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Cricket Tragics
Rotarian Don Farley with "Cricket Tragic" and guest speaker Malcolm Linke
I had to ask myself this week; what will happen when I'm asked to report on a guest speaker whose topic is cricket? Conclusion; short bulletin! So whilst I apologise profusely for my lack of understanding of the finer points of this week's speaker's topic and the impressive list of cricketers he spoke about (which obviously everyone else in the room knew judging by the head nodding and 'mmm's going on around me) I will do my best for those who missed the evening and wish to be kept informed.
Malcolm began by telling us that he'd always been a collector, even as a kid he collected Weetbix cards and Matchbox cards. He said cricket had always been in his blood, he played all his life for clubs such as Tanunda, Light Pass, Truro and Angaston, then began collecting. It became his 'vice' and he passionately researched and collected all things cricket with an emphasis on match worn collectibles. He does however have an impressive list of books, postcards and bats. He informed us that he bought at auctions and on Ebay and at antique shops. As he recited his impressive inventory, he told us the background stories to certain parts of his collection and who used what, where and when.
At this stage Malcolm gave us a few historical facts which I, personally, found fascinating. Probably because this was the first part of the speech I understood 100%! Did you know that the first mention of cricket was in 1550? It was played in the 17th century when it became basically a church game. It wasn't until the upper crust of English society became involved that the money started coming in. Malcolm said that 1890 onwards to the First World War was a great period of cricket but that the Second World War saw the best period of cricket. England had been flattened by Germany and, as a way of normalising life and raising morale, five Victory tests were arranged. All the players for the Australian team were from the various forces and they played an English national team. If interested in the fuller picture:
