The backyard cricket rules are pretty simple out at this Bruce block of apartments between housemates Connor Brown, Edison Marshall and David Kusetic.
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Six and out (standard). Electric wicketkeeper (also fairly standard).
On the road on the full is out, as is hitting the back fences on the full.
"That's about it really and you swing for the hills a bit," Brown said.
"The bin shed that we all take our bins down to is encased into a brick wall. So we set up behind that brick wall there and use that as your electric keeper.
"You're looking out into a bit of space there. You've got houses and stuff in front so if you get hold of one you probably land one in the backyard of someone else's.
"There's a few trees around but it's a pretty open area. It's a nice little area for cricket, and it's pretty good when you get enough mates around to fill the spots."
The trio, who have lived together in Bruce for about a year, and ply their trade with Western District during the summer, joined thousands of enthusiasts across Canberra and NSW on Saturday in the Biggest Game of Backyard Cricket.
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It was a celebration of the nearing of eased COVID restrictions, and the announcement by Cricket ACT on Friday that local competition would resume on the first weekend of November.
Brown is from Lithgow originally, but moved to Canberra for university and has settled into the capital after joining Wests.
Marshall and Kusetic and both locals, and like scores of cricketers across the ACT, the trio have been confined to limited training this preseason.
But now it's about blowing the cobwebs out before Wests training resumes later this month.
"We'll probably kick off in a week and a half or so," Brown said.
"Once that lockdown ends we'll probably get back to some normal training. It's been pretty good that we can get out in groups of people, a few of us have been able to go for a run around.
"We'll head back to normal training then and go from there."
Canberrans are set to come out of lockdown on October 15, after which modified team training can begin while the ACT Government has cleared the way for community sport to resume on the last weekend of October.
"It's not a sport necessarily where we can go from zero to hundred without anything in between, I certainly do encourage people to get out there and get that arm moving," Cricket ACT boss Olivia Thornton said.
"We certainly don't want to see that spike in soft tissue injuries either."
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
