Paley’s labour of love at St Peter’s
IF Jack Paley is not at home, you will know where to find him.
Paley will be somewhere in the vicinity of Walker Oval, powering the roller up and down the pitch, or pumping water into the centre wicket square.
It is a labour of love for the 67-year-old, who has been the curator at St Peter’s Cricket Club for 35 years amid a stint at Bell Park.
“My wife says I spend too much time up here,” Paley said with a laugh.
“I’m probably up here for 25 hours a week. I work part-time and I’m on long-service leave at the moment, so I’ve been able to put more time into it.
“I come up in the morning and spend two hours on the pitch and then I go and do the practice wickets. Then I go home and come back again to look after the practice wickets, water it in the afternoon and night time.
“It’s almost the same thing every day.”
Paley’s commitment has paid the ultimate dividend, with Walker Oval ranked the No.1 pitch in the GCA2.
“I was very surprised about it,” said Paley, with Walker Oval edging out Marshall as the top-ranked pitch in a survey of the captains.
“We do a lot of hard work up here and I’m happy to be recognised as No.1.
“There’s a lot of good pitches around but we work hard.”
Liam Kirkman, a turf professional at Pitchcraft who dedicated his time to support Paley in preparing the wickets, said his offsider was deserving of the praise.
“Having someone like Jack, who is passionate about his craft, it doesn’t surprise me at all that we’re No.1 when you see how much work he does on them (pitches) during the week,” Kirkman said. “He spends a lot of time here.”
A member of St Peter’s for almost four decades, Paley said he threw his hat into the ring for the role when the club was desperate for a volunteer.
“I started cricket and they needed someone to do the wicket and I put my hand up,” he said.
“I got some paperwork from the MCC on what to do during the week, in the off-season and day to day and I just kept following the paperwork.
“So I was self-taught. I had no background. I just rolled the wicket and let them play on it.”
A sounding board for Paley, Kirkman has proved invaluable in his first season at the Saints.
But he attributes all the success to Paley.
“To be honest, I’m merely here for guidance for Jack,” he said.
“We have phone conversations throughout the week, but he does all the work. He’s been doing it for 35 years and hopefully we’ve got him for another 30 years because he makes a mountain of difference.
“Our phone calls start with, ‘What wicket are we using? Is there too much grass or not enough grass? How much water does it need?’ and during the week I’ll come out and do a few little things but the bulk of the work is done by Jack and his contribution is gold.”