`SASCA News.

The monthly newsletter of the SA Seniors Association Inc. No.35 January 2015

SASCA News #35

This Issue President’s Report & SASCA News Calendar: Future Events For the record: Match reports & Recent Events SASCA Merchandise Who’s who: Meet SASCA Members Now & then: Milestones, Memories and Moments Contacts The Back Pages; Letter to the editor; *********************************************************************************************** President’s Report

Hi All, Trust that all of you have had a Happy and Safe Christmas time with your family and that Father Christmas did the right thing by you. We were quiet as half my family were in Canada enjoying [?] a Christmas day of 26 below. This Christmas coming will be an exciting experience for us as we hope to be in Mumbai for a wedding the day before Christmas. See what happens. Now that we are in the New Year I am sure that you have found an oval or something to work off the kilos. Roy will be able to advise us on the virtues of having a sweat track just outside his back door. We have had some proposals the holiday period regarding the National Championships and as these become clearer I shall put this information out to you. For future planning we need to start to gather numbers for the Nationals so please give it some thought. The dates are from the 15th to the 20th November. Play will be on the Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The Meet and Greet will be on the Sunday and the Presentation Dinner on the Friday. I can assure you that the organisers will have learnt from and those who went to Launceston will testify as to the excellent quality of organisation. I am sure that you are looking forward to restarting the programme and enjoying the events to come. Keep fit and see you soon; take care. Namaste Chris Tobin

SASCA News SA Seniors Cricket January 2015 1

Next Committee Meeting: The Committee meets again on Monday the 2nd February 2015 at 7.00pm at the Royal Hotel, Kent Town and at 6.00pm for a meal

*************************************************************************

Feedback from Melbourne Nationals George Healey reports that he enjoyed compiling the thoughts of those who participated in the feedback. George advises that our feedback to Victoria, suggestions for future Australian Championships and recommendations for the conduct/selection of our teams seem to be the three areas of interest.

Doug Turbill, Chris Tobin and George have now met and considered the information and Chris has circulated their first position to the committee for discussion at the next meeting.

************************************************************************* Mid-week Cricket: anyone interested? YES

We have 14 names of potential mid week players, which probably means we could have a game. More names would be appreciated. Jim Curtis is going to ask about pitch availability at Marion. If anyone else has access or knowledge of other ovals please let me know. Colin Paech informed me Tuesday may be the better day for groundsmen preparing . George Healey

If you are interested in playing mid-week cricket and have not yet put your name down, please advise George Healey [email protected]

********************************************************

SASCA News Thanks again to the members who have contributed to this issue: Kevin Shepley, George Healey, Chris Tobin, Don Tanner, Michael Willson, Bob Wilton, John McTier for his photos, and Brian Kerin for the first letter to the editor, and the members appearing in the Who’s Who pages. This month, for the first time, we introduce two ‘youngsters’ in Who’s Who.

SACA Members who have been to the Oval recently may have noticed the larger than life-size photograph of 4 South Australian players of the late 1890’s at the rear of the Members’ Stand, southern end.

Who were the four players? (Answer: see page 7 & find a 5 question quiz about the 4 players).

SASCA News SA Seniors Cricket January 2015 2

The Calendar. Program, Tours and Events

SASCA 2014/5 Program

January 25 or 26 Grange match (2 teams) – long weekend 31 Red Emmett and the Katz, “Live at The Gov”; Governor Hindmarsh Hotel 8.15pm $20 at the door. February 1 Kangaroo Island. Ferry leaves Cape Jervis at 8.30; return departs Penneshaw at 7.30. 8 Encounter Bay (2 teams); 15 Internal: 25 ball game tbc 22 Charity Game Montrose Oval 9 -21 SASCA NZ Tour March 1,2,3 Hamilton Carnival; Hamilton Victoria details to be confirmed 8 Zonal Round 5 15 Zonal Round 6, 22 ZONE FINAL. 29, 30 Formal state matches; SA, Vic, Tas. O/60 & O/70 details tbc November 2015 Nationals at Hobart

SASCA tour of NZ February 2014.

The touring party leaves early February for what promises to be a great tour on and off the field. The first destination and scene of the two opening matches is Auckland. The third game is in Rotorua, which is all well and good apart from the problem that the touring party has to get from Auckland to the Rotorua ground having played the day before in Auckland. Rotorua is well over 200 kms from Auckland.

The communication regarding the problem between George H and his Rotorua counterpart, Graeme, gives an idea of what the tour promises. Graeme’s advice went something like this: “Auckland to Rotorua is about an hour and a half. If your team is disciplined you can leave Auckland at 7:30am and be here ready to play at 10 - 10:30. If you leave at 9 we will still have lots of time. If you leave later we can shorten the game. In any event get here for the cold beers after the game.”

Good luck to the team. Enjoy the tour. Return safely.

Help Sought The ATCA is looking to update some historic stats and is asking for some help in identifying the first names of the following players. If you could help please forward the relevant information to [email protected]

I Clift (West Lakes) Merv Kowald (Elizabeth Districts) D Marshall (Old Collegians) David Lee (RCP) J Pink (Sturt) R Austin (Rosewater) D Page (Ferryden Park) J Heap (TTG) T Davis (ANI) D Sladden (Old Collegians) M Howie (Edwardstown)

SASCA News SA Seniors Cricket January 2015 3

For the Record. Recent results and events

Match reports December 2014

SASCA 2014/15 Zone Competition Round 3 December 7 For the Second time this season all four teams competed at Marion but on this occasion both matches commenced in the afternoon after the monthly Marion market had packed up. Pitches were good and the weather was conducive to good cricket. The results were good for the competition – the two teams which lost at Marion on the season’s opening day won on this occasion meaning that at the half way mark of the Zone season all 4 teams are in contention for the finals: East and Fleurieu have 2 wins each and North and South West have a win apiece.

Fleurieu v North. Marion Main Oval North 7/142 G. Quinn 34 ret, C. Tobin 25, M. Willson 20 K. Shepley 2/12 Defeated by Fleurieu 5/143 G. Bilney 31 ret, P. Ifould 30 ret, G. Fielke 28, G. Clifford 22 n.o. G. Quinn 2/17, R. Regej 2/24 North won the toss, elected to batted and made 7/142 off the allotted 40 overs. Chris Tobin and Michael Willson opened the and were kept in check by some good by Stuart Shepley and Jock Wheaton. However they did punish the odd loose ball. Michael was out eventually for 20 lofting a catch to mid-off of fStuart. Chris was out lbw for a well-compiled 27 when first change bowler Craig Martin came on. Greg Quinn and Graeme Madden posed a threat to the coastal visitors but found it hard to quicken the rate against some very tight bowling from Craig, Rob Colwell and Kevin Shepley. Graeme in attempting to break the shackles holed out at mid on where Trevor Connor took a well-judged catch. Greg eventually retired on 34 and whilst it was a very good knock he didn’t get them at the speed he is accustomed to. Tom Paris retired on 12 and Robert Regej was 17 at the end. It was a competitive total at 142 but maybe not enough against Fleurieu’s batting. Fleurieu openers Graeme Fielke and Gary Bilney started slowly and were watchful against some tidy bowling from Quinn and Ian Herbert but once they were settled they went on with it. Fielke was out for 28 in slips off Regej and for the second match in a row Bilney retired when passing 30. When Kevin Shepley and Craig Martin went cheaply, North were right back in the game., Eden and Regej bowling well. Then Stuart Shepley 14 and Peter Ifould retiring on 30 swung the game back in Fleurieu’s favour. Rob Colwell batted steady for 11 at one end whilst newcomer Graham Clifford of 5 balls hit 4 fours and six to wrap up the game with eight overs to spare.

East v South West Marion Oval No. 2 East 91 Field 3/16, J. White 2/13 defeated by South West 4 for 98

SASCA News SA Seniors Cricket January 2015 4

G. Stagg 35 ret, G. Field 23. On the basis of performances to date the last game of the first half of the Zone competition looked to be one-sided: an unbeaten East playing a winless South-West, but the current holders were determined to turn the season around and made a number of changes. East won the toss and batted but were soon in trouble due to two factors: some very fine bowling by openers Field and White and then Stagg and Whennan, and some brilliant - 5 catches and a -out. The troubles started for East in the second over when Lee Matthews held a one-handed blinder in the gully; soon after John Mason held a very good two-handed, ankle-high slips catch and a couple of overs later Lee held another sharp gully catch – three excellent catches in the slips cordon without a miss. Worse still for East, somewhere in between these catches Ken Nettle was run-out by a brilliant pick-up and throw into the keeper’s gloves by Greg Stagg. East batsmen continued to fall regularly, several having made a start. Another two bats fell to more top catches: top-scorer Red Emmel (17) to a very good low outfield catch taken by Tim Whennan, and Peter Wass (10) to the catch-of-the-day, a hard hit return chance, which was never more than a couple of inches off the ground, to Jack White. East’s 91 all out was never going to be sufficient especially if South West got a reasonable start. Roy Schulz gave East some hope with an early and a threatening spell but the steady first wicket between Geoff Field (23) and John Mason (19) paved the way for Greg Stagg, whose 30 was his third successive mandatory retirement score, and Jack White to get the runs with 16 overs to spare. It is interesting to observe that this game was called after 25 overs and the Fleurieu v North Round 3 match was also called off after the winning score was reached with 8 overs left. In marked contrast, in a first round game at Marion, North, having reached its victory total in the 32nd over, batted out their full 40 overs adding a further 50 runs but in so doing allowing more players to bat and the entire South West team to bowl at least one over.

Christmas Break-up, December 21st, Ridge Park. The annual double wicket game and Christmas BBQ at the Schulzville Oval was a great day with many partners present. Highlights included: • Tom Paris being upstaged by his wife Jane (although many suggested it was his daughter) who out-fielded, out-ran, out-bowled and out-batted him; her appearance, style and presentation really put Tom to shame. • Don Tanner giving a great display as an . Don had no confidence with his partner and so had to adjudicate from the bowling end for the complete match. His colleague, Chris Tobin, was at one stage seen sitting on a chair…while umpiring and scoring from square leg. Thank You Don! The day was won by John McTier and Jimmy Curtis, Kerin and Willson had the most runs but incurred some demerit runs; scores below. Roy had as usual organized a great BBQ with food and drinks. Thank you Roy. Just a good fun day had by all…as it was meant to be. Double Wicker scores in order of batting Kerin/ Wilson 30 v Paech/Mason 27 30/27 = 1.10 5th Wass/Hannon 29 v Herbert/Shepley 22 29/22 = 1.30 4th Curtis/McTier 34 v Bow/Wilton 11 34/11 = 3.01 1st Tom & Jane Paris 19 v Palmer/ Gritzalis 10 19/10 = 1.90 2nd Nash/Schulz 16 v Healey/Stanley 11 16/11 = 1.45 3rd

SASCA News SA Seniors Cricket January 2015 5

SASCA’s Christmas break-up at Ridge Park, December 21, 2014.

Wine: SASCA members can still buy the Eden Valley small vineyard shiraz with a choice of 5 separate vintages or a mixed dozen. Each vintage has its own SASCA label. The price is $120 per dozen, $20 of which goes to SASCA. To Order phone Ian Herbert 0431951726 or email [email protected] SASCA Caps SASCA’s real “felt” cricket caps can still be ordered. They come in 5 sizes – S (6 1/2 to 6 ¾), M (6 7/8 to 7 1/8), L (7 ¼ to 7 3/8) , XL (7 ½ to 7 ¾), XXL (7 7/8 plus) and 2 styles Aussie (Baggy) at $45 & Pommy (English; similar to baseball with peaked cap) at $43. Both styles are fully lined. The caps are Red with our current logo. SASCA’s Red Baggy featuring the logo, is shown. To Order email to Bob Wilton at [email protected] stating style and size.

Answer to the page 2 question The four players were , , and Ernie Jones. More Questions (Answers: see article pp. 11 & 12.) 1. There were two moments during the Test match in which members of the four were brought to mind: one through an indirect on-the-field connection, the other remembered in a specific off-the-field event. What were the two moments?

2. Three of the 4 in the photo captained Australia. Which three?

3. Three of the 4 in the photo played league football. Which three; what clubs?

4. Two of the 4 in the photo went to the same school. Which two; what school?

5. Two of the 4 rank first and second on the list of most wickets in a Sheffield Shield season. Which two?

SASCA News SA Seniors Cricket January 2015 6

Who’s who! Meet SA’s Senior Cricketers

2014 was an important year for Greg Stagg, known as Staggy; he became eligible for Seniors Cricket, attended his first Nationals in Melbourne, and he and Alvira, his wife whom he married in 1978, became grandparents with the birth of a grandson. Cricket has always been a major part of Staggy’s life and joining the Seniors has further enriched it. He played with Sturt DCC from1972 – 1983, mainly with the A’s, returning there to help coach junior cricket, including son Rowan, form 1994-2000 and he played for their LOA team in 2000-2005. His other Adelaide club has been Clarence Park, now Goodwood, playing A Grade in 1983-1994 and returning in 2005. Greg now plays Goodwood LO3 with Jeff Emmel. Greg’s years at Sturt were interrupted by a stint in England during which he played for Dulwich CC A Grade, one of the best teams that he has played for; he set a club record 1700 runs in a season. He also had a one-month tour of Barbados with a combined English side. Like many SASCA members, a major highlight for Greg is just being involved in cricket for so many years with the opportunity to meet many people. Greg, however, has a number of major achievements in his long career: he has been a member of 4 premiership teams, he has made 30 centuries including 9 in England and he played at Lords in the John Haigh Cup Final (a one-day knock-out comp contested by 256 sub-County level clubs from across the UK) – alas, a fourth ball . He has made over 9,600 runs with Goodwood. Greg enjoys walking, particularly the Mt. Lofty Walk, going to the movies, gym and travelling. He and Alvira enjoyed the Melbourne Nationals even though they could not be there for the full tour, and are both looking forward to Hobart. Family-wise, they have twins – Rowan, who plays cricket at Goodwood, and Kimberly. In his younger days Greg played football, Mitcham full forward, and surfed. Greg has been in the Entertainment business for most of his working years...working for Record / Dvd Companies. He set up his own Agency business in 1997, specializing in Dvd / Cd Sales, and is still working with no plans to retire. ******************************************************************************** Peter McKinnon, known variously as Macca, Mac and Peter Mac, has been a member of SASCA since 2007 and has attended 6 Nationals. He has been on the Committee since 2012 and the Club Statistician from 2007-2014. A right- handed all-rounder, he bats at 4 or 5 and bowls medium. In 83 SASCA games he has scored over 1000 runs and taken over 30 wickets. There have been many highlights in Peter Mac’s SASCA days including: the Premiership in Launceston Carnival, Division 2; taking a one handed outfield catch in the first KI match & playing the 2014 KI match in 45C temperature; standing under the catch to give Jim Curtis a hat-trick knowing how well Jimmy takes dropped catches off his bowling; the Train Trip to the Armadale Nationals and the there against the visiting England Spitfires in Div2; and at Canberra, taking a one handed slips catch off Kevin Shepley & batting with Don Tanner to win the game against Victoria. Peter played with Brighton CC in ATCA A1 1965-67 and represented the Glenelg SW area in a State bowling Comp in the nets in this period. He then shifted to Glenelg DCC playing B & C Grade – he won the C Grade Bowling Trophy in ’69-70 and practised with the Chappell Brothers and Lance Gibbs, a highlight – then moved to Kensington playing mostly C & some B grade for 3 seasons. Whilst working with Union Carbide, Peter lived and worked in NSW and Queensland in addition to SA, and he has worked throughout Asia with National Dairies for 4 years. He is married to Dianne and they have three children (Kylie, Catherine, Andrew) and 3 grandchildren (Thomas, Molly and Hamish). Peter Mac played football with Brighton in Amateur League, Sherwood in Qld. & St. Ives (NSW) winning a premiership in 1981. He was a SACA Cricket Umpire 2012–14, is a casual golfer, Norwood FC supporter, Adelaide AFL spectator, gardener when pressed, and regularly agrees with his wife.

SASCA News SA Seniors Cricket January 2015 7

Bob Wilton has been a member of SASCA since 2007 and has attended all the nationals since then except 1. He toured the UK with the inaugural Australian over 70’s team in August 2013 and represented Australia in an ODI against England at Sussex taking 2/28, the only English wickets to fall. He was one of the SASCA tourists to Singapore and Sri Lanka in July 2014. Bob, also known as Twiddles, has been a SASCA Committee member since 2007; he was minutes’ secretary and is now responsible for equipment. Bob’s cricket career began in 1955 as a junior at Payneham. For 4 years, during January vacations, he played for East Torrens DCC in the SACA U/18 Schoolboys comp. and moved to ETDCC in 1959 playing senior cricket there until 1982. Not surprisingly he was granted life-membership of the club for which he had taken 680 wickets as a right arm leggie, played 23 A grade games and captained B and C sides for many years, and had served on the management committee for many years including a period as Secretary. During this period, Bob was a member of the SACA Senior Colts squad for 2 years. Bob returned to Payneham in 1983 and played 175 games with them taking 320 wickets, retiring in the late 90’s. Bob was granted life membership at Payneham where he has been on the management committee for 30 years, 18 as Treasurer. Twiddles played his first A Grade game at 18, taking 1/60 but bemoans the fact that 5 catches were dropped. He played in the 1962/3 B Grade premiership team at ETDCC. He received a 50-year service award from . Playing for Australia and being able to wear a “green baggy” and being a member of the O/60 winning team at Launceston are other cricketing highlights. In addition, whilst playing for Payneham, he took 2 hat-tricks against the same team in the same season in different rounds, this being another highlight.

Bob is married to Pauline and has 3 children and 3 stepchildren and 4 grandchildren and enjoys watching them play sport. He also enjoys watching and playing cricket, and watching football. Bob is a Justice of the Peace. ******************************************************************************** John Nash, otherwise known as Nashy or Nasho, is a RH leggie, modelled on SK Warne (‘a work-in-progress’), and a bat-anywhere-in- the-list RH bat. He joined SASCA in 2012 as a “trainee” becoming a member in 2013 and has scored over 200 runs and taken just under 20 wickets. He looks forward to his first Nationals in Hobart, family matters, visiting son Luke, a snowboarder in Banff, Canada in 2013 & in 2014 having son and gf visit home, having interrupted his O/60’s career. John toured Sri Lanka with SASCA in 2014 “a really enjoyable time with a good bunch of guys and partners”. He is a Players’ Rep on the SASCA committee and a kit-minder. A former KI citizen, Nashy began playing his cricket there at senior level from 13 due to the limited junior cricket. He moved to Adelaide for schooling, Adelaide High 2nd Eleven, and played for Prospect DCC, a couple of B Grade games, mostly C & D Grade & ATCA. Prospect won the District Club Award whilst John was playing in the D’s. He was awarded an Advertiser Cricket Coaching School bat in 1966 at Kingscote, presented by Alan Shiell, sadly because Les Favell was ill, and rates playing on the KI MCG (MacGillivray Cricket Ground) against and with old mates as special. John has been married to Sue his “best friend and beautiful person” for 33 years and they have a son, Luke living the snowboarder’s dream in Banff, and daughter, Jessica, a Chiropractic clinic Receptionist/Secretary. He has been employed by CBC Aust. Bearings since 1971 – he has a 40 years’ service award, and is Technical Sales & Service Mechanical Engineer in Power-transmission products & services. He has had several overseas trips with CBC visiting suppliers in Japan, USA, Germany & Austria. Proudly an Engineer. Nashy, has many interests; reading, especially Cricket history, yarns & profiles, and war-history (his maternal grandfather was at Gallipoli and France in WW1); he loves fishing, a love developed as a KI lad, but other commitments limit opportunities; tries at golf & accepts that chasing rabbits is inevitable; & likes travel – in March. He follows North Adelaide and, he says, “St. Kilda GKW”. (Editor’s note: a usually reliable source advises that GKW, is the expression, frequently used by St Kilda fans, meaning God Knows Why; appropriate when dealing with Saints!)

SASCA News SA Seniors Cricket January 2015 8

Now and Then. Milestones, memories and moments.

Milestones Career Milestones in SASCA competitions reached in December 2014: • Runs scored

o 1250 Alan Reid; o 250 Greg Quinn, Jack White.

• Wickets taken o 50 Peter Wass; o 40 Keith Miller. Bob Wilton; o 25 Des Fuss, Patrick Markwick-Smith.

Milestones reported in this category are intended to recognize the achievements of all SASCA players. Batting milestones will be reported at 250 run intervals starting at 250, and bowling reported when 25 wickets have been taken and thereafter at 10 wicket intervals from 40. The procedure to measure the milestones is cumbersome – it requires data from Peter McKinnon’s spreadsheet, which covers the pre-2014/5 season and includes past and present players, to be manually added to data in the MyCricket website table; separate tables are kept for batting and bowling. The process is error-prone, especially when done after 10pm. Last month Ken Nettle, Greg Stagg and Graeme Fielke were generously, but prematurely, reported as having achieved the 500 run mark –they are all fast scorers but not quite that quick: it should have been 250 runs. If members believe that a milestone has been overlooked or the reported data is incorrect, please advise the editor so that it can be corrected. Members are also invited to advise the editor of any other milestones which they or other SASCA members have achieved and which should be celebrated.

2014/5 Season Milestones in SASCA competitions reached by 31.12.2014: • 200 or more Runs scored Chris Tobin, Des Fuss, Alan Reid, Greg Quinn, Michael Willson, Jim Curtis • 10 or more Wickets taken Alan Reid, Greg Quinn, Jack White, Geoff Field, Jeff Emmel, Jim Curtis

Memories Don Tanner; Cricketing Memoirs Part 2 Part 1 of Don’s cricket memoirs covered his introduction to cricket at school in India and later at Cranleigh School in England.

After Cranleigh, I was immediately conscripted into the army - national service was compulsory at the time, and I spent the next two years with the Intelligence Corps. After basic training, I was posted to the Foreign Office, and that had to be regarded as a “cushy” berth. I was out of uniform, worked civil service hours, and managed to play cricket and rugby for the Corps and also the Foreign Office, at their beautiful grounds in North West London. While the rugby was great, the quality of cricket was not particularly testing, and I regarded it as recreational rather than serious, but thoroughly enjoyable, nevertheless.

SASCA News SA Seniors Cricket January 2015 9

Following demobilization, I secured a foreign contract with the P&O Group, working with their agency in Madras (now Chennai), India. I was there for 3-1/2 years, and my first priority was to join the Madras Cricket Club (MCC), whose grounds at Chepauk hosted Test and State matches. My cricket education immediately jumped up several notches, for I was exposed to cricketers from the top drawer, both Test and State players. I bowled to them and batted against them (with much trepidation) in the nets, and eventually was selected to play for the MCC 1st XI, which featured two Test and numerous State cricketers. Why was I in this august company, you may ask - well, in those days, Indians were not noted for their fielding, and as I was a more than competent fieldsman, I scraped into the side as a No. 10 or 11 batsman (but rarely was called upon to do anything but field).

The Madras Cricket Club ran a hockey team in the off-season, which played on one side of the Test ground. I was a reasonably good hockey player, and surprisingly, was elected of the hockey team, which was composed almost entirely of cricketers anxious to keep fit with a bit of recreational exercise. So, my hockey team, featured two Test and several State cricketers, and as a , large crowds of spectators used to show up to watch, even though the standard of hockey was not especially high. The Test cricketers in my team were C. D. Gopinath (Gopi), a middle-order batsman (and subsequently Chairman of the Indian Test Selectors), and N. Kannayiram, a medium-quick bowler of modest talents - both extremely nice, friendly, unassuming guys. We played against local club sides, and because of the cricketing influence, our team was distinguished for its hard-hitting, vigorous approach to the game, which caused some apprehension among our opponents.

Going back to 1951/52 for a moment, these were the years that the (MCC) toured India, playing as “England” in the five Test matches, and MCC otherwise. I had recently arrived in India, and as I did not then have my own accommodation, I was staying with one of the senior executives of my company, as a paying guest. In those relaxed times, rather than being located in a hotel, the MCC team was split up and individuals were accommodated in the homes of members of the British community. So as luck would have it, for the Madras Test, billeted at my place were two prominent members of the MCC - no less than Tom Graveney (Gloucester & England) and Don Kenyon (Worcester & England).

We were responsible for feeding them, drinking with them, and transporting them to and from the Chepauk ground every day. One evening at the club, I found myself at the bar with Tom Graveney and he needed a lift back home. My transportation at the time was a motorbike, so Tom hopped on the pillion, and we wended our way home through the usual chaotic traffic in the city. Imagine the consternation in officialdom if a leading member of a touring team were to take that kind of risk today! I don’t know whether experiences such as this had any effect on performance on the field, but England lost to India by an innings in the Madras Test (although they drew the series).

SASCA News SA Seniors Cricket January 2015 10

The leading batsman during the tour was Allan Watkins. He was billeted nearby, so most evenings he came over for a drink and a chat with us. He was a great raconteur, and kept us amused with his commentary on the day’s play and anecdotes from his past career. By the way, also in the England ranks were such luminaries as Brian Statham, Jack Robertson, and Roy Tattersall, and playing for India were Hazare, Amarnath, Mankad, Umrigar.

When I returned to England, after my first tour of duty in Madras ended, I decided on a complete change of scenery, and secured another contract with a British firm operating in Peru.

I had married by this time, and my wife, Pat, and I went out to pastures new in Peru. We lived in the capital, Lima, and my work took place in the port of Callao, some 15 km away. As a British expatriate, I was immediately inducted into the Lima Cricket & Football Club, which had delightful grounds near the coast, and I played both cricket and hockey for them. Despite there being very little opposition for us on the cricket field, Latin America not being distinguished for its cricket, we managed to maintain a reasonable standard of play, as the club’s members included a number of excellent cricketers, several of whom had played in the Lancashire League back home.

Our major outlet was playing a “Test Match” against Chile, when we sent a representative touring team down to play in Valparaiso, and the superb cricket centre at the Prince of Wales Country Club in Santiago. Peru emerged victorious in our Test, and I was lucky enough to achieve man of the match honors, by scoring 78 not out in our first innings, and taking 7 wickets for 15 runs in the Chile 2nd innings.

Pat and I returned to the U.K. after the completion of my contract, and as I was offered an attractive new opportunity once again in India, back we went to that country, this time to Bombay (now Mumbai). Unfortunately, the business I was in was extremely demanding, to the extent that I had no time available for recreational sport - and I was obliged to take a full year away from both cricket and hockey. In the end, the conditions were such that I decided to leave, and this was due not only to the unfortunate circumstances with my employers, but also the fact that the Indian Government of the time was making it increasingly difficult for foreign companies to function effectively in the country, and the writing was on the wall with respect to the longevity of a career as an expatriate in India. So, almost as the result of the toss of a coin, we decided to emigrate to Vancouver, Canada, where my wife’s sister and her family were located.

Part 3 of Don Tanner’s cricket memoirs, his Canadian years, will appear in the next SASCA News.

SASCA News SA Seniors Cricket January 2015 11

Moments 29 & 99. One of the aims of most SASCA batsmen is to reach the score of thirty not that thirty has the magic of a but simply because it is our maximum score. However, for SASCA players approaching thirty is not accompanied by increased nerves; there is no “nervous twenties” and most players who get to twenty will retire. SASCA’s record keepers cannot remember an instance of a player getting out for 29 in any SASCA games (if anyone has been out for 29 please let me know). The and 99, however, remain bogeys at Test level. The Adelaide Test had a magic moment when the scoreboard showed both Kohli and Vijay not out on 99. Kohli went on, but Vijay succumbed, in so doing invoking memories of Clem Hill, the youngest of the 4 in the photo referred to on page 2. Clem Hill invented the nervous nineties – he was the first to get out for 99 in , the first to get out in the 90’s in both innings of a test (Adelaide 1902), the first - and remains the only test player - to get out in the nineties in three successive innings (99, 98 & 97 in 1901/2), the first to get out in the super nineties, for192, his highest test score, beating his previous best of 188, but he was only the second to get a duck and a ninety in the same test. He was out 6 times in the nineties a record only broken by Tendulkar (10) Slater (9) and Kallicharan (7), all of whom played far more test innings and had much higher conversion to century rates. Hill played his first game for the state a week after turning 16, still a schoolboy at Price Alfred College where he scored a record 360 in the annual inter-collegiate game against St. Peter’s College (incidentally, the world’s longest running annual cricket match); in so doing, he broke Joe Darling’s record of 252. Hill went on to be Australia’s 13th captain. He hit an Australian record score of 365no, was the first to score 1000 test runs in a year – it took 45 years to happen again – and at retirement was the all time top run-getter in tests. Hill played league football for South Adelaide. In the Adelaide Oval photo, Hill looks like a schoolboy among men, George Giffen, in particular, looking hard and uncompromising as indeed he was. George Giffen played his first game for the state at 18 and his last, coming out of retirement, at 49. He captained SA for several years and Australia in1894. It was said of his captaincy that “he had a tendency to put himself on to bowl too early and to stop bowling too late” a tendency no better evidenced than the 1895 SA V England match. England made 609 from 181 overs of which Giffen bowled 87 taking 5/306; almost certainly he bowled unchanged for a full day’s play. He toured England 5 times and played in the original “Death of English Cricket” test as a result of which the “Ashes” were created. He was the great all-rounder of the time, Australia’s W.G. Grace, and would have made a test team as either a pure bowler or pure batsman. His record includes: topping both batting and bowling averages on the same tour of England; taking the most wickets in an Australian season three times and topping the batting aggregates three times; being the first cricketer in the world to score 10,000 first class runs and take 1,000 wickets, still unequalled by any Australian; being the first Australian player to score 1000 runs and take 100 wickets in tests; and he scored a century and took 10 wickets in the same match on 10 occasions, still unequalled. He was the first Australian to take 10 wickets in an innings, is still the only bowler to have taken 16 wickets in a first class match on 5 occasions, and his 93 wickets in 1894/5 is still the most in a Shield season. On day 5 of the recent test match the SACA honoured Giffen by unveiling a bronze sculpture of him in cricket gear. Giffen played football for Norwood in the SANFL’s predecessor, the SA Football Association, and is credited with kicking Norwood’s first goal in 1878. Joe Darling is the third Australian captain in the photo. Like Giffen, He was a powerful man, very strongly built. Joe was elected Australia’s 10th captain by his team-mates and led the team in 5 series, winning 4; he won 7 tests and drew 10 out of 21, by far the best captaincy record to date. He played representative cricket at 16 but his father disproved of him playing

SASCA News SA Seniors Cricket January 2015 12

football and cricket so he was sent to the country and missed several seasons. His stand-out season was tour of Australia in 1897/8 which he started with a century in . In Adelaide he reached 100 by hitting a six, which, until 1910, required the ball to be hit out of the ground, the first test century reached with a 6; he was the first to hit a test match 6 in Australia and also the first to hit one in England. He hit a third century in the series - in 91 minutes, the fastest to that time – thus becoming the first test player to score 3 tons in a series, and also the first to top 500 runs. He retired to Tasmania but kept playing club cricket scoring 133no in 90 minutes for Claremont at age 52. His wife bore 10 sons and 5 daughters. Ernie Jones is the fourth man in the photo. Ernie, from Auburn, had been a miner at Broken Hill, so he too, was a powerful man. He was Australia’s first tear-away quick. F.S. Jackson, one of the great English batsmen of the period, thought he was the best fast bowler of all time. Clem Hill gave up keeping wickets because keeping to Jones damaged his hands. Jones is famous for his first match in England, which he toured three times. Just off the long boat-trip, Jones, fast but erratic, “put one through Dr. WG Grace’s beard” causing WG to ask “What do you think you’re at Jonah?” Jones was the draw-card of the tour taking 8/39 against an English XI. On his next tour he was the leading test wicket-taker with 26 but even-so Joe Darling made him 12th man for one match because of his hard drinking. Jones took the most wickets in an Australian season twice – his best, 76, remains the second highest total in a Sheffield Shield season. Jonah’s other claim to cricketing fame lay in his action – in 1897 he was the first bowler called for throwing in a test match. Jonah was a top footballer – he played for South and Port and captained North Adelaide to their first premiership and he represented the state.

Radio 5mbs 99.9fm FABULOUS MOVIE NIGHT The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Judi Dench Maggie Smith Richard Gere Bill Nighy

Wine: by special arrangement with Tomich Wines

Pies and Pasties by special arrangement with Villi’s

Bookings through Don Tanner on his email [email protected]

SASCA News SA Seniors Cricket January 2015 13

Contact Points. SASCA’s Committee.

Patron Andrew Sincock President Chris Tobin Vice President Geoff Field Web site, Photos, Selection & Statistics Secretary Peter Griffith Treasurer Jim Curtis Committee Bob Wilton Equipment & Clothing Derek Grove Equipment & Rules, Marion Liaison George Healey Tours & Players Rep Brian Kerin Rules, Equipment & Match day matters Michael Willson Programming, Chair Selection, Constitution John McTier Marion Liaison Roy Schulz Sponsorship, Zone management, Social Director Peter McKinnon Historical Statistics John Nash Players Rep Ian Ravenscroft SACA & Country Rep Scott Dawson Newsletter Advisors Alan Reid Submissions & Letter writing Jeff Emmel Captain & Assistance as needed Stan Hayles Mentor Don Tanner Mentor & Editing of letters or matters as necessary Rex Sellers Ambassador Daryl Harper Ambassador. Contacts President Chris Tobin [email protected] 0409282442 VP Geoff Field [email protected] 0423634912 Treasurer Jim Curtis [email protected] 83861060 Secretary Peter Griffith [email protected]

Get up a SASCA group for the AFFLIP Cocktail Party? The Australian Foundation for Fostering Learning in the Philippines (AFFLIP) is a voluntary, not for profit Foundation contributing to the educational development of young people living in some of the poorest areas of the Philippines. At present, AFFLIP is supporting a number of important education projects in 15 schools on the Island of Mindanao. Alan Reid is the Chairperson of AFFLIP.

AFFLIP conducts a number of fundraising activities each year to support its activities. Its major fundraiser is a Cocktail Party. This year the 2015 AFFLIP Cocktail Party will be held on Friday 13 March, 2015 from 6.30pm - 10.30pm at the Adelaide Pavilion (corner of South Terrace and Peacock Rd). The proceeds from the cocktail party will go towards three projects in the Filipino schools: (1) literacy development, (2) the purchase of agricultural and aquacultural equipment to support school feeding programs, and (3) a pilot project focusing on learning through the outdoor environment. You can read about these projects and other aspects of AFFLIP's work on the website: www.afflip.com. As last year, the entrance cost is $90 per person which includes drinks, canapés and live music from the popular band Smoke and Mirrors. Last year a few SASCA cricketers went as a group and enjoyed the night. Would you like to get up a SASCA group, have a lot of fun, and contribute to a good cause? If so, please email Alan Reid ([email protected]) and he will send details re tickets and payment. The cut-off date for ticket sales is Friday February 27, 2015.

SASCA News SA Seniors Cricket January 2015 14

The Back Pages

Letter to the Editor Hi Scott, My answer to Kevin’s question (in December’s newsletter) is that off the first ball they run 5 but 1 is called short thus 4, and off the second ball either a 4 is hit or they run 4. Regards

Brian Kerin

Quiz The article about the 4 South Australian cricketers (pp. 12 & 13), all of whom played in SA”s first Sheffield Shield winning team in 1893/4, leads to a number of other questions – email your answers, first correct wins a prize. 1. Has any other state/county side ever contained three or more test captains of the same national team? Which team(s) and when?

2. If captains of all forms of cricket, not just test, are considered, which state/county team has had the most captains of the same national team in it at the one time? How many?

3. A top batsman usually tops the batting averages on a tour of England. George Giffen, an all- rounder, did it once as did one out-and-out tail-ender with a test average of 11. Which bowler had a tour average of 102, what year?

4. How many South Australians have captained the Australian test team? Name them.

Exotic Cricket Tours: LAST CALL Exotic Cricket Tours is organizing 2 cricket tours in 2015 -

Chang Mai (Thailand) then Vietnam & Cambodia – departure May 2015 Progress payments over the next few months with $500 deposit on acceptance.

Honolulu – August-September

Interested? please advise George Healey who has more information [email protected]

SASCA News Next issue #36 February edition The February issue of SASCA News will occur around mid February. All contributions, especially letters, photos and yarns are welcome and should be submitted by February 13. Could members submitting their profiles for the Who’s who: Meet SASCA Members please have their bio-details returned to the editor by Feb 6 to allow preparation of the draft profile and final OK in time to meet the edition. Thanks. Scott [email protected]

SASCA News SA Seniors Cricket January 2015 15

SASCA News SA Seniors Cricket January 2015 16