Michael Rixon: Redbacks lynchpin met his wife while playing in England

But for Michael Rixon, it was a truly transformative experience.

In 2012 the North Tamworth standout arrived in Bollington, a picturesque town set amid rolling green hills in Cheshire in north west England.

The 30-year-old was there to play cricket, but got something immeasurably more from the adventure.

Read more:

When he returned to Tamworth, he brought with him the affections of a Bollington local, Rachael Brown.

She arrived in Tamworth in June 2013, and they have been together ever since.

In 2019, they returned to Bollington to get married - the guests including about 30 of Rixon's family and friends.

Among them was his elder brother and fellow Redback, Brendan.

Michael Rixon said sparks "pretty much" flew instantly when he first met his wife.

"We decided fairly early on that we wanted to be with each other, and made things work ... certainly, we're very lucky to have each other," he said.

Rixon teaches at Timbumburi Public School and Brown-Rixon is the office manager at Jack's Creek.

Because of the pandemic, they have not been able to return to England since the wedding.

"It does make it tough," Rixon said.

Norths, however, have not been doing it tough. They went into the Christmas break with three-straight wins, and sit second on the ladder - 11 points behind City United.

The two-dayers start on Saturday, with Norths meeting a winless Bulls at Riverside 1.

Rixon - who made his NSW Country debut last season - has scored 303 runs, at an average of 60.60 and with a competition-best 120, this season. His brother has scored 319 runs at 79.75. They are second and first on the batting standings, respectively.

Rixon said there was "not really" a cricketing rivalry between them.

"We're not really too bothered about that, to be honest - just as long as we're contributing to the team," he said.