Sports Hall of Fame Inductee
Category: Sports Honour Roll
Sport: Cricket
Aiden is the first cricketer from Shepparton to play International cricket at a high level. He came to notice as a top prospect when he played for Shepparton Youth Club in local cricket.
He was a star as a junior player, he won the junior cricketer of the year award and was selected in the GV Schoolboys team. He represented Shepparton in both Bendigo and Melbourne Country week carnivals and then progressed into the Dowling shield competition.
He was also a talented footballer who played in the GV Schoolboys team which won him selection in the Victorian Schoolboys team and the Australian schoolboy’s team.
However he always wanted to be a professional cricketer and was lured to join the Richmond Cricket Club in Melbourne. He was selected in an emerging player’s tour of India and spent time with the Australian Institute of Sport scholarship squad.
This gave him the opportunity to come under notice of state selectors. He has played Inter-State cricket for Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania at Sheffield Shield and one day level. He was contracted to Cricket Victoria from 2004 – 2010 South Australian Cricket from 2010 – 2012. He played cricket in India and was picked up by the Mumbai Indians for 5 seasons of 20/20 cricket. This gave him the opportunity to play with some of the best in the game including the great Sachin Tendulkar. He was dismayed at the security required in India as fans queued up to see the players walk from the bus into the ground.
Aiden loved the short game which gave him the chance to use his brilliant batting style. Throughout his career he played for the Sydney Thunder, the Canterbury Kings, the Hobart Hurricanes and the Adelaide strikers. He played in 7 teams that won Big Bash titles including the Mumbai Indians and the Bangladesh National League.
Cricket has taken him all over the world and seen him perform well with the best. Aiden Blizzard now becomes a member of the Shepparton Sports Hall of Fame.