Cricket Captains' Walk facts for kids

The Cricket Captains' Walk is a collection of specially commissioned bronze busts of Test captains of the Australian men’s national cricket team, arrayed on pedestals on either side of a looping path set in a large public park in Cootamundra, New South Wales. The all-weather path, which starts and ends at Wallendoon Street is family, jogger, and wheelchair friendly, and approximately 250 metres long.

Cricket Captains' Walk

History

The Walk was planned and executed by the Cootamundra Shire Council (now Cootamundra–Gundagai Regional Council) with the approval of the Australian Cricket Board (now Cricket Australia).

• Stage 1, unveiled on 30 August 1998, comprised the likenesses of Unaarrimin (Johnny Mullagh), Dave Gregory, Bill Murdoch, Arthur Morris, Richie Benaud, Bobby Simpson, Bill Lawry, Ian Chappell, Greg Chappell, Allan Border and Mark Taylor. Modelling of these busts was performed by Carl Valerius, sculptor and stone mason of Harden–Murrumburrah, perhaps best known for his bronze statues at the Australian Light Horse Memorial in Harden–Murrumburrah, notably the horse "Bill the Bastard", of which the full size version is expected to be completed in 2020.

The nearby statue by Valerius (shown below) of Bradman in action was unveiled during the celebrations for "Sir Don"'s 92nd Birthday in August 2000. A minor mystery surrounds the Brian Booth sculpture, similar in style to others by Valerius, but not credited in the official documentation. There is no obvious clue in the plaques, which have been commendably uniform in style and execution over 30 years.

• Stage 2, comprising the remaining 30 captains, was unveiled by the sculptor Tom Bass on 27 August 2008, the centenary of Bradman's birth barely a kilometre away. Much of this work was performed by Bass and his team. His bust of Bradman was unveiled by the cricketer's grandson, Tom Bradman.
• Stage 3, unveiled on 12 March 2020, brought the walk up-to-date with the unveiling of three new busts - Shane Watson, Steve Smith and Tim Paine and a plaque for Michael Clarke, who was mid-career when the second tranche of busts were commissioned. All three were made by the Tom Bass sculpture studio.

The busts

Work	Name	Specialty	Tests as Captain	Plaque	Artist	Notes
	Johnny Mullagh, traditional name Unaarrimin or Unaarrimmim		Led Australian Aboriginal cricket team in England in 1868		Carl Valerius	Sponsored by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission
	Dave Gregory		3 Tests 1876–77 1878–79		Carl Valerius	Sponsored by Goldenfields Water County Council
	Billy Murdoch	RH batsman	16 Tests 1880–1890		Carl Valerius	Murdoch was a practising solicitor in Cootamundra in 1881. Sponsored by Australia Post
	Tom Horan	RH batsman Bowler	2 Tests 1884–85		Robert Pratten
	Hugh Massie	RH batsman	1 Test 1884–85		Bernice Lowe
	Jack Blackham	Wicketkeeper RH batsman	8 Tests 1884–85 1891–92 1893 1894–95		Karen Alexander
	Tup Scott	RH batsman Bowler	3 Tests 1886		Damien Lucas
	Percy McDonnell	RH batsman	6 Tests 1886–87		Wendy Black
	George Giffen	RH batsman Bowler	4 Tests 1894–95		Michael Christie & Sue Alexopoulos
	Harry Trott	RH batsman Bowler	8 Tests 1896 1897–98		Damien Lucas
	Joe Darling	LH batsman	21 Tests 1901–02 1902 1902–03 1905		Lea Ferris
	Hugh Trumble	RH batsman Bowler	2 Tests 1901–02		Sue Alexopoulos
	Monty Noble	RH batsman Bowler	15 Tests 1903–04 1907–08 1909		Carol Crawford
	Clem Hill	LH batsman	10 Tests 1910–11		Bernice Lowe
	Syd Gregory	RH batsman	6 Tests 1912		Michael Christie
	Warwick Armstrong	RH batsman Bowler	10 Tests 1920–21		Christine Crimmins
	Herbie Collins	RH batsman	11 Tests 1921–22 1924–25 1926		BJ (Beomjin) Kim
	Warren Bardsley	LH batsman	2 Tests 1926		Peter Bartlett
	Jack Ryder	RH batsman Bowler	5 Tests 1928–29		Julieanne Mahony
	Bill Woodfull	RH batsman	25 Tests 1930 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1934		Virginia Lloyd–Tait
	Vic Richardson	RH batsman Slips fieldsman	5 Tests 1935–36		Robert Pratten
	Don Bradman	RH batsman	24 Tests 1936–37 1938 1946–47 1947–48 1948		Tom Bass
	Bill Brown	RH opening batsman	1 Test 1945–46		Karen Alexander
	Lindsay Hassett	RH batsman Bowler	24 Tests 1951–52 1952–53 1953		Petrena Shaw
	Arthur Morris	LH batsman	2 Tests 1951–52 1954–55		Carl Valerius
	Ian Johnson	RH batsman Bowler	17 Tests 1954–55 1956 1956–57		Janet Coyne
	Ray Lindwall	RH Bowler Lower-order batsman	1 Test 1956–57		Michael Christie
	Ian Craig	RH batsman	5 Tests 1957–58		Peter Bartlett
	Richie Benaud	RH batsman Leg spin bowler	28 Tests 1958–1964		Carl Valerius
	Neil Harvey	LH batsman Cover fieldsman	1 Test 1961		Bernice Lowe
	Bob Simpson	RH opening batsman Leg spin bowler Slips fieldsman	39 Tests 1963–1978		Carl Valerius
	Brian Booth	RH batsman	2 Tests 1965–1966
	Bill Lawry	LH opening batsman	25 Tests 1967–1971		Carl Valerius	Sponsored by the City of Darebin, Victoria, who have a replica in their council chambers.
	Barry Jarman	RH batsman Wicketkeeper	1 Test 1968		Carol Crawford
	Ian Chappell	RH top-order batsman Slips fieldsman	30 Tests 1970–1975		Carl Valerius
	Greg Chappell	RH batsman Bowler Fieldsman	48 Tests 1975–1983		Carl Valerius
	Graham Yallop	LH top-order batsman	7 Tests 1978–1979		Damien Lucas
	Kim Hughes	RH batsman	28 Tests 1978–1984		Wendy Black
	Allan Border	LH batsman Bowler Fieldsman	93 Tests 1984–1994		Carl Valerius
	Mark Taylor	LH batsman Slips fieldsman	50 Tests 1994–1999		Carl Valerius	Sponsored by Pat Kerin, Cootamundra cricketing aficionado
	Steve Waugh	RH batsman Bowler	57 Tests 1999–2004		Carl Valerius
	Adam Gilchrist	LH batsman Wicketkeeper	6 Tests 2000–2004		Sue Alexopoulos
	Ricky Ponting	RH batsman	77 Tests 2003–2010		Wendy Black
	Michael Clarke	RH batsman Slips fieldsmman	47 Tests 2011–2015		Christine Crimmins
	Shane Watson	RH batsman Fast bowler	1 Test 2013		Wendy Black
	Steve Smith	RH batsman Slips fieldsmman	34 Tests 2014–2018		Monika Scarrabelotti
	Tim Paine	RH batsman Wicketkeeper	19* Tests 2018–present		Christine Crimmins

Gallery

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  History of Cricket Captains' Walk

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  Info on Cricket Captains' Walk

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  Don Bradman statue nearby

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  Shadow of Jarman on G. Chappell's pedestal

Images for kids

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  List of Test Captains at the MCG