Known for his extreme pace and unique beard, Richardson attributes plenty to his backyard experience
#PlayCricket - Kane Richardson
Kane Richardson was always destined to be a bowler.
When you have two older brothers who refuse to relinquish the bat, you’re left with very little choice other than to get to the top of your mark and run in all day or give up – and Kane wasn’t about to give up.
But it was those lengthy spells in the hot Adelaide sun that turned a chore into a passion for the Adelaide Strikers and South Australian quick.
“The summers in the backyard with my brothers when I was about six, that’s where the love of the game and the competitiveness started,” Richardson said.
“The rivalry was strong, on school holidays we went hard at each other but because I’m the youngest I’d always have to bowl which is probably why I can bowl now and I’m not too good with the bat, I put most of my skills now to what I learnt in the backyard.”
And after just a year of toil in the backyard, where you could only hit straight back past the bowlers head to accumulate any decent scores, Richardson padded up for his local club alongside his brother, but the memories weren’t anything to savour.
“I was eight and I remember batting and got out first ball, caught behind … I was pretty happy to just hit the ball.”
But as the summers passed and the skills became more refined, Richardson began tasting more success, first with regional representative cricket and then a career highlight playing in and winning the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand.
“Other than playing for Australia, the Under-19 World Cup stands out, winning that with blokes I grew up playing with or against, two are playing in the Ashes (Mitchell Marsh and Josh Hazlewood), so it’s good to see that you can make a career out of cricket.”
From the backyard to the Baggy Green was – and still is – the goal for Richardson, who has one piece of advice for the next crop of budding cricketers thinking about picking up a bat or ball.
“Give it a crack, it’s an amazing sport, you spend a lot of time with your mates and you get to know each other pretty well, it’s just good fun and as long as you enjoy it that’s the main thing.”
Visit www.playcricket.com.au to find your nearest club and get started on the journey from Backyard to Baggy Green.