ST: Four rounds into the season, we haven't seen your name on the Albury team sheet yet. Are you retiring or just taking a break?

AP: I haven't completely closed the door on playing again but I've got no plans to get back out there at this stage. I'm at the point now where I can go down and watch my club play, still help out in a way and be a bit of a voice. I suppose it shows where I'm at in terms of my life at the moment. I'm getting a bit older, more interested in what the kids are doing so as much as I know I could still contribute, if you keep staying in there, you're only stopping someone else from coming forward and potentially doing what they need to do. At the moment, with the way cricket is, I'm conscious of the fact that taking a spot from someone who might want to play A-grade, we can't afford to lose too many cricketers to the sport. With Albury at the moment, we're in a bit of a rebuild, we got to a point where there were some ageing bodies and they've moved on to different things or less cricket, mainly through family commitments and I'm in the same boat. It means you take out a bit of top-end talent but you inject a bit of youth and athleticism and that's what they need to do. They need to get in there and get some games into themselves to improve.

ST: You were so close to winning the 2021/22 grand final against North Albury; how do you look back on that now?

AP: It stings a bit. Throughout my career, I've won one and lost two. The whole reason you play cricket, or any sport, is to win, but we are local sport and the whole reason I like to play is the social side of things whether it be the little battles you have on-field, joining up in rep comps or having beers after the game. If you don't like your opposition and you can't have a beer with them after the game, there's no real point doing it. We're not paid sportsmen, we're not playing for sheep stations. Some people outside the comp would say, especially James McNeil coming back, mentioned that it doesn't have spark that used to be there. A lot of people are playing rep cricket together and they're friendly; because we've had a lot of people in the comp for a long time, there is that sportsmanship. You see that in the IPL as well; once we were enemies and now we're team-mates. That's sport in general and I like that side. I never got narky, I like most people, it takes a fair bit to rile me up, whether it be the umpires, the opposition or our own blokes, all I'm about is hanging around and having a beer, getting the families around and the kids and wives and girlfriends. All of a sudden, the vibe we've tried to build there - and I hope every club is - is making for a more enjoyable Saturday for all involved.

ST: Remind us how your cricket and football have intertwined over the years.

AP: When I started out, footy and cricket were both big for me. Even before that, basketball, tennis, rugby... but they all take up time so you have to pick and choose. There was a fair bit of rep footy and rep cricket but cricket is such a time-consuming sport, even more so these days. Luckily for me, I had Dad and Grandpa travel around wherever I needed to go. Cricket was A-grade from 14 or 15 and back then, your juniors were played in the morning. It was all two-day cricket and you didn't start until 12 or 1pm. Footy, I went through the North Albury ranks and ended up playing seniors there at 18. All of a sudden, O & M and ABCA, as it was back then, there weren't too many people doing it purely because it takes a fair bit. As you'd see from a lot of the sportsmen these days, any time someone is playing both at the top end, it demands a lot. I got to 19, I went down to Melbourne for uni and from there, I had half a season with St Kilda, cricket-wise. We were a pretty strong side down there and it started off well for me. Our A-grade side had Rob Quiney, Nick Jewell, Graeme Rummans, Shane Warne and then we had a twos side that had Michael Beer, who played Test cricket, Ian Cockbain, who's been a T20 star around the world, Mark Ridgway, and I really enjoyed it. But when you're at uni for the first time and the social side's pumping and you're trying to get to games of cricket on trams with a big bag... It got to the end, I played some footy with Uni Blues and A Grade Amateurs and then had a bit of sore shoulder so I decided I'd give cricket a bit of a break and have a 'reco' instead. That was the end of the Melbourne cricket chapter.

ST: What was it like spending time around those big names?

AP: I still remember times Warnie turning into Junction Oval and driving on the wrong side of the road for 80 metres, no-one else being allowed in the ground and them opening up the gates for him to drive in. Yes, there was an aura about him but once he got in there, his home club, that was his safe place and those blokes had grown up with him and knew him. There wasn't media in there and he was just a pretty down-to-earth bloke. Blokes like Rob Quiney, as a young kid, Ian Cockbain, Beery and myself stayed on res and went out and toured the night scene. To see them later, after I'd given up cricket and we were playing second grade together and them playing at the top level, it does give you a sense of 'what if?' But it was a great time and a great experience. I had the shoulder reco, had another crack at footy and when I'd had enough of my studies, I decided it was time to come back to Albury. That year, East Albury had a pretty good side so I came back and, as it turned out, we went through undefeated and won both grannies. To give you an idea of the strength of the side, when I came back, I might have taken the spot of Liam Scammell who ended up playing in the twos grand final. To have a bloke like him, who was 18, and I knocked him out and was batting at No.3, it just shows the strength.

ST: What year was that?

AP: 2007/08. Of all the sides I've ever seen in Cricket Albury-Wodonga - and there's been some strong ones - we were strong. Peter Gough, the captain of Jersey, came over as an import and made 700-800 runs. We had Darren Petersen in full flight, Ben Curphey, Ben Doyle bowling pace and he also scored hundreds. It was such a great side. Our twos won it so it was a big year.

ST: That must have been fun?

AP: It was. After that, we had a few people move on to various things and footy, once again, was in the forefront of my mind. I decided to do a big pre-season at the expense of cricket so that was my last game of cricket for about seven years. During the footy pre-season, I had a pretty bad bike accident where I collided with a car and ended up spending about a week in hospital, messed up my top jaw, a couple of skin grafts and fractured one of my vertebrae. That knocked me around a bit but I knuckled down and got back for the first practice match of footy and then the first round.

ST: So that was with North Albury?

AP: Yeah, and the next little while, footy became my thing until about 24 when the body was failing me again and the mines came calling. I spent about three years in Newman, Mt Whaleback in Western Australia, and if I wasn't handed out a redundancy, I might have been there longer. But I came back in 2014 having done some overseas travelling. I was cashed up so I went to some festivals and techno events and I had a lot of good times with some good mates.

ST: So you didn't play any sport during that time?

AP: I did actually. Over in Newman, there was a night T20 comp and I did come out in that. I played it down because I hadn't had a hit for a while at that stage. With our roster, we could only play every third week. In the first game I might have made 50 not out at two runs a ball and got us home in a chase. They said 'you can play a bit' so they opened me the next game and I made about 120. The next game I played was the grand final and I got another 70 so I played three games and won the league batting. I thought 'maybe I still do know how to hit a cricket ball'. I came back from overseas and my cousin, James McNeil, was at East Albury and he floated the idea of coming to have a hit. Round one arrived and we were playing, of all teams, Albury. That was the year Ross Dixon, Tom Marsland and a few of the other boys were across. I went out the first week, hit a 50 and went 'this isn't too hard after a long break.' The top three run-scorers that season were James McNeil, myself and Kade Brown. Kade won the Cricketer of the Year at Albury with a massive season, James and I both made 700-plus runs and went down in a classic grand final to Tallangatta who had a pretty storied season. It would have been great to win but in terms of blokes you don't mind losing to, that Tallangatta side was a good bunch of blokes. They'd been through a bit of adversity and it was a great game. James Weighell, in full flight, was probably the difference in the end.

ST: It sounds like you've had a lot of fun over the years, chasing some great experiences and good times; do you think you've got the most out of your natural sporting talent?

AP: I do wonder what might have happened, playing in Vic sides with Aaron Finch and Brett Deledio. Brett's one of the best cricketers I've ever seen but he chose the footy path. With cricket and footy, you get picked for a side or you don't and it can either make or break you. I never really prioritised sport over a good time and I don't regret that. As great as it would have been to play at a higher level, I've got some great memories, I've got great friends, a great family and great associations with the clubs I've been in - and I don't feel like I've missed out on too much. I've still got to play the games that I love. I probably don't love them as much as some, I can live without them, and that's probably one of the reasons why I'm not manic about playing cricket. I do have my social avenues outside so I feel like having a bit of time to catch up and do a bit more fishing and all that sort of stuff tickles my fancy a bit more at the moment.

ST: Your name will always be up on the honour boards at Albury; how much pride do you take in the role you've played for that club?

AP: I won a club champion at East Albury and I was a talented youngster; I made a hundred at 15 and I never thought I was going to be anywhere else. But then again, I probably thought I was going to play cricket for 25 years straight. They were an established club and very strong in their support, from the Shepherds and the Essexes, they had some mainstays that had been there for a long time. When the Albury decision came, I was at the point where I probably wasn't even going to play cricket. I actually signed for Albury in the front bar of The Astor after not having much sleep the night before. I might have been wearing moccasins and I wasn't looking my best but I sat down with Cam Walker, Jerim Hayes and Kade Brown and they sold me an image of what they were trying to do. I'm not going to lie, there was a financial aspect to it. It wasn't big but I'm great friends with both of them so I thought 'let's give it a shot.' One year in, I was co-coaching with Hazy and I've seen quite a few big things at Albury throughout my time from the whole club progressing to internationals playing for us. The next thing I'd love to see there, apart from some ultimate success, is for the ground to be beautified a little bit and given its justice. It's a centrepiece of Albury, it's such a nice ground but it just seems, at times, like there's money spent elsewhere and we get ignored.

ST: Would that make a big difference in the way you could sell the club to potential recruits?

AP: Of course. You have a look and there are certain grounds that get looked after better than others. Each club's got a selling point on how you get people there; the quality of your facilities, the outfield, the pitch, they all contribute. There seems to be an unevenness on spending on certain facilities and I get that, because some get used for bigger things, but some just seem to get ignored or you get told you're part of a bigger picture. I've nearly been there 10 years and we've been getting told that for nearly 10 years. There's been a few patch-up jobs but we're in central Albury and parts of the perimeter fence are falling apart. Whether you like it or not, we've got the grotty toilets which are probably used more than any others in Albury. Earlier this year, we found syringes there, we've got graffiti - and the skate park doesn't help that. We've got people who walk across the square, dogs are on it, you can ride bikes across it, we're an open ground and other clubs don't have to contend with that. It's also part of our charm, we live that, but the reality is the non-cricketers don't understand the importance of keeping things in nick. For for the charm of the ground, the shade around it, with the trees and the fact anyone can pull up, it's got so much to offer. With some of the rep games they've had there, you can see when it's a big deal and everything's done up nice, there's no better place. There's no safe place to park a car, either! Billson Park is Albury's North Sydney Oval.

ST: If you don't ever walk out to bat again, are you content with what you've done?

AP: Yes. Sport's been a massive part of my life but it's not the driving factor. I love supporting it but if I don't play again, I'll be happy. The only other thing that would drive me is my nephew's nearly 10 and in the coming years, he could be playing a bit of C-grade and that's probably where I could next see myself. As much as I'd love to still be playing A-grade, it's so time-consuming. We play a lot of cricket and, at this point in time, there's a few other things that take priority.

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