|
1987/88 - on the up WAYNE ROSS relinquished the reins as President and Bob Kent took over. Peter Watson was Vice President, Steve Denton - Secretary, and Roy Watts was the Club's new Treasurer. The General Committee comprised Bob Bowden, Wayne Carter, Merv Halsall, Gordon McLeod, Bob Smith, Neil Stirling, Les Thomas and Peter Worland. The Membership Fees (still incorporating the Match Fees) remained the same as last Season, but the number of teams fielded in the MPCA had increased by one. The Club's 1st XI was now in the Sub-District Grade, and as a result, the 2nds were placed into Sub-District 2nds. The Club fielded four other Senior teams and seven Junior teams 2 in the Under 16's, two in the Under 14's and three Under 12 teams. A grand total of 13 teams. Immediately following the Annual General Meeting, the Committee met to appoint Bob Martin as playing coach. Bob had played a handful of games last Season and had impressed with his knowledge of the game and his attitude was exactly what we were looking for as a leader. Bob had most recently (up to 1985/86) coached Crib Point, but spent his younger days with Balnarring - a member of the Martin family which had ruled the roost at Balnarring for many years. During his stint with the Club, Bob had represented the MPCA in Country Week cricket. He was a hard-hitting left hand opening batsman and a very fine wicket-keeper. Other new players to the Club were Tony Caddy, Craig Davis, Mark Floro, Daryl Dusty Hume, Dion Perry, Barney Potter and Michael Mouse Scott. None of these new players lasted into the 1988/89 Season, although Mouse threatened a couple of times, and Dusty resumed playing in 1991/92. Mick Mitic, Danny Quinn, Ross Lacy and Mike McDonald resumed playing with the Club, together with Trevor Ryan who came back to the fold from Somerville after a couple of Seasons with them. Juniors who graduated to the Seniors were Gary Housley, Laurence Hall, Andrew Vose, Andrew Kitson and David Worland. Junior players who represented the Club in the Senior ranks throughout the Season were Alistair Black, Justin Bridgeman, Shane Brown, Brett Greenough, Sam Griffiths, Justin Groves, Marty Kelly, Sean Kelly, Neil Kent, Gary Measham, Stuart Finn McLeod, Gareth Park, Mick Pollard, Dean Stirling, Craig Butch Thomas, Doug Van Raay, David Walker, Daniel Watts and Aaron Wright. Players who left the Club were Steve Griffin (to return later), Jason Gulbin - 20 games, 442 runs [Highest Score 100 not out] at 24.56% and 38 wickets at 20.29% - whose studies took him to Bendigo, John Allen who accepted the role of Captain of South Malbourne 4th XI (VCA), John Black (who was also to resume later), Daryl Coe (29 games), Kevin Cook - 125 games, 1863 runs [Highest Score 64] and 152 wickets at 18.21% - who decided that life at "Royal & Ancient Devil(s) Bend" was his go from now on, Dave Crompton - 40 games, 626 runs [Highest Score 67] at 17.89% and 73 wickets at 18.56% - who also decided to call it a day, Phil Dunning - 30 games, 490 runs [Highest Score 65] at 22.27% and 80 wickets at 15.94% - who moved interstate, Scott Frey - 21 games and 35 wickets at 22.66% - cleared to Karingal, Jason Gilbert, David Jackson, Bob Kent - "I just want the one Season off", Tom Lamb, Mark Lonsdale, David Lockley, Barry Morgan - 46 games and 89 wickets at 20.03%, Mark McClelland - returned to Pearcedale during the previous Season, Stephen Nennstiel, Bob Smith - work committments, Chris and Mario Sonn, Des Stickland - 40 games, 659 runs [Highest Score 43] and 20 wickets, Kevin Taylor and Mark Watson - 66 games, 837 runs [Highest Score 85 not out] at 18.60% and 95 wickets at 20.38%. The Club had a highly successful Season with the 2nds and the 5ths taking out the Premierships and the 1sts being defeated in the Grand Final, but gaining promotion to the District Grade as our opponents in the grand Final - Mt Eliza - was playing it's 1st team in Provincial. The MPCA decreed that if Mt Eliza made the Grand Final in the Sub-District Grade, its opponent would be granted promotion for the following Season, regardless of the outcome of that match. The 1st XI won all but one of its Home and Away matches, defeated Mornington Diggers in the Semi Final, but lost to Mt Eliza in the Grand Final. Bob Martin scored 501 runs for the Season, and was an inspirational leader. Cameron Park scored 329 runs and took 33 wickets, and gathered the Robert Thompson Best Player Award for Sub-District - the first Long Island player to do so. Gordon McLeod was still proving that age is no barrier when ability is mixed with determination, and he scored 250 runs and took 11 wickets, Alan Splatt scored 243 runs, Paul Jones 199 runs and 19 wickets, Kevin Ryan 170 runs, Craig Small 148 runs and 10 wickets, Dave Muir 11 wickets and David Buckley scored 141 runs. Dave Muir unfortunately missed the Finals series through an injury suffered on the last training night prior to the Semi Final. During the Season, a number of good performances were recorded - Bob Martin - 61 against his old Club, Crib Point and 170 not out v Pearcedale, Cameron Park - 5/46 v Mornington Diggers, 5/34 v Sorrento, 5/52 against Flinders, 52 runs v Dromana and 3/46 against Mt Eliza, Paul Jones - 53 v Crib Point, Neil Kent - 3/35 v the Diggers, Dale McCurdy - 34 not out and 3/65 v Sorrento and 3/20 against Flinders, David Buckley - 44 against Sorrento, Craig Small - 5/34 v Sorrento and 62 v Dromana and Gordon McLeod - 65 not out and 5/49 against Pearcedale and 44 not out v Dromana. After accounting for Mornington Diggers in the Semi-Final, we met Mt Eliza in the Grand Final. We batted first and after a breezy start, particularly from the skipper, "Potto" and Alan Splatt took control, and it looked odds-on that we would get a big score. "Potto" was the first to go and Kev Ryan followed shortly after. Splatty had played his best innings for the Club to date in this innings, and just when a "ton" was looking good, he went out. Gordon followed almost immediately, then Paul Jones departed soon after. On the second day, Macca had a tremendous start to the day when he took 16 runs off the first over of the day, but was dismissed in the second. Craig Small went immediately after and Cameron Park and Doyle put up resistance. While we had to settle for 270 - not a bad score - it was a pity that we could not make use of the great start given us by our early order batsmen. The Mounties started their innings exceptionally well, and although there was a hiccup in the middle of the innings - with Gordon McLeod bowling sensationally - a few big hits at the end took them past our score with 7 wickets lost. Grand Final :
The 2nd XI was an extremely strong combination, which proved in almost every game that it was far and away the best team in the Sub-District competition. David Buckley scored 367 runs, Doug Van Raay 283 runs and 15 wickets, Lindsay "Bish" Batey 209 runs, Richard Hall 184 runs, Sheehan Simmons 180 runs, Mick Pollard 149 runs, Daryl "Nobby" Brown 145 runs, Gary Buckley 30 wickets, Wayne Ross 19 wickets and Peter Worland 17 wickets were successful members of the side throughout the Season. Throughout the Season, the team had some consistently good performers - Craig Small - 62 v Crib Point, "Nobby" Brown - 37 v Mornington Diggers and 93 v Sorrento, Mark Floro - 36 v Pearcedale and 58 v Sorrento, Gordon McLeod - 64 against Sorrento, Doug Van Raay - 55 and 5/43 against Sorrento,40 against Pearcedale, 50 not out v Sorrento and 7/34 versus French Island, Sheehan Simmons - 46 v Pearcedale and 34 against French Island, Peter Worland - 3/72 v Pearcedale, Wayne Ross 3/46 v Pearcedale and 3/30 against Dromana, Gary Buckley - 6/20 against Flinders and 3/50 v Dromana, Kevin Ryan - 69 not out and 32 not out v Dromana, Dale McCurdy - 3/19 against Dromana and Neil Stirling - 33 v French Island. Mick Pollard (128) and David Buckley (127) scored centuries. We accounted for Pearcedale in the
Semi-Final Grand Final : The 3rd XI also had an exceptional Season making the Finals, but going down disappointingly in their Semi-Final. This team had their moment of glory, or quite probably immortality, when they scored a mammoth 646 runs against a hapless Langwarrin. This score was a Club record and an Association record - one which will probably stand for some considerable time - maybe forever! The Scoresheet for this match was as follows :
The 3rds were well served by skipper Chris Firth who scored 427 runs, Stuart "Finn" McLeod - 341, Chris Burke - 251, Justin Bridgeman - 245, Les Thomas - 242, Mick Mitic - 189, Justin Groves - 166 and 10 wickets, Troy Simmons - 20 wickets and Mark Anderson - 18 wickets. Good performances came from Chris Firth - 108 against Karingal, 44 v Tyabb, 51 v Boneo and 36 against Somerville, Norm Stickland - 7/51 v Karingal, Chris Burke - 109 v Tyabb, Justin Bridgeman - 78 against Tyabb and 132 against Pines, Les Thomas - 35 v Pines, Mick Mitic - 48 against Boneo, Stuart McLeod - 37 versus Boneo and 55 not out v Seaford, Mark Anderson - 5/22 against Somerville and 3/58 v Seaford, Richard Hall - 35 v Seaford and of course the entire team against Langwarrin. The 4th XI struggled in most of their games and found runs hard to come by. Still Wayne Carter scored 203 and Tony Caddy got 167. Peter "Watto" Watson led the team from the front (always with the new ball) and took 17 wickets, Kevin Stokes also claimed 17 victims and Ron McWilliams grabbed 13 wickets. Good performances were from Wayne Carter - 40 not out v Mt Martha, 99 against Baden Powell and 36 versus Pearcedale, Dave Phillips - 3/27 against Mt Martha and 34 against Pearcedale, Greg Carbis - 3/42 v Hastings, Mark Watson - 3/26 against Hastings, Ron McWilliams - 3/54 v Baden Powell and 3/60 against Pines, Norm Stickland - 4/54 v Carrum Downs, Peter Watson - 3/24 v Carrum Downs and 3/69 v Frankston YCW, Paul Heller - 42 v Pines and 34 v YCW, Bob Bowden - 33 against Pines and 43 against Heatherhill, Tony Caddy - 54 v Heatherhill, Kevin Stokes 3/93 against Pines, Justin Groves - 49 v Pines, Paul Denton - 55 v Frankston YCW, Richard Carter - 42 v Frankston YCW, Andrew Kitson - 49 not out against YCW and Dion Perry - 4/41 against Frankston YCW. The 5th XI , led by Roy Watts did one better than the previous Season by going all the way to the Premiership. Roy opened the batting, and nearly every occasion, took the game by the scruff of the neck with his attacking batting. He was superbly backed up by Bob Hough, Matt Parkinson and Daniel Watts (a chip off the old block!). The team had a great home and home series, including a victory in the sleet when Roy bluffed his counterpart into playing the match out despite the heavy rain ALL DAY! Roy still claims that this victory gave his team top spot which went a long way to getting them to the Grand Final. In a great Season, the following performances occurred - Roy Watts - 61 against Mornington, 73 against Mt Eliza and 68 v Carrum Downs, Daniel Watts - 5/27 v Mornington, 6/66 against Delacombe Park and 5/53 against Baxter, John Black - 3/22 against Mornington, Bob Hough - 3/31 versus Delacombe Park, 83 not out against Carrum Downs, 4/26 v Pines and 90 against Heatherhill, Danny Quinn - 33 and 4/37 v Mt Eliza and 46 against Pines, Dion Perry - 3/45 against Mt Eliza, Brett Greenough - 33 not out v Mt Eliza, Richard Carter - 40 not out v Baxter, Gareth Park - 37 against Baxter, Matthew Parkinson - 65 v Pines and 104 against Heatherhill, Gary Housley - 38 v Pines, Dave Phillips - 39 against Pines and Norm Stickland - 4/21 versus Pines In the Semi Final, we met the strong Heatherhill team (so much for having an advantage being on top!), and in a cliff-hanger it was Bob Hough who calmly hit the last ball of the day to the straight-drive boundary fo four. In the Grand Final we met Karingal, and it was Roy who destroyed what could have been a good game of cricket. Grand Final : The 5ths skipper scored 599 runs for the Season, Bob Hough scored 350 runs and took 37 wickets, Matt "Rat" Parkinson scored 339 runs - a player of the future, Danny Quinn, who unluckily missed selection for the Finals, scored 140 runs and Daniel Watts took 34 wickets in his first full Season of senior cricket. The addition of Norm Stickland (12 wickets), Dave "Tex" Phillips and Greg Carbis towards the end of the Season put the "icing on the top of the cake", and these three made the team a pretty formidable combination. The 6th XI , while not in the Finals race, did a great job and gave a lot of their opponents a fair bit to think about. Steve Fishwick - "Mr Consistent" - scored 466 runs, Peter "Peerless" Ridgway got 220, Steve Denton 139, skipper Trevor Bailey 133 and Geoff Sargant scored 120 runs. The bulk of the wickets went to Paul Carroll with 19, Ian Thomas took 10 and John "JD" Denton took 11. Good individual performances were John Denton - 3/31 versus Hastings, 3/22 v Pearcedale and 60 not out v Mt Martha, Paul Carroll - 6/38 including a hat-trick against Baxter, 5/39 versus Mt Martha and 3/41 against Delacombe Park, Geoff Sargant - 43 against Delacombe Park, David Walker - 6/50 against Delacombe Park, Merv Halsall - 3/12 versus Langwarrin, Craig Davis - 3/20 against Mt Martha and 3/52 versus Pearcedale, Steve Denton - 71 and 2/39 against Pearcedale, Steve Fishwick - 57 versus Pearcedale and 107 v Mt Martha and Trevor Bailey - 55 versus Mt Martha. Peter Ridgway hit 108 in one superb innings. During the Season, the following players achieved personal highlights : 150 Games Centuries : The top performers for the Season were : Runs : Wickets : Bowling : Cameron Park became the first Long Island player to win a MPCA Best Player Award, picking up the R.G.Thompson Trophy for the Best Player in the Sub-District competition. Cameron, at 17 years of age, is by far the youngest to have done it, and he really is an exciting talent. Parksy's efforts in the 1sts were not good enough however to take out the Club Championship, this being won by Bob Hough, who scored well over 300 runs and took 39 wickets. Best Clubman was Les Thomas and Cameron Park won the President's Award. Gordon McLeod again won the Wayne Ross Batting Trophy for the 1st XI, and Cameron Park took the Ray Vivian Bowling Award. Season 1987/88 also saw the Long
Island Cricket Club to the fore of the MPCA with its Junior representative
teams. Gordon McLeod was again Junior Co-ordinator, and he was assisted
by Peter Worland (Under 16 East), Gary Buckley (Under 16 Central), Alan
Splatt (Under 14 Central), Wayne Carter (Under 12's), Peter Conell (Under
12's) and Bob Smith (Under 12's). Of the four Junior teams which played
competitively, the Under 16 Easts got to the Semi Final, the Under 16
Central team won the Premiership, and the Under 14 East team repeated
that performance for the Club. The Under 16 East team was an excellent
combination which came up against the extremely competent Baden Powell
combination in the Semi-Final, but found our opponents too good on the
day.
Under 16 (Central) Grand Final :
The other teams were extremely competitive and it looked as though the Club's policy of developing its juniors was going to keep it a viable for some time to come. The Club continued to run the Junior Coaching Clinics, with Senior players participating in these clinics. During the Season, a number of our Juniors performed well : Under 16's :
Under 12's : At the end of the Season, Life Memberships were awarded to Colin Munro and Ray Vivian. Colin was a foundation member of the Club, its first President and on-field leader and our best performed cricketer during the initial years of the Club. Ray joined the Club in its second Season and played until the 1984/85 Season. A Committeeman during most of his time with the Club, Ray was one of those people who were always around, ensuring that everyone was doing their job. Even in retirement Ray spends most of his summer Saturdays at the Club, supervising the workers and encouraging each captain to peruse the "Ray Vivian Book of Cricket Tactics". |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
