Under the Auld Pump: Former Standard writer Nick Ansell joins WDCA as general manager

Nick, it's an interesting sporting highlight that you have mentioned. Were you in the crowd for Jack's debut game?

No, but I watched it on a livestream. His debut game was in September 2021, and we had lots of restrictions on us because of COVID. I ended up catching up with Jack in Hawaii a few months ago. They only have a short season for American football. They usually have between 60,000 to 100,000 fans at each game.

A few months ago, you were appointed the general manager of the Warrnambool District Cricket Association. How is the job going?

It's going very well. Division one was washed out last week after a lot of rain. The grounds were not safe. We're hopeful of playing cricket games in divisions one and two this weekend, depending on the weather. The weather can play havoc in the early games of cricket in this area.

I've followed the cricket in the WDCA very closely over the last few years in my former job at the Warrnambool Standard as a sports journalist. I had built up a close contact list with players and officials from all the clubs. It would have been a conflict of interest for me to stay at The Standard and to hold the job as the general manager of the WDCA.

My full-time job now is with Brophy as its communication and public relations co-ordinator. Brophy is a very big organisation. We have nearly 200 staff and offices in Hamilton and Portland, plus our main office in Warrnambool.

Have you played much cricket?

I played junior cricket with Russells Creek before playing in its division three side. We never made the finals in any of those years, but on a personal note, the highest score I made was 55 not out.

My dad Matt was heavily involved with cricket at Creek after being captain-coach at Purnim for a couple of years. I think he coached the junior side at Creek to five premierships in about seven years.

I just love watching sport and I suppose my love of sport came about from my dad Matt. He grew up in the Riverina area and was heavily involved in footy and cricket there before my parents moved down to Warrnambool.

Nick, how many clubs are in the WDCA?

We've got 18 clubs across the association which comprise 145 teams. The association has really expanded over the last few years and with the introduction of women's cricket. It's a really exciting time for local cricket.

We've got Mortlake making its senior debut in the competition this year, and that's really exciting. Grassmere clubs have merged with a few existing clubs over the last few years, which has helped strengthen the competition.

I would say division one cricket this year will be very strong. Clubs have done a lot of recruiting of players in the off-season which creates a lot of interest in the association. Russells Creek looks like they will be very strong this year again across all grades and Nestles have put in a lot of work in the off-season to improve its ranking. It'll be interesting to see how Nestles perform in division one. They used to be a powerhouse in the association, but for the last few seasons, they have not performed well. I think this year they could be a big improver.

The numbers in our junior grades are really healthy. I'm sure having good numbers coming through the junior ranks will hold the WDCA in a great position for years to come.

The women's cricket teams this year will be seven, an increase of two from last year. I think with a bit of time, the numbers in women's cricket will really expand.

Is the WDCA taking part in the Melbourne Country Week competition this season?

Yes. It's going back to normal in February after being cancelled because of COVID for the last couple of years. Melbourne Country Week is a great advertisement for local cricket, and it's a wonderful way for our cricketers to play against the best country cricketers from other areas of the state on top grounds in Melbourne.

Nick, let's talk about your former job as a sports journalist at The Standard. How many years did you work at the paper?

I worked at the paper for six years which was across two stints. I was fortunate to have worked and met many interesting people involved in sport.

My only regret was not going to an AFL grand final with the paper as its reporter. I missed out because of lockdowns with COVID but in saying that, I'm a one-eyed passionate Kangaroos fan and they haven't made a grand final for years.

I was very lucky to have worked at numerous other great events around the district like the Hampden Football Netball League and Warrnambool District Football Netball League grand finals, plus the best and fairest awards in both competitions.

Another great event to work at was the Warrnambool May Racing Carnival. The carnival creates massive interest not only in Warrnambool but across the state.

I also loved interviewing locals who had performed well in their chosen sports. It was all about getting their story out to the readers but there's one event I will always remember covering for The Standard.

What's that event?

It was covering the Presidents Cup in golf at Royal Melbourne in 2019. The Presidents Cup is comprised of two teams. The first one was called Internationals, and the other United States.

The International team had players including Marc Leishman, Adam Scott and Jason Day, while the United States team included Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas.

It was incredible to be in a press conference with Tiger Woods and then watch him play golf. I'm working for the Warrnambool Standard, sitting next to a journalist working for the New York Times at the conference.

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