University of Queensland cricket club’s Jack Clayton and brother Max Clayton reflect on their rivalry

If the childhood neighbours of University of Queensland cricket batting young guns ever pass Wep Harris Oval and glimpse brothers Jack and Max Clayton in partnership together, they would barely believe their eyes – or more appropriately their ears.

If the childhood neighbours of University of Queensland cricket batting young guns ever pass Wep Harris Oval and glimpse brothers Jack and Max Clayton in partnership together, they would barely believe their eyes – or more appropriately their ears.

To see the Clayton batting together now is like watching a silent movie – plenty of action but no words.

“It is very quiet out there. If I try and tell him something he just tells me to shut up.

“We don’t even call between the wickets,’’ Jack said.

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It is a far cry from yesteryear when, as children growing up in Indooroopilly, they would play backyard cricket matches with the gusto of an Ashes Test match.

“There was plenty of fight in the backyard,’’ Jack said.

“I am sure the neighbours could hear us yelling because one thought he was out and the other did not.’’

“The common thing was that I’d bowl for 20 minutes, he’d nick off and spit the dummy and walk upstairs so I wouldn’t get a bat,’’ Jack added.

Max and Jack Clayton when Max, left, was still at Brisbane Boys College.

Not surprisingly Max has a different version.

“I always felt I was the better backyard player,’’ said 19-year-old Max.

“I always used to win in the backyard.

“We’d get home from school and straight into the backyard for two hours and it was a lot of fun.

“We’d tape the ball up so it would swing.

“The neighbours would have been sick of us by the end of it.

“I was fortunate to have a brother of similar age who loved his cricket, loved his sport.

“When I was really young, seven or eight, I was not the biggest cricket fan and Jack was getting me into the backyard so he had someone to play with.

“I’d say I am only playing if I bat and he’d snick me off a few times. They were a lot fun.’’

And now the boys were young men and having a lot of fun playing first grade together after previously playing side-by-side in the Brisbane Boys College First XI.

So after their boisterous backyard bash-up derbies as children, when they bat together for University, is there plenty of banter?

“Because we know each other well, you sort of know what each other needs and what we need to do,’’ Max said.

“We don’t need to communicate that much. It is just a fist pump (mid-pitch) and lets go and do it.’’

The Clayton boys on tour.

Max said the first time they batted together was in the Firsts at BBC against Churchie.

“We are so competitive against each other and to be competitive together was a different experience,’’ Max recalled.

“We didn’t really speak to each other. Our mid-pitch chats were more of a fist pump than anything verbal.

“That (GPS innings against Churchie) was a special innings because he (Jack) got a 100 and I got 80 and we batted for the best part of 35 overs.

“This season (in Premier grade for Uni) in the two day semi-final we batted for about 40 overs.

“It was a good experience, again very little chat and he nearly ran me out again,’’ Max joked.

Jack Clayton, left, with his brother Max at their old Indooroopilly backyard pitch.

Jack, 21, is two years advanced in his career from Max and was constructing a pathway toward Queensland Sheffield Shield selection the old fashioned way – through scoring runs in club cricket.

It is a time-honoured process and, until the escalation of all these pathway squads in recent years, was once the only way to make the state team.

But Cricket Australia’s financial crisis will see a reduction in pathway systems, meaning club cricket will return to the No. 1 development ground for young cricketers in Queensland.

And on that basis, Jack Clayton is topping the class after successive 1000 run summers for University, arguably the No. 1 club side in Australia.

Yet cricket was not always Jack’s sole sporting focus.

The BBC old boy was also a promising Australian rules footballer who reached NEAFL standard with the Brisbane Lions, the second tier national footy competition in Australia.

“I had to make a decision when I was 17 which pathway I would go down and I choose AFL but that did not work out,’’ Clayton said.

“I gave it (footy) away and never really looked back. I am really enjoying my cricket.

“AFL was a really good learning experience for me. The best lesson (from footy) was to go and enjoy sport and not worry about selections and stuff.

Jack Clayton in 2015 when he was an elite junior Aussie rules junior. Pic Mark Cranitch.

“When you are younger you can get carried away with that (selection worry).

“Now all I worry about (when he resumed cricket at Uni) was going out and doing my best and having fun with my mates and you end up getting a few runs.

“And we have also ended up with a couple of premierships (2018-19, 2019-20). A 1000 runs might be a fluke, we will see,’’ added Jack, who did reach Second XI selection last season.

“I have ambitions to play higher – I want to test myself against the best. You have those goals.

“But the most important thing is to just do the best I can in whatever game I play in.

(“When you don’t do that) that is when you start thinking about the result rather than the process.

“Eventually selection will take care of itself,’’ said Jack, who did his primary schooling at Nudgee Junior.

Max only had his first full season in first grade with Uni in 2019-20 and found it challenging.

“I did not have the season I had hoped for but a lot of learning took place,’’ Max said.

“Playing with players of higher levels – Scott Walter, talking with Dom Michael, Scott Henry – last season was a good.

“Personally it was not my best, but I hope leading into next season I can take those learning experiences and apply them for better outcomes.

“At Uni you learn so much because there is so much experience.

“The younger players feed off knowledge and it creates this cycle.’’

The Clayton boys benefit from playing with experienced hands like Scott Walter. Photo: John McCutcheon / Sunshine Coast Daily

Max also went back to school earlier this year after he was approached by BBC director of cricket David Marriott to be head cricket coach across the college.

“It is a good way to give back,’’ Max said.

“I am also looking to become a teacher as well and it funnels into where I want to go career wise.

“It was full on. You are there every day, twice a day.

“But it was rewarding because you see everyone and you see every kid and their journey.’’

The boys have a rich history at University cricket where their father is an old boy.

Indeed they started in the Uni junior program being coached by Jared Turner who earlier this year co-coached BBC to a tied GPS First XI premiership with Terrace.

Jack said there is no doubt the atmosphere around the University training nets and on game day had contributed to his success.

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“It is a fun team to be around, not just first grade but all the grades,’’ Jack said.

“It is no surprise why we win a lot of premierships. By keeping it fun the result will look after itself.’’

The Clayton’s may now be premiership winning teammates at Uni, but they will always be rivals – just like they were as children playing in their backyard at Indooroopilly.

“That rivalry has moved into other sports now, table tennis, squash,’’ Max said.

And so the brotherly sporting stoushes continue, although at least in cricket they are brothers in arms playing for University, albeit in near silence.