OFTEN putting in hours of hard work behind the scenes, volunteers at local cricket clubs may not always feel their efforts are recognised.
But Kerang cricket president and longtime volunteer Bob Sutterby was given the chance of a lifetime, a spot in a lap of honour around the MCG.
Sutterby was nominated by a member of Swan Hill District Cricket Association to partake in the special occasion, for his tireless work for the sport locally.
Sutterby said he received a call from Cricket Victoria offering him the chance to step foot on the hallowed turf.
“I was trying to organise for one of the club’s other volunteers to come down with me, but unfortunately he was a bit busy,” he said.
“Instead, I was able to just take my son down, and we just had a great day.
“We did the lap in the afternoon tea break, which was also around the same time that they did the hat tip for Warnie.
“The crowd were all getting ready for that, so the atmosphere was just amazing.
“It was actually a really enjoyable day of cricket once the players were able to get on the field.”
While not the first time Bob has been ground level at the stadium, he said its immense size was always surprising.
“It’s pretty special to get to be down there on the ‘G,” he said.
“It’s really surprising how big it is when you’re down on the turf.
“Obviously it’s big when you’re sitting in the stands, but when you’re down there looking up, it’s just massive.”
Mr Sutterby said he was pleased to see Cricket Victoria giving back to local clubs and their volunteers.
“It’s great that Cricket Victoria has put the initiative into getting volunteers down and recognising all that they do for local clubs,” he said.
“At any small-community sports club, nothing would happen without the volunteers.
“I only do a little bit for my club; I do the admin side of things.
“We’ve got so many guys who pitch in, Adam puts in probably 40 to 50 hours a week doing the wicket for us.
“There’s guys who are coaches and run our junior program, who put in some really significant hours just to help out.
“If they weren’t doing those things, they wouldn’t get done and we wouldn’t have a club.”
Swan Hill District Cricket Association president Greg Cruickshank said local cricket clubs “just can’t survive without volunteers”.
“Cricket clubs are low-budget sporting organisations compared to football and other sport,” he said.
“There’s not that same level of income and sponsorship, so cricket clubs really rely on their shoe-string budgets.
“It’s blokes like Bob who really make a difference at small sporting clubs. He’s got his business in Kerang, and he still puts in a lot of effort at Kerang CC.
“He’s done it for a long time, in his younger days Bob played at a very high-level of cricket and was a superb cricketer.
“This is one of the little things that Cricket Victoria does for us, because they know how difficult it can be to find and to keep good volunteers.
“This is one way that they can offer something that recognises that these volunteers to such fantastic work.”
