In the beginning ...
DURING the 1972/73 Cricket Season, Colin Munro and Andy
Gilroy-Scott joined the Frankston East Cricket Club and were welcomed
by the Club Secretary, Wayne Ross. Frankston East put in a fairly ordinary
Season on the field, but off-field, things fairly sizzled. Without trying
to romanticise the role of any person, Col, Andy and Wayne decided to
stand out of cricket the following Season, but their thoughts throughout
that Summer were on what the future would hold. The future was to form
a new Club - the other alternatives, to rejoin Frankston East, or to join
Karingal were soon discarded. While Col Munro spent the Summer playing
for the Harbour Trust, Wayne was busily in contact with the MPCA and the
Frankston Council in an effort to get the new Club off the ground. The
Frankston Council was contacted seeking permission to use a ground, and
a recruiting drive was soon underway. The Council granted the Club the
use of Worland Park - not the MCG of the South (although the condition
of the MCG in the late 80's was not the best) - but the ground you have
is much better than the ground you don't have. When dealing with the request,
Council wanted to know the name of the Club it was dealing with. Being
a keen (but ordinary!) golfer, Wayne seized upon the name LONG
ISLAND , mainly in the hope that the Golf Club would offer reciprocal
rights. Alas, it was not to be!!! The first match was against Kananook (now Delacombe Park), and the first Long Island team to take the field was : Colin Munro (Captain), Greg Wassell (Vice Captain), Wayne
Ross, In this game, Long Island batted first, and was soon in trouble, losing 4 quick wickets. Skipper Col Munro however pulled the Innings together with a fine 73, and was last man out. The bowlers tried hard, but were unable to penetrate, and so Long Island lost it's first match, although only by 14 runs. The next game saw Lindsay Batey and Dave Muir in the side, and with Roger Vivian getting the first 5-wicket haul for the Club, we saw Pines dismissed for a paultry 40 runs. With Wayne Ross showing some fine style as an opening batsman, Long Island reached 136 before Col closed the Innings, an easy winner. Game 3 saw another victory, with both Col Munro and Dave Muir amongst the wickets and "Bishen" Batey and Wayne Ross both scoring 50's. The following game saw the team take it's first trek across Westernport Bay to play French Island. The trip seemed to take it's toll on the players, and we lost quite easily. In Round 5, "Bish" Batey scored the first Century for the Club - 101 not out - and helped the team to a good total of 5/214. Col Munro then took 5/45 to lead the team to an 8 run victory. The following matches were against strong sides in Baden Powell and Diggers. In both games, Col Munro scored Centuries while Dave Muir took a total of 9 wickets. Both games were victories for the team. In Round 7, Red Hill inflicted the team's 3rd defeat for the Season, mainly through it's express bowler and hard-hitting batsman, Roy Watts, but more about him later! Gordon McLeod played his best Innings with the Club to date in this match, with 76 runs to his name. Gordon, of course remained not out! The last three games before the finals resulted in victories, including two high scores, 4/262 against Heatherhill and 9/330 against top team Frankston YCW and an Outright victory against Tyabb. Col Munro scored 118 not out in the first match, and 106 in the other, and he was well supported by Lindsay Batey with 126 in the YCW match, and 70 from Alan Moulden against Heatherhill. Brett Harris (5/19 and 3/19), Dave Muir (4/43 and 3/22), Wayne Ross (4/6 and 7/31) and Gordon McLeod (4/14) really hit their straps with the ball. In the Semi Final, Long Island batted first and with consistency the name of the game, scored 9/228. Col Munro top-scored with 42, while Dave Muir, Wayne Ross and Andy Gilroy-Scott got 30's, and Trevor Griffin, Lindsay Batey, Dave Phillips and Roger Vivian scored in the 20's. When Diggers (which finished on top of the ladder) batted, they started brilliantly with a Century partnership. Then Dave Muir (5/70) and Wayne Ross (3/51) got on top to see the 9th wicket fall with the score at 218. Unfortunately, that 10th wicket proved too elusive, and Diggers took the game by 10 runs. Diggers, incidentally won the Grand Final and were offered a place in the District 1st Grade (which they did not take-up!). The Season was a tremendous start
for the Club, both on and off the field. A total of 19 players took the
field during the Season, so the Club started looking at the possibility
of fielding two teams in 1975/76, and after it's first year performance,
taking out a flag in that year. 1974/75 Results :
Centuries : Runs : Wickets : |