I infamously and unintentionally helped Warren Ayres to one of his many milestones in Victorian Premier Cricket.
Ayres is a legend of Victorian Cricket.
He is the all-time leading run-scorer in Victorian Premier First XI matches with 15277 runs at an average of 42.43.
Ayres’s 41 First XI centuries are also a Premier Cricket record.
He represented Victoria in 46 First Class matches between 1987/88 and 1996/97. Ayres scored 2611 runs, including seven centuries and 11 half-centuries, in those games at an average of 33.91.
Surprisingly, he was never given the opportunity to play for Australia.
Warren Ayres in full flight at the batting crease
Ayres’ top score of 218 in Victorian Premier Cricket was made for Melbourne’s First XI against North Melbourne’s First XI at the Albert Ground during the 2001/02 season.
I was part of North Melbourne’s First XI team for that game, one of 17 First XI matches I played during my four seasons of Premier Cricket.
I helped contribute 120 runs to that game.
Unfortunately they were all made by Ayres.
Warren Ayres recreating how happy he felt after being dropped by the author
Ayres was on 98 and batting beautifully as usual, when he went to swing a delivery from one of our spin bowers through the leg side near where I was fielding at mid-wicket.
I saw the ball off the bat and moved low to my left to take the catch.
The ball went into my outstretched left hand.
And then the ball went out of my left hand and spilled onto the ground.
Ayres breathed a sigh of relief.
My teammates and I sighed with exasperation and horror.
Soon after his reprieve, Ayres brought up three figures.
I didn’t think it could get much worse after that, but it did.
Ayres hit our attack around and cashed in for a double ton.
That dropped catch was the most costly of my career.
And it infamously connects me to Ayres’ Premier Cricket dominance.
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