‘Cricket’s Hot Gospeller…’ by GP Rosser and KB Hill

 

We’re sitting around the kitchen table chewing the fat with a former international cricket captain…..

The grin that is permanently etched across his cheery countenance is a family trademark…..so is the aura of positivity that he exudes……

Now, before you think I’m big-noting about crossing paths with a Legend of the game, permit me to introduce you to Ian Hildebrand, ex-City Colts opening batsman…..environmentalist, biologist, educationalist and passionate, long-time promoter of Peruvian cricket….

Firstly, I’d better clarify the Christian name…….He was nicknamed ‘Harry’, after Harry Butler, the Australian naturalist, who hosted a popular TV show In the Wild…….

He’s been Harry ever since ….

 

 

***

In a previous era I knew him as ‘Hilda’, a tall, rangy, energetic ruckman who spent a season with the Wang Rovers in 1986……He melded perfectly into the playing group, as if he’d been there for years…..just as he did when he was playing cricket….

He recalls ‘getting the shit belted out of him’ one day, when he was 17, playing footy with King Valley, but wouldn’t trade any of his sporting memories for the world.

“In my cricketing heyday I played City Colts juniors on Saturday mornings, then with City Colts seniors in the afternoon and with King Valley CC on Sundays…..that was my life…..there was no problem getting a game if you wanted to play….”.

“Played my first senior game with City Colts when I was 15…..went to Country Week…..Geez it was a great life….”

 

***

 

The eight Hildebrand kids were reared in the King Valley.

“Our old man (Alan) had the Phillipson Street Pharmacy in Wang …..His skill was in communicating with people…reaching people…caring for ‘em. Customers would come in…..he’d have a chat with them…sometimes he’d send them away to have a cup of tea, or do something else…”

“His bottom line wasn’t about selling something to them, it was caring for people….That’s what he did really well….”

Harry recalls taking the second-youngest, Bruce (aged 3 at the time) to the High School with him, on the School Bus….

“Mum was having Louise (the baby of the family)….Dad was in the Pharmacy, and there was nobody to look after him…..So here’s Bruce sitting up with me in the Geography class!”

“I spoke to the kids at the High School today, actually……Told ‘em I haven’t been bored for as long as I can remember, because there’s always something to do for someone else…..”

That seems to be the philosophy of the Hildebrand clan ……..

 

Harry

Bruce

 

John

***

 

He diverges to expand upon the sporting achievements of his two younger brothers:

“John (‘Sniffa’) was doing his apprenticeship at One-Mile Motors…..I was at Uni, at the time, and said to him: ‘Mate, go and do engineering, ‘cos you’ve got the talent for it.’……..But he was adamant about finishing his apprenticeship…..”

“Later on, he and a mate decided to drive around Australia…….When they got to Alice Springs, ‘Sniffa’ stayed, worked as a mechanic at an engineering business, took it over, and built it up……”

“He had a pilot’s licence, and used to fly out to remote places and do repair work……..But he found that, if he wasn’t there, checking all the work, the complaints started coming in……And that ate at him….Just like Dad, he always wanted to do the right thing by people……”

“So he built the business up big, sold it, jumped in a car and drove across to Airlie Beach, where he ran into a mate who was working on Ragamuffin, a 21-metre maxi sailing yacht…….”

 

***

 

John’s expertise in hydraulics led to him becoming highly sought-after by operators of race boats – particularly those competing in the coveted Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race.

After travelling overseas he ended up in Sydney, and was snapped up by Bob Oatley, the wealthy owner of Wild Oats XI, the ultimate nine-time winner of line-honours in the famous event. John oversaw the installation of its systems, winch package and hydraulics, before eventually heading over to New Zealand in a similar role on the maxi – Speedboat.

On his return to Australia, he worked on the mini-maxi’s Loki and Limit……With his burgeoning reputation, it was no surprise that he and his family were flown to Bermuda by the American group, Oracle Team USA, which contested the 33rd and 34th America’s Cup.

“In recent years he helped run the Australian maxi-yacht, Comanche……Fair dinkum, what he doesn’t know about yachting isn’t worth knowing,” Harry says.

 

***

 

Bruce’s football journey also began at King Valley……He featured in the ‘Roos’ 1993 Thirds premiership before showing huge promise in a season with Wang Rovers. Whilst studying Sports Science at RMIT he played with Coburg and Springvale, and represented a VFA Under 19 team.

Whilst continuing his studies in Perth Bruce spent time in the WAFL…..His enthusiasm for pilates led him to the UK where he trained with leading international teachers.

His devotion to Human Movement has seen him serve as consultant strength coach to the Australian Ballet, and also train AFL footballers, Olympic athletes and Australian netballers among his clientele as a highly sought-after pilates teacher-trainer in Melbourne…..

Two of the Hildebrand girls, Sally and Kaye, are School-Teachers, Louise and Anne are trained Nurses, whilst Ruth and her husband Eddie (Costenaro) run Whorouly’s Remel 185 Function Centre……

 

***

 

Harry had played footy with Amateur club Monash Blues, and was teaching at Wesley College when he made a decision in 1996 which changed his life….

“It would have been easy to stay here and live the comfortable life, but I thought I’d test myself and expand my horizons……” he says.

He decided to live and work overseas…….and ended up in Peru. The plan was to stay for 10 years…….He’s now been there for 25, and doesn’t look like returning any time soon.

“Vanessa (his Peruvian-born wife) has been over here a few times….We laugh about the fact that she’d willingly come here to live…..but it’s me that’s holding things up…..”

“When I come home all my mates are talking about their retirement plans……I’m not planning on retiring……Heck, I’m only 59…..I haven’t thought about that yet….”

Harry’s the Assistant-Principal at Markham College in Lima, the Peruvian capital. He says he learned a lot of things in the King Valley – and the 76 countries he has visited – that he has applied to teaching kids in Peru.

“Terrorism is disappearing there, to some extent, but parents have grown up with it…..They tend to be protective of their kids….”

“My students can stuff up completely, and I have to let them do it, because that’s how they learn…..But I just have to make sure they don’t fall off the edge of a cliff….”

“ I challenge them, and they come up to me later, and say: ‘I didn’t know I was capable of that.’…..”

“I say: ‘I’m creating the environment for you to discover what you’re really about…..Whilst everyone’s giving you the easy way out, you’re never going to be able to find out what you’re really capable of….’ “

“There’s so many magical things about Peru, I can’t begin to tell you….”

“Peruvians dance to everything……We did a Concert at Markham last year as a fund-raiser for building some houses for families living in makeshift huts, post-earthquake…..The kids loved it…..”

That’s when he became ‘Harry the Rock Star’.

“We raised $50,000; enough to build 35 houses.”

“The reason I’m still there is that Peru’s got lots of problems, and I want to do something to help them. I’m in a position where I can empower kids to do something for their country…..”

“And besides, there’s such a freedom about Latin America.”

It was on a trip to the Amazon (about an hour and a half’s flight away from Lima) with about 60 students, not long after he’d arrived there in 1998, that Harry first met Vanessa.

“She has a boutique hotel in the Amazon; a Wellness and Conservation Health Resort, and is a biologist as well….I thought, gee, she’s a bit of alright…..Five years later we married….Our son Luca, who’s 14, reminds me of my brother Bruce at the same age……he says he’s half-llama, half-kangaroo…..”

 

 

“It’s mind-blowing how beautiful the Amazon jungle is….There’s not many tourists….Vanessa loves it….”

 

***

 

Cricket was introduced to Peru over 160 years ago when the British were invited over to the newly-independent country to help with the construction of the Railway system.

The Lima Cricket and Football Club was born.

“It’s a beautiful place, with a nice turf wicket……When I first turned up, there was a British bloke called Viv Ash who had a rum and coke in one hand and a notebook in the other,” Harry recalls.

“He’d write your name down and say: ‘Righto, looks like we’ve got enough blokes for a side’….And that was cricket in Peru 25 years ago….”

“There were some good players, and some ‘shockers’…..I said to Viv (I’m a bit of an organiser, you see): ‘Why don’t we do this, and that……’ “

“Viv’s gone: ‘We’re gonna host the South American championships in 1999’……and that’s what we did…..The Principal at Markham College – a Rhodesian – made a turf wicket….we used two grounds, and ran the tournament…..So I played for Peru….It was awesome…”

 

The South American Championships at Sao Paolo

 

“There were six teams….Faoud Bacchus, who played 20 Tests for the West Indies, was playing in the Masters for Guyana…. Argentina won the tournament…”

“I was just hooked; we got a chance to play good cricket and meet people from these different countries.”

“We played the next South American championships in Buenos Aires, and I went over and captained Peru…..the Brazilian skipper, who’s now one of my best mates, had played county cricket for Kent……It was just the most amazing tournament….”

“I made good mates from the other countries, and we formed Cricket South America…”

“A bloke from Argentina, called Grant Dugmore (a bloody good cricketer, and an ex-South African) said to me: ‘Harry, you’ve gotta join the International Cricket Council; they’ll cover a lot of your expenses, like flights and accommodation…….and help you develop cricket in Peru.”

 

***

 

Harry was now President of Cricket Peru, and they ran a tournament under the direction of an ICC Development officer.

 

 

“It was a raging success; the bloke put in a report, and got back to us to let us know us that we were accepted as an Associate Member of the ICC. – Affiliate Member No.100 in the world……Now it’s almost impossible to get in….”

“The next thing, I’m captain of Peru at the ICC tournament, featuring countries like Panama, Chile, Argentina, Turks & Caicos, Belize and Brazil, with all expenses paid…umpires were flown in.”

“You had to have had seven years living in a country before you were eligible; had to hand in your passport……there were no ring-ins allowed…”

“So we had these glory years……they gave us $25,000 to help develop cricket in Peru. At the S.A. championships in Santiago, Chile, I stood up and said: ‘Righto, I’ve had this much fun playing cricket…..Here I am, living the dream, playing with all you blokes. But if we we want this to be sustainable we have to develop the game in our own country….”

“In 10 years time it’s my wish for a Peruvian kid to be standing up here doing the captain’s speech….So developing cricket in Peru is what it’s all about….We started putting cricket in schools…….out in the provinces as well….we’ve got an Australian female development officer…..we’ve got women’s cricket……”

 

***

 

If you need convincing that this former WDCA batsman has evolved into the ultimate cricket hot-gospeller, let me quote the following, from the Cricketing Monthly:

“On an overcast Saturday in November 2014, a tall, bow-legged Australian stood in the centre of a shabby concrete stadium in the Magdalena del Mar district of Lima, waving his Peruvian identity card in one hand, and a cricket bat in the other. He was addressing a group of 6 to 16 year-olds in highly-accented Spanish.

 He said: ‘Look, I know you Peruvians love your football, but you haven’t been very successful at it, so why not give it a rest and try the second most popular sport in the world’ ?

Harry Hildebrand, the long-time El Presidente of Cricket Peru waxed lyrical as our small group of cricket pioneers watched nervously from behind a goalpost on the Astro-Turf football pitch.

We were there to expand the gene pool of cricketers in Peru. The signs were not particularly auspicious, as the kids, fresh from football practice, and still wearing their Ronaldo and Messi T-shirts, gazed uncomprehendingly at him……..

 

***

 

Harry’s convinced that cricket is making an impression in this far-flung outpost of the game…..

”We’ve improved a lot. When we’ve hosted ICC tournaments we’ve had Seniors, Juniors and Womens divisions…….It’s bloody hard to organise.”

“But we were initially ranked 100th in the world; we’re now number 56……that’s awesome….

Post Script: We made contact yesterday with Harry, who’s now back home in Peru, to catch up on the latest……”….Been pretty busy here,” he told us……”We took 150 kids to build 15 houses last weekend….and went in to help a community whose houses were filled with mud from some landslides………Then last night I played some Aussie songs at the Peru-Australia 60-Year Event, with 500 people…..”

 

 

 

Just another week-end in the life of Cricket’s Hot-Gospeller.

 

By G.P. Rosser and K. B. Hill

 

This story appeared first on KB Hill’s website On Reflection and is used here with permission. All photos sourced from KB Hill’s resources unless otherwise acknowledged.

To read more of KB Hill’s great stories on the Almanac, click HERE.

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