This weekend Matthew Wright walks out for his 250th game for Gordon District Cricket Club, counting Grade, T20 Cup, Green Shield, Poidevin-Gray and Colts games. It is a milestone few players reach. For Matt it caps a decade of steady progress up the grades, and an exceptional record of service to the Stags off the field.

PlayCricket records show that 126 of Matt’s 249 games so far have been at the top level: 78 in First Grade and 48 in the T20 Cup. He has also played 39 games in Second Grade, 13 in Third Grade, 12 in Fourth Grade and 5 in Fifth Grade, along with 38 Poidevin-Gray Shield games, 13 Green Shield games and 3 Colts games in the Metropolitan Cup.

From Green Shield to grade cricket

Matt’s Gordon story began in the A.W. Green Shield side, where he played 13 games across the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, captaining the side in his second season. After three Colts games in the Metropolitan Cup, he moved into grade cricket in 2016-17. He played 20 games that season, and it showed straight away what kind of cricketer he would become.

He started in Fifth Grade and in five matches he scored 160 runs at 40.00, and he took 9 wickets at just 12.11, including 5 for 37 against St George. The Fifth Grade report noted that his game-changing turners earned him a promotion.

Matt made an immediate impression in Fourth Grade, where he played 12 games. He made 291 runs at 32.33, including 78 against North Sydney, 66 against Hawkesbury and 54 against Western Suburbs. His most memorable innings of the season was one of his slowest. In a semi-final against Northern Districts, on a tacky wicket, the young Wright batted four hours for 13 runs, grinding the game out of the opposition’s reach. His captain wrote that he showed “maturity and responsibility far beyond his years.” In the Grand Final against Sydney at Drummoyne he took 4 for 87. At season’s end he received the W.A. “Bert” Oldfield Award for Fourth Grade Performances. He also made his Third Grade debut that year.

Climbing the ladder

In 2017-18 Matt played 27 games and became a fixture in Third Grade. He scored 221 runs at 27.63 and took 19 wickets at 20.42, with best figures of 4 for 19 against Randwick Petersham. He shared Third Grade Player of the Year honours with Charlie Booth. The team’s report praised his value as a run-saving bowler who could be thrown the ball at any time. It also described one of the best catches the writer had seen: a full-length dive at cover. That season Matt also made his Second Grade debut and played 12 Poidevin-Gray games, where he and Ryan Meppem formed a formidable pair of spinners.

He established himself in Second Grade in 2018-19, playing 15 games. He scored 206 runs at 29.43 and took 17 wickets. His captain wrote that Matt was often asked to bat and bowl at difficult times and never complained or made excuses when things didn’t go his way. He added that Matt’s mindset and attitude were beyond his years for one of the side’s youngest players and predicted “exciting things to come from this young all-rounder.”

That season, Matt was even more dangerous in the Poidevin-Gray Shield. He took 16 wickets at 11.13, including 4 for 9 against Western Suburbs and 3 for 33 in a last-ball win over Manly, helping the team reach the finals. The PG report praised his skill and consistency in the shorter formats as “a testament to his work ethic.”

His 29 games in 2019-20 made it his busiest season, and it was a breakthrough with the ball. In Second Grade he took 26 wickets at 18.96, including 5 for 44 against Campbelltown-Camden and a hat-trick against Hawkesbury. That same season he earned his First Grade cap, playing two First Grade games and five T20 Cup games.

A First Grade regular

Matt has been a mainstay of the First Grade side since 2020-21, when he played six First Grade games and eight T20 Cup games as the Stags reached the Sixers Conference Final. That summer he was also vice-captain of the Poidevin-Gray team, averaging 71.50 with the bat, including 75* against UNSW and 51* against Sydney, and taking 9 wickets as the side shared the premiership.

 

Over the next four seasons he played 86 games in First Grade and the T20 Cup. He took 16 wickets in 2021-22 and 21 in 2022-23, when the side topped the T20 Sixers Conference. His best season came in 2023-24, when he took 39 wickets at 23.54, with best figures of 4 for 33, and helped the Stags reach the T20 final against Randwick-Petersham. The captain’s report singled out his accurate left-arm spin, noting that he “rarely delivered wide of the stumps.”

In a tough 2025-26 season for the team, Matt was one of only three First Grade bowlers to take more than 20 wickets, finishing with 22 at 27.27. He also played a key role with the bat. Chasing 227 at 9 for 162, he and Callum Bladen put on a nerveless last-wicket partnership to win the game, a stand the captain rated one of the best he had witnessed.

At the end of last season, Matt had 1,126 runs and 121 wickets in First Grade, a genuine all-rounder’s double. Across all grades he has scored 2,384 runs and taken 216 wickets. Four T20 Cup games so far this season have brought him to 249 and a total of 2,387 runs and 223 wickets.

A true clubman

Matt’s contribution has never been limited to the field, and few players of his generation have done more for the club.

In July 2020, when the club was struggling to fill key roles for the season ahead, Matt and Ryan Tullia approached the President and offered to serve as joint Club Captains. The President’s report described them as two high-quality individuals who did an amazing job bringing the playing group together and improving the playing spirit. Another report that season went further: “I cannot recall a season where the club was so united and the spirit amongst the players so strong.” The pair were named joint Young Clubmen of the Year.

Matt and Ryan served as Club Captains for three seasons, through to 2022-23, representing the players at Club Committee meetings and working alongside the Players Committee. When their term ended, the President said they had “set a great example of the type of culture we aspire to have at Gordon.”

Matt has also taken on much of the club’s behind-the-scenes work. As early as 2018-19 he was designing the club’s new playing kit, and from 2020-21 he took responsibility for the design, purchasing and distribution of the club’s gear and clothing, a job he was still doing years later. He has helped with the club’s social media, and when COVID forced the 2019-20 awards night online, his graphics of player performances and award lists “really lifted the event.” More recently he put together the farewell video for Tym Crawford.

Just as important has been his work with the next generation. From 2020-21 Matt coached the Green Shield side alongside Nick Miller, taking the team to the finals in their first season together. The team report praised the pair as “committed, calm and passionate” coaches who gave up huge amounts of their own time for the players. Matt has also helped run the Junior Academy, guiding a group of juniors through to grade cricket. One of those players later wrote in the club report that the coaches’ support, wisdom and belief had shaped their entire journey.

That commitment was recognised again in 2024-25, when Matt received the Michael Falk Award as Young Clubman of the Year, his second time winning the honour. The President summed him up simply: “a passionate Gordon man who contributes a lot to our club.”

Congratulations, Wrighty

From a teenager batting four hours for 13 in a Fourth Grade semi-final to joint Club Captain and a senior First Grade spinner, Matt Wright has given Gordon everything. On behalf of the whole club, congratulations on 250 games, and thank you. Here’s to many more.

Paul Stephenson