When Ian Stenhouse met Ian Stenhouse

By Warren Nunn

First published Friday, 24 January 1986, in the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin

Ian Stenhouse met Ian Stenhouse for the first time this week and it was a meeting of contrasting interests and size.

Ian Stenhouse, 18, is a cricketer on the rise who leaves next week for Canberra to take his place in the Australian under-19 team,

Ian Stenhouse, 34, is a jockey, four-time winner of the Western Queensland premiership, who is back in Rockhampton after 13 years in Barcaldine.

Are the two related? They seem to think so – but not directly.

Both were born and raised in Rockhampton – Ian, the jockey, attending Berserker State School and Ian, the cricketer, St Mary’s – one street away.

Ian, the jockey, all 51 kg of him, has just been transferred to Rockhampton in his job with the Capricornia Electricity Board.

But Ian, the cricketer, at 90kg, leaves for Brisbane in a few weeks to further his career, his eyes firmly set on representing his State and country.

Both left-handed

Could it be a family tie-up or just co-incidence that both use a cricket back left-handed?

Perhaps, but Ian, the jockey, does most things left-handed, such as writing, while Ian, the cricketer, bats left-handed, plays golf left-handed but does everything else right-handed.

Confused? Good!

“I can’t ride a horse,” said Ian, the cricketer. “And I can’t play cricket,” said Ian, the jockey as he struggled to strap on a set of pads for the photographer.

How long, then, had the pair known of each other’s existence?

Ian, the jockey, first read about the promising cricketer three years in The Morning Bulletin.

“I’ve been away 13 years, but I always read the Bully every day,” Ian, the jockey, said.

For Ian, the cricketer, his first knowledge of his namesake came about the same time while reading a Brisbane newspaper which mentioned “champion Western Queensland jockey Ian Stenhouse”.

“I cut it out and put it in my scrapbook,” said Ian, the cricketer. “It seemed funny at the time that there was a champion bush jockey called Ian Stenhouse.”

Ian, the jockey, played cricket at primary school and still maintains an interest in the game. His sons Robert, 11, and Andrew, 9, are keen on the game and play at school.

Could they follow in the footsteps of the man with the same name as their father?

“They are both average and, like kids, just love playing the game,” said Ian.

Back in the city a few weeks, Ian is a regular track-work rider already and has picked up a handful of rides so far, but without success.

While Ian, the jockey, is settling back into city life again, Ian, the cricketer is off to Brisbane to further his career.

High hopes

After fulfilling his commitments with the Australian team, Ian takes up a position with Queensland Railways in Brisbane.

He is to play with Norths club and joins fellow country cricketers Jeff Jacobsen, Brad Inwood, Ian Healy and Peter Charles. The club’s captain coach is Robbie Kerr.

Ian doubts whether he will get an A-grade game this season, but is looking forward to 1986-87.

“I plan to work fairly hard in the off-season, running, playing squash, just doing something different from cricket,” he said.

Ian’s initial aim is to make the Sheffield Shield squad and he also planning to gain experience in England.

“I’m looking to go to England the season after next, but at this stage it is a bit hard to plan. But I feel I do need experience in those conditions.”