A family on the ball
They may be father and son, but Darren and Dylan Barmby are about as different as cricketers come. Dylan is the 25-year-old fledgling fast bowler forging his way in the game with just five matches under his belt at GCA1 level. Club president Darren is the
WES CUSWORTH: Darren, congratulations on your selection in the ‘Team of 70 Years’ last weekend, that must have been a great thrill. DARREN BARMBY: Thanks Wes, it was a really humbling experience to be included in amongst some of the greats of the club. WC: So Dylan, for you to know that your father is held in that regard, it must be exciting to play for the same club and now to begin to make your own mark. Rather than simply being known as Darren’s son. DYLAN BARMBY: I obviously got to grow up around the club and watch Dad for a number of years and to see the power of work that he’s done outside of his playing career. So it’s pretty good to cement my place now. WC: Your Mum, Tess, too was made a life member at Leopold last year, she’s put in an amazing amount of work. DYLAN: Yeah, same for her too. So I guess there’s an aspect of repaying the faith as well as they’ve put so much time into the club. It’s good to have the chance to do some good work in the first X1 team. WC: Well Darren, Dylan has chosen a vastly different discipline than yourself, did you ever try to encourage him down the wicketkeeping pathway? DARREN: Not really, I probably just had those concerns that a father normally has like ‘will the boys be good enough to get to where they want to get to’? It’s been more about trying to stay out of the way and trying to have as little impact as possible. It was about letting him find his own feet and together with his younger brother, Matt. I think it’s been hard living in a bit of a shadow, but it’s really pleasing that both boys are coming on now and starting to develop. WC: Especially now that Dylan, after playing two games a couple of years ago, has been able to come back into the ones and is starting to find his feet. DARREN: Personally I think the trip to the UK helped, he’s come back in really great shape and with a new-found confidence in himself. It’s really pleasing to see that the spot has been earnt. Not only that, but really performing in the few games and T20 games. WC: So Dylan, did your father’s wicketkeeping prowess ever influence you, did you feel like you should go down that pathway or did you want to carve out your own niche? DYLAN: There were a couple of years where I tried, but I think I was always a bowler. Maybe there was a bit of a thought that I wanted to forge my own path. DARREN: Which is odd because I was never a wicketkeeper to start with. I only fell into it because I actually couldn’t bat or bowl. It probably wasn’t preconceived for either of us. WC: Yet you so excelled that you were the GCA wicketkeeper of the ’90s and you hold your own piece of history with record dismissals for one innings. DARREN: Maybe that comes with loving a game so much that you’ve got to find a way. There were so many good players around me at 16-17 that I had to find a way to do something different. Fine leg to fine leg wasn’t so much fun. But it clicked and everything fell into place once I got here. I think because it came naturally and I love the game so much it seemed a really good fit. WC: And that’s one of the reasons you can’t stop playing now? DARREN: Well the club gives you mates for life and it’s been so much fun now playing with guys 25 to 40 years down the track. Guys like Darren and Rod Kiddle, we started under12s together, and we’re on the same journey. That’s incentive to keep going while we’re fit enough. WC: Dylan, now that you have this opportunity in the ones, how have coped with the step up in quality of cricket? DYLAN: I played two games a couple of years ago and I think I got my nerves out of the way then, along with going overseas and playing a pretty high standard of cricket. I’d been bowling pretty well in the twos, but I was only nervous in wanting to repay the faith of selecting me. I wasn’t doubting my ability if I performed at my best. DARREN: For me it’s about being immensely proud, but a little relieved because it would be easy to have influence over getting people to where you want them to get to. To see him do it in his own right has been the most satisfying thing. That even applies to Matt who has had to work harder than most because of who he is. WC: Who have been your mentors Dylan? DYLAN: Playing twos as a 17-year-old I had Marcus Stow charging in well into his 30s. There’s guys like Tim Marshall who I can’t lay a bat on in the nets. You get to feed off those guys. Guys like Ben Horne and Declan Gibson are younger, but push me to keep going, along with Lachie Alford. WC: This round you have Grovedale and, while things have to go right over three games for Leopold to make finals, is there a sense of selfbelief after the defeat of North Geelong? DYLAN: Vey much so. We did well against North and were in up to our necks against City before falling away with the bat. It’s not that far away from clicking, so the confidence is there.