CUTHBERT Berenger might be the other side of 70, but that doesn't mean he enjoys his cricket any less.
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The Port Jackson Red skipper led his side to victory over Tamworth to claim the second annual over-70 state championship title at Wayne Richards Park on Wednesday.
His 28 not out with the bat and 1-10 with the ball helped the Sydneysiders win by 21 runs on a pitch they described as the best they had played on all week.
Growing up in Sri Lanka, Berenger first played cricket in the under-12s and he hasn't looked back.
"Cricket is the top sport in the schools over there," he said.
"I went to St Joseph's College in Colombo and if you play first grade for your school there are about four jobs waiting for you because cricket is that big."
He just loves cricket.
Along the way he became a life member of Gordon Cricket Club in Sydney after a grade career that spanned a quarter of a century.
When he stopped playing grade in the harbour city, he progressed to representing the Sri Lankan Lions (over-50) team.
Berenger has also been a regular at state level in Australia, having been selected for New South Wales in the over-60 and over-70 sides.
But he doesn't plan on hanging the pads up just yet.
"I haven't decided I've had enough yet because I can still run, I can still bowl and I can still bat," he said.
"I've just got to manage the injuries because the older you get the more you have to manage your injury."
Management requires regularly attending the gym so he "doesn't pull a hamstring or a calf or a groin muscle".
"Sometimes we think we shouldn't still be playing; that's when the injuries come in," he said.
"But we love the game, we've got a passion for it and we meet some terrific people at regional games like this."
While age is just a number to many, he said an older Australian population was the reason why veterans cricket continued to grow.
"People are getting older in this country," he said.
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