00:00Hello, I'm Andrew Moyer and I'm here in Aubrey-Rodonga which is hosting the over 75s and
00:04over 80s Masters Cricket competitions and I'm joined by the oldest player in the carnival,
00:10Doug Crowe, 96-year-old. Doug, how are you mate? Yes, it's a long time. It is, it is. Now
00:16I'll
00:17just speak a little louder because Doug's a little hard of hearing but Doug, you're 96,
00:23you're potentially the oldest player in Australia and potentially the world.
00:26How does that make you feel? Makes me feel old. Yeah, it certainly does, it does. You're still
00:32playing cricket. Why do you love cricket so much? Can you give us a couple of reasons why you love
00:37cricket so much? Well, I think it's the fact that it's a good game and it's one that you can
00:45play
00:46later in life if you dedicate it to fitness which I contribute a lot to the fact that I've never
00:55smoked.
00:57And I have very little drink. Good. Any alcohol. And I've had two good wives.
01:07That's a good start. That's a great start. Just taking us through that fitness regime, you just
01:11spoke about you don't smoke and you rarely drink but do you do exercise? Do you walk every day? Swim?
01:18Can you take us? No. No? No, short sheep and cut burrs and getting all farm work. Fantastic. Yeah. Can
01:28you take us through your
01:29very first game of cricket? Doug, can you take us through your very first game of cricket? Margaret, your wife
01:35was telling me about your very first game. Can you let us know about that?
01:39Yes, well that was that. Particularly the protector. What happened with the protector? Yes. I've still got it. Good, good,
01:47good. I hope it works. The protector that is.
01:50Don't get a mug, it's in the bag. No, no, no. No, no, no, no.
01:54Now, well, we were, after the Second World War, the properties in the district were taken up by soldier settlers
02:07and there was nothing else for young people in the area to play.
02:19Yeah. So, I got on my push bike and went around the soldiers, old soldiers and asked if they would
02:29donate towards getting some gear for cricketers.
02:34Yeah. And they were very generous, very generous. They wanted to participate in getting their, you know, and one person
02:45then gave me a pound.
02:46And the pound was a, I'm going back to, yeah, seven years ago, 80 years ago.
02:52And they were very valuable. Yeah. And we went in and bought the gear and the bats and pads and,
03:00and we were walking out and the, the, the, the curator of the, the sports wheel said,
03:10Doug, Doug, you'll need a couple of these. And he handed me this, these protectors.
03:16Yeah. And, uh,
03:17Nice to have. So, when we were going out to, to bat, an old father said to me, Doug, you
03:24better put this in.
03:25Yeah. And, uh, so I put it in, in the right place.
03:30Yeah. And, uh, I think probably I had a bit of a string for a, for a belt.
03:36Okay. Okay.
03:37And, uh, and, uh, tightened it up. And as I walked out, it slipped down the trousers big in me
03:44and my knee.
03:45That's not a great start.
03:47Work it back up and put it up and pull the towels up to further up my waist. And, and,
03:52and I went out and hit a run and I was running between the wickets.
03:56And this thingy fell down between me knees again. And the story is, of course, that we never wore underpants.
04:04Exactly.
04:05No protectors of, of any kind. And you can't keep them.
04:09Well, it hasn't affected your, your love for the game. You've kept going. Now you've got a higher score of
04:1597.
04:16Yeah.
04:16Can you take us through, did you know you were 97? Did you see the finish line of 100? Just
04:21take us through what happened that day.
04:24Well, the, uh, I was batting the week before and I was about 35, not out.
04:31Yeah.
04:31And the wife said, well, you can't play cricket that day because the, that, uh, night was my son's 24th
04:40birthday party.
04:42Right.
04:42And, uh, I said, well, what I will do, I'll, I said, when I get out, I'll go and I'll
04:48play cricket.
04:49When I get out, I'll, I'll come home and we'll help you to get things ready for the party.
04:56And of course I didn't get out.
04:57Exactly.
04:58What happened?
04:58I got to 97 and, uh, make a mind me from the boundary.
05:03He yelled out, he said, you're 97, Doug.
05:05Oh.
05:06And I got out next ball.
05:07Oh, did you?
05:08You saw the finish line?
05:09Yeah.
05:09Well, lack of concentration, I think.
05:12Can happen to everyone.
05:13Yeah.
05:14Just take, and, and you took a catch yesterday.
05:17Just take us through the catch in the over 80s competition here in Albury-Wodong.
05:21Can you just take us through the, give us a run through the catch, Doug?
05:25The catch?
05:26Yes.
05:26The catch you took yesterday?
05:28Yeah.
05:28I took a catch yesterday.
05:29Yeah.
05:29Take us through it.
05:30Yeah.
05:30Cause the first over and, uh, I was in fairly close to the wickets where I liked the field
05:37and, uh, he, uh, hit the ball towards me in my quarter.
05:41Down low?
05:42That's as simple as that.
05:43I mean, I, I think you're selling yourself short, Doug.
05:46It was down low.
05:47Well, I've, I've got a toky at home that, that, where I got nine catches off the same
05:53ball in the one match.
05:55Oh, wow.
05:56Nine, five in the first innings and four in the second.
05:59Not the same ball.
06:00Okay.
06:01We had two innings.
06:02Yeah.
06:03And I got nine catches off the same ball.
06:05Geez, that's rare.
06:06That's really rare.
06:07Yeah.
06:08You're 96 years of age.
06:09Do you want to get to a hundred playing cricket?
06:11Oh, yes.
06:12If that's, uh, I, I, I don't know whether they'll keep picking me though.
06:19I think they'll be hard for us not to pick, yeah?
06:21Well, they, I think a lot of the, the, uh, the reason that they like to see me turn up
06:28is because I'm even the oldest picketer.
06:30Makes them feel better.
06:31And they're pretty well friendly with most of the players and the opposition.
06:37Um, I, I have, you know, I like to, the Victorians, they looked after me because I didn't play
06:45for them once.
06:46Yes.
06:47And you even played for England one day.
06:49Yes.
06:50Can you take us through that?
06:51So you're playing for Australia one day and for England the next.
06:54Take us through that story.
06:55Yeah.
06:56Well, they, they were picking, uh, uh, a team from out of Australia.
07:03Yeah.
07:03From each, each, uh, state.
07:06Mm-hmm.
07:07And there was two from, uh, New South Wales and I was the, one of them.
07:12Mm-hmm.
07:13And the, the captain, um, when we all met together down in, uh, Melbourne.
07:19And, uh, he said, I don't know what you people, uh, profess to be good at.
07:26But I said, I'm looking for a couple of opening bats.
07:29And, of course, I put my head up straight away.
07:31Yes.
07:31And I opened the batting and, uh, and got 12 runs and retired.
07:35And we beat the Englishmen on that day.
07:37The first time that they'd been beaten on the touring, touring team.
07:42And then they, were they short for players the next day?
07:45Is that right?
07:46And then you played for England?
07:47We had a dig after the game and, and, uh, cause I had a squash, but we had a,
07:52had a dig after the game and they told us that, uh, that they were short.
07:57And I said, well, I'll, I'll be right.
07:59And that was in, uh, Geelong.
08:02And, uh, I opened the batting for England the next day.
08:06So, Doug, you're 96 years of age.
08:09You've played for Australia.
08:10You've played for England.
08:11There's probably nobody else in the world who could say that, I would think.
08:15Well, it's a fairly big record.
08:18It's a good resume.
08:19Yeah.
08:20Hey, Doug, so nice to meet you.
08:21And, uh, we love having you here and all of us for the rest of the competition.
08:26Thank you very much for having me.
08:27Thanks, Doug.
08:29You drop in your comments, please like, um, If you would like to watch the series.
08:31Hold in and let me go.
08:31So, you're third of the report for the other.
08:31You've beensinging Jeffrey BroistersRI.
08:32And you've looked at, yes, homicide cycle.
08:32You're almost convicted when you give him a picture of graduating.
08:33Did you think, you know what he did, do you agree with that?
08:33Marla, who's located in the house and live.
08:33Oh, are you in some Were here and their friends?
08:33Well, I think we have posted your свободées.
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