Modest Quirk makes it work

By Paul Pickering
SEVEN straight club best-and-fairest awards will attest that Dylan Quirk is a handy footballer, but he certainly won’t.
That’s why it’s hard to believe that the gifted young sportsman should be “surprised” that he was named in the Victorian 15-and-under cricket team last month.
The modest Narre Warren South teenager will represent Victoria for the first time at the School Sport Australia national championships in Cobram-Barooga next month, and you’d have to think it won’t be his last appearance in state colours.
The 15-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman was a standout for the Southern Rangers in January’s under-16 state championships.
He top-scored with 60 in Southern’s last preliminary match and even threw the gloves away to snare two wickets in the semi-final loss to Gippsland.
Quirk played his junior cricket at Narre Warren and Springvale South, before making his Premier Cricket debut with Dandenong’s thirds last month.
But his achievements have come as no surprise to those who know the Quirk name.
Dylan’s dad, Jason, is a former Victorian under-21 representative.
Now 37, Jason is still a more than useful middle-order batsman with Springvale South in the Dandenong District Cricket Association’s Turf One competition.
He was averaging 45 with the bat this summer before being sidelined by a groin injury.
The Quirk boys even got the chance to play in the same team last year, when Jason made a cameo appearance for the Bloods’ Turf Four side.
Jason said it was always a dream of his to play alongside his son, but he refuses to take any credit for Dylan’s talent.
“I try not to teach him to play like me,” Quirk senior joked this week.
Perhaps modesty runs in the family, because Dylan needs some serious prodding to admit that he’s “not bad” at football.
The reality is that he’s equally adept with an oval ball as he is with a bat in his hands.
His astonishing record with Narre Warren Junior Football Club caught the eye of Dandenong Stingrays recruiters, who had no hesitation in rushing him into their under-16 development squad.
Quirk is dreading the day that he will have to choose between the two sports.
“I’m going to have to choose one soon,” he said.
“I don’t really have a preference, so it’ll probably depend on how tall I get.”
At 165cm, the young on-baller admits that he’ll need to grow if he is to cut it as an elite footballer.
For now though, Quirk’s attention will turn to his summer passion.
His ambitions for the national championships – beginning on 28 February – are typically understated.
“Hopefully I can get a few runs and maybe have a crack at the Australian team, but that’s a long way away,” he said.