DARREN Scott achieves a major milestone this Saturday, notching game 343 for Korumburra Cricket Club to become the Cobras’ outright games record holder when he represents the B1 side taking on Imperials at Korumburra Recreation Reserve.
“His contribution has been large overall,” Korumburra Cricket Club president Tim Morrison said, noting that in addition to his huge onfield efforts, Darren was club president for six or seven years.
Darren, a righthanded batsman and medium pace bowler, last week drew level with long-standing Korumburra games record holder Shane McGrath who will be at the ground on Saturday to acknowledge his achievement.
Originally set to play for the B2 side he has been captaining this season, Darren was promoted to B1 so he could reach the milestone at the Cobras’ home ground in front of past players and friends, with the clubrooms set for a bumper day of celebration.
Leading up to the milestone, Cranbourne South based Darren reflected on what has motivated him to travel from that area to represent Korumburra for much of his career.
It boils down to a love for South Gippsland and the fact he has made lifelong friends playing sport there, whether cricket, footy or golf.
He believes he first played cricket for Korumburra in 1987, aged 16, and still has lots of friends from those days.
Having played A Grade for a long period, Darren is enjoying his time in B Grade, getting to play alongside mates who previously represented the Cobras in lower grades than him.
The opportunity to share his milestone game with those blokes is a special one.
However, Darren is just as excited about taking the field with rising young players, enjoying the chance to see the juniors developing.
Some of those junior players have parents or grandparents he has played with or against.
During his time in A Grade, Darren displayed his versatility by shifting around the batting order according to the side’s needs.
When bowling, he relies on guile and movement with the ball.
“Being a bit smaller in stature, I don’t have the kilometres behind me so I’ve got to do a bit with the ball,” he said.
It’s clearly working given Darren’s tally of 10 wickets so far this season at the excellent average of 15.3 apiece.
His standout contribution with the willow this campaign is a knock of 96 a few rounds back against Foster.
One of Darren’s sons, 17-year-old Harry, has recently started playing cricket and will be part of the action on Saturday to his dad’s delight, named as 12th man.
At the age of 52, Darren isn’t looking to retire anytime soon.
Darren said he couldn’t have represented Korumburra for so long without the support of his wife Sam and children Jarryd, Maddison, Harry and Lachie, particularly given the need for so much travel.
