IT’S been 20 years since Bunbury man and former international cricketer Murray Goodwin has experienced a winter.
Playing a summer sport, it was an easy choice to follow the seasonal game around the world, playing with some of the biggest names in Australian and international cricket like Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist.
But Goodwin has pulled up stumps and is calling Bunbury home as his kids enter high school and he settles into life as a real estate agent and hockey player with Town South’s Hockey Club.
Born in Zimbabwe, Goodwin moved to Australia as a child.
“I went to the Aus cricket academy and was chosen to play for WA soon after that and then I was going six months playing league cricket in the UK and also over here,” he said.
“When I was with WA I wanted to obviously play for Australia but I was only batting number six.
“It was such an awesome line up because we had Justin Langer, Damien Martin, Tom Moody, myself and Adam Gilchrist so I thought to myself ‘there is no chance me getting up the order,’ so I had a choice of moving states or going back to Zimbabwe.
“Going back meant I was able to travel the world playing a sport which I loved and doing it with my best mates.”
Goodwin played for Zimbabwe from 1998 to 2000 before retiring from international cricket and alternating for many years between Sussex in England and the Western Warriors.
“As a batsman, you can extend your career a little longer than a fast bowler,” he said.
Moving back to Australia permanently last year, Goodwin said it had been nice to settle as his children start high school.
“We were basically moving every six months and it’s all my kids have known,” he said.
“I knew I was very lucky to be able to do that but it was difficult to lock everything up and take the whole family over.
Now, Goodwin is involved with Colt’s Cricket Club and is working hard to get junior cricket and his sons are showing promising cricketing abilities.
“I just knew that Bunbury was the place to be for us after 15 years of travelling,” he said.
“I see it as really important that I put back into the community as a coach and as a player.
“I love it when the kids come up and ask for tips because I feel like they want to learn and they are only benefiting themselves.”
