Lockdown Heroes - How Some Sanderstead Members Have Made the Most of Lockdown!
In the UK we find ourselves deep into our third lockdown - the first had a novelty factor about it and we struggled through until it dawned on us that the 2020 cricket season was likely to be affected. It was. Badly! Whilst we got about half a season in, it wasn’t the same as usual with social distancing rules, hand sanitisation breaks, no teas and changing in cars to contend with - but worst of all we were severely curtailed from socialising after games and the social side of the club suffered as a result.
The second lockdown came and went as we geared up to a strange “no family” Christmas, but this third lockdown has been a real drag on everyone and has affected people in different ways. However, there have been a few who have taken the opportunity to look for the silver lining in the cloud, and used the extra time available to them to pursue something positive to get them through. We have four excellent examples of how the Sanderstead spirit has kept four of our members going and hopefully there’s some inspiration here for us all.
Greg McLean - Rediscovering a Hidden Talent After 25 Years!
The ever-youthful Greg is a fitness fanatic and a regular player in Sanderstead’s 1st and 2nd XIs with his accurate quick bowling and hard-hitting batting. However, during this lockdown we discovered a different side to Greg as his Instagram posts switched from the gym to art!
We asked him what’s going on, and this is what he told us:
"I was told that I was a good artist whilst at school and I majored in art. I was also talented in sports and with cricket being my passion I focused on that mostly, alongside working, so art slowly faded into the background until I almost forgot about this talent.
Well, the lockdowns happened and we all have more time on our hands so after seeing a former schoolmate of mine displaying her marvellous art on Instagram, it inspired me to pick up my paint brush again. Whilst painting, it dawned on me that I had not painted for about 25 years and that made me so nervous as I was wondering whether the paintings would come out looking ok! Of course, once I started I couldn't stop and I really liked the outcome. I now paint and display my paintings daily and it has given me joy to share a bit of light during this dark time."
I think you will agree, Greg clearly has talent and he’s used his lockdown time wisely to rediscover painting after such a long time. Unfortunately Greg hasn’t been able to work during lockdown but we suggested he offer some of his paintings for sale - we will certainly be displaying some in our pavilion! Anyone wanting to enquire about buying any of his works, please email us at [email protected] and we’ll connect you to Greg or connect with him on instagram here.
Jake Scarisbrick - Lands a Dream Job as International Jetsetter With Hawkeye!
Jake cemented his spot opening the batting for Sanderstead 1st XI in 2020, with his trademark cuts, dabs and multiple other ways to frustrate bowlers by always finding the gaps behind square on the offside. Whilst he’s a local lad, he’s also a student at Loughborough University and 2021 is his placement year, so we may not see so much of him this season. The great thing is, despite the lockdown, he’s landed an absolute dream job for any young cricketer, and here he tells us a little bit about it.
"Over the past 6 months I have been lucky enough to be doing a work placement within the cricket department of Hawk-Eye. This job involves being part of the team who operate and deliver the DRS process (decision review system) within professional cricket all over the world, and enhance the production for the viewers, using animated stats such as pitch maps and replays.
My work with Hawk-Eye started by working at the IPL which was held in the UAE. It was an awesome experience to get so closely involved with both live cricket and live TV production. With over 200 million viewers in India alone, it is a hugely pressurised environment as you know that any mistake you make will be picked up on (which I learnt the hard way), but it was certainly enjoyable and I’m learning a lot from it. Suddenly the pressure of Sanderstead’s 30,000 viewers watching you score a scratchy 20 through third man each Saturday doesn’t seem too bad after all. Although the 250,000 views on the TikTok of me playing “the worst hook shot ever” still haunts me to this day.
Since the IPL, I was lucky enough to spend my 21st Birthday in Bangladesh, which was an incredible experience, albeit nothing like Las Vegas where I had dreamed my 21st would be. Following that, I had Christmas in South Africa, before working at the Boxing Day Test match and saw in the New Year by finding myself in bed by 8pm due to the announcement of South Africa’s new curfew, which involved all bars and liquor stores shutting and no one allowed outside after 9pm. As a lot of the work that we do involves analysing the matches and players, we often are lucky enough to converse with the commentators, who share their knowledge and wisdom with us, similarly to how Dan Allen likes to tell me to ‘move my feet’ or ‘watch the ball’ shortly after getting out.
As my placement continues until September 2021, I will be unavailable for most, if not all, of the season this year. I will be sure to watch the games every weekend via YouTube, and offer any constructive criticism to the flaky top order, and if anyone has a problem with my advice, I will simply reply with “it’s my job”.
Jake has just arrived in India for the next leg of his exciting adventure which may yet take him to the Caribbean, India, and maybe even some UK cricket next Summer!
Chris Baumann - There’s Music in the Air at Sanderstead CC
New boy, Chris Baumann, moved to Sanderstead last season and lives within “six (more like a nine!)” distance from the Old Saw Mill. He’s a proper cricketer, having scored a Grade 1 ton in his native Australia when he was (a bit) younger, and has played ECB Premier League cricket for many years since moving to the UK in 2001.
As one of the latest additions to Sanderstead CC last season, can you tell us why Sanderstead?
My wife is to blame. After 4 years of cricket retirement my wife out of the blue suggested she thought I should start playing again, as it would be good for our children (Beau 4 and Ellis 2) to grow up seeing their mum and dad play sport (a noble notion but my expanding waistline probably contributing to her thinking as well). Having moved to the area (within stumbling distance I think you accurately called it) 2 years ago, I was aware of the club as I had seen cricket being played when I took the kids to the park. I simply got in touch via the socials and turned up to winter nets. I was rusty to say the least, but I’m really happy with the decision as there’s plenty of top blokes at the club and the standard of cricket is really good. The fact I’m now a 7-minute walk to a pint did not come into the decision making process at all.
You learned your cricket in Australia and first came to the UK 20 years ago - where else have you played?
In the UK I’d previously played at Spencer in the Surrey League and Waterlooville in the Southern League. I was an overseas player at Waterlooville from 2001-03 where I met my now wife Sarah. We then moved to London in 2008 and I continued to play for them for four seasons before moving to Spencer. Both great clubs where I’ve made some lifelong friends.
In Australia I played some grade cricket for the Gold Coast and Beenleigh and some local district stuff for Broadbeach-Robina in my hometown of the Gold Coast. I always played what was considered a reasonable standard just never to a reasonable standard!
Cricket isn’t your only talent - we’ve noticed you’ve been working on a “lockdown” project called The Brojangles - tell us more.
I’m in a “dadrock” band called The Brojangles and after 20 years or so we’ve finally got round to recording and releasing some official tunes. The name comes from one of my old nicknames (Bojangles) and the fact me and my brother started it we decided to call ourselves The Brojangles. Most of our performances over the years have been in various lounge rooms (we’re trying to coin the phrase ‘Loungeroom Bangers’), pre night out beers, or around bonfires and it’s always been a bit of fun.
I can play more cricket shots than I can guitar chords but know enough to write some basic songs. The trick has been surrounding myself with far more talented people than me, like my brother Tim (sings very well and plays cello) and mate Danny on lead guitar. Danny deserves most of the credit because he’s done most of the arranging and pre-production and brought the other musicians in to play on the tracks. It’s taken us (me and my brother) 20 years to start releasing songs, so we’ve got quite a back catalogue of slouchy dad punk to get through!
How has The Brojangles helped during lockdown?
It’s kept me sane. Whilst my wife was off on a fitness kick (which she’s now dragging me kicking and screaming into) I rediscovered my love of guitar (although basic as it is) and started writing music for the first time in a few years. As my brother lives in Oz I thought we could only play music together when we visited each other. Now we’ve all worked out how easy recording can be we’re all speaking more frequently than before which has been great. Although judging from the number of my calls which go unanswered, I’m far more annoying than I remember.
What’s your ambition for The Brojangles?
Initially we just wanted to be able to put a couple of songs up so some of our mates could hear the old tunes again. But we’ve had some requests for band merch (which my wife is very keen to do!) so we’re sorting a website soon with all the stuff on there. Once again really just so our mates can buy it.
If you see our videos, I don’t think anyone will accuse us of taking ourselves too seriously and if by the end of it we have a Brojangles album of 10 songs or so I think we’ll be pretty stoked! It’s definitely helped pass the time and given how unfortunate this situation has been for some people we’re pretty lucky to maybe come out of it with our first album!
To discover The Brojangles and follow them on various platforms, here are some links:
And who knows, we may even have one or two after match mini-gigs at the Old Saw Mill in 2021...
