CS Team of the Century | ‘It’s really special’: Liam Gledhill reflects on nomination

“I reckon I was about 12 when I went and watched Numurkah’s A-grade team play,” Gledhill said as he recalled the early memory.

“I’ll never forget watching the likes of Ian Sartori, Shane Collins, Rod McLeod, Gavin Napier and those guys play. I knew straight away that’s where I wanted to be playing. I just lived and breathed it.”

Just as Gledhill’s passion to play for the Blues grew, so did his cricketing ability.

The teenager shot up in height and soon developed his game around his bowling prowess.

Emerging as a talented left-arm quick, who could more than hold his own with the willow, Gledhill wouldn’t have to wait long to tick off his dream of playing in Cricket Shepparton’s Haisman Shield with Numurkah.

His big break came against Karramomus a few years later in 1996.

“It really was a dream come true,” Gledhill said of the debut.

“We had a star-studded team; I was playing with Sartori, McLeod, (Matt) Cullen and I was a young buck who just sat in the corner and watched and listened to these legends.”

Not only was Gledhill playing alongside stars of Cricket Shepparton, he was terrorising them with ball in hand and fast becoming a young gun of the competition.

He became a mainstay in the top-grade and an integral team member during the late 1990s.

He describes the cricket in those years as “tough” and an era where “every side had good competitors”.

It was during those summers when Gledhill's “competitive edge” grew.

“The cricket back then was hard. You had to really earn it,” he said.

“I would often go head-to-head with guys like ‘Skeeta’ (Peter Holland) or Sammy Ahmet. But we would go to Country Week together and we got on like a house on fire.

Gledhill’s rise coincided with Numurkah’s, becoming one of the premier teams in the Haisman Shield.

The Blues reached the 1999-2000 grand final, however, it ended in heartache — an agonising four-run defeat to Central Park-St Brendan’s.

“We had a strong side in those years, but we probably relied on natural talent too much,” Gledhill said.

“We wouldn’t play as a team and I think it’s why we might have lost those close finals.”

What came next was a foray at Melbourne Cricket Club and state selection with Victoria at the under-17 National Championships in Brisbane.

A return to Numurkah followed with Gledhill being named Cricket Shepparton’s under-23 Cricketer of the Year in 2005.

His sublime bowling, which was always his number one asset, would soon be accompanied by destructive and talented batting skill during these years.

He scored his maiden Haisman Shield century, a classy 156-run stand, in that summer and claimed 19 wickets with the ball.

Gledhill captained the Blues for a number of seasons before he made the switch to Katamatite and then a stint at Waaia.

But the pull of his childhood club proved too great and Gledhill returned to his beloved Blues as captain for the 2015-16 campaign.

What followed in the next five seasons, and continues to this 2022-23 summer, has cemented Gledhill’s status as one of Numurkah’s most revered talents.

Gledhill was awarded the Lightfoot Medal in the 2017-18 season — a campaign where he collected 27 wickets and made 492 runs.

“Winning a Lightfoot Medal was something early in my career I dreamed of doing and I thought it might never happened,” Gledhill said.

“To finally win one was really pleasing.”

The highest individual accolade was followed one year later by a moment that the entire cricket club celebrated together.

The famous Haisman Shield triumph in 2018-19 over Katandra that ended Numurkah’s 45-year premiership drought.

“That was one of the most intense games of cricket that I’ve played in,” Gledhill said.

“I think the loss the year before (to the same side) really brought the team together and put the fire in us a bit. It was such a relief for the club. A lot of the guys (who missed out on winning one) were all there and it meant so much to us players to share it with them.”

Although his career still continues at the Blues as playing coach, Gledhill no longer sends down thunderbolts with the new ball and instead spins batters into a web and is a crucial cog in the lower order.

Upon reflection on his career exploits for Cricket Shepparton, which also involved multiple Melbourne Country Week appearances, Gledhill said he just tried to be the best player he could be.

“It’s really special,” he said on being shortlisted in the Team of the Century.

“It’s a nice acknowledgement; there’s been so many great cricketers and it’s something that myself and my family will look back on in years to come.”