4 hours ago
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Darren Cheek will never forget the time he hit 184 against Morphettville Park in 1996 – not for the century, but for the joy of hearing his nine-year-old son Sam cheering excitedly for him from the sidelines.
On Saturday in Adelaide, however, the father and son made a new memory as they combined for an opening partnership of 590, against the very same club.
Darren, 63, and Sam, 38, were at the crease for the full 40 overs for the Coromandel Cricket Club in their Section 8 match at the Ascot Park primary school oval.
Sam hit an unbeaten 402 of 137 balls including 42 sixes and 30 fours, while Darren scored 175 not out off 108 to make a rather impressive-looking scorecard.
“We knew that we had to have a big win and we had to get a big percentage quotient on our ladder to get up into the final,” Darren said. “So we went out with the mindset that we got to go hard early.
“Fortunately, the first couple of overs I was hitting them well and hitting the middle. It was a short boundary down straight, so my favourite shot is driving and even lofted drive, so I started off well, but Sam was in all sorts at the beginning.”
Their incredible partnership was nearly over before it started after Sam was dropped on a second ball duck. The fielder was hit in the head as the ball slipped through his fingers – and so, one of the greatest amateur innings got under way.
“You always find it when you have a good score, the bowlers start getting nervous and you can see in their eyes there,” Darren said. “They start bowling short and they start bowling full tosses … and [Sam] just went bang. It didn’t matter it was a small ground because most of his sixes were just huge.”
Four balls were sacrificed to the cricket gods. No windscreens or windows were broken though.
Darren started milking the strike so that Sam could keep smashing the bowling attack for six, crossing the 400-run mark with two balls left in the innings. They blocked the last two deliveries to ensure there was no mark against them on the scorecard.
The total of 590 was enough to know they had just achieved a remarkable feat. But the broader significance of their performance started to sink in for Darren after he had been in the field for only a few overs.
“I get a text message on my phone from an acquaintance, you wouldn’t call him a close mate, but a friend in Mildura, saying, ‘Well done on your innings today,’” Darren said. “And like, I reply back saying, ‘what the hell, how do you know about that already?’”
It would be reasonable to ask questions of the opposition – they made 146-3 in response – but Darren said Morphettville Park just had “a bad day at the office”.
“I can’t speak more highly of how good they were in their sportsmanship and their captain just kept pumping their players up, just saying, ‘come on, this is cricket.’ They fought it out the whole day.”
The opposition captain even quickly shepherded his teammates to give Darren and Sam a guard of honour as they walked off.
For Darren, who has been at Coromandel Cricket Club since 1983, being able to play with his son now just makes his memory of 1996 sweeter.
“It’s 30 years later and I’m having the joy of being with [Sam] and having the joy of seeing him, doing these remarkable things, so it was pretty special.”
This time around, it was Sam’s two boys (four and six) on the sidelines “waving and carrying on”.
“My goal is to still try and keep playing until the oldest [grandson] … until I can play a game with him,” Darren said.
