Colac cricket volunteer first to pitch in

With more than 300 matches to his name, Colac Cricket Club’s committee president Rob Oborne is always first to put his hand up to help.

All heart: Cricket Volunteer Rob Oborne Rob Oborne has been a long time volunteer in local cricket at Colac. Picture: Zoe Phillips

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ROB Oborne laughs at how much country cricket ovals have changed in his lifetime.

“When I first started playing, we played in paddocks, farmers’ paddocks,” Rob said.

“You’d get the cow s*** off the ground before you’d play and that was it.”

These days, country cricket grounds are closer to pristine than paddock. And that, at least in part, comes down to the work of volunteers such as Rob.

Born and raised in Swan Marsh, Rob — also affectionately known as “Scruff” — started his cricket career at Irrewillipe, before moving to nearby Colac, where he played more than 300 matches and won multiple premierships.

Now retired, Rob spends his time on “volunteer stuff, which involves a lot of cricket stuff and cutting grass”.

“We have a good rapport with the council, and they do the majority of the work, but there are little things that have to be done — mow and spray around fences and you paint lines, that sort of stuff,” he said.

It turns out, he was following a shining example of volunteerism. “Dad always did it, he was always the person who put his hand up to do things, and I just thought it was natural,” Rob said.

Rob has been a long-serving committee member at Colac Cricket Club, as secretary and now president. He is also on the Colac District Cricket Association board. He said country sport wouldn’t exist without volunteers.

“Sport is such a great thing in the country, it gets people together, it gives them something to do, a focus,” he said.

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