Torquay gear helps grow cricket in Mongolia

AN idea from a Victorian cricketing legend more than a decade ago has resulted in gear from local players helping the sport flourish in an unlikely spot in East Asia.

The Torquay Cricket Club is the latest club to donate a significant amount of used equipment to Cricket Victoria that will now be shipped to Mongolia.

The initiative traces back more than 15 years, when former Test all-rounder and former Cricket Victoria chief executive Tony Dodemaide helped spark a partnership with the Mongolian Cricket Association after a visiting delegation met with officials in Melbourne.

Cricket Victoria community coach development lead Chris Harris said the relationship had steadily grown since.

“Over the past 15 years we’ve donated equipment on a number of occasions. We’ve had clubs like the Torquay Cricket Club donate equipment, we’ve hosted a phys-ed teacher from Mongolia out here, and we’ve hosted their committee people,” Harris said.

Torquay Cricket Club committee member Blake Chadwick said the idea locally came from vice-president Mark MacGugan, who initially contacted the Geelong Cricket Association before being linked into the state program.

“So we put it out to our community and the whole club – the juniors, the seniors, everybody we could reach out to – if they could donate and they’ve done really well,” Chadwick said.

“It’s good to see it [the equipment] get another crack at life.”

Donations included bats, pads in the club’s signature yellow, helmets, gloves, thigh guards and kit bags – much of it gear that might otherwise have ended up in landfill.

“Sustainably, it’s not going to landfill so it’s not taking up space,” Chadwick said. “It’s getting another shot at life and it’s helping those who might not have access to a Greg Chappell or a Rebel store.

“We hope these guys will get it and be pumped that they’ve got some good quality equipment.”

Chadwick said he hoped the effort would encourage other clubs to get involved.

Harris said cricket in Mongolia was continuing to develop, with backing from the International Cricket Council and the Mongolian Olympic Committee, alongside growing school programs and national men’s and women’s teams.