Cops at cricket
POLICE Indoor Cricket Tournament vice president Simon Madgwick, who grew up in Dubbo and spent years working on the job in Dubbo and Wellington, said this year’s 36th annual championship, which has adopted Dubbo as its home, was a huge success.
He said there were some pretty big egos involved, with plenty of individuals and teams determined to take out the trophy.
“This is a momentous occasion, the largest number of teams we’ve ever had. There were 29 teams, with 211 cops from all over the state coming to Dubbo to play indoor cricket,” senior sergeant Madgwick said.
“There were 200-plus people here getting accommodation, going out for dinner, so there’s a huge influx of money and people into local business, and then these cops go back to their local communities and they spruik how good Dubbo is, so it’s a win-win.”
He said the tournament has a value that extends way above the sporting arena, with police wanting to participate for a variety of reasons.
“Some of these coppers meet one another and they talk to each other about how difficult policing is and we can only talk about these things amongst ourselves,” Snr Sgt Madgwick said.
“We can’t go and speak to the general community about what we see, about what we hear, about what we do, and just from the mental health aspect it’s good to be able to chat with some mates, people who’ve shared the same experiences.
“Not all policing is about the fun part, or the exciting parts you see on TV where there are high speed car chases and running after crooks and making those big lockups. Sometimes policing is about delivering death messages and the harder side of things, and we need to be able to debrief one another and talk about these things.
“There’s no better place to do it than over a game of indoor cricket and a couple of bevies,” he said.