We say farewell to a pocket dynamo
Anyone who has played competitive sport will have special moments burned into their memories about specific incidents or circumstances.
This can apply for football, tennis, netball and so on. For some of us, they occurred on the cricket field.
News of the death of Rupanyup cricketing legend Brian Isbel, 75, last week would have brought many of these memories flooding back for older, long-retired members of the Wimmera cricket fraternity – me among them.
In the early 1980s, a couple of us naïve teenagers and tailenders at the time, went out to bat in an A Grade match against Brian ‘Izzy’ Isbel’s Panthers at Horsham City Oval.
Izzy’s reputable leg-breaks had already cut a swathe through our team and warnings of ‘watch him’ from team-mates barely registered.
Sure enough, after taking guard and facing this veteran we hadn’t yet come to know, a ball fizzed and bent through the air, exploded in a puff of dust as it hit the turf and broke across my chest. It left wicket-keeper Barry Ballantine with a mighty effort to haul in an awkward ball down leg side.
Wow! Amid the ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ from fielders and personally, as a young player at the time trying to understand the craft of leg-spin, my decision then and there was to ‘try to bowl like that bloke!’
But that wasn’t the end of it. Izzy could also weigh in heavily with rapid-fire scoring when batting, often producing mighty blows that took fancied opponents by surprise.
Brian, ‘Izzy’ to many, or ‘Briney’ to others close to him, died from illness complications in Lyell Mcewin Hospital in Adelaide. He had been in retirement with wife Carmen at Nuriootpa in South Australia’s Barossa Valley where they had been close to family.
In sport, to many of us looking on from the outer, Izzy was the quintessential cricketer – someone with an intense approach who young players could look up to and admire; someone for opponents to fear and respect and ultimately someone to enjoy sharing good company and fun with after the heat of ‘battle’.
A pocket dynamo, he was considerably larger as a player, personality and leader than his relatively small frame would suggest. He loved life, be it playing sport, working in business or enjoying fishing and social occasions with friends.
His talent as a cricketer took him to Adelaide district cricket in the late 1960s and, after buying a Rupanyup International farm machinery dealership and opening Isbel’s Sales and Service, he returned to the Panthers for the 1979-80 season.
He became Dunmunkle Cricket Association president before the competition disbanded and captained Rupanyup to an A Grade premiership in 1981-82 – the club’s first season in Horsham association.
He was also in charge of the Panthers for three consecutive flags in ’86-87, ’87-88 and ’88-89 and captained many representative teams to victories.
In the 1979-80 season he captured a hefty 59 wickets while playing for Rupanyup Cavaliers and 52 in 1982-83 while representing Rupanyup in Horsham association.
Records indicate that while playing for Rupanyup teams, he made 4400 runs at an average of 31 and captured 450 wickets at 15. The figures don’t reflect his time playing at an elite level in Adelaide.
He was Rupanyup club president for eight years, was a club life-member and joined Horsham Cricket Association’s Hall of Fame in 2005.
He also shared a long-time agricultural business with fellow former Rupanyup cricketer David ‘Scolly’ Dunlop from 1989 to his retirement in 2009.
Mr Dunlop said he had many fond and lasting memories of his close friend and business partner.
“These range from card and social nights at his home at Cromie Street in Rupanyup, the many fishing trips on the Murray River and, probably best of all, the fantastic cricket times and amazing successes I was fortunate enough to be involved with and share with him. Along with the rest of our mates, we were just as fortunate to enjoy the company of such a remarkable man,” he said.
Fellow long-time cricketing team-mate Barry Ballantine said Izzy had the adoration of everyone involved in cricket at Rupanyup.
“As a player and team-mate, you just knew he was going to always keep you in the game. He always livened everything up – he was just sensational,” he said.
“He was an aggressive cricketer but as aggressive as he was on the ground, he was just as genial, engaging and great fun off the ground.
“At Rupanyup we couldn’t help but look up to him. He was a great cricketer, sportsman and bloke.”
Izzy’s funeral will be at Nuriootpa Sports Centre at 10am on Friday.
He is survived by his wife Carmen and children Craig, Paul, Michelle and their families.