NSW Premier Cricket: Rob Aitken hits 500 match milestone in Sydney first grade
This Sydney schoolteacher has written his name into the history books in NSW Premier Cricket with an extraordinary milestone. But his first grade journey didn’t exactly start with a bang.
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Robert Aitken has turned setting records and making milestones into an art.
On Saturday in NSW Premier Cricket, he hit the field to rack up an extraordinary achievement by playing his 500th first grade match.
The UTS North Sydney District cricket club player became the first player to achieve 500 games in first grade when went out against St George at North Sydney Oval.
The match wasn’t quite as eventful as some of his others over the years with Aitken, 46, assisting in a run out, bowling 10 economical overs (0-32) but not batting.
His brother James, however, took 2/43.
Aitken made his first grade debut with Fairfield Liverpool back in 1992 in a match against Balmain.
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While he has broken numerous records since, he failed to score on debut and did not bowl.
But since then he has achieved great things in both batting and bowling.
In 494 innings Aitken, the sport co-ordinator at our Lady of the Rosary Catholic primary school at Fairfield, has scored a whopping 11386 runs at 29.34.
This includes eight centuries and 50 9/2 centuries.
He has also taken 618 wickets at 27.08 with 14 five wicket performances.
In his first grade career he has played for four clubs in Fairfield Liverpool, Petersham Marrickville, Parramatta and now North Sydney who he has been with since 2002.
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NOVEMBER: Robert Aitken is one of the oldest men going round in Sydney first grade but that hasn’t stopped him blasting to best bowling figures in the opening round of NSW Premier Cricket.
The UTS North Sydney stalwart opened his season with 5-42 as his club 4/336 beat Western Suburbs 9/279 at North Sydney’s Bon Andrews Oval on the weekend.
But Aitken unknowingly put his family name in the record books for a second time with his opening run display in his 494th first grade match.
At 46 years and 225 days old, it was the 13th time Aitken has had a five wicket innings.
Only 14 players older than him have taken five wickets in an innings, and in a strange coincidence the player immediately above Aitken on the list his late father Bob, who achieved the feat when 46 years and 308 days old back in 1986.
“I had no idea. That’s interesting. It’s a nice little touch, quite remarkable,” Aitken said when told of the coincidence.
Aitken lives at Greystanes but plays his cricket with brothers Jamie and Glenn at the North Shore club.
He said his father passed his love of cricket to his sons who were all recently honoured with life membership from UTS North Sydney for their work on and off the pitch.
“We grew up going to my dad’s games,” Aitken said.
“He played for Cumberland, now Parramatta, and we have been around the Sydney cricket grounds all our lives. They were like our playgrounds as kids.
“We played cricket in summer and baseball in winter just like our dad.
“He has passed now but he imparted his love of cricket to us.’’
Aitken said a reason he is still playing the game is to spend time with his brothers who play either first or second grade at the club.
“One of the reasons we are all still playing is because we can do it together and catch up,’’ he said.
He said he and his brothers were honoured to receive life members recently.
“I never thought I’d be playing at this age and I never thought I’d get a life membership,’’ said Aitken, whose teenage daughter Emily is also coming through the ranks at the club.
“I felt like it was really special that all three of us got it.’’
James is one of just nine players in the history of NSW Premier Cricket to have scored a first-grade century before turning 20 and another after turning 40. He sits fifth on the club’s all-time first grade run-scorers’ list with 6,449 at 27.71.
Glenn was voted the captain of the Bears’ team of the 2010s while Rob is one of only two men with 11,000 first grade runs and 600 first grade wickets.
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