Bridgetown Cricket Club stalwart Matt Tassos set to play 300th game for the club

For more than 20 years, Matt Tassos has been a constant in the Bridgetown Cricket Club XI.

A reliable batter, underrated bowler and selfless teammate both on and off the field.

On Saturday, the club stalwart and co-captain will play his 300th game against Manjimup, an achievement not lost on those who know him best.

“He’s just a good reliable cricketer,” former captain Shane Glancy said, before joking his only fault was at times was giving the gully fielder a little too much catching practice.

Since debuting as a teenager in 2001, Tassos, now 38, has batted up and down the order.

He has amassed more than 4500 runs with two centuries and 17 half-centuries, many knocks coming in partnerships with older brother Darren, who also played for Bridgetown for more than 20 years before retiring last year.

“We are a bit like (Australian Test cricketers) Steve and Mark Waugh in that we are brothers, but we didn’t used to talk that much out in the middle,” Darren Tassos joked, reflecting on the day he threw his bat on the pavilion roof after he was run out in a mix-up at Capel.

“We’ve played a lot of those 300 matches together and it’s nice to have had team success and won premierships along the way.”

Early in his career, Matt Tassos also opened the bowling before finding his much slower but more accurate medium pace was a better weapon at first or second change. His 127 wickets have come at an average on 16.5 with best match figures of 5-12 and a hat-trick, although he hasn’t bowled much in recent seasons.

Tassos has twice been Bridgetown club cricketer of the year in 2004-05 and 2006-07 when he took out both the batting and bowling aggregate. The latter of those seasons, he was also the Donnybrook-Capel Cricket Association cricketer of the year, claiming 32 wickets to go with a solid run of performances with the bat.

Bridgetown has since returned to the Warren-Blackwood Cricket Association.

“It’s been really interesting to watch him over the years,” club legend and later a mentor to many Bridgetown cricketers Steve Bullied said.

“He started playing seniors as a kid and 300 games is a big achievement. He has always been very dependable with the bat and was the sort of guy who would grit his teeth and not throw it away.

“He has also been a very underrated bowler and just a good contributor to the club, not just on the field but behind the scenes as well.

“The Tassos and Glancy families have really been the stalwarts of the club and have been keeping it going all these years.”

Another teammate, Simon Duncan, who along with the Tassos brothers, Glancy, Mitch Clothier and Kim Gardiner played in five premierships for Bridgetown, described Matt Tassos as the “ultimate clubman”.

“Whatever he does is for the good of the team,” Duncan, also the club statistician, said.

“It’s never been about personal glory, and he has always wanted the club to prosper and the team to win above all else.

“Even as captain now he’s not afraid to bat down the order and give the younger guys a go.”

Bridgetown (42 points) head into their top of the table clash with Manjimup (44 points) coming off just their second loss of the season, the week before the country week byes, but could jump to top spot with a win on Saturday.

The club will also hold a past players day at Bridgetown Oval on Sunday, with all former members and families invited.