Hampshire Seniors skipper Geoff Beale and Wiltshire’s Tim Mynott will pit their wits against ex-Australian Test star Graham Yallop when England Over-60s begin their tour Down Under shortly.
Yallop will skipper the Aussies against Beale’s England squad in three ODI test matches taking place on a tour over four weeks in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide, writes Mike Vimpany.
And left-hander Beale, left, who played Southern League cricket for Southampton University and Waterlooville, is relishing the chance to lock horns with the former Australian skipper who played 39 Tests and 30 one-day Internationals for his country, including being part of the famous ‘Botham’s Ashes’ tour of 1981.
Beale said: “It was a pleasant surprise to hear Graham will be playing. One of our aims is to raise the profile of seniors’ cricket and having a player of Graham’s standing will help do just that.
“It is a real bonus for us to hear we are going to be challenged by a former Test player and it means we are all looking forward to the tour even more than we were before.
“It gives us a bit of an opportunity to create something more special and show that people of our age can still play an active part in the game. It is great that more and more 50 and 60-year-olds are still playing the game and some coming back to playing cricket at a time when the numbers in cricket generally are falling.
“And with Graham playing, hopefully that will raise the profile of this tour even more.”
The England tour party has been selected from cricketers who have played in the Seevent 60+ County Championship – a competition which has grown rapidly in the past few years.
Beale and Mynott, whose son Jack plays for South Wilts, are in a party of 17 vet’s cricketers who will play 13 matches between November 21 and December 15.
They play two warm-up matches in New South Wales and another in Canberra before the ‘Test’ series begins on November 27.
Yallop will skipper the Aussies against Beale’s England squad in three ODI test matches taking place on a tour over four weeks in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide, writes Mike Vimpany.
And left-hander Beale, left, who played Southern League cricket for Southampton University and Waterlooville, is relishing the chance to lock horns with the former Australian skipper who played 39 Tests and 30 one-day Internationals for his country, including being part of the famous ‘Botham’s Ashes’ tour of 1981.
Beale said: “It was a pleasant surprise to hear Graham will be playing. One of our aims is to raise the profile of seniors’ cricket and having a player of Graham’s standing will help do just that.
“It is a real bonus for us to hear we are going to be challenged by a former Test player and it means we are all looking forward to the tour even more than we were before.
“It gives us a bit of an opportunity to create something more special and show that people of our age can still play an active part in the game. It is great that more and more 50 and 60-year-olds are still playing the game and some coming back to playing cricket at a time when the numbers in cricket generally are falling.
“And with Graham playing, hopefully that will raise the profile of this tour even more.”
The England tour party has been selected from cricketers who have played in the Seevent 60+ County Championship – a competition which has grown rapidly in the past few years.
Beale and Mynott, whose son Jack plays for South Wilts, are in a party of 17 vet’s cricketers who will play 13 matches between November 21 and December 15.
They play two warm-up matches in New South Wales and another in Canberra before the ‘Test’ series begins on November 27.
