Time to liberate our park

Trumper Park is a cricket field. I get it. It has a white picket fence and all. I’ll also concede it is named after Victor Trumper, a legendary local cricketer who starred for Australia as the 19th century turned into the 20th. His deeds for local teams at the ground were famous. He died in 1915 and, posthumously, in 1931, Trumper Park Oval became the official name of what was Hampden Park Oval.

I do laugh that it is called Trumper Park Oval. Apparently the old mates back in the day couldn’t decide if it was a park or an oval.

Well, 100 years later, I say that if it is a park and an oval, it should be used as such. As a park, and an oval. The non-sharing of Trumper on weekends is driving me spare. By which I mean I cannot stand it when they play cricket there all weekend.

Trumper is the most significant piece of open space in crowded Paddington. It’s where kids and their parents, grandparents and friends can kick footies, play cricket, soccer, run around, roll in the grass — whatever.

But all weekend, from October to March, it is blocked from 9am until after 5pm on Saturday and Sunday for 22 people to play cricket on that vast space which could probably accomodate 30,000 for a concert if you put a stage at one end.

Don’t get me wrong, I love cricket and players have to play somewhere, like I did when I was young. That being the case, why can’t they play at Centennial Park? It’s huge. Plenty of fields and open space. And if they are playing cricket on one field, there’s plenty of room for kids to run around in the other open spaces.

At Trumper, there is no other space. Officious officials won’t even let kids muck around in the nets when a match is on. “You’re not allowed in there,” someone abruptly yells. “Get a life,” I feel like yelling back.

The council has done an appalling job with the tiny piece of open air on the Glenmore Rd side — the part where there’s the random long jump pit and one lonely netball hoop. It’s so poorly kept it’s embarrassing.

Trumper is where I want to take the kids on Saturday and Sunday afternoons for a kick-around. A run-around. Some open air. To burn some energy. Meet friends and play. Yes, we could go up to Centennial, but it’s nowhere near as central for local Paddo kids as Trumper.

Rushcutters Bay is the same. Just that little too far to walk to — and if kids are venturing out alone, Trumper means there is no crossing busy Oxford St or crazy New South Head Rd. Speaking of Rushcutters, it’s overrun by dogs anyway.

There’s plenty of AFL played at Trumper in the winter. But between matches, there’s time for other kids, and it finishes earlier. Cricket. Goes. All. Day.

There needs to be a compromise. Half-day matches, for instance. What’s wrong with 20/20 matches being played there, and longer matches in Centennial? When I was a kid, we played 32 overs a side and it was over in half a day.

And while we’re at it, can someone fix the scoreboard? If there is a match on, at least we can know what’s going on so we can live in hope the game will end early enough to set us free from the long jump pit.