Clare Cannon

Founder & Chair

Clare Cannon is the founding Chair of Cricket Without Borders. She has worked extensively in the community sector sitting on the boards of Earthwatch Australia, the Melbourne Community Foundation, the Alumni Council of the Faculty of Business and Economics the University of Melbourne, and St Catherine’s School. A former Chair of the Women of the MCC, Clare was also a Committee Member of the Melbourne Cricket Club.

Clare is also Patron of the Geelong Lords Taverners branch.

Clare is passionate about cricket and all the opportunities it provides to work professionally in the sport but also the opportunity it provides to develop life skills.

In her other life, Clare is a farmer in the Riverina and is an avid reader.

Ken Jacobs

Director

From 1980-2007 Ken was CEO of Cricket Victoria, in Melbourne Australia. Cricket Victoria is the largest participant State in Australian cricket with more clubs and, more people playing the game than in any other State. As CEO, Ken oversaw a period of sustained growth in the sport including the iconic Boxing Day Test and its branding. Ken, who has also worked for the International Cricket Council ,is a qualified accountant, holds a Masters in Sports Business & Integrity , was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000 and the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2009 by the Federal Government for his services to cricket and the community.

Ken is also Chair of Crusaders Cricket Australia.

Melanie Jones

Melanie is a former Victorian and Australian player who was instrumental in assisting Clare Cannon to establish Cricket Without Borders in late 2010 and then planning our ground breaking tour on England and Singapore in 2011 when she was Tour Manager.

Melanie has played cricket all over the world and for Australia played five Test matches and sixty-one ODI’s in an illustrious career which also included three stints playing in South Africa, a further three playing and working for Surrey County Cricket Club and of course also enjoyed a wonderful career with her beloved Essendon Maribyrnong Park CC.

Now enjoying a career as a well-known and respected cricket commentator Melanie is also a Director of Cricket Australia and included in her busy schedule she is also a Change Our Game Ambassador for the Victorian Government in a campaign to help more women and girls earn sport leadership roles , a role she has held since 2016.

Melanie holds a Bachelor of Applied Science and a Graduate Diploma in Secondary teaching and remains vitally interested in the activities of Cricket Without Borders and her advice and wisdom is always highly respected.   

Stephen Field

Coach & “Spiritual Leader”

Stephen was our inaugural coach in 2011 on our barnstorming tour of England and Singapore and was also our coach on our return trip to Singapore in 2012.

He will always be known as CWOB’s “spiritual leader“ and was responsible for the development of “The Way We Play” which forever enshrines our values of “friendship, enjoyment, respect and teamwork.”

Stephen has been involved in cricket for over 45 years as a player, coach, administrator, volunteer and administrator starting as a player at 9 years of age at the Dunkeld Cricket Club.

His journey in cricket has included a twenty-five stint at Cricket Victoria firstly as a regional development manager then coach and talent specialist and has also included a period as coach of the Japanese National team into two World Cup Qualifiers.

A fine player in his own right, Stephen was also a regular captain of association country week and regional teams and won two Christie Medals as the best player in the Hamilton & District Cricket Association.

Currently Director of Coaching at the Geelong Cricket Club , Stephen has always had a strong drive to develop women’s cricket not just for players but also aspiring coaches .

In his “spare” time Stephen is also the owner of Northfield Soil that provides quality black soil for clubs across the state and is also now being used at the MCG.

Sarah Elliot

2012 - 2015 Tour Manager

Sarah played a key role with Cricket Without Borders from 2012-2015 as our Tour Manager and was of course instrumental in the arrangements for our Tour to Darwin in 2013 when she was living there with husband Rob.

A paediatric physiotherapist by profession Sarah was of course a very accomplished cricketer playing for the Australian Southern Stars, Victoria, the Adelaide Strikers and was the inaugural captain of the WBBL Melbourne Renegades team and was captain of Victoria from 2005-2009.

Sarah has been a female cricket Ambassador for Cricket Victoria and Cricket Australia and played a key role in the implementation of Cricket Australia’s first “Females in Cricket Strategy“ in 2007/08.

Sarah was the key factor in the development of Cricket Australia’s parental leave policy following her century at Lord’s in 2013 during an Ashes Series when she became the first mother to tour as a members of the Australian women’s cricket team and breastfed her son Sam between lunch and tea.

Sarah remains a wonderful supporter of Cricket Without Borders and has been an inspiration to all of our players and continues her busy life with three young children, her physiotherapy work as well as being the Girl’s Cricket Coordinator at Caulfield Grammar School and a cricket commentator for ABC Radio!.

Bryce McGain

Coach

Cricket Without Borders has indeed been fortunate to have had some wonderful coaches who provided invaluable assistance in the development of our players and Bryce made an outstanding contribution as our Head Coach from 2014-2016 inclusive on our tours to Japan, Fiji and Samoa. 

A wonderful playing career for Victoria, Essex, Adelaide Strikers and Australia and a magnificent career in Premier Cricket (533 wickets) firstly with the Frankston Peninsula CC and then his beloved Prahran CC ensured that Bryce brought years of experience, knowledge, respect and skill – all great attributes that he demonstrated in his period as our Coach. 

Currently still involved at Prahran CC as Cricket Operations Manager, Bryce has also carved out a wonderful career as a coach and mentor to young players with his own business and is also a respected cricket commentator.      

Jeff Rosolin

Coach

Jeff was appointed coach for our tour to Vanuatu in 2019 and would also have fulfilled the role in 2020 and 2021 but for the devastating impact of Covid which prevented us from undertaking tours. 

An extremely capable player with extensive experience in southwestern Victoria Jeff was a five times Melbourne Country Week representative, captain of the South West Cricket Association team of the year in 2016/17 and played in a number of premiership teams in the competition. 

Jeff has also had extensive coaching experience with the Western Waves under 18 boys team, the Heytesbury Rebels CC and in 2018/19 he was appointed as Assistant Coach of the Victorian Vikings Intellectually Disabled men’s team. 

Jeff did an outstanding job with our team in Vanuatu and we hope will be able to join us on future tours. 

Natalie Schilov

Team Manager

Natalie has had a long association with Cricket Without Borders going back to our first tour in 2011 when she was appointed as Assistant Team Manager a role that she also filled on our tour to Singapore in 2012. 

Natalie has had a decorated playing career with her beloved Essendon Maribyrnong Park Cricket Club where she has played since 2004 and has been selected in the Victorian Women’s Premier Team of the Year on multiple occasions and has also represented in Victorian teams from Under 13’s through to Under 19’s and for several years in the State second eleven. 

However, it is not only as a player that Natalie has demonstrated her skill in the sport but also in coaching where she has acted as Assistant Coach of the Victorian Under 15 girls’ team, Head Coach of the Victorian Women’s Country team and also as Coach of the Japan Women’s team in 2017. 

Following this well-established career we were delighted that Natalie accepted our offer to be Coach of the Cricket Without Borders team on our tour to Hong Kong in 2018 where she did a superb job. 

Natalie believes strongly in the CWOB values and delights in helping young people get the most out of themselves as cricketers and in their personal pursuits in life. 

In between her busy life as a player and coach Natalie is a teacher by profession.  

Marcella Torre

Team Manager

Marcella is our very popular Team Manager and brings a wealth of experience to the role both as a manager and as a former player. 

Marcella played cricket for the Melbourne Tooronga Cricket Club and represented Victoria from 1995-1997 and also represented Victoria in a match against a touring Pakistan women’s team. 

Her managerial experience is extensive highlighted by the period from 2006 to 2011 when Marcella managed the Victorian Spirit team and during this period she was also appointed as Cricket Liaison Officer for the touring England women’s team in 2008. 

Since 2012 Marcella has very efficiently managed the MCC Female Cricket program including their successful introduction into Premier Cricket . 

Marcella was our Team Manager for our very successful tour to Vanuatu in 2019 and is looking forward to future tours where she is very keen to ensure that the players involved enjoy a positive experience which they cherish forever and make some lifelong friends.  

Virginia Dahlenburg

Affectionately known as our “Cultural Attaché”, Virginia is one of our most committed and passionate supporters and has be involved on all of our international tours.

Virginia is dedicated to the cause of empowering young women through a combination of cricket, cultural experience and sports diplomacy.

Encouraged by her great friend and CWOB Founder, Clare Cannon, Virginia has been on all of our tours bar one and has been a wonderful contributor as part of our touring “Support Crew” and an excellent sounding board for all players on tour.

Virginia’s love of the arts and cultural experiences has been evident throughout her professional life as a Foundation Member of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), eighteen years as Senior Paintings Conservator at the State Library of Victoria, her private business in art conservation and as a member of the Executive of NGVWA (National Gallery of Victoria Women’s Association).

Virginia holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a double major in Fine Arts and Islamic Studies and a Post Graduate Degree in Fine Art Conservation.

Elizabeth Style

Eliabeth is a hard working member of our Cricket Without Borders ‘Crew’ who does an enormous amount of work behind the scenes for all of our tours to ensure all goes according to plan for our players both while on and in the preparation for all of our activities.

Elizabeth holds a Bachelor and Masters of Education from Melbourne University and has taught locally in private schools in both Melbourne and Geelong for over twenty five years as well as teaching in London.

She is a passionate member of the North Melbourne Kangaroos and is a also a keen follower of tennis having attended Wimbledon on many occasions as well as being a regular at the Australian Open. In her ‘spare’ time Elizabeth also plays competition tennis weekly, enjoys social golf and is a regular gym participant.!

Elizabeth is passionate about the development of young people and has been actively involved with CWOB since 2012. She supports the values of CWOB because they provide our young players the opportunity to develop their cricket skills while having fun and making new friends.

Outside of her professional career Elizabeth enjoys travelling overseas, great food and wine, the theatre and movies and the networking and new friendships formed through CWOB.