'To see Stuart come through for England has been absolutely unbelievable'
Geoff Goodson, a former player who was chair for 40 years, told the Melton Times: “To see him come through has been absolutely unbelievable.
"He came to us as a nine-year-old and he started playing more seriously aged 11 or 12 in a junior team and soon was playing in our second team on Saturdays and friendlies on Sundays when he was about 14.
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Hide Ad"You could see the potential and the dedication but you need more than that.”
Ironically, Geoff credits Australia with turning him from a specialist batsman into an all rounder.
Stuart went to play for Hopper’s Crossing in Melbourne, through a link with the Egerton Park club.
“He grew a lot when he was in Australia and they got him bowling on the hard, fast wickets and he came back a very useful bowler as well as a good batsman,” recalled Geoff.
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Hide AdJohn Bailey captained Stuart and a team of young players in Park’s second team.
He recalled: “When Stuart was bowling he shuffled his feet and then he ran. We tried to get him just to walk up and bowl.
“To us, he was a batsman. Then he grew and became a classic bowler.”
John added: “When we’ve seen him out there for England it’s been totally amazing – it doesn’t seem like five minutes ago since he was playing for us at Egerton Park.”