One of our many interstate members, Greg Morrissey hails from Parkes in country NSW and was recently honoured with an OAM for his services to junior cricket.
Greg Morrissey has a head for statistics and general cricket information and can rattle off figures with consummate ease. Once, during an English Ashes Test those tuning into ABC Radio were asked a series of trivia questions which he answered and won the prize. He later learnt that a mate who was listening in bed, elbowed his wife saying that he knew Greg, breaking her rib!
Greg is currently assisting our own Ken Piesse with his biography of Cec Pepper, a Parkes legend and one of the best cricketers never to represent Australia.
Among Greg’s most treasured memories are a visit to cricket historian and collector David Frith in Guildford. David proudly showed him around his vast cricket museum which includes Victor Trumper’s pocket fob watch (David explained that Justin Langer began to shake at the knees when he held the watch during a previous visit!)
Greg penned these comments for us: ‘I first became involved in cricket as a player in 1960-61. I played in Orange, Wilcannia and Nyngan before coming to Parkes in 1975. I soon took the administrative path which I continue to trek to this very day.
‘In 1977 I became secretary of Parkes and District Junior Association – a position I still hold. I was secretary of the Lachlan Junior Cricket Council from 1986 until 2016. Now I am secretary and treasurer. My roles have included Publicity and Records Officer and Grounds Inspection & Risk Management, Coach, Manager, Selector and Umpire.’
Greg is particularly proud of the young men he has coached like Chris Tremain who has come from junior cricket in the Orange area to an Australian white-ball representative.
His awards and recognitions are many and varied. The Greg Morrissey Field at McGlynn Park in Parkes was last July named in his honor.
Greg is a member of the Sydney Cricket Ground, the Adelaide Oval and the Bradman Foundation as well as a Member of the Australian Cricket Society in two states.
Well played Greg!