This fortnights Howzat Building Waratahs in History Q & A is with Matthew “Balchy” Balch.
Matt played 5 seasons for the Tahs from 1996/1997 to 2000/2001. Matt started his career with the Tahs in “Green shield” and has a 100 not out and a 5-wicket haul to his name. Matt now resides in the UK where he has continued to play cricket in the birthplace of the great game.
Matt tells a great story and I rate this as one of the best reads of all the stories we have published over the years. I hope you enjoy!
How did your love of cricket come about as a child and who were your cricket heroes growing up?
Like anyone of my generation growing up in the 80’s, it was all about day/night games, coloured clothing and the channel 9 coverage with Richie, Bill and Tony. It also helped having access to the 12th Man tapes via my older brother, who was a huge influence in this sense and through playing with me in the back yard of course.
In terms of players, I loved AB from a very early age, and it was hard to look past Dean Jones for the energy he created every time he walked out to bat. After the ’87 World Cup, Steve Waugh became a cult hero everywhere for his back of the hand slower ball then after 1989 Ashes, it was all about his back foot slash through cover. I spent years trying to replicate both.
Closer to home, I saw Bevo get 90 middling everything effortlessly for NSW at North Sydney Oval when I was about 11 and so he was right up there for me throughout the 90’s. I was on the hill at the SCG going wild for the famous ‘4 off the last ball’ game on New Years Day in 1996, then ironically on the field at Manly playing Greenies the next day while Channel 10 interviewed him in the grandstand, which was pretty cool.
Tell us a bit about your junior journey on your way to playing at Manly?
I was a Seaforth junior in the Ronnie Watkins (Manly club legend) stable. We were basically league / rugby players from Balgowlah Boys who loved surfing and cricket in the summer (in that order), so there was never any thought to any of us playing ‘reps’. We were the ‘Crazy Gang’, while teams like Wakehurst and St Augustine’s (most notably featuring Rochford and Mason) were the ‘Culture Club’ (little reference to the 1988 F.A Cup Final for the keen readers there).
My ‘sliding doors’ moment came in the nets at Seaforth Oval at the age of 15 receiving throwdowns from my dad. Looking across to the adjacent net, I saw a much fitter, more accurate alternative in the form of David Patterson giving another 15 y.o a 1-1 lesson. I introduced myself and the following week I was having my first coaching session. Months later when Patto had taken on the coaching role at Warringah, I was invited to pre-season trials and had 1 season in 4’s (interspersed with a very wet, mainly washed-out Green Shield season). Despite my struggles to ‘get forward’ playing on turf for the first time, we managed to lead the comp from start to finish – mainly due to Louis McMillan and Roy Formica taking 40 odd poles each – before losing the home semi. It was around this time that I was invited to go on a schoolboy tour (again, I think thanks to Patto) of England in the winter of 1996 with other 16-year-olds from across Sydney and NSW. It was an unbelievable adventure and let’s just say that I caught the ‘English cricket / culture’ bug.
Returning home for the 1996/7 season, I was binned off by Warringah for round 1 for another kid who might have gone on to do something called Tim Cruikshank. Licking my wounds, it was back to Seaforth and A1 Park cricket to do some more growing up around men. My break (of sorts) came at the end of the season when I was asked to play the second day of the penultimate round in 5th grade away at Tonkin. Of course, I was only allowed to field, and we lost in under 2 hours, but it was enough to get me an actual game in the final week away at Hawkesbury. I was in!
What are your memories of the club in the mid-90s as you were coming through the grades? Both on and off the field?
My intro to Manly was late 1995 for Green Shield. I have clear memories of the old Grahams nets and Nick Derbyshire bouncing me off the concrete slab with a new rock. Then by the time I was playing full time in 1997, training had moved to Manly, and the facilities were pretty good. Training was excellent (shout out to Dollars) and there was a great spirit across all the teams with everyone mixing no matter which XI you played for on Saturday.
Off the field, I managed to fit in nicely thanks to my brother’s ID (which made me 27) and was often to be seen on the DF at The Steyne with some of the more mature lads. Being dragged off to Warny’s 30th in the Cross after training having just completed my HSC also sticks out.
Who helped you the most throughout those initial years starting out in Grade cricket at Manly?
I had one or two 1-1’s with Phelpsy as a 17-year-old as I was transitioning into grade that still hold be in good stead 30 years on. I vividly remember his honesty and vulnerability about his own game as he aspired to break into the NSW team in an era of throbbers. I also found myself looking up to guys like Warny and Cam Lawes (despite him religiously bouncing me off 18 in the dark).
Another was the vastly underrated Barry Knight, who coached us for 2 seasons between 1999-01. I was young of course and this was pre-internet, so I didn’t know about his stellar career for Mosman and Campbelltown, let alone the 30 caps he got for England! He was kind enough to act as a referral to the club in England that I was recruited by, which effectively changed my life. Living in England, I’ve had the chance to reference him to blokes of his age and they all say that he was a top, top player who knew how to enjoy himself off the field. A true gentleman.
Who were some of the well-known cricketers who you came through the system with, and who was the best player coming through the Manly ranks during your juniors?
Luke Martin was the best player the year I played Green Shield. He was a lovely lad who had it all in front of him, so it was a great shame to many that back injuries held him back.
You debuted for the Waratahs in 1995 at the tender age of 15. What do you remember about your grade debut?
It was in Green Shield at 15 in 95/96.
My first actual grade match was the last game of 96/97 as mentioned earlier. It was against Hawkesbury at Bensons Lane n.o 3 and we won. I think I got something like 15, which was enough to snag an invite that evening to the 5’s ‘end of season dinner / beers at The Drain’. Heady days indeed!
Your top score was 100 not out for the club, what do you remember about that innings?
I scored a solitary ton for the club playing 5’s at the end of the 1997/98 season. I’d got injured midweek between week 1 and 2 in round 14, so pulled out of travelling to Penrith away for the second week when we were due to bat. A big no no at the time, but unavoidable – or so the 18-year-old in thought. Keith Fitzpatrick, who lived in the next street to me and drove past my house every day in his Rolls Royce swiftly dropped me from the 4’s, so I ended up playing the last game of the season on the naughty step. It ended up being my highest score for the club, but definitely not an innings that stood out other than the fact that it was my first and only ton. Nonetheless, it was a hugely valuable life lesson.
What do you consider the best innings/spell of bowling from yourself?
Although I used to bowl a fair bit and was mainly picked in PGs as a bowler (try convincing anyone who’s played with me in the last 20 years of that little nugget), I was probably more of a bat. In terms of significant knocks, I got a 90 in a semi vs Syd Uni at Chatswood, where I batted with a 17y.o Ben King in a sizeable partnership. The team was basically Rudy Burratini (age unknown), Rochy, myself (both at Uni) and the previous year’s Green Shield team. We went on to lose the GF, but it was a significant achievement for a young team and a taste of the future with the likes of King, Michael Cosentino and Andrew Lindsay going on to achieve bigger things.
What do you think your strength was as a cricketer?
For anyone still playing and practicing every week into their mid-40’s, it would have to be resilience. Either that or a psychotic personality disorder.
Who was the best player at Manly that you played with?
Has to Tim Cruickshank (needless to say, we didn’t share too many dressing rooms).
What is the best innings/bowling spell you saw at Manly from a fellow player?
Tim played one of the best innings I have ever seen at any level (Aust or UK) in a 1’s semi away at St George in 2000/01. I was living in Surry Hills at the time and so made the relatively short trip down to Hurstville to watch us chase 260 on a dark, damp and gloomy day 2. Manly had an unbelievable top 6 with the likes of Clem, Phelps, Glassock, Bradstreet and Spoljaric, but were soon 3 or 4 down.
Tim would have been 18 or so at the time but stood up scoring an unbelievable 97 in a losing cause against a side boasting Scott Thomson (bumping the sh*t out of him) and a snarling Stuart MacGill ragging it. It was an outstanding innings and certainly a sign of things to come.
Who was the funniest player you played with at Manly and why? Do you have any clean stories you could share with us?
Pete Jacka stood out, but one of my funniest memories was in the infamous Tim Farris 3’s game at Snape. Someone must have pulled out late on the Friday, so sure enough, our honorary President (?) of INXS fame stood in to make the trip down to Randwick. He batted 5 and was knocked over first ball wearing kit donated by the likes of Dean Jones and Ian Healy, acquired from a recent tour to England which just so happened to coincide with an Ashes trip.
Then, when it came to field, Tim managed to last 25 overs till the drinks break whereupon he quickly decamped to the sheds to acquaint himself with a Winnie blue and can of JD and coke. When asked if he would be re-joining us, it was quickly made known that we would need to finish the job with 10. A club legend was born!
Who drove the standards at the club during your playing time?
Loads of guys to be fair. It would be easy to look towards the likes of Wing, Sack and Phelpsy, but the culture ran deep, so you didn’t have to look far.
Who was the person/people who really drove the on-field and off-field culture at Manly during your time?
John Warn. Top bloke, highly intelligent and someone I would have loved to have shared more dressing rooms with.
Who was the best Captain you played with and why?
I was fortunate to have Warren Evans as skipper in both the 5’s and 3’s at various stages. As we all know, he was an elite cricketer who had succumbed to injury at the time, so had decided to make a contribution down the grades. Not only was he humble and a master tactician, he was also was also known for administering sage wisdom, none better than when he turned to a teenage me on the square at Punchbowl one morning and said ‘love is when you can just sit with the person and just shut the f&ck up’. Also had the best leg cutter I have ever seen anywhere in the world.
Who was someone that you loved to captain/or played with that you loved seeing succeed?
Ben King came from Warringah as a ‘wunderkind’ but struggled in his first season. I was very pleased to see it ‘click’ for him when it inevitably did.
Best Nick Name?
‘Loose’ Cranney was an obviously one, but to be honest, it was an era when a dozen or so could have owned that one (inc. myself!). Frase and Lawsy usually had silly ones which were funny.
What are some of your predictions for Manly in 2024/2025?
Bulk silverware.
What does your life involve now, and do you keep abreast of how the Waratahs are faring?
I’ve just completed my 23rd (?) season in England and have no plans to chuck it in. Away from cricket, I have a young family and work from home as a freelance app marketing consultant.
I love following Manly, either watching the streams late on Friday night or via the socials. I typically spend a few months each year trying to unsuccessfully recruit one of Frase’s pros to my club Beckenham (in recent years also home to Nick Rigg), so the offer is there to anyone who fancies good cricket in SE London playing in the Kent league.
If you are not currently involved – Do you ever seeing yourself as getting back involved in the club in the future?
I’d probably need to win the lottery to move back to where I grew up…but I live in hope!
