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[Red Ink Cricket]

whats teams have contacted you? anywhere nice?

[Simmy]

my mate went over to aus about 4 years ago for 6 months to play. he played for langwarrin cricket club i think.

said it was a good experiance he came back about 3 stone heavier lol and picked up a extra yard of pace 

[Steny12]

I played for Bankstown in Sydney Grade Comp (Mark and Steve Waughs Club amongst others).. the standard is unbelievable out there. Went when i was 17 turned 18 out there was one of best experiances of my life mostly great people but you dont get called my your name much mostly just POMME or POM, id tell anyone if they get the chance to go the country is amazing and you wont want to come home!

[Red Ink Cricket]

completely agree with that best place in the world. i was in perth during the 5-0 drubbing they gave us. Aussies are bad enough normally but given that result made me the centre of all jokes. good fun tho

[Hads45]

Sydney and to a lesser extent Melbournes Grade comps will be a very high standard. All other comps in australia will but those two in particular. In Sydney, which I can speak for as I am from there, It is rare that any import gets anywhere near first team cricket. I have only ever seen a handfull of imports play first team cricket being Nick Crompton (or Compton ...whatever, hes well known in England), Tim Murtagh (or somthing?) and Ben France who played some county cricket was hobbling between 1s and 2s a few years ago.

The reason Australia is probably more competitive is it has a far more competitive structure. In England as its all about the club you play for, you can get great players playing in low divisions as they just want to play with the club. In Sydney for example its easy. You want to play serious cricket then you play Grade Cricket and even 5th Grade is a very decent standard and its not uncommon for 4th and 5th graders to go overseas and play league cricket as the overseas in England. I know for example some clubs this year had some u19 county players who were just playing and not exactly killing 3rd team cricket.

It is however weaker in other states. For example I know a 6th Grader from sydney who moved to adelaide and was playing 2nd and 3rd grade cricket over there. Message me if you need any help so you can find a club which suits you.

From any pom who comes out here I can guarantee you one thing they do all say is that they dont want to leave and they wish they lived out here.

[Buzz]

From any pom who comes out here I can guarantee you one thing they do all say is that they dont want to leave and they wish they lived out here.

but the positives are all totally outwayed by the fact you are surrounded by Aussies ()

[Steny12]

Sydney and to a lesser extent Melbournes Grade comps will be a very high standard. All other comps in australia will but those two in particular. In Sydney, which I can speak for as I am from there, It is rare that any import gets anywhere near first team cricket. I have only ever seen a handfull of imports play first team cricket being Nick Crompton (or Compton ...whatever, hes well known in England), Tim Murtagh (or somthing?) and Ben France who played some county cricket was hobbling between 1s and 2s a few years ago.

The reason Australia is probably more competitive is it has a far more competitive structure. In England as its all about the club you play for, you can get great players playing in low divisions as they just want to play with the club. In Sydney for example its easy. You want to play serious cricket then you play Grade Cricket and even 5th Grade is a very decent standard and its not uncommon for 4th and 5th graders to go overseas and play league cricket as the overseas in England. I know for example some clubs this year had some u19 county players who were just playing and not exactly killing 3rd team cricket.

It is however weaker in other states. For example I know a 6th Grader from sydney who moved to adelaide and was playing 2nd and 3rd grade cricket over there. Message me if you need any help so you can find a club which suits you.

From any pom who comes out here I can guarantee you one thing they do all say is that they dont want to leave and they wish they lived out here.

So true Hads, i play 1st team back home since i was 16 , i played 5th grade for most of the time there and got a few games in 3rd grade but to fair a lot of it wasnt to do with I wasnt good enough to play higher it was because they see it as a guy whos only goin to be here one season is taking a place of a potential upcoming younger player they will always look after there own first thats just the way its setup in oz, phil mustard was there a couple of years after me I think and started in 5th grade got like 2 ducks or something and a big score went up to 4ths didnt get many and went home. it is a totally different set up over there there isnt as much social side but they take cricket side very serious i.e no nets no match etc

[Hads45]

So true Hads, i play 1st team back home since i was 16 , i played 5th grade for most of the time there and got a few games in 3rd grade but to fair a lot of it wasnt to do with I wasnt good enough to play higher it was because they see it as a guy whos only goin to be here one season is taking a place of a potential upcoming younger player they will always look after there own first thats just the way its setup in oz, phil mustard was there a couple of years after me I think and started in 5th grade got like 2 ducks or something and a big score went up to 4ths didnt get many and went home. it is a totally different set up over there there isnt as much social side but they take cricket side very serious i.e no nets no match etc

On grading it really depends. If you are very very good you will obviously play very high. But if your the same as another guy, particularly if they are young, theyll get the nod over you. But like anything, you score the runs and id be suprised if you wernt up the grades.

On the social side, then no there isnt a great one in Sydney Grade. Sydney Grades the best amateur competition in the world (thats what they say anyway), and its serious in every aspect from training, to club fear, to arriving there 1 hour before minimum etc.  I dont know what its like  but im guessing premier league and minor counties would be somthing similar. If you did come to Sydney there are obviously other comps which are more social and alot less competitive and I know for a fact in some other states like Adelaide and Tasmania the standard and seriousness is definetly a lot lesser.

[Steny12]

On grading it really depends. If you are very very good you will obviously play very high. But if your the same as another guy, particularly if they are young, theyll get the nod over you. But like anything, you score the runs and id be suprised if you wernt up the grades.

On the social side, then no there isnt a great one in Sydney Grade. Sydney Grades the best amateur competition in the world (thats what they say anyway), and its serious in every aspect from training, to club fear, to arriving there 1 hour before minimum etc.  I dont know what its like  but im guessing premier league and minor counties would be somthing similar. If you did come to Sydney there are obviously other comps which are more social and alot less competitive and I know for a fact in some other states like Adelaide and Tasmania the standard and seriousness is definetly a lot lesser.

Well I went to play the highest standard I could and wasnt intrested really in the social side so bankstown was perfect for me, they even payed me to do the scoreboard for england 19s vs australia 19s , bresnan and bopara played, and also england women vs aus women in a 4dayer, the guys i went with from my club they played 2nds and 4ths at Auburn in the shires league and one guy played for parrammatta. We got to the Semis that year and the 3s and 4s didnt so I kind of got kept in the 5th grade team more than I should of because of that. As you said the standard is slightly different elsewere but Bankstown are a quality team. When i came back home and said that Banktown 1st grade would give the county teams here a good game if not win against some they could not believe it. Remember my first day down at Bankstown oval stuary macgill getting smashed around the ground.

[Jenko]

Steny, when you played for Bankstown was the groundsman a bloke by the name of steve gazsmelski?

[Hads45]

Well I went to play the highest standard I could and wasnt intrested really in the social side so bankstown was perfect for me, they even payed me to do the scoreboard for england 19s vs australia 19s , bresnan and bopara played, and also england women vs aus women in a 4dayer, the guys i went with from my club they played 2nds and 4ths at Auburn in the shires league and one guy played for parrammatta. We got to the Semis that year and the 3s and 4s didnt so I kind of got kept in the 5th grade team more than I should of because of that. As you said the standard is slightly different elsewere but Bankstown are a quality team. When i came back home and said that Banktown 1st grade would give the county teams here a good game if not win against some they could not believe it. Remember my first day down at Bankstown oval stuary macgill getting smashed around the ground.

Thats it. 1st Grade teams here in Sydney, and strong ones in other states would push some county teams. Sam Robson for example gets more runs in First Class than he does for Easts in Sydney. And yeah as I said you could play lower divisions like your mates and play higher grades. You could also go to a weaker grade club and play higher. Bankstowns about as high as you get with Sydney Uni. And yeah of course you get the finals dilemma which always kicks in mid season where you generally stay with the team to try and win the comp.

But 5th Grade grade bankstown  for example would anhiliate all the local 1st grade sides in sydney. Its hard too explain to someone that but its true. Its definetly a big cut above premier league anyway. Plenty of County players have come over thinking they will dominate 1st team cricket like they do at home and failed to do so. In saying that plenty of state players here come back and really fail to dominate . Look at Usman Khawajas season!  http://www.sydneygrade.nsw.cricket.com.au/showrvcontent.aspx?playerID=67172&eID=261&seasonID=77&loc=/cricket/reports/player.asp&loc1/player.asp

[fraserm]

Sydney and to a lesser extent Melbournes Grade comps will be a very high standard. All other comps in australia will but those two in particular. In Sydney, which I can speak for as I am from there, It is rare that any import gets anywhere near first team cricket. I have only ever seen a handfull of imports play first team cricket being Nick Crompton (or Compton ...whatever, hes well known in England), Tim Murtagh (or somthing?) and Ben France who played some county cricket was hobbling between 1s and 2s a few years ago.

The reason Australia is probably more competitive is it has a far more competitive structure. In England as its all about the club you play for, you can get great players playing in low divisions as they just want to play with the club. In Sydney for example its easy. You want to play serious cricket then you play Grade Cricket and even 5th Grade is a very decent standard and its not uncommon for 4th and 5th graders to go overseas and play league cricket as the overseas in England. I know for example some clubs this year had some u19 county players who were just playing and not exactly killing 3rd team cricket.

It is however weaker in other states. For example I know a 6th Grader from sydney who moved to adelaide and was playing 2nd and 3rd grade cricket over there. Message me if you need any help so you can find a club which suits you.

From any pom who comes out here I can guarantee you one thing they do all say is that they dont want to leave and they wish they lived out here.

Pmd you with a few questions bud

[imogzyboy]

would just let you know team in tasmania called george town are very keen for me to play for them
anyone ever played in tasmania?

[imogzyboy]

sorry to bug people!

buuuuuut i have sortedout my team to go to over seas just wondering what visas people went on?
also whos good to fly with ?

thanks morgan
(australia btw)

[Outlaw]

If you want to work out there for a bit of money whilst playing then a working holiday visa is probably best, and Emirates for Australia always pretty good.