Steve Rixon was inducted into the Cricket NSW Hall of Fame on 5th April, a very well-deserved honour for a man who has been an enthusiastic and devoted contributor to NSW cricket for 40 years since he first played for NSW Colts. He became the second player to play 100 first class matches for NSW (after Doug Walters) and was a member of two Sheffield Shield-winning sides, including the first Shield final in Perth in 1982-83, which ended a Shield drought of 17 years. He was a very highly regarded wicketkeeper, taking 248 catches and making 50 stumpings for NSW. He was unfortunate to play in the same era as Rod Marsh. This restricted him to 13 Tests, 10 of which were played during the World Series Cricket years and the final three after Marsh had retired. He was also an effective lower order batsman for NSW, scoring 3229 runs at an average of 25 (including six centuries).
Stumper’s influence on NSW cricket continued after he retired from first class cricket at the end of the 1987-88 season, when he was appointed NSW Coach for the 1989-90 season. NSW won the Sheffield Shield in his first season as coach and won a further two Shields and three one-day competitions in his first six year stint as coach. After coaching New Zealand for three years, he returned as NSW Coach in 2000-01. In four years as coach, NSW won another Sheffield Shield and three more one-day competitions. He had subsequent coaching roles at English county team Surrey, IPL team Chennai Super Kings and national teams Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka over the next 15 years.
In his final season of grade cricket for Sutherland in 1988-89, Stumper was club coach. It was this role that prompted then CNSW Chief Executive Bob Radford to approach him about taking on the NSW role the following season. When he finished his first stint as NSW Coach in 1994-95, Stumper returned to the club coach role at Sutherland and had a major influence on the club winning its first 1st Grade premiership in 1995-96. The club also won the 2nd Grade premiership that season to complete a rare double. When he then took on the New Zealand role, he still maintained his involvement at Sutherland whenever he could, highlighted by the New Zealand team playing a practice match against Sutherland in January 1998 as part of their preparation for that season’s one-day series – the first time a touring national team had played an Australian club team. He had subsequent periods as club coach and part of the coaching staff before he finished his coaching involvement.
Stumper also served as Club President of Sutherland for 9 years from 2006 to 2015. He has also been actively involved in the NSW Baggy Blues (former NSW players who conduct promotional activities in regional and country NSW) for many years. He was made a Life Member of Cricket NSW in 1996 and of Sutherland DCC in 2010. It has been a wonderful lifetime of involvement in NSW cricket and his induction into the CNSW Hall of Fame has been richly deserved.
Congratulations Stumper!!
Since 1965
