One of the most valuable lessons Newcastle’s oldest first-grade cricketer has learnt over the years is that a first-innings disappointment is soon forgotten if you make amends in the second.
Tony Bristow, 59, can speak from experience as a man who has been married three times, twice to the same woman.
By the time he was in his mid-20s, Bristow had won multiple premierships and represented Newcastle and NSW Country.
He was also married to Lyndelle, but the pair separated in the early 1990s when he headed to England to play club cricket as an overseas professional.
“I didn’t want to be the one who stopped him from following his dreams,” Lyndelle said.
“But I had a very young sister, and I didn’t want to leave her here and go over there.
“So that’s pretty much what it came down to in the end.”
Tony made his top grade cricket debut when he was 17 years old. (ABC Newscastle: Keely Johnson)
Tony might have had a broken heart, but he knew how to keep his wicket intact.
He would continue playing and living in the Old Dart for the next three decades – at one stage even representing England against Australia in an over-50s international.
He also met Wilma, a Scottish lass, and they married and had two sons.
But tragedy struck in 2020, when Wilma passed away suddenly.
She had been recovering in hospital after surgery when COVID raced through the wards.
She never came home.
A year later, Tony returned to Australia, while his sons stayed in England to pursue their careers.
Two peas in a pod
Lyndelle, meanwhile, had re-married in Australia and had two daughters.
But as fate would have it, she was at that stage single, after her second marriage ended 10 years previously.
The pair reconnected when Bristow arrived back in Newcastle, then rekindled their relationship and remarried last March.
“People always say we’re meant to be together,” Tony said.
“We’re two peas in a pod.”
Lyndelle says she is Tony’s biggest fan. (ABC Newcastle: Keely Johnson)
Lyndelle reckons Tony hasn’t changed since they first started going out as teenagers.
“Tony and I were together from the time I was 16 until we got married, and then obviously divorced,” Lyndell said.
“He’s still exactly the same person. Same sense of humour. Honestly from the time we met up again, we were exactly like we were back then.
“My best friend says we have the most bizarre relationship, but it just works so well,” she said.
Lyndelle describes herself as “a massive cricket fan”, even though the game cost her a husband 30 years ago.
Not the retiring type
In a city that has produced the likes of Australian representatives Belinda Clark, Gary Gilmour and Bob Holland, the standard of the first-grade cricket competition is consistently high.
Tony might have notched up his half century almost a decade ago, but he is still good enough to captain Belmont’s top team and a prized scalp for opposition teams, according to Newcastle and NSW Country captain Nick Foster.
“I give him a lot of credit,” Foster said.
“Obviously your reflexes, your eyesight, all those things that you rely on to play any sport, those things naturally wane a bit as you get older. Let alone the physical aspect of having to field for a whole day in the heat.
“It’s quite a feat.”
Tony is the oldest player to feature in the Newcastle first-grade competition. (ABC Newcastle: Keely Johnson)
Tony admits he is not the fielder he once was, but he still feels comfortable facing fast bowlers 30 or 40 years younger.
“I just don’t hit the ball as hard as I used to, but I value my wicket just as much,” he said.
“And I think any bowlers in Newcastle will tell you they still struggle to get me out.”
Tony training with the Belmont District Cricket Club’s top grade team. (ABC Newcastle: Keely Johnson)
Having first played men’s cricket at the age of eight, when he made up the numbers in his dad’s fourth-grade team, Tony is in no hurry to declare his career over.
“Let’s just say I retired five times in England, but I kept coming back. I just couldn’t give it away,” he said.
“People often say you’re retired a long time, and that’s a true fact.
“I keep saying this year will probably be my last year, but who knows?”
