A 127-year first looms for the Appleby Cricket Club
For 40-year-old Jamie Clark - and the Appleby club as a whole for that matter - Saturday will be a special occasion.
After 127 years a special first will play out at the Appleby Cricket Club in Invercargill on Saturday.
Jamie Clark will become the first person to play 300 senior games for the club since Appleby was established in 1897.
Clark will - weather depending - notch up the remarkable milestone against Te Anau at Appleby’s home ground in South Invercargill.
For the 40-year-old - and the Appleby club as a whole for that matter - Saturday will be a special occasion.
“It’s probably not something I aspired to do when I first started playing,” Clark said.
“If you’d asked me when I first started playing, I probably would have said I’d be lucky to play 100 senior games because it was a battle to make the team, just with the calibre of players we had.
“But as it’s worked out, I’ve managed to play as many as I have and it’s something I’m proud of.”
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Clark was a Year 11 pupil at Mt Anglem College in 2000 when his accounting teacher Richard Wilson hit him up.
Wilson asked Clark if he was interested in filling in for Appleby's senior team in a game against Central-Western. That there was senior game No 1 of 299 for Clark.
His first full senior season with the Appleby came in 2002.
“I remember being in the clubrooms after playing a couple of senior games and asking [Richard Wilson] when he thought I would go back to playing senior reserves.
“He gave me this weird look and sort of said, I probably won’t be.”
Clark got to play alongside the late Wilson when Wilson played his 200th game for Appleby. At that point, Clark set his sights on doing the same.
Wilson, Clark, Greg Munro, and Clint Goad are the only players to have notched up 200 senior games for Appleby. Clark is now set to become the sole member of the 300 club at Appleby.
Just how many other players have racked up 300 senior games across all Southland cricket clubs is unknown.
Appleby has been the most astute in compelling stats over the years thanks to the work of life member Bill Donaldson.
Of the others still actively playing, Shaun Fitzgibbon would probably be the most likely to have also reached that 300-senior game mark, with Southland Boys’ High School and Marist.
It appears Clark’s game number 300 will bring a few extra onlookers to Appleby Park on Saturday.
“I know the family is coming down to watch which doesn’t always happen. My wife has been very supportive, as you can imagine.
“She has got the patience of a saint putting up with me playing this many games. She doesn’t watch too many games, but she is coming down on Saturday.”
His 299 games to date are a fair few summer Saturdays filled up with cricket. The length of time cricket takes does put some off.
Not so much Clark though.
We are told that everyone is “time poor” in modern times, despite there still being seven days in a week and 24 hours in a day - as was the case when the Appleby Cricket Club first started playing in 1897.
“The last couple of years I have joked a bit more about it, that today is a good day to be at the beach or whatever. But I still love it.
“Last Saturday was brilliant with the weather. Those are the days you love playing cricket and I still do. It’s good banter and good fun.”
Interestingly Saturday won’t just be Clark’s 300th senior fixture, it will also be his first outing against Te Anau in his 24 years in the senior ranks.
This season the Southland Cricket Association has opted to play cross-over games between teams from the topflight ILT Premier League competition and division one teams.
For someone like Clark who has spent most of his cricketing days playing against the same teams at the same venues, the change has been welcomed.
“It’s been interesting this season getting to play Blue Mountain in Tapanui last week and Te Anau this week.
“It’s been good to play at different grounds and see some different faces. It’s been refreshing.
“It got stale for quite a few people. For me more so because some of the places I’ve been running into for the past 10 years, so something needed to change.”
How far past the 300-game mark does Clark intend to go?
“I’m still enjoying it but looking at the way the team is now it’s looking like we are in a good sort of space with some of these young guys coming through.
“There’s probably going to be the opportunity where I can step away. That’s my hope anyway.”
Clark has filled various roles for Appleby over the years from a new-ball bowler to opening batsman and everything in between - including as a wicketkeeper.
A stellar individual Jamie Clark performance would be fitting on Saturday, although Clark isn’t making any promises. In fact, he has dampened any expectations.
“The decent performances are getting few and far between. As long as it’s a good day and we get a win, that’s my priority these days.”
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