1986/87 - the bottom of the barrel

THE CLUB'S Executive was almost the same for this Season as last, with Wayne Ross - President, Bob Kent - Vice President, Daryl Brown - Treasurer, and Steve Denton as Secretary. The General Committee comprised Norm Stickland, Barry Morgan (resigned October), Peter Worland, Gordon McLeod, Peter Watson, Neil Stirling, Dave Crompton, Phil Dunning, Bob Bowden and Bob Smith. Membership Fees were raised to $140, which covered Match Fees for the Season (Families $165, Students $105 and Juniors $30). The very active Social Committee comprised David Crompton (Chairman), Phil Dunning, Bob Bowden, Bob Smith and Ron McWilliams.

Colin Bowes retired from cricket (and took up Umpiring), which left the Club without a Coach. Advertisements provided no names on which we could work, and even discussions with a small list of "possibilities" gave us no joy. Without a coach, we decided to once again look within our own ranks, and Gordon McLeod was once again asked to fill the gap (having performed the same role, in similar circumstances, in 1982/83). Gordon had committed himself to the Juniors as the Club's Junior Co-ordinator, and could not give the position justice. Next we approached Mark Ridgway and Jason Gulbin to do the job jointly. Mark had decided at the end of last Season to concentrate on his Basketball and retired from cricket, so we pinned our hopes in Jason taking over the role. Jason - aged 20 - agreed to do the job.

Season 1986/87 was not very kind to the Long Island Cricket Club. The Season started badly with a wash-out of Round 1, and when the Season eventually got underway, we found that from the last Round of Season 1985/86, the following players were missing - Colin Bowes (Umpiring), Ross Penberthy (retired), Graham Vose (Karingal), Mike McDonald, Paul Jones, Mark Ridgway (retired), Shaun Staggard (retired), Brian Warner (Interstate), Dave Muir and Chris Ainalidis (retired) - all from our 1st and 2nd XI's. The result was that we went into the early Rounds with very inexperienced teams in the 1sts and 2nds. Players recruited in 1986/87 included John Allen (Tootgarook), John Black, Bob Hough, Tom Lamb (Flinders), Bob Martin (Balnarring & Crib Point), Sheehan Simmons, Alan Splatt and Ian Thomas. In addition, Gary Buckley, Andy Gilroy-Scott and Kevin Ryan resumed playing after missing 1985/86. Of the Junior players, a number lined up in the Senior Grades as well, and acquitted themselves well - Cameron Park, Justin Bridgeman, Simon Leighton, Matthew Parkinson, Doug Van Raay, Stuart McLeod, Daniel Watts, Aaron Wright, Neil Kent, Sam Griffiths, Shane Brown, Richard Hall, Martin Kelly, Andrew Kitson, Justin Groves, Greg Lamb and Troy Simmons.

The 1st XI , under the youthful leadership of Jason Gulbin struggled all Season, finished in last position, and as a consequence, the Club was relegated to the Sub-District Grade for next Season. Late in the Season however, Paul Jones returned to the Club, and the services of former Country-Week representative, Bob Martin were secured for the last couple of games. Both players added stability and experience to our line-up, and we almost succeeded in our attempt to remain in the District Grade. The team only won 2 games, but lost two others by less than 4 runs, and three by less than 15 runs. The early loss to Baxter - the eventual Premiers in the District Grade - probably summed up the way things went during the Season, when needing 26 runs to win, we lost 6/10. This robbed the team of momentum and confidence, which was not to return until towards the end of the Season. This was typical of our Season - we got into winning positions, but snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on quite a few occasions. This was evident right up to the last match of the Season, when although we appeared to be heading for defeat, so was Rosebud which was a few points behind us in last position. However, an appeal against the light by the last two Rosebud batsmen was upheld resulting in a drawn game. Rosebud gained enough points from that draw to retain its position in District and sent Long Island down to the Sub-District Grade. Dale McCurdy (32 wickets) and Jason Gulbin spear-headed the attack while Kevin Ryan, Lindsay Batey, Gordon McLeod and Jason did well with the bat. Bob Martin's four Innings' with the team were also good value and we hoped a sign of good things to come.

1st XI Results :

On appearances, the 2nd XI disappointed in not making the finals, however it was decimated with players having to play 1sts when they should really have had this Season to consolidate their careers in this Grade. In addition, a number of players were forced to play in this Grade when they too, should have been allowed to establish themselves at a lower level. All in all, it was a miserable Season for the Club. Nobby Brown led the team well, and the blooding of players such as David Buckley, Cameron Park, Neil Kent and Justin Bridgeman augured well for the future. The team won 5 games and drew one, and two of the losses were by only 3 and 6 runs. Good performances with the bat came from Cameron Park, Nobby Brown and David Buckley, while evergreen quickie, Peter Worland was the pick of the bowlers.

2nd XI Results :

The 3rd XI , under Chris Firth, won 7 of its 11 games, but finished just outside the four. We had some excellent victories, but disappointed in crucial games. Paul Heller - 165 runs, Justin Bridgeman - 129 runs, and Chris Burke - 237 runs - all graduates from the Juniors - and Wayne Carter - 259 runs, Andy Gilroy-Scott - 175 runs, Les Thomas - 166 runs and Chris Firth did well with the bat, while Norm Stickland -24 wickets, Mark Anderson - 13 wickets, Kevin Stokes - 14 wickets and Barry Morgan - 14 wickets bowled well.

3rd XI Results :

The 4th XI struggled throughout the Season, losing the first 4 games, but finishing with that many wins for the Season. It was the younger brigade that did well, with Simon Leighton - 191 runs, Matthew Parkinson and Doug Van Raay doing well. Dave Phillips - 270 runs, Bob Bowden - 138 runs and Richard Carter - 246 runs added stability to the team with the bat, while skipper Peter Watson - 14 wickets, Greg Carbis - 15 wickets and Dave Phillips - 15 wickets were the main wicket-takers.

4th XI Results :

The 5th XI , led by Roy Watts - no longer the express bowler that we knew in 1974/75, but still a hard-hitting batsman - was the only Senior team to make the finals, finishing on top of the ladder, winning 10 out of 11 games.

5th XI Results :

We defeated Baxter in the Semi Final, scoring 299, with Simon Leighton scoring 41, Bob Hough 49 not out and Doug Van Raay 104. With the ball, Tom Lamb (who opened the bowling for Flinders in the District 1st XI Grand Final against us in 1977/78) took 4/33 with his leggies and Phil Dunning took 3/4.

Semi-Final :
Long Island 299 (D.Van Raay 104, S.Leighton 41, R.Hough 49no) and 5/98 defeated Baxter 69 (T.Lamb 4/33, P.Dunning 3/4)

In the Grand Final, Aaron Wright gave us a good start making 41, Roy Watts scored 20, but we then collapsed losing 5/19. Matthew Parkinson and Tom Lamb put on 22 for the last wicket to take the score to 165. Our opponents, Pearcedale, reached that score for the loss of 6 wickets. Phil Dunning took 5/55.

Grand Final :
Long Island 165 (A.Wright 41, R.Watts 20, M.Parkinson 22, T.Lamb 22no) lost to Pearcedale 6/197 (P.Dunning 5/55)

For the Season, the team was well served by Roy Watts who scored 504 runs, Bob Hough (309 runs and 32 wickets), Tom Lamb (28 wickets) and Phil Dunning (197 runs and 22 wickets). Young players, Simon Leighton - 325 runs, Stuart McLeod - 139 runs, Doug Van Raay - 193 runs, Aaron Wright - 230 runs, Matthew Parkinson - 108 runs, Shane Brown and Daniel Watts - 13 wickets, all contributed to the team's success.

The 6th XI , under the leadership of Trevor Bailey, lost the first game of the Season by 7 runs, then won the next two easily. The remainder of the Season was topsy-turvey, but we managed to win 5 games. Steve Denton - 149 runs, Steve Fishwick - 121 runs and Phil Pollard - 174 runs were our mainstays with the bat, while Geoff Sargant - 17 wickets, Kevin Cook - 11 wickets, Kevin Taylor - 12 wickets, Steve Denton - 12 wickets and Trevor Bailey - 13 wickets did best with the ball.

6th XI Results :

Major contributors for this Season were :

Runs :
516 Simon Leighton
502 Roy Watts
390 Lindsay Batey
309 Bob Hough
287 Kevin Ryan
276 David Buckley
259 Wayne Carter & Justin Groves
250 Cameron Park
248 Andy Gilroy-Scott
246 Richard Carter
244 Chris Burke
236 Richard Hall
235 Daryl Brown & Doug Van Raay
226 Justin Bridgeman
215 Chris Firth
213 Sheehan Simmons
200 Gordon McLeod
197 Phil Dunning
188 Bob Smith
183 Peter Conell
170 Dave Phillips & Ian Thomas
169 Matthew Parkinson & John Allen
166 Les Thomas
165 Paul Heller & Paul Jones
164 Des Stickland
156 Steve Denton & Mario Sonn
153 Bob Martin

Centuries :
108 Andy Gilroy-Scott
108 Simon Leighton
118 Kevin Ryan
104 Doug Van Raay
107 Roy Watts

Wickets :
32 Bob Hough & Dale McCurdy
28 Tom Lamb
24 Norm Stickland
23 Peter Worland
22 Phil Dunning
19 Jason Gulbin
18 Barry Morgan & Ron McWilliams
17 Mark Anderson & Geoff Sargant
15 Greg Carbis & Dave Phillips
14 Steve Denton, Kevin Stokes & Peter Watson
13 Trevor Bailey & Daniel Watts
12 Kevin Taylor
11 Kevin Cook, Andrew Kitson, Dale McClelland & Gordon McLeod

Hat-Trick :
Ian Thomas

Jason Gulbin was selected to represent the District Grade in the MPCA's District v Sub-District match.

Personal achievements gained during the Season were :

100 Games
Dave Phillips

50 Games
Paul Jones,
Phil Pollard,
Kevin Ryan,
Craig Small
Bob Smith

2000 Runs
Lindsay Batey
Dave Phillips

1000 Runs
Darryl Brown,
David Buckley,
Chris Firth,
Paul Jones,
Dave Muir,
Bob Smith,
Peter Watson
Peter Worland

200 Wickets
Gordon McLeod

100 Wickets
Trevor Bailey,
Ron McWilliams,
Craig Small
Peter Watson

The Player of The Year was won by Bob Hough, the President's Trophy by Gordon McLeod and the Best Clubman was Peter Worland.

The General Committee decided to honour two of its members by naming two of the 1st XI trophies after them - the Wayne Ross Batting Award for the winner of the Batting Trophy and the Ray Vivian Bowling Award for the winner of the Bowling Trophy. The inaugural winners were Gordon McLeod (Batting) and Dale McCurdy (Bowling).

The Club initially entered six Junior teams in the Competition, but with the withdrawal of some teams, and with a large number of Under 14 players, we entered a third Under 14 team. The Club fielded well over 100 boys during the Season in its seven teams. Gordon McLeod was the Junior Co-ordinator, and once again did a great job, not only in that role, but also coaching the Under 14 (East) team. Peter Worland, Gary Buckley, Neil Stirling, John Woodward, Bob Smith and Wayne Carter were the other Coaches/Managers. Assistance was provided by Bob Kent, Dave Phillips, Daryl Brown, Geoff Sargant and Richard Carter.

Of the seven teams, The Under 16 (East) and Under 14 (East) teams both made the Finals with the Under 16's moving into the Grand Final by defeating Seaford in the Semi Final, 4/75 to Seaford's 72.

The Under 14 East team met the strong Baden Powell team in its Semi-Final. Batting first, we scored 5/126 with Sean Kelly and Stuat McLeod batting well. Baden Powell. however, was far too strong, scoring 3/129 to take a position in the Grand Final.

The Under 16 East Grand Final, against the strong Baxter team was played on a very wet day and Baxter was able to bat for the entire amount of time allotted to it - we didn't even venture to the crease. The result - Draw - but as Baxter finished on top of the ladder, it was awarded the Premiership. In all fairness, Baxter was far and away the best team in the Under 16 Grade, and fully deserved to win this Flag. It was a pity though that we did not get a chance because of the weather. Andrew Kitson and Neil Kent bowled superbly in the Grand Final with Neil picking up 5 wickets. Baxter scored 8/370 in the only innings of the match, with Neil Kent taking 5/72 (29 overs) and Andrew Kitson 3/82 (26 overs).

Junior players who did well during the Season were :

Under 16's :
Batting
Cameron Park - 104, 79 & 55;
Simon Leighton - 47, 50, 75 & 117no;
Neil Kent - 73;
Andrew Vose - 52;
Justin Bridgeman - 55;
Aaron Wright - 58;
Justin Groves - 54

Bowling
Cameron Park - 6/41, 4/56, 3/21, 3/13 & 4/25;
Simon Leighton - 5/28;
Troy Simmons - 4/25, 5/13, 3/18 & 4/36;
Neil Kent - 5/72 and 3/63;
Patrick Duffy - 3/12
Stephen Perry - 3/10.

Under 14's :
Batting
Doug Van Raay - 52, 41 & 52no;
Stuart McLeod - 52. 50, 44 & 53no;
Philip Nennstiel - 50;
Sean Kelly - 50;
Alistair Black - 52;
Shane Brown - 50, 50no & 51;
Brendan Kelly - 59no;
Nick Hough - 41no
Adam McPherson - 50 and 51no.

Bowling
Gareth Park - 5/4;
Dean Stirling - 4/11, 3/17 & 4/32;
Doug Van Raay - 3/3;
Daniel Watts - 5/3;
Brett Greenough - 5/3;
Greg Lamb - 8/1 and 3/5;
Gary Measham - 4/17
Adam Easterby - 4/8 and 3/7.

Under 12's :
Batting
Joel Dahlison - 30no;
Mark Perry - 32no;
Andrew Kelly - 27;
Mark Sargant - 33no
Jamie Cemm - 30no.

Bowling
Nathan Ross - 4/3 & 7/15;
Mark Perry - 5/11 & 4/9;
Kieran Worland - 3/11;
Joel Dahlison 3/11;
Chris Traynor - 3/11;
Andrew Kelly - 4/9;
Danny Holden - 3/43 and 3/11
David Simpkin - 5/12.

Cameron Park was selected in the Mornington Peninsula Schoolboys team, while Stuart McLeod, Gareth Park and Dean Stirling represented the MPCA in Under 14 teams.