By Stirling Taylor

The Sydney Uni Cricket Club has welcomed onboard the appointment of new Head Coach and Director

of Cricket, Murray Creed. Murray brings invaluable experience and knowledge to the club, through a

coaching and playing career that spans beyond 20 years. For him, it all began in a town called Port

Elizabeth, South Africa.

“Watching the TV, a couple of stars won me over. As soon as I gave it a go, I loved it,” Creed says.

Murray moved to Australia at the age of nine. This was an era where Australian cricket was booming

with legends and classic characters who epitomized what cricket represented at the time. Dean Jones,

Allan Border, David Boon, Craig McDermott. World Series Cricket was the Australian Summer summed

up in three words.

Moving back to South Africa at 12, Creed began to perform with great skill with both bat and ball. At the

age of 18, Creed was selected in the South African Under 19’s squad and played at the World Cup. A

professional contract followed.

“That’s when I realised ‘wow this is now something,’ I had to give it a good go right,” he says.

Creed spent four years in the Eastern Province side, playing domestic first-class cricket. His contract then

expired and then like every bloke in their 20’s, he decided on travel and adventure.

“I thought all right let’s just check out Australia, it’s more for an adventure. I then started to play cricket

here and earned a spot with New South Wales,” Creed says.

Creed was humble about his cricketing ability over the phone. He often referred to himself as a

‘benchwarmer.’

“You get the superstars; you get the professionals and then you get the guys who just hang in there and

are squad members. I was definitely one of them,” said Creed. (Don’t worry, so too was David Warner in

2019 Ashes)

“I was just good enough to get seven years of professional cricket under my belt,” he laughs.

Creed talks about peaking in his cricket ability around the age of 20. He was a strong all-rounder, a fast-

medium bowler and right-handed batsman who could ‘grind out a score.’

“I was very boring, but I suppose that’s what enabled me into having a role within the squad,”

What a way to advertise yourself for such a prominent role within Sydney Grade Cricket, I thought. His

statistics are not boring. A first-class batting average of 25.1 and a List A bowling average of 39. Not bad

for a boring all-rounder.

While playing first-class cricket, Creed graduated with a degree in Business combined with marketing

and creative media. He also founded and created an eLearning cricket start-up, ‘Centre wicket.’

“Cricket New South Wales are using it; they’ve co-branded it. It’s grown a little bit, and there are about

50 schools around the world using it,”

“I thought there was a lack of digital cricket content when I started (centre wicket), a gap in the market,”

says Creed.

In Sydney Premier Cricket for 10 years, Creed has worked in roles as Head Coach with the University of

New South Wales (UNSW) and Eastern Suburbs.

When the opportunity for a coaching role with the Sydney University Cricket Club came up, Creed was

excited at the chance of working in such a prestigious club blessed with a terrific culture and amazing

facilities.

“It’s a successful club. The personnel around the club are incredible. The club is always a real contender

for titles,” said Creed.

“I want to bring in more specialist coaches, to make sure regardless of what a cricketer’s skill set is, that

they have access to knowledge and support. I want to be adaptable, and work within many programs

that help players go to another level,” he said.

With those questions out of the way, it was time for the real priority. Australia versus South Africa.

“What does Australia have over South Africa?” I ask.

“It’s a beautiful country. Obviously very stable. South Africa’s wildlife though has an edge over

Australia’s,” Creed laughs.

Best of luck to Murray Creed in helping Sydney Uni Cricket stay at the top of the food chain, the lion of

the Sydney Premier Cricket jungle.