The Interviews: Stop and Stare
8 min read
For me the real joy in conducting these interviews is in the moments that have been shared. Good or bad, it doesn’t matter. Each moment forms part of a tapestry that creates the backbone of our club. In many of these interviews there have been moments discussed that have raised the hairs on the back of my neck, got my heart racing and made me involuntarily clench my fists. Personally, there will be few people at the club that I have taken to the field to play with more than Ross Garrett and with this in mind there really is only one place to start. Our finest shared moment came on Saturday August 14th 2004 at Pollock Park, Lurgan as Ross recalls:
“I remember very little about us batting, only that we scored about 200 and that Larne got off to a flier. Piv (Gavin Campbell) took a screamer of a catch but they were still about 100 for two. Then wickets started to tumble. All of a sudden, I find myself under a ball that I misjudged and I took it falling back. I think that was the eighth wicket down. I was lucky enough to be thrown the ball and a young lad drove one to you at mid-off. Moments later Gareth Archer was under a skier to win it and he held on. It was an amazing feeling and the celebrations began. What wasn’t such a great feeling was being forced to down a box of white wine on the bus journey home by Jeff McMaster. I remember very little after that.”
It was a phenomenal achievement for the newly incepted 4th XI and ensured that every team that played for Bangor in 2004 won at least one trophy that season. As shared moments go, it takes nothing more than a look and a nod between the two of us. We were both there, we knew what it meant. These are the moments that build a club. For Ross the 2004 season was made even sweeter by collecting the Bowling Cup. Ross is rightly proud to have achieved such a feat in this, the most prestigious of years.
Ross’ career at Bangor began at the tender age of 14. A graduate of driveway cricket with his brother, Ricky and James (Jimbo) Robinson, he was picked to play for Rory McMillan’s ‘invincibles’ away to Waringstown. “I had no idea about local cricket, so I didn’t know just how strong Waringstown would be. I can’t recall if we won or lost, probably the latter, but a do recall my first wicket for the club. It came from my second ball, a wide long hop and I had learnt that bad balls take wickets very early in my career. His breakthrough moment came with a blistering spell against Ards at Upritchard Park in 2003. “I’d been left out of the Bangor Grammar School tour, so I guess I had a point to prove. At that stage of my career I was bowling down the hill and I was steaming in. I took 7-6 including a hattrick, the last of which was snicked behind to rapturous scenes.”
Even at this very early stage in his Bangor career Ross was building a reputation as a fearsome competitor with the ‘Ross Garrett stare’ becoming recognisable instantly around the club. Thundering into bowl, delivering a ball just outside the off stump that had the batsmen flailing, Ross would take a couple of steps, stop and stare directly into the batsman’s eyes. Nothing would be said and the unbroken stare would continue accompanied with a spit before turning away with a shake of the head. Having seen this theatre many times, I can rarely remember a batsman saying anything back to the protagonist. “They know better. They know they have been beaten fair and square. If I’m staring that should have been a wicket and that is the only thing I care about.”
Ross’ steely attitude and the manner in which he plays the game is an example to any youngster looking to play the game at Bangor. A further example followed in 4th XI title winning season of 2005. Chasing 157, Zach Rushe and Evan Fraser had taken the score to 120-1, seemingly coasting to an easy success. Less than ten balls later the young Bangor side had capitulated to 124-8, with the writer of this article batting at the non-striker’s end arguing with the hapless Fraser who had taken over umpiring detail and was claiming “I can’t be expected to score all the runs”. At the other end Ross was taking guard. He knocked one through the covers for four and we dug in for a famous two wicket victory. It was Ross’ will to win that got us over the line. At every change of over, I walked away convinced that we were going to get there.
These obvious leadership skills saw Ross selected as captain of the Second XI in 2016. This honour coincided with the club going through a transitional period when availability was arguably at its worst. “I’m good friends with Chris Burns and he had just taken up the post of Club Captain and he leant on me pretty heavily to take on the role. It was a horrendous experience. It boiled down to two things and they have been quoted time and time again in these interviews, availability and 50 over cricket. Our Second XI used to be the breeding ground for some serious good players. That season we were lucky to even field a side. If it hadn’t been for the commitment of seasoned pros like Speersy and Fletch and dedicated youngsters like Zach Kerr and John Keenan, I honestly don’t know what we would have done.”
Ross understands the problems facing senior cricket more than most having added recently to his family his daughter Ivy in 2017. First children led both Ross and his long time peer and friend Thomas Speers to announce that they were retiring from the game prior to the births. “It is just too much week in week out to get cover for Ivy. If I’m being honest I don’t know how anyone ever does it. 50 overs is just too long, it isn’t fair on Jennifer for me to be away from my responsibilities for that long.” Whereas Speers has yet to make an appearance since his ‘retirement’ Ross did end up playing quite often in 2018, once more it was his competitive nature that led him back to the fold. “It’s just habit. I want to play cricket for Bangor. I’ve done it every year since I was 14 and it is all I know in the summer.”
The main casualty to arise out of Ross determination has been that of his own body. Ever since I have known him, he has battled against a bad back and it is a miracle that he is still able to bowl at all. He grimaces at the mention of his back and checks to see that it is still there, before adding “yeah my body is in bits. It has been the result of many years of damage. My action just doesn’t seem to agree with my back and I have struggled with since my teens. I’m definitely not as quick as I was when I was younger but I am a smarter bowler now. The way I look at it is that it’s three months on, five months to rest it and it’s a race to see whether it recovers enough to play in those five months. It always has to this point but when it doesn’t that might be my body telling me that it’s had enough.”
Some injuries Ross has suffered have been more sudden, as he recounts a story of how he nearly died at Ward Park in 2003. “I was with my brother in the middle of the square just having a look at the wicket and seeing what end I wanted. The next thing I hear is ‘HEADS” as Jimbo, in his infinite wisdom had decided to throw a ball in from the boundary to roughly the area that I was standing in. It is unclear why he did this but I did what anyone would do and ran away from where I was standing. I put my hands up to the back of my neck and thank God I did because that could have been what saved me, as the ball came crashing into them, knocking me out cold.” I was unfortunate enough to have seen this incident and still have nightmarish visions of Stephen Cumper (Claude) sliding on his knees to tend to the prostrate Garrett while shouting obscenities simultaneous at Jimbo, the perpetrator of this absolute madness. In light of the fact that Ross is still with us, the ill feeling towards Jimbo continued through the first 10-12 overs of the first innings as our opponents took full advantage of our ability to knock one of our own players out and made us field with nine men. By now, Claude was engaging in the well-meaning but ultimately futile gesture of taking Ross to Bangor Hospital, which of course did not have an x-ray facility at the weekends, if at all. In scenes that would never in a million years happen today, Ross assured Claude that he was ok and he returned to play in the rest of the match, even contributing to the growing tirade of abuse against Jimbo, and the winning of the match.
Shared moments no matter how big or how small, how mundane or how ridiculous; these are the moments that make our club. Ross has now played for the club for 18 years, is popular and respected. I ask him about the challenges facing the club and he is certain that the youth section should be our primary focus. “I know it’s been said before but with no Pinky bringing through the youth then it really is up to us. Availability and attitude seem to be much better than they have been for many years and it’s great to see.” It’s a simple message but delivered powerfully from a much loved member of the club. The passion Ross holds for cricket and the club is evident in everything he says and I only hope that it isn’t long before we see him hurtling down the hill again at Uprichard, only to beat the bat and come to a stop.
Ross Garrett was talking to Paddy Dixon
