FORMER Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh thrilled youngsters on Tuesday by hosting his inaugural coaching clinic at Scone.
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Around 80 enthusiastic cricketers from across the region rubbed shoulders with the sporting legend.
The Upper Hunter District Junior Cricket Association and Scone Junior Cricket Association were elated to be able to attract one of the most respected cricketers of all time to the area.
Mr Waugh said the clinic was a concept he had been working on for a while.
“We thought we’d start out in the country because I don’t think they get enough clinics like this,” he told the Hunter Valley News.
“We’ve targeted country areas because we think we can make a real impact and add value to the local community by coming into these places and getting a bit of excitement around sport.
“We’re really happy to be here and we’ve got a really good turnout considering there was a fairly short timeframe to organise it.
“The idea of the clinics is to have fun; we realise that not everyone is going to play for Australia or NSW but we want kids to be playing in the backyard and with their mates.
“We want them to learn and not be afraid to make mistakes.”
He was joined by a strong ensemble, which included former Bangladesh coach Corey Richards, Randwick club coach Greg Small and his assistant Simon Gould, Michael Clarke’s fitness mentor Duncan Kerr, and current member of the NSW Blues Alex Kemp.
Apart from coaching, Mr Waugh said he had been busy with a number of start-up businesses in India while also representing several organisations around the country.
However, most of his time is spent doing charity work for the Steve Waugh Foundation.
“We’ve actually got a bike ride from Sydney to Byron Bay in early November which comes pretty close to this area; we’re going through towns like Gloucester, Dorrigo and Grafton.
“It’s 150 kilometres a day so I’ve been pretty much just training for that at the moment.”