Smith and Warner wandered through the cricket equivalent of Disneyland - owned by Harry Solomons and known as the cricketing castle located in the south of Sydney - as kids.

Solomons will put on the pads for Port Jackson Red over the next three days, starting on Monday when the second annual over-70s state championships take to the pitch around the Hastings.

He is well-known around cricket circles, having rubbed shoulders, phoned or sent text messages to names such as Mark Taylor, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh and Michael Clarke.

"Both Steve Smith and David Warner shopped as kids at our place, but my relationship now is more with Steve Smith than Warner himself," Solomons said.

"I also played cricket in the same club as Steve Smith's father."

As recently as last week, Solomons received a text message from Smith.

"We keep in touch by message or by phone and if he needs a bit of advice he'll ring me," Solomons said.

"I also keep in touch with his sponsor because we buy a major part of his sponsor's product."

On the field, veterans cricket is becoming an increasingly popular part of the sport.

It has extended its reach into countries such as England, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand along with Australia.

"On a pro-rata basis, veterans cricket is the fastest growing sector of cricket in Australia," Solomons said.

"It's nothing new that at the over-70 national titles there could be up to 400 over-70s playing."

The left-hander conceded his Sydney team would be understrength, but would still make a good account of themselves and pointed to Newcastle, Central Coast or the Mid North Coast as the teams to watch.

"I would have liked to have brought a better team up; there were quite a lot of players from Sydney who are unavailable to play, but I think we will hold our own," he said.

"Newcastle might be a bit of a threat, generally speaking the Central Coast has a good team and nowadays don't be surprised at all if regions like the Mid North Coast surprise us."

Solomons was looking forward to another trip to Port Macquarie.

"I love the place and have been there many times before so I'm looking forward to meeting old friends," he said.

"(Veterans cricket) is all about friendships, fraternity and camaraderie and meeting cricketers you have played against quite a lot in your life."

The first ball will be bowled at 10.30am on Monday with fixtures scheduled for Wayne Richards Park, Laurieton Oval, Andrews Park and Oxley Oval.

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