McCarthy’s 1,000 is headline news at home and in Australia

By Mike Popplewell

It’s a long way from Geelong, in the Australian State of Victoria, to Roberts Park, but Saturday night it was a journey that Bradford and Bingley’s Richard McCarthy was very glad he made.

When he caught and bowled Saltaire’s Fahan Khan without scoring he duly recorded his 1,000th Bradford League wicket – as a Bradford and Bingley player.

McCarthy’s 4-22 helped bowl out Saltaire for 88, chasing a Bingley total of

233-5, and put his side within 15 points of the top spot with a game in hand. Naweed Ghaney picked up 3-9 and hit a top scoring 86 in this game but the day belonged to McCarthy.

As he returned to the Bradford and Bingley clubhouse from nearby Saltaire there was spontaneous, rousing applause from every member as he walked through the door and a succession of handshakes before he arrived at the telephone to give his first reaction to the press.

“I was very much aware of the target at the start of the season – and if I hadn’t been, there were enough people around me to remind me,” said the delighted McCarthy.

“It hasn’t been easy the past two years after picking up a few injuries and to be honest I didn’t do the work I should have done to keep fit while I wasn’t playing. But, it is going well again for me and I’m pleased to get to this target at last.”

McCarthy arrived at Bingley as an overseas player, and in his early years was one of the fastest bowlers the Bradford League has seen, but he has been married and settled in England since 1994 and, despite looking forward to his 49th birthday in December he intends bothering a few more batsmen before he finally draws a line under his career.

“I feel I can play for a bit longer, but,” he added cautiously, “I don”t know whether it will be in the Bradford League or not. I have to be very sure myself that I can contribute effectively and that means staying fit.

“Bradford and Bingley certainly want me to stay on but I will have to be certain that I can do myself and the club justice. I would hate to think I was letting anyone down.”

Reflecting on a career that began in the shadow of Australian legend Merv Hughes, with Victoria, he insists he has “bowled at some wonderful batsmen” in his time in the Bradford League.

“I am very pleased to have got the wicket of the Indian Test batsman VVS Laxman, at Pudsey Congs,” he revealed when asked about the wickets that stand out in his memory, “but,” he continued, “the one opponent who stands out for me is Yorkshire Bank’s Paul Grayson. I think Grayson was one of the best batsmen I ever played against and I don’t think I ever managed to get him out.”

Put on the spot, McCarthy struggled to think of his most memorable wicket but, although Farhan Khan may not be one of the ‘wonderful batsmen’ he talked about, his wicket at Saltaire on Saturday is one that he will definitely not forget in a hurry.

The Bradford and BIngley paceman has been away from his Australian homeland for a long time now, arriving at Bingley following a spell in the old Leeds League with Adel, but there is no question of him being forgotten back in Melbourne.

By midnight, here, on Saturday the Kookaburra Victorian Premier League website had already added his 1,000 wicket Bradford League achievement to his individual profile listing under his old club North Melbourne.