Vic State Cricket Podcast | Episode 31 - Peter Bedford

[@NealeRootsey]

Wonderful interview, l could listen to Peter all day. Great work Adam White for your ongoing contribution to Victorian Cricket.

[@rugmop]

I came across this Podcast just recently. For reasons which might become obvious, the name of Peter Bedford piqued my interest. Love your work Adam, and that of the other people who contribute to its production. Peter and I attended Parade College in East Melbourne, during to early to mid 60s. I feel no shame in saying that Peter was a much better cricketer than I. If I recall correctly, in his season with the school's under 15 team, Peter took a remarkable 49 wickets at something like an average of 9 runs per wicket. The seasons were basically half the length of normal seasons. Come the following season, I tried out with the senior team, as did Peter. He managed to succeed, where I did not. However, all was not lost, I got the job of umpiring the team's games throughout the season. Unfortunately, Peter was rarely able to bowl during the season, due to a fielding accident, in which he split the webbing between two of his fingers, before the season started. The umpiring I did during this season encouraged me to umpire professionally, for twenty years, after I retired from 30 years of playing. Like Peter I also maintained a further interest in cricket, as an administrator for forty years, and as a scorer for ten years. We also shared a common interest in many things Port Melbourne. My first serious girlfriend was Liz King, who lived in Port (in a bank house (?), I seem to recall). Her brother, John, also attended Parade College. Every Sunday when Port were playing at home, Liz and I would head down to Port Oval and watch Peter play. We did this for a couple of seasons, including Peter's last one with Port. The improvement in Peter's play between and his second-last and last seasons was striking. Despite playing the whole season as a centreman, he had become a tremendous high mark, to go with his other extraordinary talents. A pre-season at South under Norm Smith knocked the high-marking out of his game, as it did for so many others entering VFL football in those days. I was unaware that Peter had studied at the teacher's college in Glenferrie Rd. I too studied there, in the late 1980s, doing a degree in Professional Writing. It was known as Victoria College when I was there. I believe it now serves as a campus of Deakin University. It has been lovely to reminisce. Must be gettin' old. Peter hasn't changed a jot. Still imbued with a dry wit and a self-effacing manner. Still that charming personality. Like most who attended our school, he employs a splendid turn of phrase. Once again, thanks for the Podcast. AKA Bernie McDonald