| 1985/86 - a wasted season! WAYNE ROSS was still Club President, Bob Kent as his Deputy, with Norm Stickland, Treasurer. Members of the General Committee were Kevin Cook, Gordon McLeod, Dave Crompton, John Kitson, Peter Watson, Peter Worland, Bob Bowden, Ian Cookman, Ross Lacy and Steve Reynolds. Again, the Club was unable to fill the position of Secretary until Ross Lacy and Steve Reynolds offered to do the job jointly. Steve however was transferred in his job which required him to move interstate (some people will do anything to get out of this job!!!), so Ross took over as Club Secretary. Russ Wealands replaced Steve on the Committee. Membership Fees were increased to $60 (Family $80, Student $30, Junior $25) and the Match Fee became $5. Cricket was becoming an expensive sport to play - but it was becoming quite costly to run a Club. The Social Committee comprised David Crompton (Chairman), Peter Worland, Rhonda Ross and Anne Harley. Rhonda Smith was handling the after-match meals (don't take that literally!) with assistance from Anne Harley. The Club advertised the position of Coach, and received applications from Paul Jones and Colin Bowes. Paul had been a very successful coach with the Club for the past two Seasons, however his employment during the previous Season had rendered him unavailable to train regularly. Paul had changed his employment during the off-season, and the Committee felt that this would lessen his opportunities even more to coach the Club in 1985/86. Colin Bowes was also a successful player who had played Country Week for the MPCA and who had coached Seaford and Frankston YCW to Premierships. The Committee decided to appoint Colin Bowes as Coach for the 1985/86 Season. The Committee's first decision after that was to let Paul know of the decision and that the Club wished him to continue as a senior player. Gordon McLeod and Wayne Ross were given this task, and to the credit of Paul Jones, he agreed to stay with the Club and to give it 100%. This Paul did, and continued to give until his retirement from the game after the 1989/90 Season. The Club was confident that it could improve the one place to take out the Premiership in the District Grade. Apart from Colin, it recruited Jason Gulbin, whose most recent Club was Frankston, and who was a fine all-rounder to boot. Jason, although only 20 years of age, was an experienced player who had played a good class of cricket. The Club also regained the services of Lindsay Batey, Barry Morgan and Dave Muir, all of whom played with the 1st XI during the Season, Bill Fowler and Wal Guthrie. Other new players were Mark Anderson, Paul Attwood, Steve Denton, Paul Carroll, Marc and Jason Gilbert (Frankston), Mark Harris and Roy Watts. Junior players who made the transition from Junior to Senior cricket were Jason Day and Chris Burke. Junior players who represented the seniors during the Season were Shane Brown, Christopher Firth, Sam Griffiths, Martin Kelly, Neil Kent, Andrew Kitson, Simon Leighton, Stephen Nennsteil, Cameron Park, David Worland and Aaron Wright. Players who left the Club, albeit for a short period (one Season), were Kevin Ryan, Gary Buckley and Greg Carbis, and for a slightly longer break - Greg Pretty, Steve Reynolds and Clarrie Swan - and Ian Cookman - 68 games 1273 runs [Highest Score 101] at 17.93%, David Dodson - 53 games, 480 runs [Highest Score 42] and 27 wickets, Ray Kinsey - 63 games, 1014 runs [Highest Score 71] and 26 wickets, Ray Vivian - 103 games, 344 runs and 256 wickets at 16.83%, Ray Allen - 37 games, Steve Coe, Peter Lipscomb, Paul Spencer - 25 games and 54 wickets at 14.67%, Trevor Ryan (Cleared to Somerville), Tony Tait and Russ Wealands - 73 games, 1253 runs [Highest Score 105] at 19.58% and 41 wickets at 17.88%. The 1st XI , after a promising start to the Season, were placed in the four right up to the last match. We lost this one to Mt Martha by a mere 3 runs, and as a result dropped to 5th position, 0.03 points from the 4th-placed team. Season Results :
The performance of the 1sts overall was not what was hoped for, nor was it up to our expectations. While we may expect or anticipate things going better than they usually are, it was the feeling of the Committee that the Season was one hell of a waste. Another disappointing note was that a number of 1st XI players had made it known that they would not be playing with Long Island in the coming Season. At Season's end, the Long Island Cricket Club knew that it was in for a hard time in the coming Season. The 2nd XI worked hard all Season, but like the 1sts,
finished just out of the four. Again, the team was good enough to reach
the Finals, but the attitude was not good and some crucial games were
lost.
The 3rd XI again had a fairly ordinary Season, but did pick up a few wins in the strong "A" Grade competition. The team was well served by skipper Dave Crompton who scored 238 runs and took 10 wickets, Mark Harris - 184 runs, Norm Stickland - 138 runs, Chris Firth - 111 runs, Bill Fowler - 103 runs, Mark Anderson - 15 wickets and Barry Morgan - 14 wickets. Chris, Mark Anderson and Barry Morgan all played games with the 2nds during the Season. There was no doubt that we were on the improve, especially with the blooding of the good young players. Season's Details :
The 4th XI made the Finals and looked to be heading for a Grand Final berth until a spirited Seaford partnership sent Watto's plans askew. The extra runs made were the difference between the two teams, and our batsmen faultered under pressure - we had to be satisfied with a minor placing for the Season. The team did have a very good Season, with some excellent
performances - David Buckley scored 410 runs at an average of 80.50%,
Cameron Park - 184 runs, Mark Watson - 155 runs, Peter Watson - 142 runs
and 11 wickets, Des Stickland - 147 runs, Grant Kellerman - 135 runs,
Armin Otto - 123 runs, Dave Phillips - 116 runs and 10 wickets, Phil Dunning
- 21 wickets at 21.00% and Bob Kent - 16 wickets.
Semi-Final : The 5th XI struggled throughout the Season with only a handful of players able to hold their heads high at the end of the Season. Skipper Ron McWilliams scored 149 runs and took 13 wickets, Richard Carter also scored 149 runs and Neil Kent scored 148 runs. Season's Details :
The 6th XI made the finals after a successful run in the Home and Home Games but lost their Semi Final in a very tight game to the strong Pearcedale team. The team had excellent contributors during the Season - Antony Griffin - 157 runs, Peter Ridgway - 200 runs, Andrew Kitson - 131 runs and 29 wickets, Christopher Firth (Jr) - 186 runs, Trevor Griffin - 185 runs, Bob Smith - 167 runs, Kevin Cook - 18 wickets, Trevor Bailey - 160 runs and 10 wickets, Ray Harley - 149 runs and Geoff Sargant - 124 runs. Season's Details :
Semi-Final : During the Season, the major contributors with Bat and Ball were : Runs : Centuries were scored by Jason Gulbin, Trevor Griffin, Graham Vose, Neil Stirling and David Buckley. Wickets : Colin Bowes took 8/29 in an innings against Dromana, when he set up the victory (also scoring 58 in our innings), Scott Frey took 7/89 with the 4ths, while Barry Morgan and Mark Anderson both captured a hat-trick while representing the 3rds. Colin Bowes won the Player of The Year Award, Paul Jones, the President's Award and Gordon McLeod, the Best Clubman Award. Other personal Milestones achieved during the Season were : 100 Games During the Season, Jason Gulbin and Graham Vose played for the MPCA's Under 21 team in the (then) International Harvester Cup, and Neil Kent and Justin Bridgeman were selected for the Frankston Hatch Shield (Under 14) team. While not selected to represent the MPCA Country Week team, Mark Ridgway and Mike McDonald were selected in the initial Under 19 and Under 21 Squads. The Club's Juniors continued to make their impact on the grades in which they played, and Long Island Cricket Club was fast becoming recognised as the MPCA's innovators in respect of Junior Cricket. In 1985/86 we fielded two teams in both the Under 14 and Under 16 Grades as well as Under 12 teams.
Our two Under 14 teams made the Finals with the Under 14 East team going on to the Grand Final. In the Semi Finals, the East team easily accounted for Frankston YCW by scoring 149, then dismissing them for only 59. The Central team lowered their colours to the strong Heatherhill team - 101 to 7/205. In the Grand Final, the East team, chasing Seaford's 4/161, could only manage 133, with Doug Van Raay, Stuart McLeod and Simon Leighton getting runs. Grand Final :
During the Season, a number of Juniors did well - Under 16's : Under 14's : Under 12's : At the end of the Season, Colin Bowes reported that the Season started very well, but we were not able to sustain our early efforts. Still we did finish just outside the Four so the effort wasn't that bad. The Club (and its members) held a different view, considering the side finished Runner-up in the previous Season, and further considering the available talent - Colin Bowes, Daryl Brown, Gordon McLeod, Graham Vose, Mike McDonald, Jason Gulbin, Mark Ridgway, Paul Jones and Ross Penberthy. During the Season the Club called a special meeting because the Committee could see that not everything was going to plan. There was widespread dissatisfaction with the fact that players appeared to be selected on reputation rather than form, and that new players to the Club only had to say where they wished to play, and they would play there. These problems had been occurring for some time, so it was not right that these problems should have been aimed only at Colin Bowes, or Paul Jones for that matter! The Club had been more intent on retaining new players rather than looking after those who had been around for some time. As stated earlier, the Club had no pretensions about what it would face in 1986/87 - although when the Season came around, it was quite a shock. |
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