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Thanks Coach

Smudge

Hall of Fame Member
Graeme Elliott

I've known Graeme since I was in nappies (and no, that wasn't last year). Our families were living in different cities from when I was 5 until he was 11, but we met up for holidays and me and his two sons would play cricket from dawn to dusk. Finally, when we moved to Dunedin when I was 11, I used to go to the nets quite often with Graeme and his sons (one of which I was going to school with).

Graeme had many things going in his favour - he was a cricket historian (he has a cricket library room in his house), he had a V12 which he would occasionally let us use, and he bowled off-spin, which I did at the time too.

He coached our third form team, and the team of his other son, who was two years older - and one day, when a dodgy pitch made a ball of mine turn from leg to off (it hit a sprig mark...), he suggested I give leg-spinning a go. He also encouraged me to open the batting that year, which I did with minimal success, but I at least took the shine off the ball.

Graeme went on to spend 7 years as the chief executive of the Otago Cricket Association, and was instrumental in the redevelopment of the University Oval to the point where it will host its first test this summer when NZ play Bangladesh. He was made a life member of the OCA earlier this year, I believe, and will undoubtedly spend the first day of the test in the Long Room (which he made sure was part of the redevelopment, being the cricket lover that he is.

Billy Ibadulla
I had heard about Billy through Graeme and his sons, who both attended Billy's coaching school. It wasn't cheap, and my parents weren't thrilled about stumping up, but did it make me a better leggie? Hell, yes. Billy was willing to put time into guys who were happy to do likewise - I'd walk 5km to his coaching clinic after school, bowl for 2 1/2 hours straight, then walk home and he wouldn't charge me for those sessions as I bowled suitcase after suitcase of cricket balls down the pitch. He gave me other opportunites, such as bowling alongside a young Saqlain Mushtaq to Saleem Elahi when the Pakistani side was in Dunedin in 1996, and encouraged me to play for a club rather than wallow in my school's second XI, which saw me make my debut at Dunedin senior level at age 16, taking 1/31 off 8 in my first stint. I never realised the potential I think Billy believed I had, but I'm very grateful.
 

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