Legana cricket stalwart to notch up 400 games

But it is Steve Partridge’s love of the Legana Cricket Club more so than the game which has seen the wicketkeeper-batsman continue to play the game for 32 years and reach that magical number this weekend.

Despite the fact he ‘‘retired’’ five or six times, the 45-year-old is constantly drawn back to the club.

‘‘I’ve always said that I would never let them play short or let them down and for the last four or five years I’ve told them I can’t commit fully due to family commitments,’’ Partridge said.

‘‘I’ve played all grades since starting there at 13, but you just get to the age where you just want to play with your mates and the cricket becomes nearly secondary to the yarns and the beers after the game.

‘‘There’s a lot of clubs around which are jealous of our club, as we only ever pay coaches, not players, and there are guys there that really just want to play for us.’’

Partridge, who said playing with his son Joshua [who is now at Cricket North club Riverside], was another bonus of his long journey with the club.

He has topped the A Grade, A-Reserve and B-Grade batting averages and captained A-Reserve and B-Grade in his career.

He is currently playing B-Grade for the club, and if Legana can win that premiership this year, it might be enough for him to pull up stumps for good.

His milestone game will be against Trevallyn at Legana tomorrow, with Joshua, an all-rounder, returning for a one-off game with his dad.