Doug Crowell and Trevor Zipf have a combined age of 158, and have been playing cricket for more than a century between them. Crowell is 84 and Zipf is 74.

The pair was in action in Port Macquarie this week for the over-70s State of Origin Series. Crowell was a batsman for NSW, while Zipf was sending them down, and having a hit, for Queensland.

And they both did well, too, with plenty of wickets and runs, while Crowell also took a one-handed catch at gully. That was his highlight for the tournament.

Zipf felt more than a bit sore when he spoke to the Port News on Wednesday, but he said he expected it.

“When you’re 74 or something and running around like silly beggars,” he said.

Recovering from a strained calf muscle suffered in November didn’t help.

Zipf played school cricket, but “the best years of his life”, in his 20s and 30s, he said was cricket free. He was “quite a good school cricketer”, a more than handy leg-spin bowler.

Crowell has been playing the entire time though. He’s a patron and life member of the Bective East Cricket Club in Tamworth.

He said he still loved the game, but only played when teams were short. He also umpires.

Crowell played in the first over-70s match against England, in Sunbury, Victoria. 

Australia beat England in the first match, before the tourists took their revenge in the second. “But I didn’t play in that one,” Crowell said.

However, his best cricket memory comes from a much lower level, playing with his son, Chris, and grandson Nathan.

“How many people have that opportunity?” he said.

He also played with another grandson, Abel Carney, when he took six wickets in his first grade game. On another ocassion, Crowell took nine catches off the same bowler, over two innings.

And just for the record, NSW won the two-match series, 2-0.