No your eyes are not deceiving, that is former Bracknell Town and Reading Town player Ross Herridge on the Australian bench at the Cricket World Cup in India.
Herridge is the physical performance coach for the Australian Men’s Team but in the early 2010s he was turning out for the Robins and in defence for the now defunct Town.
On Sunday afternoon Australia beat hosts India by six wickets to win the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup.
Back in 2011 for Herridge, it was very different – making his debut for Bracknell Town in the Hellenic League Premier Division.
Herridge played three times for Bracknell Town in the Hellenic League during the 2011/12 season as the Robins battled against relegation – moving on to Hungerford Town during the season.
In 2014 BerkshireLive reported on Herridge’s final game for Town before heading to join Nottinghamshire County Cricket as Head of Strength and Conditioning.
From there his career headed to Australia and the Sydney Sixers, Cricket NSW (New South Wales) and in 2023, the men’s national team.
During the 2013/14 season, Herridge played at Reading Town alongside some names familiar to us today including Danny Horscroft, Josh Blackwood, Lamin Sankoh and Liam Eagle.
‘A maturity beyond his years’
Marlow manager Mark Bartley played with Herridge during his time in Reading and said: “One thing about Ross was that he was always physically robust and had a maturity beyond his years when I was playing alongside him.
“Absolutely fantastic to see him having gone on to great things and to ultimately have become a World Champion with the Australian Cricket Team over in India. Congratulations Ross.”
Quoted in a 2014 Berkshire Live article following confirming his move into Cricket, Herridge said: “You haven’t seen the last of me.”
While not necessarily in the way we expected, he certainly wasn’t wrong!
A hat tip to Roger Herridge (no relation) for spotting Ross on the television and letting us know.
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