West Broken Hill bowling all-rounder Patty Attard achieved plenty across a distinguished career with the Barrier Zone at the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) Country Cricket Championships.
He was a member of the 1990 Barrier team that won the title, represented the SA Outbacks at the Australian Country Cricket Championships and 25 summers ago, in the 1998-99 season, was a member of the SACA Country Cricket Championships side which played in the inaugural Favell-Woon Cup match.
“I always enjoyed the trips to Adelaide,” Attard, smiled in a recent interview with the Barrier Truth.
“I suppose you can call me a bowling all-rounder, but I developed my batting and that turned around a bit over the years.
“My first trip down to the Country champs was in 1989.
“There would have been 16 or 17 Country Champs that I played in over the years.
“My last one was the Murray Districts-Barrier (MDB) team in 2016 and at that stage I was 45.
“I am back at the 2023-24 event at the end of January, as former coach Greg Graetz can’t get there and I’ll be coaching the MDB team.”
Along with winning the title in 1990, with a Barrier potent bowling line up which included Bill Slee and Mark Johns, Attard achieved a myriad of accolades at the SACA country Cricket championships.
These included three Ces Starr Medal as “Player of the Series” in 1995, 1998 and 2001, along with being runner up at least twice.
He won the batting average twice, first in 1996 with 337 runs and then again in 1998 with 285 runs.
Attard was a regular SACA team of the Championships selection across more than a decade. In the era when they played a SACA second XI team and during the epoch with the Favell-Woon Cup matches started in 1999, to celebrate Riverland stalwart Don Woon and the late Les Favell and his foundations commitment to country cricket in South Australia and the Silver City.
Barrier teammate Jeff Vaughan was the star of the show in the first Favell-Woon Cup match, playing for the Favell Foundation XII.
Vaughan peeled off a brilliant 127 as the Favell Foundation team posted 9/238, and kept the SA country lads to 230.
The following year Attard, on the pristine surrounds of the main stadium at Adelaide Oval, captain the SA country side to the first win in the 2000 Favell-Woon Cup matches.
For Barrier there was a host of impressive individual efforts by Attard across his extended tenure in Adelaide.
Among them was a haul of 6/33 against Fleurieu and Districts in Round 2 on February 9, 1993 and a bag of 5/33 a full decade later at Campbelltown Oval against South East, along with 5/38 against Fleurieu and Districts in ’03.
In the 2000 tournament, Attard peeled off an undefeated century, finishing on 105 not out in a big win over the South East.
The following February Attard started with a 112 and 3/18 in a 27-run win over Upper North.
Even in his final tournament of the Murray Districts – Barrier side, Attard bowled the team into a Grand Final berth with the outstanding figures 5/33 in a 22-run win against Eyre Peninsula in 2016.
These days he is still filling in for the West Broken Hill Cricket Club’s B Grade when they are short.
Along with his huge cricket exploits, Attard was also an accomplished A Grade footballer with the West Robins, being a member of the club’s previous premiership back in 1990.
“I reckon I finished with 198 league games at West,” Attard mused.
“I played most of my career as a defender. But there were times when I was used as tagging midfielder and a couple of years at centre half forward. But mainly I was a backman.
“I would have missed as many as I played.
“We should have won another flag in 2007, but this kid named Walker kicked seven for North in that Grand Final.”
The 99th edition of the senior SACA Country Cricket Championships for the Harry Meyer Cup will be played from Monday, January 28 until Thursday, February 1, 2024.
Note – Fellow Barrier cricketer Bill Bergman was also selected in the SA Country Champs, team of the carnival in the initial Favell-Woon Cup match. We will look to have a one-on-one chat will him over the summer.
