From Boilup to the Barracks Field: Lost Cricket Grounds in Australia and Wales

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We interview Les Everett, amateur historian and cricket lover from Western Australia and CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket volunteer Tony Davies about their joint fascination with places that were once cricket fields but are no more.

The subject of Glamorgan County Cricket Club's victories over the Australian tourists     (twice !) is discussed before moving on to talk about Les' and Tony's playing days.

Described by one Australian newspaper as a cricket tragic, Les then talks about his attempts at uncovering abandoned cricket pitches in Western Australia, a quest in which he has been engaged since October 2019.

His goal is to publish a book with photos and history of lost pitches that were, in days gone by, the lifeblood of the sport in small communities. 

Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Les' home, is his base but he has covered something like 30,000km so far in documenting these pitches on his instagram page  @abandonedcricketpitches .  He also talks about his other obsession, the recording of Australian Rules scoreboards which he features through his beautifully named website 'Scoreboard Pressure.'

Tony shares his fascination with these places that once were used to play cricket and outlines some of the significant differences in those he has discovered in Wales to those that Les has uncovered in Australia.  He also underlines an important message that all those who regularly listen to this broadcast will understand, that where sport was once played provides us with clues about how people lived.

The episode is a celebration of the unifying passion for cricket that can link a man from the rain soaked streets of Newport to one from the arid desert of Western Australia.

You can see the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket's collection of Lost Grounds here:

https://glamorgancricketarchives.com/the-lost-grounds/

If you know of a lost cricket ground in Wales, you can contact Tony via our email: mwcpod1921@gmail.com, on Twitter @welshcricketpod or through our Facebook page, CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket.