Tommy Donnell, one last hundred please
Editors note; Take this as some Saturday indulgence, I hope it’s agreeable. Indulgence on my part! Today is the last round of home-and-away games in Victorian Premier Cricket - teams scrambling to play finals will be in play. Also in play is perhaps the last game at this level for a good friend - Tom Donnell. His Dandenong Panthers travel to Greenvale Kangaroos. I wanted to write some words …
Many cricketers play Premier club cricket for all the wrong reasons.
In a delusional way they see it as a pathway to first class cricket; dejectedly, statistics place the successful band in a single number percentile, at best.
Others believe vainly that there is status to be gained in the cricketing community by attaching to a Carlton, or a Melbourne. A status that will be short-lived, and expediently forgotten.
You could also argue, some players embody the idea of a number and name attached to their playing shirts as some kind of distinction; they enjoy sending team managers on water-runs, driving admin managers to distraction with trivial ‘one-person world’ complaints. Laughingly, this crew is in the majority.
And then, there are those who just play for the right reasons - to play the game at a level that challenges their skill-set. To represent a club with meaningful ambitions; to enjoy the social side of the game; to embrace training and practice alike, and god forbid - to listen to a coach who might be trying to help them!
Tom Donnell, Dandenong Cricket Club, is one of the guys who has always played for the right reasons. He is a ‘bloody ripper.’
Paul Amy, the oracle of local cricket, put it as succinctly as ever.
“Tom Donnell is a humble fellow. Modesty could be his middle name. He won't retire from Victorian Premier Cricket. When the time's right, he'll just stop playing.”
A career runs aggregate of 8886 in Victorian Premier Cricket, places him in the upper echelons of the competition.
The mercurial left-hander has played almost all his career at one club, Dandenong; there was a brief entry at South Melbourne CC - once Donnell fixed up his directional sense, it was Shepley Oval and the Panthers for evermore.
Donnell is likely to play his last game today, and who could begrudge him the opportunity to make another hundred (114) - would be nice. Perversely, he might just make two, and finish on 8888! Nothing would surprise his followers.
Either way, he will not care one bit. He has always been a GAMER.
Donnell played in all nine of Dandenong’s 1st XI grand-final appearances, winning six.
Long-time teammate James Nanopoulos said of Donnell. “Tom was a big game performer - Carlton would certainly attest to this; his two match-winning innings in the 2010/11 grand final were full of courage and skill - he showed his class against fast bowling was unmatched in premier ranks.” Lofty praise from a critical eye.
Next level representation was confined to a single VIC 2ndXI, against the West Indies, no less. And a number of U23 games. Lots of starts without converting, how many times he would have heard that! I can feel him yawning.
Donnell will just stop playing.
There is no matrimonial connection to cricket for Donnell. Rather, he has always preferred to court with the game, a method that is now in vogue in modernist cricket. Process over outcome. Remove emotion, lessen expectations.
Not that this was his intention - he just rolled that way. He might have been before his time.
Having coached Dandenong for four seasons (Donnell was captain) - it was apparent early that his motivations were often centred around anything other than himself.
Engaging with Tom often had to be through a third-party. Rather than reference him directly when talking technique, it was easier to liken him to a player he thought was superior, and then flash out what they did, and then how he could incorporate that into his game. He was unique in this respect.
Although, at his level, he had very few superiors.
One of the last ‘bat-down and tap batters’ - he rightly resisted the bat-up trends of his generation - Donnell was both elegant and lethargic in his batting. He was elastic in his bat swing, and moved quickly into position, with his lower half, often seemingly predictive in his shot selection. Then, when the flow wasn’t there, he invariably wasn't there. He almost preferred someone else to bat when it wasn’t his day. He truly batted for his own enjoyment, and in no way was that seen as selfish. It was just, Tommy.
He fielded because he had to. That being said; he caught pigeons at slip, and played cover as well as anyone in the competition. He rolled out better-than-average off breaks, and captained effortlessly.
The one skill he struggled with throughout his career, was beer-drinking, despite the best efforts of many illustrious teammates!
Dandenong has been truly blessed.
His great mate, Paul Brimmer, will be with him today.
Brimmer is ‘the most unique team manager’ in Victorian Premier Cricket - actually, make that any cricket. “Smack, remember all those planes at Greenvale have something to do with an airport being near by” Enjoy your day - bud!
Whatever happens today, Tommy Donnell will play his own way, take what he is given and move on. In his mind allowing someone else the opportunities that have been afforded him over the years.
There is no doubting, he played the game for the right reasons.
Speaky, Nano and Bora