This man doesn’t like cricket: he loves it
CRICKET will never find itself on a prohibited substances list but Coast Over-50s player of the tournament Wayne Lee believes it’s the hardest drug of all to kick.
The Victorian import has tried twice, first at 34 and then again at 47, when he left Melbourne for the Gold Coast.
He was so committed to leaving the game behind that he literally left it behind.
“The day I left I gave all my gear to my mate’s son and said ‘here, it’s yours – I’m never playing another game of cricket in my life’,” Lee said.
“I got talked into playing when I got up here and to be honest, there wasn’t a lot of arm-twisting needed.
“I said to a mate let’s go play golf instead but he talked me back into playing cricket at the ripe old age of 50.”
Lee joined the Gold Coast’s second division Over-50s squad last year, racking up 202 runs at 67.33 across five innings in his first season.
He was also a tidy contributor with the ball, poaching five wickets at an efficient economy rate of 2.88 over 43 overs.
Fast bowlers no longer ruled the middle but the battle of wits with spinners and crafty medium pacers burns just as hot, the allrounder said.
“There are no mugs because when you get to this age you’ve been playing cricket all your life,” Lee said.
“People have slowed down in their bowling but everyone has kept their batting technique quite well. There are so many handy cricketers running around the track.”