On June 18th, 2022, eleven SAVCA players ventured to the ghost town of Farina in the far north of the state to participate in the Farina v Rest of the World cricket match. Farina was abandoned in the 1960’s but dedicated volunteers have been working very hard to restore the town.
The first building to be restored was the underground bakery which does a roaring trade in the six weeks it is open every year. One of the highlights of the social calendar is the annual cricket match which the locals are determined to maintain their unbeaten run – up to now!
The Farina Station owner advised us that this year he had to “tend to the oval” due to recent rain and this did not mean putting a few sheep on it but actually dusting the mower off and cutting the outfield!
This year a film crew was in attendance to get vision from every possible angle and hopefully this will be shown on TV sometime in the future. The crew were not present for the toss and the start of the match as they were busy filming the volunteers and the restoration work in the town. At the change of innings, the toss was repeated about three times.
The Farina side batted first and made 169 in their allocated overs and there was not a lot of diving to save boundaries by the Rest of World team, probably had something to do with the rocks and sand!
Colin Murdoch, the Rest of the World Captain, wrote the batting order in the order that players nominated, hence some players were batting in strange positions! Graeme Fielke showed his class at the top of the list retiring on 28 and the locals thought they were into the tail with the score at 4/70 but the South East players Mike Young, Tony Legoe and the Captain all reached the retirement score of 25. Someone called “wides” also contributed 25! The Rest of the World reached 6/196 when the Farina captain called for mercy and we adjourned to the bar.
The Farina volunteers did a sterling job to feed and entertain us at the bakery that night. Graeme Fielke won the Man of the Match award with 28 retired, 1/9 plus a stumping while Mike Young was awarded Best Batsman.
If this event occurs next year I would recommend it for a great weekend away, not just for the players but family members as well.
Mike Stanley.
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