Geoff ‘Lefty’ Wright was always a rightarm bowler, no wonder he confused so many batsmen when he was charging in to bowl.By Glen Atwell
GEOFF ‘Lefty’ Wright is an undisputed legend of the Dandenong and District Cricket Association, and has spent a lifetime bamboozling opponents with his swinging pace deliveries, but surprisingly, ‘Lefty’ is a righthanded bowler.
“The nickname never had anything to do with cricket or sports,” the sporty 61yearold said.
In a career spanning 20 years, Geoff took 652 turf wickets, with a stunning average of just 10.5 runs per wicket and is a life member of the Maranatha Methodist Cricket Club.
But how did the prolific cricketer get his ageold nickname?
“It all started in primary school, when I was about sixyearsold.
“Marching back from assembly one day the class was calling ‘left, right, left, right’, and of course it didn’t take long for someone to realise my surname was Wright,” Lefty explained.
Wright soon became left, and the nickname has stuck for the past 55 years.
“I went a whole cricketing career, and there were still players who only ever knew me as Lefty, so it definitely stuck,” Geoff said.
Maybe batsmen presumed Geoff would be bowling left handed, when his teammates were referring to him as Lefty.
“Someone asked me whether I was a left or rightarmed bowler, when I told him I was right, he couldn’t work out how I got my nickname,” Geoff said.
Geoff works as a draughtsman and has recently relocated his sporting prowess from the cricket pitch to the bowling green.
“I’m in my second season for the Berwick Bowling Club and I’m playing in the number five pennant side,” he said.
But Geoff said his body was still getting used to the change of action.
“I’m rolling the arm under these days, not over,” he said.
“But it helps to have played cricket. I can take a lot on to the bowling green.”
