Dew’s dream send-off
RIGHT until the end of an illustrious first XI career, Grant Dew was a competitive beast.
Having dismissed Modewarre’s Alex Bowd and Leigh Scott lbw on the stroke of tea in the grand final, the Thomson star was adamant it was in the stars for him to take the final wicket once play resumed, making it a fairytale ending to a 30-year first XI career.
When Aaron Hovey was stumped off Dew, the “childhood dream” was complete, along with man-of-the-match honours.
“Adam (Bliss) said, ‘ You bowl one and I’ll bowl the next’, and I said, ‘No way, I’m going to bowl and you’re not going to get the ball back’,” Dew recalled of the chat with his captain at the tea interval.
“If they were two-for and needed a few then I’d be ner- vous, but we’d worked hard to get in that position.
“For a day and a half in these games you’re on edge the whole time — you’re worried, you’re nervous.
“But when they were around seven down I knew we had it under control, which enabled us to really enjoy it.”
Having started his Thomson career as a 16-year-old in 1988-89, Dew said his boyhood club was always at the bottom of his heart, even in between spells at East Belmont and Manifold Heights.
“I can’t believe it, it’s a childhood dream,” Dew said, who this year made his maiden centuries as a Thomson player.
“I played first XI cricket with our team manager, I remember when Adam’s parents first met. I played juniors with Adam’s dad, my brother-inlaw is president, my sister is on the committee, my niece is the junior co-ordinator — it really is a family club.”
Despite finishing with the man-of-the-match award, plus 701 runs and 17 wickets this summer alone, Dew said his arm won’t be twisted to play in the first XI again, content to see out his playing days with sons Xavier, 11, and Sebastian, 14.
“No, no — a flag is a nice full stop, a nice exclamation mark at the end of it all I suppose,” he said.
“It’s nice to be able to contribute going out as opposed to just limping out.
“You don’t want to be there for the sake of just being there, you want to contribute and be working with the guys, so it’s nice I’ve still been able to do that.”