After being informed by a local sports journalist, Gareth Morgan, a cricketer from Gold Coast, was taken aback when he was told that an article would be written about his six wickets in an over from the previous day to be featured on the back page.

Morgan remembers saying to him, “Isn’t that a bit excessive for third grade cricket?”

At 9:30am the following day, after conducting interviews non-stop for 2.5 hours, the Mudgeeraba Nerang and Districts Cricket Club’s part-time bowler was featured in a live segment with the BBC.

Morgan expresses that last week was filled with peculiar occurrences for someone like himself, who considers himself an average person.

Morgan, a supervisor for knowledge management at the Gold Coast city council, rose to fame from relative obscurity in cricket by taking six wickets in a row in a game for his team, “The Bushmen”. This remarkable accomplishment, also known as a “quadruple hat-trick”, involves getting four sets of three wickets in a row – the first, second, and third balls, the second, third, and fourth balls, and so on.

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A week passed, and there was increased curiosity about whether he could maintain his streak of six consecutive wickets.

Morgan’s out-of-state guests came to watch the game and children were eager to take a photo with him. Some even mentioned they specifically came to see him bowl.

However, Morgan did not have the opportunity to bowl in Saturday’s victory against Tamborine Mountain.

He was solely responsible for his actions since he was the captain of the Bushmen.

“I am not expected to be the primary bowler in the team,” he explains. “I rarely bowl in the third grade competition.”

Morgan considers himself fortunate to have gained valuable knowledge on the cricket field throughout the years. He views his role as a mentor for young cricketers on his team, as they gain experience facing adult players.

Morgan’s team consisted of four deaf cricketers on Saturday. Two of them will be joining the Australian men’s deaf team to compete in Qatar.

He stated that he was attempting to provide them with chances, allow them to play in games, and share his knowledge with them.

“We are assisting these boys in potentially achieving their own aspirations,” he states. “The same aspirations that we have all had at some point.”

Morgan’s dreams came true by chance when she reached the mature age of 40.

When discussing his favorite sports memories, Morgan mentions watching his favorite team, the Parramatta Eels, compete in a rugby league grand final, attending the MCG for the Sydney Swans’ victory in the 2005 AFL grand final, and getting the chance to see Liverpool play at Anfield.

Morgan was in the spotlight after his six-wicket over against Surfers Paradise, which caught the world’s attention.

As a child, you imagine those experiences and observe others performing them on television,” he states.

This is the closest I will ever come to achieving this.

It was a hectic week.

Morgan says that while at work, their boss kept calling their phone all day. The boss, who is a fan of cricket, told Morgan to attend to the calls.

The council employee took time off on Monday afternoon to attempt to resolve the situation. This was followed by a week of communicating with journalists from major newspapers, television hosts, and podcasters from both Australia and the cricket community.

However, on the previous Saturday, Morgan’s team consisted of four spinners and four seamers, allowing them to dismiss the opposing team in just 28 overs.

He states that he was definitely not required.

While it may have been the correct decision for the team, it ultimately disappointed some of the new fans of the Bushmen.

Morgan was being urged by others to bowl himself.

“I informed them that I do not bowl unless there is a problem,” he states.

Problems frequently arise in the lower divisions of grade cricket. This weekend, Mudgeeraba will have to make adjustments to their team lineup due to representative cricket, potentially leaving Morgan with one less bowler for their important match against Alberton Ormeau.

“If some of my bowlers are chosen by the selectors, I may have to bowl myself,” he remarks.

Source: theguardian.com