On a trip to Vanuatu, Melbourne bat repairer Peter Duffy noticed the lack of resources for the locals who played. It began a beautiful relationship with the nation’s cricketers, writes PAUL AMY.
How does a club cricketer from Mentone in bayside Melbourne become an honorary member of Cricket Vanuatu?
It started with a holiday for Peter Duffy’s family in 2016.
During it, Duffy came across a net in Mele village and saw two men walking towards it with a rolled-up synthetic wicket slung over their shoulders.
“Until then I didn’t even realise they played cricket in Vanuatu,’’ Duffy says.
After chasing a wild pig out of the nets, the men rolled the wicket over a “pretty rough’’ concrete base.
Then the local girls team appeared for training.
“They were pretty much bowling in bare feet – the batter got to wear shoes,’’ Duffy says. “But you could see they were talented.’’
The following year, the Vanuatu national men’s team visited Melbourne for down-the-divisions World Cup qualifiers and warmed up against a team of past players from Victorian Premier club Prahran.
Duffy’s brother-in-law, Neil ‘The Hurry Master’ Schlittler, was playing for Prahran and he went along to watch.
As he did, he noticed the poor condition of some of the bats the Vanuatu players were using.
Duffy fixes cricket bats for a crust – he has a business, Classic Bat Repairs, at a factory in Keysborough in Melbourne’s southeast – and he told Vanuatu coach Shane Deitz he would be happy to work on them for no cost.
Deitz, the former South Australian batsman, appreciated the offer.
Duffy returned with the bats two days later. Deitz and his players were rapt.
“It all went from there, just trying to help them along a bit,’’ Duffy says.
The Duffy family returned to Vanuatu the following year, taking bags of cricket bats for the grateful locals.
They’ve done the same five times since.
Over the years Duffy has donated scores of bats and hundreds of pairs of pads and gloves, helmets and spikes to players in Vanuatu.
Other cricketers heard what he was doing and dropped in equipment they no longer wanted or needed but knew could be put to valuable use in Vanuatu.
It has grown into a team effort, Duffy says.
“There are a lot more people than just me involved … I couldn’t count them all,’’ he says.
“Cricket is a big family. It’s always been like that.’’
Twice he and his band of supporters have worked with the Australian Cricket Society to ship items to Vanuatu.
In March, a container was sent off filled with bats and equipment that had been accumulating at Duffy’s factory.
The Mentone Cricket Club stalwart returned to Vanuatu a few weeks ago – and this time he was receiving rather than giving.
The Vanuatu Cricket Association presented him with honorary membership to recognise his “continuous generosity and very much appreciated contribution to the game of cricket in Vanuatu’’.
It was signed by president Mark Stafford and chief executive Tim Cutler.
Duffy was chuffed. The honorary member says it was an honour indeed.
“You don’t ever do these sort of things for the recognition. But it was a nice feeling to get that and know you’ve made a bit of a difference,’’ Duffy says.
“From the start I suppose I saw a need to help. We’re very lucky here. We forget how lucky we are. It’s very common for someone to go, ‘Right, I need a new bat’ and they’ll go and spend $800 on a bat. Some players have got three.
“You go over there and it’s so different. I spoke to one guy a couple of years ago and he told me it would take a year to save up for a cricket bat, and that’s him pretty much trying to save every cent to make it happen. As they try to build their way up the world rankings, the difference between a broken bat and a decent bat can make a difference in those tournaments they’re playing in.’’
Introduced by English expatriates when the country was known as the New Hebrides, cricket has been played in Vanuatu for more than 100 years.
The International Cricket Council accepted the Vanuatu Cricket Association as an affiliate member in 1995 and the South Pacific Ocean nation gained associate status in 2009.
The Vanuatu men’s team is aiming to be part of the T20 World Cup in 2024.
Its captain, Patrick Matautaava, played Victorian Premier Cricket with Essendon three years ago and next year will lead his team into the regional final against Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and one more opponent to be determined.
Meanwhile the women’s national team finished second in the Pacific Cup tournament this month.
The ICC says Vanuatu, part of the ICC East Asia-Pacific region, has close to 20,000 cricketers.
For a long time there was only one ground but four more have been built recently to accommodate the newcomers to the game.
Duffy says a development program is driving cricket forward.
“It’s getting stronger,’’ he says.
“You’ve got contracted players in the men’s squad going out to schools – it’s part of their gig – and teaching the game and bringing the juniors through.
“They train hard and their skills are fantastic. It’s a matter of putting in place the facilities and resources to go with it. There’s so much potential there.’’
Vanuatu Cricket Association CEO Cutler says the association recognised Duffy by enacting a part of its constitution that allows for honorary members.
It was the first time it had been done.
Cutler says it acknowledges a person who has done much for cricket in Vanuatu and “never asked for anything in return’’.
“It (honorary membership) can actually be approved by the directors only but it was decided to include it as an agenda item at the recent AGM to further celebrate Peter’s contribution, and it was no surprise to see it unanimously passed,’’ Cutler says.
“Without the help provided by Peter there would be many girls, boys, women and men not able to play the game – but due to the equipment provided by Peter over the years, there are dozens, if not hundreds more cricketers in Vanuatu.’’