MAGIC MOMENT LIVES ON
It’s still spoken about in hushed tones – the day Greg Markwell claimed 10-19 in a Gold Coast cricket first grade final. Rhys O’Neill delves into the past to find how that 1978-79 effort changed things.
DISSECTING epic bowling spells from decades earlier isn’t a traditional recipe for love but, then again, Greg Markwell was no ordinary cricketer.
The art of swing bowling nudged Cupid off his chair the night Brad Markwell met his wife Linda Kaddatz, whose own rich family history melded into the perfect cricket cocktail.
See, Brad’s late father, Greg, owns the second-best figures in Gold Coast cricket history: 10-19, and in a grand final, if you don’t mind.
His unfathomable effort for Mudgeeraba against Palm Beach in the 1978-79 decider is the stuff of legend – just ask Mr and Mrs Markwell.
“When I first met my wife and her family, I don’t know how we got on to cricket and I mentioned my dad and then Linda’s dad said: ‘Oh yeah, Greg Markwell’,” Brad, 43, said. “Her dad knew my dad from Gold Coast cricket – they played against each other.
“I couldn’t believe the history of that. Linda liked cricket so that made things easy.”
Her father Greg Kaddatz would be well aware of Markwell senior’s 10-for.
After all it’s a legend that also echoed into the generation of Linda’s brother and former Dolphins player Chris Kaddatz.
It carries on today with the Greg Markwell Medal being handed to the player of the grand final each year.
Brad, who would go on to compile his own strong first grade journey as a fast-bowling all-rounder at Helensvale, was one when his father’s spell shook Coast cricket.
“It was a big thing in a grand final, and an A-grade final, that was pretty crazy,” Brad said.
“But he was a pretty quiet man. It was only when I started playing and I realised how hard it is to get a wicket at all.
“I was coming home getting one or two wickets and dad would have said along the way ‘I got 10-for one day’ and I would have thought ‘no way’.”
Sadly, Markwell senior – who retired from cricket at 33 – passed away in 2006 aged 56 after a short battle with bowel cancer.
“I was in London at the time (of his diagnosis),” Brad said.
“They said: ‘Don’t worry, don’t come back.’
“Then they said: ‘You need to come back.’ And I was on the plane and didn’t quite make it in time.”
Though with son Blake, 3, and daughter Jade, 7 months, the Markwell legacy may continue.
“Blake is already picking up the bat and playing in the yard,” Brad said.
“With the Markwell and Kaddatz connection they might be a future star.”