Michael Gale of Texas, USA
Kingsgrove Sports Centre Customer of the Week
1. Name – Michael Gale
2. Date of Birth – June 1962
3. Place of Birth – Exeter, England
4. Current Location – Austin, Texas
5. Who do / did you play cricket for - Hill country Cricket club (four teams)
6. In what capacity – Batting and Wicket Keeping
7. Best Cricket feats – 167 Hampshire juniors
8. Greatest Cricket moment / memory – Watching Robin Smith score 135 in 50 balls in a one day junior cricket game. I faced 10 balls and watched from the other end
9. Tell us little about your cricket history – started playing in the back garden with my father in 1966 with a Woolworths 1 shilling cricket set. Did not play competitive cricket until I was 15 and then played for club county juniors and university. Did not play again (got too caught up in building companies) until I was 41 and moved to Austin and joined the best club I have ever played for in the CTCL league
10. Tell us a little about the cricket competitions you play in – 20 and 30 over leagues, 20/20 is the most fun (as I get older 40 overs or more seem like a test match). Very competitive
11. Favorite Teams – Bodyline Australians for their sheer tenacity against un fair tactics
12. Favorite Players – Don Bradman by a mile followed by Andy Roberts, Rick Ponting, Mike Proctor, Robin Smith and Barry Richards
13. Favorite Commentator – Ritchie Benaud and Jonathan Agnew
14. Favorite Cricketing Publication - Wisden
15. Favorite Cricketing Website – bbc.com and kingsgrovesports
16. Favorite Cricketing Brand – Kookaburra
17. Tell us about the best bat you've ever had – Gray Nichols GN 100 (1980)
18. What is your most treasured cricketing item – A signed Don Bradman bat
19. What ideas would you propose to improve the game of cricket – More 20/20 to encourage more kids to play
20. What are your thoughts on the sledging issue – It is not wrong, but it needs to be better managed by umpires and the ICC. We need to set standards to prevent it becoming the defining factor for the next ten years
21. Who do you rate as being the best in the last 20 years - Rick Ponting, great player and leader under pressure
Team - current Australians (sad to admit to as a Pommie)
Batsman – Ricky Ponting
Bowler – Shane Warne
WK – Alan Knott
Allrounder – Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff
Captain – Mike Brealey
22. Who do you rate as being the greatest cricketer of all time – Don Bradman
23. Have you ever had professional cricket coaching - Yes (too much relative to what I did with it)
24. What is the best tip you've had or given – Relax your body and lock your eyes into the ball and your body will move
25. Is there are song you love that you relate to cricket -that west Indian samba song (BBC Cricket Intro)
26. Best Cricket Video you've seen – Ashes 2005 The one moment of unrepeatable history
27. Best Cricket Book you've read – Not sure
28. Best Cricket "After Dinner" speaker you've seen – Fred Truman
29. Best / Nicest cricketer you've met - Andy Roberts
30. What other interests do you have outside of cricket – Tennis, spreading the word about cricket and mathematics
31. How did you come across Kingsgrove Sports Centre - Recommendations
32. Your Final say - this is a great game and diverse global community. We should get more kids to play and in a format they can enjoy and spread to all others, irrelevant of gender, race and ethnicity. It can be a complex game and it can be played at all levels from the age of four until the day you can’t work anymore. Few if any games off the history and potential, we should all promote it more, even in the US.
1. Name – Michael Gale
2. Date of Birth – June 1962
3. Place of Birth – Exeter, England
4. Current Location – Austin, Texas
5. Who do / did you play cricket for - Hill country Cricket club (four teams)
6. In what capacity – Batting and Wicket Keeping
7. Best Cricket feats – 167 Hampshire juniors
8. Greatest Cricket moment / memory – Watching Robin Smith score 135 in 50 balls in a one day junior cricket game. I faced 10 balls and watched from the other end
9. Tell us little about your cricket history – started playing in the back garden with my father in 1966 with a Woolworths 1 shilling cricket set. Did not play competitive cricket until I was 15 and then played for club county juniors and university. Did not play again (got too caught up in building companies) until I was 41 and moved to Austin and joined the best club I have ever played for in the CTCL league
10. Tell us a little about the cricket competitions you play in – 20 and 30 over leagues, 20/20 is the most fun (as I get older 40 overs or more seem like a test match). Very competitive
11. Favorite Teams – Bodyline Australians for their sheer tenacity against un fair tactics
12. Favorite Players – Don Bradman by a mile followed by Andy Roberts, Rick Ponting, Mike Proctor, Robin Smith and Barry Richards
13. Favorite Commentator – Ritchie Benaud and Jonathan Agnew
14. Favorite Cricketing Publication - Wisden
15. Favorite Cricketing Website – bbc.com and kingsgrovesports
16. Favorite Cricketing Brand – Kookaburra
17. Tell us about the best bat you've ever had – Gray Nichols GN 100 (1980)
18. What is your most treasured cricketing item – A signed Don Bradman bat
19. What ideas would you propose to improve the game of cricket – More 20/20 to encourage more kids to play
20. What are your thoughts on the sledging issue – It is not wrong, but it needs to be better managed by umpires and the ICC. We need to set standards to prevent it becoming the defining factor for the next ten years
21. Who do you rate as being the best in the last 20 years - Rick Ponting, great player and leader under pressure
Team - current Australians (sad to admit to as a Pommie)
Batsman – Ricky Ponting
Bowler – Shane Warne
WK – Alan Knott
Allrounder – Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff
Captain – Mike Brealey
22. Who do you rate as being the greatest cricketer of all time – Don Bradman
23. Have you ever had professional cricket coaching - Yes (too much relative to what I did with it)
24. What is the best tip you've had or given – Relax your body and lock your eyes into the ball and your body will move
25. Is there are song you love that you relate to cricket -that west Indian samba song (BBC Cricket Intro)
26. Best Cricket Video you've seen – Ashes 2005 The one moment of unrepeatable history
27. Best Cricket Book you've read – Not sure
28. Best Cricket "After Dinner" speaker you've seen – Fred Truman
29. Best / Nicest cricketer you've met - Andy Roberts
30. What other interests do you have outside of cricket – Tennis, spreading the word about cricket and mathematics
31. How did you come across Kingsgrove Sports Centre - Recommendations
32. Your Final say - this is a great game and diverse global community. We should get more kids to play and in a format they can enjoy and spread to all others, irrelevant of gender, race and ethnicity. It can be a complex game and it can be played at all levels from the age of four until the day you can’t work anymore. Few if any games off the history and potential, we should all promote it more, even in the US.
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