It is probably fair to say that Karl Carver will remember playing at the famous and vast Melbourne Cricket Ground for as long as he lives.
The Yorkshire and Sheriff Hutton Bridge spinner is spending his winter playing grade cricket in Australia, and on Sunday helped Dandenong become T20 Victorian state champions at one of the world’s best venues by beating Carlton.
And left-armer Carver definitely played his part.
Having already claimed a wicket, he bowled the penultimate over with their opponents, chasing 123, needing 19 with four wickets left. He conceded only four.
The Sunday previous, in the semi-final at the Junction Oval just down the road, Carver defended only four off the last over as chasers St Kilda had two wickets in hand, finishing with 2-20 from his four overs.
“I’ve been pretty lucky to play at some special venues, and it was an unbelievable experience,” the 22-year-old said of his MCG appearance.
What an amazing experience winning the
VicSuperSlam</a> Grand Slam Final at the <a href="https://twitter.com/MCG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">MCG today. Could not of asked for a better team thanDandenongCC</a> to share the field with. Thank you for allowing me to play with you and onwards and upwards to Adelaide! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Panthers?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Panthers</a> <a href="https://t.co/s5GsLKYVwH">pic.twitter.com/s5GsLKYVwH</a></p>— Karl Carver (KarlCarver_29) January 27, 2019
“It was the curtain raiser to a Big Bash game, and it ended up being a tight ish finish.
“With it being a T20 game, it went by so fast and was hard to take in. But I made sure I took a moment or two throughout the day to enjoy it.
“I was fielding square of the wicket, and you had to stand 40 or 50 metres in. I felt lost because it was that big!”
Dandenong, or the Panthers to the locals, have now qualified for the national finals in Adelaide in early March, something Carver is unsure he will be available for.
“I’m due to come home on February 26,” he said.
