Gunnedah has lost a hard-working, community-minded and cricket-loving tragic in Kevin Wicks.
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Wicks, 67, passed away on Thursday after devoting countless hours to cricket.
Many a North West cricketer knew Wicks as an umpire, but his work behind the scenes for the Gunnedah District Cricket Association was tireless and invaluable.
The GDCA life member has selected Gunnedah district teams, curated wickets and helped assist with the staging of major country cricket carnivals in Gunnedah.
Some Sundays would even see Wicks up early for pre-match ground and wicket preparation, before he went out to umpire.
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He was a tremendous worker, and fellow GDCA life member Michael Silver said Wicks did it all for the cricket community.
"Kevin was a true cricket tragic - he had a great love for the game and a desire to ensure that others had the opportunity to enjoy the game and respect its traditions," Silver said.
"His contribution to Gunnedah cricket cannot be understated. Behind the scenes he was a tireless worker, be that as a curator, selector, umpire or grassroots administrator.
"He was extremely well known and respected in the Gunnedah community, with his local sporting involvement also extending to support of the Gunnedah Rugby League Club.
"It was my great privilege to have been involved with Kevin in Gunnedah and country cricket - he will be missed."
Wicks played lower grade cricket in Gunnedah in the 1970s before he became involved at an association level later in the decade. Wicks' primary role was as a recording secretary - a role he maintained for over 30 years.
He took up umpiring around this time as well and became a fixture at association, district and country-level matches in the 1980s.
Wicks umpired some big country matches in his time including a Country Cup semi-final in the mid 1980s and the NSW Sheffield Shield team clash with the Country Cavaliers match at Wolseley Park in September 1989.
He umpired five Sydney Premier Cricket matches and several AW Green Shield fixtures. When in Sydney he would stay with Laurie Borg, one of Sydney grade cricket's most respected umpires and a life member of the NSW Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association.
At a local level, Wicks' partnership with fellow Gunnedah umpire Kevin Miller over many years became an "umpiring firm", particularly for North West district matches.
Until his health declined in recent years, Wicks had stood in every Gunnedah first grade final since 1980 and had played a significant role in supporting the prominence of Gunnedah cricket at a local and district level.
Along with being awarded GDCA life membership in the 1990s, Wicks was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000 for his contribution to Gunnedah cricket.
Ben Jaffrey
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
