Local cricketer Greg Bottrill achieved the perfect milestone recently. Not only did the 46-year-old notch up 400 senior games for his beloved Emu Plains Cricket Club but he also led his side to victory with a rare century to boot.
Bottrill began playing with Emu Plains as a nine-year-old and 37 years later he’s still showing up every summer donning his humble baggy red. Speaking with the Weekender, Bottrill said friendship and the love of the game keeps him coming back year after year.
“I just love the game, the friendships, my mates and the camaraderie,” Bottrill said.
“I’ve actually played more than 400 games for the club, but they don’t have all the records for all the junior games that I played.”
While Bottrill’s love for Emu Plains runs deep through his veins, he was lured away by friends a number of years ago to play with Wentworthville.
The switch lasted all but one game.
“I played one game and begged to come back to Emu Plains,” he said.
Fortunately for Bottrill he was able to resume his career with his local team, and recently racked up 400 senior games in the best way possible.
After injuring his neck in a bad work accident a decade ago, Bottrill said achieving game 400 was one of the best moments of his life.
“For about five or six years I could only played three to four games a season because I was constantly under the knife getting my neck repaired, so it was nice to finally play that 400th game,” he said.
And what a game it was, with the result going right down to the wire.
“We bowled first and we were struggling,” Bottrill said.
“Glenmore Park put on a big score and made life very hard, but we went out to bat and luckily I managed to peel off a nice 100 and we were able to get up.”
Nathan Taylor
Nathan Taylor is the Weekender's Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.