Rulebook, there is no doubt in my mind the club would not be in this position if it weren’t for your tireless work!!

    Green and the Gold!!

  6. Its a David v Goliath battle – I will be cheering for the little guys with the slings as opposed to the cashed up giants – Go Pembroke

  7. It will be a privilege and an honour to lead the mighty Kings into battle on the hallowed turf. Each player has had at least one special moment without which we would not have made it through. Win or lose we will do it together but lets do the hat trick over those bastards from the beach and bring home the silverware! Go Kings!

  8. Awesome work Mr Singh, can understand some frustration of falling just short of the privileges of cricket. That GF still haunts me 2day, but maybe just maybe. There still is hope of not just finally playing @ Adelaide Oval but, installing better memories of these games! Hopefully not 2 soft & go u Kingmen!

  9. While individuals can create moments, a team has the capacity to move as one and push aside any obstacle, find joy and thrive on each others successes, and remain the best of mates once the sun goes down.

    Looking back on my career, I would not exchange any of my cricket mates for a premiership.

    This is Kings cricket for me. It so very good to be green.

  10. It will be such a great day for the club that deserves so much more success than it has enjoyed in its history. As a former player + opening partner with the great Raj, it will be awesome to have a bevvie with those life long mates and my Dad who played for the club in the 60’s and watch the Kings in full flight on Adelaide Oval.

  11. Spot on with your sentiments, Raj. It’s part of the Australian psyche to support the underdog, regardless of the situation. Every dog has it’s day…..
    The Adelaide wicket will be an unknown quantity to all players, with the change to drop-in pitches this summer. A good toss to win and put a reasonable score on the board. Enjoy playing on the hallowed turf. Go Kings!

  12. ….his first game at the age of 17 at the club and having a stubby poured on his head by the President. These are things to cherish. Days at the pub on washouts, beers after the game, fines, end of season trips these are the reasons why we play the game.
    I find this rather disturbing as to reasons why we play the game..but I get where you’re coming from.

  13. solid bronze says

    nice fing, although A3 might not have been a bad day if victor had appealed instead of doing somersaults

  14. Leety you must be a very religious soul. Fair Play. Hopefully one day you can move from you fielding position at Deep Pram Point and join us for some of these festivities.

  15. Go Kings!

  16. Great article Raj, as someone that came to the Kings from outside the Pembroke school fold it has been an absolute pleasure to play for the Kings. I was lucky enough to be part of the Calypso Kings during some amazing years where I was privileged enough to play with yourself and some of the best players to play for the club. It was an honour to sit there and watch you play and be part of what was a great team unit. Coming from district cricket, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I stepped out for the club the first time but all of the boys welcome each and every player so openly and made you feel like you’d always been there. I’ve never had so much fun playing sport as I have for the Kings. I have been lucky enough to score my first hundred for the Kings and it is something I will always hold dear in my sporting acheivements. While people move on to other things, the club continues to run through the hard work and dedication of a few and that same feeling is still there today. I’m spewing I can’t be out there with the boys for the match but I’ll definitely be there cheering them on from the hill!! GO KINGS!!

  17. Green Is good, Very few of the clubs have had the type of people we have hang around the club and continue to play and enjoy it. All kings past and present can be proud of that. KING OF CLUBS.

  18. This story highlights why good communities continue to thrive: if they are led and nurtured by good people.

  19. All the best boys. kings are the best club invented. Remember you will never play with that same bunch of blokes ever again. Cherish and enjoy !!!! We’re due for a streak!!

  20. M l C H A E L W l L S 0 N says

    Raj, I think you missed your calling if a midlife crisis comes along Michaelangelo Rucci may be lining up for benefits very soon.
    My memories of that grand final arent just the ronnie biggs story, but 2 teams losing gf’s that day and the spirit in the kensi and at pb’s that evening amazingly loose to say the least. It is that spirit of the baggy green that has defied my brain listening to my knees for the last 7-8 years and still waddling around the field and the training track. This spirit is still in the current group and the ticker is strong, to hear from blokes putting pen to paper like this that played when I first became a green man is fantastic. It will be even better to see you out there on the 16th and if we get the points I ask you all to come into the rooms to sing the club song so it is heard at haslam oval.
    Rulebook your efforts to get teams on the park early this year and it is great to see you getting the praise you deserve. Surely you could focus your sponsorship efforts in recouping half of your phone bill back to the club, if we could get that coin we could buy out the chennai kings in the iPL and rename them the Pembroke Kings

  21. Pembroke Old Scholars' Association says

    All the best during your preparation for the Grand Final. On behalf of close to 15,000 Pembroke, Kings & Girton Old Scholars we wish you good fortune and success in the upcoming Grand Final. We will all be thinking of you.

    Ex Unitate Vires.

  22. Raj – You stole my dream. Every couple of years (seriously) I have the dream where I am suddenly batting on the Adelaide Oval. Billiard table smooth green sward. Gleaming white pickets. All the players in immaculate creams. I clip one off the hip a la Greg Chappell and it SCORCHERS across the turf into the pickets down near the gates in front of the Mostyn Evans Stand where Arthur Lance is waiting with the heavy roller.
    Then I wake up, hoping desperately that I have finally lived my childhood dream. I guess it comes from spending every summer cricket day there from 10-17 years of age.
    RAJ- PLEASE LIVE MY DREAM FOR ME. AND THEN TELL US ALL WHAT IT FELT LIKE.
    GO KINGS (Harrity was always flakey. But quick.)
    GO SCORCHERS – But I think I’ll still go to the Bruce Springsteen concert on Friday night (doubt the tranny in the ear will work).

  23. Great read and best of luck to the lads taking the field in the final! Hoping to see Sammy Willis put on a clinic as he did in the qaurter final! Looks like an exciting young team and would be great for the Pembroke old scholars community to see the boys prevail!

  24. Brilliant couple of seasons at the Kings on the hallowed Haslam turf – a while ago now but great top see a few names from those days in the side and still following the boys from afar and wishing the lads all the best at the Oval against Grange. You’ve hit the nail on the head as to why we all keep playing Singhy.
    Come on Kingies!!!
    Ravs

  25. great article Raj which captures all the elements of community sport and what attracts and sustains our involvement. As an ex Goodwood player all the activities you’ve mentioned reasonate with me and I have also made life long friends as a result. All the best in the T20 and playing on one of the best cricket arenas in the world! Rulebook is a legend and his capcity and committment to the cause of community involvement is also sensational. He’s also done (and still doing) a plethora of work for the Blacks Footy Club, which surely is the pinnacle of what community sport is about – hard play but lots of fun and frienships, sharing a common culture and recognising what life is all about.

  26. Hi Raj,

    For what it is worth, like many others I started playing cricket in junior ( country ) grades ( Echuca/Moama ) and kept progressing playing senior A Grade Cricket as opening bat and wicket keeper for Burwood Bulls in Melbourne Eastern Suburbs cricket. Sometime around mid-30, after getting married, I left Melbourne to work in NSW and stopped playing due to work committments ( except for the odd social game – and one season in the UK while working in London! ).

    I don’t believe I consciously stopped/retired and always thought I would be playing again – but the years slipped by. Far too many.

    With a young family and again moving ( to South Australia ) all efforts were concentrated on family and work and so more years ticked by.

    But all of a sudden, as the kids became older I found that I wasn’t needed to “be there” or be the “taxi” as much as before – and at just over 50 I wondered if there might be a chance for a last hurrah. A that time Riley ( the lad ) was playing with the Eastern Dragons and after a comment down there one training night I had an introduction to Maclolm Ashwood and the Pembroke Old Scholars Cricket Club. Because I started on turf I felt it was natural to end back on turf. What do they about dust to dust…maybe it has a different twist to old cricketers.

    Pembroke were very open and inviting and just a great bunch of guys who were all very supportive of the huge gap between innings. They play hard – who played that day at Hectorville? – some of you know what I am taking about ) but also relish the rich tradition of cricket and the social side of the game.

    It has been said before but effort of people like Rulebook are often the real heros behind the success of any club. Rulebook and people who hold their hands up for committee positions are the engine room of any club that wants success. At the Kings they do it well.

    I am not sure I have repaid the priviledge to play with them with anything in the scorebook – but I keep training and look forward to being part of their future success and cold beers back at the Kensi.

    And Raj, I have to add that having an opportunity to bat with you at the other end in C Grade has been a real pleasure. It tells me that at any age you can always learn from example.

    Go Kings!

  27. Malcolm Ashwood says

    Thanks folks greatly appreciated ! Members of the Knackery to explain the fielding position of Leety at pram point . Adrian turns up to games with the kids in tow Inc 2 young enough to still be in prams and has to field in that position on the boundary line waiting for his better half tp pick them up when she knocks off work . Now this fielding position depends on where we are playing , where Pembroke guys have left there gear and where the shade is accordingly this fielding position possy can be a complete waste of time or right in the game . Leety in 1 game is feeding bub sees ball drops spoon runs around the boundary and takes a blinder of a catch . Team mates are expecting him to run in to the huddle but no races back to the kids telling every 1 to be quiet . Soon the reason emerges Sonja has arrived , Leety sees the good lady off and runs up to the guys and informs Raj Sonja would kill me is she knew I was on the ground before she got there Raj smiles that is stored in the memory bank
    We are waiting on the next addition of the ABC cricket book with the fielding positions
    The Leet Position !

  28. Luke Reynolds says

    Great stuff Raj. Pembroke sounds like a fantastic club. Good luck to everyone involved for the big Adelaide Oval game. Will the Terrorist be playing?

  29. Unfoturnately he has a heart/muscle strain/Achilles injury

  30. Nick Booth says

    After 14 years of schooling at Pembroke, 9 years of cricket, a tour to England and The Netherlands and a sason as Vice Captain of the First XI, its been an awesome experience to continue my cricketing career as a King. It’s been a sureal experience transferring from top dog, playing with 15 to 18 year olds to playing at a club with guys as old as 60. Really enjoyed my first few matches and looking forward to making a few runs sometime soon!

  31. Danielle Eid says

    cute story :) even though I dislike cricket lol

  32. As the most recent Captain of a losing GF side for the Kings it is a title I intend holding on to forever. I have no doubt that my tenure will not end on the 16th.

    To the boys on the field, never give in, play hard as nails and show no sympathy to the opposition until you’re commiserating them in how close they got before heading back to enjoy each other’s company and reflect on how good it is to win. Stories, beers, bacardi’s for some but a bond that will never be broken.

    The time is upon the Kings to dust off the cabinet and proudly place another trophy along side those belonging to the other great men that have achieved the ultimate prize.

    Do what too few Kings have done. It’s all yours. Want it.

    Go Green Men.

  33. A brilliant article about our great club it has been a pleasure to play with you Raj and watch you put on a clinic . I think it is most unfair that you all start yelling health warning get your kids inside when I am bought on to bowl . The clubs success is due to having a outstanding treasurer and Rulebook stop yelling moths when you corner me and I can’t avoid you from making me buy a raffle ticket
    The friendships made from playing from our club are second to none
    Go Kings

  34. craig winnard says

    Don’t give up on that dream of a flag yet Raj.

    The Kings have in their ranks a leggie who along with his younger
    Brother helped their dear old dad taste premiership glory after
    8 losing grand finals.

    Jim Bob came back from A Grade in Ballarat to join a bunch of geatrics and kids pull of one of the great upsets in the 150 yr history of the Daylesford CA.

    Of course Grange can’t lose with their star studded side. Well thats what they said about Korweinguboora and we showed them what spirit can achieve.

    Go Kings.

    Winnie (the original)

  35. Matthew Raymond says

    As a new player come to this club, the things that Raj has mentioned is clear! Sure it’s great with opportunity to win a cup but it’s the action that really excites me! Stepping out into the field with my mates and playing for each other is what really excites me. The grand final appearance merely presents me with another opportunity to do so!

    I played my first game for the club with Raj in a one day game and immediately felt welcome! The only player I knew was the president and it was true when he said that it’s a great club with a great bunch of blokes! I was looking at the end of my cricketing days when I finished school yet 2 years later there isn’t a whole lot that would tear me away! It’s a tribute to the club and to the blokes playing and its always a pleasure! A cinderella story!

  36. Sam mcewen says

    Great stuff raj. I still recall the camaraderie of the boys on a trip to Melbourne when your brother Sanjay led a chorus on a Melbourne tram from St Kilda of You,ve lost that loving feeling and the whole packed tram joined in.
    Great bunch of blokes

  37. Raj, it’s beem a pleasure playing for the kings for the last 13 years. Have missed the Singh syndakits. Getting kicked out of the Gawler caravan park for an end of season trip was diffenatley highlight…. Kings on tour! Great article mate, looking forward to the lads getting some silverware at the illustrious Adelaide oval!

  38. You’re all class, Raj. On and off the field. Cricket stays in the blood for as long as the heart is pumping. So keep the one day games in, keep fit, start training the offspring and hey presto! One day you’re opening the batting with your flesh and blood.

  39. Beautifully written Rajesh. Love you buddy.

    Whatever the result next Sunday Watto, Rulebook and the boys have done us proud. Go Kings! Smashem and bring home some silver!

    I agree with everyone that if Malcom ” Rulebook” Ashwood did not involve himself with the club we may have ceased to exist. Thanks Malcolm.

    I had a dream last night Raj that all the past players returned and played in a C grade
    grand final and beat PAOC. It will happen buddy. That dream also involved a goat and a chicken but I won’t talk about that.

    All the young lads at the club must think that gee the ” old boys” are emotional. But as we know premierships don’t happen every season!! So next Sunday make it happen boys.

    Go kings

  40. Malcolm Ashwood says

    Thanks Atchy aka the terrorist appreciated mate ! Some great stories and memories coming out , keep em coming green men
    It’s Good to be Green
    Go you Kings

  41. Raj,

    Mate superb article! Camaraderie, there is no substitute for it. Through thick and thin, the thrill of the game we experience together. Good blokes, sunshine, an ice cold beer after the game while we pay each other out for missing pies. You can’t not have fun being a Kingman. I missed my time out there this season whilst other commitments dominate.

    Boys, best of luck , absorb it all, smash some sixes – but most of all have fun. That’s why we play!

    Go Kings!

  42. Good on ya, Raj! A bottler of a read! Thanks heaps! All the power to you, Rulebook and yours!

  43. Andrew Starkie says

    Great read. All the best.

  44. Mickey Randall says

    Good luck Raj, rulebook and co. Enjoy the excitement of playing in the GF. Let’s hope you have win too. I played in about half a dozen country cricket GFs and won exactly none of them! But I was grateful for having gotten there. All the best!

  45. Ray Ashwood says

    Good Interesting read and having scored oh that day elsewhere how any game was played in Adelaide that day after all district cricket at Adelaide oval was called off .
    Enjoyed scoring earlier in the year when Pembroke def Grange hope that is an omen
    All the best Pembroke Go Kings

  46. Some really encouraging words there Raj. Coming to the club as an outsider, I gotta say I really enjoy being a part of the club and making such good friends. Except for rulebook. No matter how much I try to get away from him he still finds me, then yells out “Big Bang” and then makes me buy a raffle ticket!! Haha…but at the end of the day he puts in the most effort and he deserves our respect for making it all happen on a week to week basis.

    Regarding Sunday, it doesnt matter if we win or lose (if we can win then that will be awesome), what matters is that we made it. And we made it as a team and as a club. All we gotta do is stick together.

    Cmon you pussies….Go KINGS baby

  47. Enjoyable article Raj well done Rulebook All the best Go Kings

  48. Well said Raj.
    While notching up a spectacular set of ‘Olympic rings’ in my debut season under the great Charlie Prider in the 95/96 season wasn’t all that memorable, everything else about that season was! The endless banter, bullshit and beers is what playing in a cricket team is all about ( especially when you can’t make a run)…! Great memories. Great mates. Best of luck to the Kings on the hallowed turf this weekend. Win, lose or draw just soak it up and enjoy it all.

  49. Win lose or draw, this Sunday will be another epic tale to tell, another chapter in Kings’ history. More so in our hearts and minds, is this feeling of indelible pride for what has already been achieved, and it makes us want to try harder on and off the field to keep the club together, and to keep winning.

    And it’s times like these that makes one appreciate that Rulebook is just a giant amongst men, to have put that effort in during good times and bad.

    There will be nothing left on the field on Sunday, and no one will die wondering what might have been.

    Go Kings! The rest of us are there with you.

  50. Great wrap Raj – let’s just hope the mighty King Men can break the drought!!!

  51. great article.
    I played at Woody Rech’s during my juniors and latter.
    I clearly remember WRCC had a father son sunday each year.
    fielders fielded for anyone at any time (rotation). you played against your father.
    you batted against your fathers bowling (2 overs) and vice versa.
    It was great fun. Dad played hard wicket (then Independant central) and me Turf.
    I knew after those games that i had to play in my dads team. after a couple of seniors seasons on turf, i made the switch to concrete to play with my dad.
    Didnt get the chance for years, we were at the opposte end of the spectrum. until i had a wedding and had to play in a one dayer, in which my father was in (age catches up & 80 odd overs is cruel for someone in their late 40’s – 50). i distinctly remember opening the batting with him…. it was the greatest moment of my cricketting time, even eclipsed grand finals victories, if that makes sense.

    When my father moth balled the whites for umpiring, i went back to my roots at Woodville. Had another 8 years there or so, cricket has been kind to me. Made plenty of friends at both clubs, wihin my team, as well as the opposition.

    it was great to just break away from life for 4-5 hours each saturday with a bunch of blokes- de stress.

    Thanks for the article, took me back!

  52. M l C H A E L W l L S 0 N says

    Smacko onenof the funniest exoeriences of my life, a very hollywood moment with the whole carriage joining in. So many great kings on tour moments and memories. Anyone looking to head to the ground get to the kensi about 3-4pm and grab a maxi cab and head down to the oval. No paragons of pensivity get busy king men

  53. Tony Feleppa says

    Well said Raj

    I still quite clearly remember the day we just lost that A2 Grand final under the most atrocious and unfair conditions imposed on our club. Although nothing compares to the feeling of winning a premiership, this made me realise that we are a club of champion battlers who never say die and that we are capable of overcoming any hurdle that may be imposed on us.

    A real club is not built by financial stregnth but by the people who are involved in it.
    Truly remarkable effort from all the past and present committee/players/supporters who have ensured that we grow as a team. Best and Fairest award goes to Malcolm Ashwood for being an absolute pest who never takes no for an answer. Just goes to show that he is truly a King who never gives up.

    I am privileged to have been a part of the King culture and the friendships that have been created and look forward to the future chapters.

    Bring on Goliath, Go Kings!!

  54. I remember rocking up to Adelaide with my pads a old battered kookaburra ridgeback and my rucksack. One of my first objectives was to find a cicket club. Upon contacting SACA and getting some contacts for some clubs local to where I was staying I trotted down to kensi park on a saturday to have a chat with the blokes down there……I came away with two resounding words ringing in my head….Pretentious WAnkers! My next port of call was Pembroke Kings one 5 min phone call later I rocked up for my first training and 3 years later I have nt looked back. The boys at this club have always made me feel at home and more than welcome despite my English Affliction. I have had the up and downs that every cricketer experiences but the boys have always stood firm and everything looks better after a couple of post match bevvys even when you only have half a face. left. I know there is heart in this club I have felt it first hand, I know there is talent at this club I have seen it and I know that when the chips and down and the game is against us that is when we dig the deepest and give our all for the shirt and for our team mates and fight on through till the final wicket falls.
    This Final will be no different. Against the Financial Goliath that is Grange the David of Pembroke will wield the sling of the underdog , load up the stone Hope and take aim and fire the shot of Justice that will fell the giant. All this with a relaxed dignity and the hidden determination to conquer the challenege that lies ahead. I will be there, I will be singing and i will be celebrating when that final ball is bowled. COME ON YOU KINGMEN!!!!!!!!!

  55. Sam Hodgson says

    Great article Raj and bought back some good memories from comments above
    Go Kings let’s have some fun

  56. Fantatsic read
    Although not at the Kings, Payneham CC was and still is the home of cricket for me.
    Taking my young fella to cricket when he was four (his mother let me), he would sit on the boundary, play with his toys and watch the game. As he grew the team would throw balls to him and he loved it. He also loved coming back to the club for a lemon squash and a packet of chips after the game, whilst his dad had a few “quiet ones” waiting for the lift home!!!
    Now some 12 years later I have had the absolute pleasure of opening the batting with my boy up here in Qld and also rolling the arm over.
    I now have to stay fit enough to play a few games with my youngest, who is playing his first year of cricket this year for school as a 12 year old.
    This is one of lifes greatest memories

  57. Good read Raj.

    Being a Dukes man it has been a pleasure playing the Kings for the Bradshaw Shield since your return to A1. They have been closely fought games played in the right spirit. Let’s hope they continue for years to come.

    Good luck for Sunday. I’ve been lucky enough to play on the hallowed turf a couple times with the Dukes. Enjoy the moment and lets hope you guys can bring home the bacon.

  58. Great story raj, it’s been a childhood dream to play on the hallowed turf. Can’t wait, up you kings!!!

  59. Great article Raj, the mateship at this cricket club is fantastic, felt extremely welcome in the first game I played. Let’s hope the kings can get up on Sunday and beat Goliath. Anything can happen in finals!

  60. Well bowled with this article Raj and good luck to the kingmen this Sunday. It’s a fantastic achievement firstlty to have got there and that is the beauty of Twenty20 cricket, both sides start from zero, any side can win on any given day, let’s ruffle some Grange feathers lads!

  61. Marty Bradshaw says

    Well done Raj you put the true meaning in to the spirit of cricket
    ( from your cousin once removed ) and your hard work is appreciated Malcolm
    Good luck Kings

  62. Patrick Glasby says

    Well written Raj. Would definitely like to see younger blokes coming out (especially the ones from Pembroke) to fill strong teams for the future. The hard work that goes into running this club is much appreciated.
    GO KINGS

  63. Nick Blewett says

    Was great to feature in the same side as you raj, agree with patty in that we need more young blokes, bring on four teams and more of those solid trainings with full club fielding drills to finish. Well written mate.

  64. I echo the sentiments of many of those above – excellent article Fing, a true representation of the Club (and its people) in every respect.

    7 years playing at the club have given me many cricketing memories – some relating to heartbreaking losses (B grade GF loss to Modbury in ’10/11; semi-final loss to PAOC in ’11/12), others to great wins (backs against the wall victories against AHOS in ’09/10 where Sam McEwen delivered some bowling heroics taking 7 for not many to clinch us victory by only a few runs – a win that ultimately secured us a finals berth in a year where we defeated Payneham to win the B grade flag; defeating Brighton at home last season in A1’s where we clinched the last wicket with only a few runs up our sleeve, and the list goes on…).

    With 2 young children it’s been hard this season to train regularly and even harder to find time to play games on weekends – this leads to periods of reflection about your time at the club, and for me, when I think about the wins/losses/achievements at the club over my tenure – it’s the guys who you played with, funny moments on and off the ground, fines sessions (aka. witch hunts) after games which spring to mind most readily and more-so than the outcome of any specific game. This is a testament to the culture of mateship that exists at the club – we play for one another, not for money or for our own personal achievements.

    Good luck tomorrow lads – leave nothing behind on the field, compete every ball and then you can leave the hallowed turf without any regrets regardless of the outcome.

  65. Without a doubt I’m looking forward too running out on Adelaide oval, but I don’t think I would be as excited if I was running out with a bunch of blokes playing for themselves rather than playing for the team!
    It is an absolute honour to play for the kings and in the future seasons I look forward to many more games…

  66. Malcolm Ashwood says

    Really Proud this , Sunday morn to read all the comments again to fully appreciate in print the impact of a true amateur sporting club has had on so many people to no we are in it together and for the right reason is special . We will enjoy the experience together
    Go Kings

  67. Matt Clinch says

    This a great story Raj, perhaps one day worthy of a film after the Kings celebrate victory today & you can narrate it like Morgan Freeman in Shawshank. I’ve been to plenty of events at the Adelaide Oval, ashes tests matches, SANFL, AFL, outdoor movies… I’m looking fwd to history being created most of all!!

  68. Malcolm Ashwood says

    Unfortunately Goliath crapped all over us

  69. Unfortunately Goliath got up but David aquitted itself with Pride and gave it all they had.

  70. David had a few well earned beers with his best mates after a gutsy perfoemance.
    Goliath had a Powerade, took his envelope full of cash and went home to kick the dog.

  71. My attitude is always that any Australian who makes an Olympic final, or does a Personal Best at the Olympics, is a winner – even if they don’t win a medal. Being in the Best 8 on the planet is an extraordinary achievement.
    My favourite quote of all time is Teddy Roosovelt:
    “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
    Well played Raj, Rulebook and the rest of the Kings club.

  72. Thank you for very accurately describing the Club in one page Raj.

    Pembroke is an example of a small club that is batting well above its average because it has a good committee orgainzing things, Malcolm Ashwood doing the hard slog work that is so necessary to get teams on the ground and the right ethos on the ground so that people enjoy playing cricket.

    It is a pity we came second in the Grand Final – but it still goes to show that ex-State players, huge playing lists and financial clout aren’t everything.

  73. Tom Martin says

    Bugger, very disappointed to miss this article when first published.

    Was good to hear Raj share his love of the Kings,. If a club is measured in good times, good blokes and playing cricket to win in the right spirit then the club’s been around the top of the table for a while. And Raj has been consistently in the best players in Adelaide cricket, by the same measure.

    I’m left to ponder why, in what seems a comprehensive career history, there is no mention of the day that I dismissed him leg before wicket for not very much on my way to 7-for at Broadview, playing for the Ugly Eagles C-Grade against Prospect.

    That occasion would certainly make this now retired wicketkeeper’s list of career highlights.

  74. Very good mr Martin. Yourself and Michael George certainly were 2 keepers who could bowl:

  75. Josh Blain 92 says

    Great to read and hear the club sounding so strong. Go Kings! Love it!

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