‘Skinny’ keeps rolling on
PETER Harrison is not one to make a fuss.
And Harrison is never looking for any pats on the back.
So it is fair to say the title of GCA3’s top curator does not sit comfortably with the former Newcomb & District and Thomson champion.
As he explains, he gets his hands dirty and goes home.
“It is humbling,” Harrison said as Grinter Reserve was elected the competition’s best pitch in a survey of GCA3 captains.
“But that’s not why I do it. I’m a cricketer first and a curator second.”
For the best part of 15 Harrison, affectionately known as “Skinny”, has toiled away preparing pitches for Newcomb & District.
“As long as the pitch has been in I’ve had something to do with it,” the Division 1 premiership player at Thomson said.
“I came over to Newcomb in 1986 as captaincoach and we moved from the Bellarine into the Geelong & District Cricket Association that was formed back then.
“Then we put a turf wicket down and I’ve taken it on as a project of mine to make sure it keeps improving. That’s the guts of it. I’ve played on enough turf over the years.
“I was on Thomson’s committee when they put in a turf wicket, so when I went to Newcomb they were talking about doing this and doing that, so we ended up making a commitment, digging a hole and . . . away we went.”
With the help of Les “Bear” Thompson, Harrison commits more than 20 hours to the centre-wicket square a week.
“There’s not a day where I’m not over there looking at it, putting water into it, rolling wickets, cutting it grooming it,” he said.
“Then you’ve got the practice wickets up the top that keep me busy early in the week. Myself and Les Thompson, who is my assistant, put in a fair few hours between us.”
Regarded as a batsman’s paradise, the Grinter Reserve wicket also offers life for the bowlers early, making for a perfect contest between bat and ball.
“There’s always this week-to-week theory that when you bat on it one week and it’s not the same the next, but I’ve never gone by that at all,” Harrison said.
“I’ve always felt that the pitch week one is going to be just as good for week two and that’s the thing I live by with my wickets . . . I hope that they are just as good the first week as they are the second week.
“I’ve always said to the batsmen, ‘At the end of the day, if you don’t make runs, don’t come and blame me’.
“I always watch the first hour and . . . if they want to come and talk about the wicket they are welcome.
“Not too many do.”