Ian’s bowled over

By Marc McGowan
PAKENHAM cricket diehard Ian Ferguson has been obsessed with the game since he was eight years old.
He loves nothing more than watching the likes of West Indian aggressor Gary Sobers or West Gippsland Cricket Association (WGCA) equivalent Glenn Marinac destroy a bowling attack.
But Mr Ferguson, 65, also enjoys the different variables the sport can throw up, including contrasting wickets or weather, quality of bowling and umpiring decisions.
However, it is no secret that he has a soft spot for batting.
“It’s such a challenge to score a 100. You have potentially only one mistake and you have 11 players against you,” Mr Ferguson said.
“I think the greatest thrill in any ball game is to score a 100 in any standard of cricket.”
The former primary school teacher played the sport for 30 years, had a stint as an umpire and has become a successful cricket writer.
Mr Ferguson has covered the WGCA for the Gazette for a decade and is currently working on his eighth novel, most of which have been cricketrelated.
The cricket tragic also does a weekly program on Casey Radio 97.7FM between 10.50am and 11.30am on Saturdays where he discusses the WGCA and chats with the stars from that particular weekend.
“I have guests and I give my tips for games. Mostly, the guests are people who have performed well the previous week or captains of key games that are being played,” Mr Ferguson said.
His most successful offfield contribution to the game comes in the form of his recently released book, ‘Wearing the Baggy Green’, which is a compilation of every Australian Test player.
“It was very enjoyable. I really felt I got to know the personalities of some of the players,” Mr Ferguson said.
“There was such a variety; some became millionaires, some paupers, some took their own lives, and I suppose there was a picture of different generations of lives.”
It has been so successful that a second edition will be coming out next summer and his publisher is in discussions about him putting together a version for English cricket.
Mr Ferguson is not one to denigrate the modern game with recollections of the past and instead marvels at the athletic abilities of today’s stars.
“The fielding and general fitness standards are far above a few decades ago. It’s definitely a positive and the biggest positive has come from oneday cricket,” he said.