Name: Pete Lorenzini
Nickname: Dulux
Current or past player: Current – and Covid has made me realise retirement is not pending.
What sparked your interest in cricket: Born into it.
Do you prefer the T20, 50-over, county or Test format of the game: Test
Cricketing hero: Wasim Akram, use to get the Met to OT to watch him when I was a kid, unreal player.
Favourite current (professional) player:
Stokes; he’s not the best bat in the world, nor the best bowler but when he’s on fire there’s nobody better to watch and from what his teammates say it seems nobody better to play with either. Wasn’t picked for the 2015 World Cup though, a classic example of young players being presumed not good enough until proven otherwise, a mentality I have never understood.
Most admired/best player you have played with:
Played with loads of top 2X1 players which is why we’ve won so much stuff over the last 20 years, but one player was ‘on loan’ from another level and it’s no surprise we won back to back doubles the 2 years Bradders was in our side in ’07 and ’08. At junior level I played with loads of top players which, again, is why we won so much stuff. However, from ’94 to ’99 Carl Hey was not only the best junior bat at our club but also in the LCL. It’s no surprise to me he went on to break the Liverpool Comp record for runs in a single season.
Most formidable opponent:
Denton 2X1 2013, my 1st year as captain. I only made 14 not out off 115 balls against them and got told Wisden cricket is porn to me and that we’ll never win anything ever again! Classic.
Favourite away ground: Denton West, always felt like a big game.
Favourite/most memorable match you’ve played in: Two spring to mind:
Duki ’99; Wilkie 89 not out, AP and Gray O’Connor doing the Hartson, Ste’s victims, Ernie (captain for the day) giving me the match ball after taking 5 and many beers after with Jonny Walts etc.
Millers away 2018; Adam leaving the hospital to battle relegation, Jarvo putting Murph out in the warm up, Jarvo and Doyle’s partnership sending their lad to Spar for a special brew, Scotty dumbfounded at the standard of their opening batsman, joke cricket, Kanye sub fielding and taking a skier to the delight of his entourage, Lewis’ catch, stumpedgate, Fin Wood’s catch, winning, chants and many beers.
Personal highlight/champagne moment:
Champagne moments were winning back to back to back to back Hulme Trophies under our leader Pete Hey from 02 to 05. Highlight was last season, winning GMCL 2X1 Prem Cup for the 2nd time but in the same season also getting promoted to Div 1 from a league with nine 1st teams in it, we had no right to do that as a 2nd team.
Funniest moment/s in cricket:
Duki ’97, Haggis being carried in by Wardie and locking up the opposition, OB’s team talk, bread, Embers studs in McManus’ brew. Also 2015; Kava to TK, one to the keeper; Kava to Mo Ali, onto the bowling green = scenes.
Best way to relax after the game: On the gas.
Do/did you have any cricketing superstitions: Used to wear the same t-shirts under my whites, wore the Pepsi and France 98 ones until 2015.
What will you miss most in cricket during this enforced break:
From arriving at 11am to find my first victim for tea money, to staggering home at midnight, nothing beats those 13 hours every Sat in the Summer! Love and miss all of it.
Is there anything you’d change about the game:
Various stuff I’ve seen in GMCL Div 2 but don’t want to get into it. The Hundred, 10 balls from the same bowler from one end?! The last year proves cricket doesn’t need gimmicks, revamp Blast and do a draft for that instead.
If you could invite 3 cricketing celebrities (players, presenters, commentators) round for dinner, who would they be and why:
Not interested in celebs or fine dining. Adam Taylor for 20 min debrief on the way back from an away. Haris to order the pizzas mid session. Wharmby for a Baileys’ night cap later on.
