Armidale had the chance to get up close with some of Australia's top current and former cricketers over two days when the Australian Cricketers' Association brought their Masters tour to town.
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An entertaining Sporties dinner at the Golf Club on Thursday night followed by a golf day, school clinics and a match against an Armidale XI on Friday saw people of all ages get around the sport.
Sarah Andrews, Mark Cosgrove, Scott Coyte, Rhiannon Dick, Michelle Gozko, Wayne Holdsworth, Mel Jones, Jason Krejza, Josh Lalor, Greg Matthews, Johnathan Moss, Stephen O'Keefe, Julia Price, Daniel Smith, Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley and new ACA boss Todd Greenberg were in attendance on Thursday night.
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They shared stories and insights from their cricketing days and on today's current game.
Friday's school clinics were a hit with Armidale and District Cricket Association president Mike Porter applauding the turnout of juniors.
"There would have been a couple of hundred kids go through the coaching clinics, there was 90 from one school, there tremendous interest from the kids," he said.
They got to play in the new indoor centre as well, some of the kids from Armidale Secondary College."
More than 100mm of rain fell during the week but it didn't stop the match on Friday night.
The Masters team took the win with Simpson hitting the winning runs.
Former Australian cricket Greg Matthews was rapt with the whole tour.
"Great town, really lovely vibe," he said.
"The golf day was great, the rain has been so generous to the area, it is green, course was lovely, played well.
"We had a Sportsman's night last night.
"To have a board member in Mel Jones with us is tremendous.
"For the people of Armidale to have the opportunity to communicate with her is fantastic for cricket.
"It has been a lot of fun."
Porter backed up Matthews' comments.
"It is a great concept to bring these guys out to the country, it gives us another outlook on how good these guys are, how easy they play the game against out level of blokes in Armidale," he said.
"It is also good for the community to get there and that sort of thing as well.
"Yes, there is a cost associated with bringing them here, and it was good of council to put the money up to do that.
"It is so important for these people, whether they are current players or ex-players, to come to the country, show off their skills and also promote the game of cricket to our communities. It is really important."
Of the game on Friday night, Matthews was happy with what he saw from Armidale.
"Very impressed with the opposition that we are playing tonight [Friday] in that two dynamic opening bowlers, a little bit surprised they don't have a slow which could hurt them," he said.
"They batted really, really well.
"I am very impressed with young Vanessa tonight.
"She was under huge pressure when she came on to bowl, and she did a great job.
"The great thing about it was she had a very big ball, a lot larger than the one she uses and it was quite slippery and wet out there."
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