1. Team of the Century The Murrumbeena Cricket Club “Team of the Century” was announced at the MCC Centenary Dinner, the major function held during the centenary year. This was planned to be the highlight of the evening, and a great deal of the event’s planning was geared around the team’s announcement and the presentations. Selection Very early in the planning process a selection panel was formed, and over numerous evening meetings the team took shape. As expected, about half of the names virtually picked themselves, and were effectively selected from day 1. Adding the other the names to the team (or “cutting” from the list of candidates) was a painstaking and lengthy process, before the last player was chosen. The first step in the selection process was to specify the criteria. The major viewpoint was that Murrumbeena is a suburban, community club, and therefore a key component was to be not just the ability of the player concerned, but also to factor in the involvement in the club. Club legend Leigh Hardham has been quoted many times as saying the best batsman he ever saw playing at Murrumbeena was Ron Crippen. Ron played first class cricket for New South Wales, relocated to Victoria, but returned to Sydney after only playing three games. Likewise, players of the 1950s would no doubt class Wally Driver as the best they have seen, and with almost 1000 runs in two seasons that’s a perfectly reasonable comment. But do these people belong in a suburban club’s Team of the Century? After much discussion it was decided that the key criteria for selection in the team would be simply the number of games played in the 1st XI, a figure that was set at 50. It was considered that if people have played that number of games then they have shown the commitment necessary to be part of the club; a member of the club, rather than simply a player in the 1st XI. When the prospective player’s performance was evaluated, only games played in the 1st eleven were considered. Ton Up at Beena The Team Ted Wolsley (Captain) A player at the club from 1923-24 to 1947-48, he is recorded as playing 167 matches in the 1st XI, scoring 4,882 runs, although these figures are understated. Ted is known to have scored at least 5 centuries in the A team, including 198 in the 1932-33 Grand Final against Tooronga. Over his career he played in 27 finals, losing just 1 semi-final and 3 grand finals, finishing with an astonishing ten premierships in the 1st eleven. His name appears on the honour board four times as the winner of the A team batting average. Ted was known to be captain of the club for 13 seasons, and was likely to have filled that role in another two seasons. During his time as captain the club won the 1st XI premiership seven times. Ted has been appointed as captain of the Team of the Century Jeff Graham (Vice-Capt.) Jeff played 15 seasons at the club, although only eight of those were in the 1st XI. After a stellar season in the premiership winning 1966-67 team, in which has scored 555 runs at an average in excess of 40, Jeff spent the next ten seasons playing district cricket, returning in 1977-78 to lead the club to another premiership. In 87 1st XI matches he scored 2,746 runs, with seven centuries, and also took 112 wickets. His highest score was 146 not out, made on two separate occasions (coincidentally his first and last senior century) and Jeff had two other innings of more than 125. A measure of the Jeff’s ability is that in seven of his eight seasons as a 1st XI player he won either the batting or the bowling average. His best bowling figures of 7/35 were achieved in 1980-81 against Hampton. Although only captaining the 1st XI 24 times, he was considered to be an inspiring leader, and with ten years experience at District cricket level would be an able deputy leader. 1-2 Team of the Century Alan Graham With 27 seasons at the club, 17 of them as a 1st XI player, Alan bowled slow-medium off-spin. He took 325 wickets in his 175 games in the Firsts, with his best figures being 7/34 at Frankston, now a Premier cricket club. Alan was a brilliant cover fieldsman, reckoned my most to be the best this club has ever seen. He was very quick across the ground, was exceptionally fast to release the ball, and had a lightning arm. He saved many runs in the field, and was responsible for numerous run outs. He was also a useful lower order batsman, accumulating 2,266 runs, with a century to his credit – 106 against Sandringham in 1965-66. Alan played in three 1st XI premiership teams, and won the bowling average for the 1st XI three times. Two of those bowling averages came in premiership seasons, which is an indicator of his importance to the team. Leigh Hardham Leigh was an automatic choice for this team, with an unrivalled record. A player at the club for 43 seasons, he has represented Murrumbeena in the 1st XI 351 times, over 35 seasons, during which time he scored a staggering 9.488 runs. He reached 50 in 57 innings, and converted 7 of those scores into centuries. The next best recorded count of 50s or above is Ted Wolsley, with 29, and while Leigh’s 7 centuries is not quite the highest, he reached the “nervous nineties” 11 times without converting the score into a ton. 18 scores of 90 or above in the 1st XI is head and shoulders above anybody else. He passed 125 in the 1st XI twice, and remarkably scored a century in 2008-09 at the age of 54. st Leigh’s name appears on the honour board 10 times as the 1 XI Batting average winner, including 7 years out of 8. As a useful part-time slow bowler, Leigh has taken 144 wickets in the top team. Leigh played in two premiership teams in the 1xt XI, plus two losing grand final teams, and captained the eleven over 8 seasons. 1-3 Ton Up at Beena Don Johnston A fearsome fast bowler, with a beautiful action, Don was renowned in his prime as being the fastest in the association. He was at the club from 1945-46 through to 1970-71, playing in the 1st XI for 13 of those seasons, where in 125 games he took 527 wickets, and won the bowling average five times. Don left the club to be coach of a club closer to home, but returned after just one season to captain the 2nd XI. In five seasons with the seconds he added a further 307 wickets to his tally, winning the bowling average in each of those years. He took ten wickets in a match five times for the 1st XI, and once took four wickets in four balls for that eleven in a match against Bentleigh. His best bowling in an innings was 8/14 against Ormond. Don’s contribution to the two 1st XI premiership teams in which he played was enormous, taking 70 and 73 wickets in those successive seasons, following 89 the previous season, when the team was runner-up. Jack McAlister Jack was a stalwart of the club over many seasons, playing for 34 in total from 1935-56 through to 1974-75, and in the A team for exactly half that number. Unfortunately with the dearth of information from the 1930s and 1940s, we cannot be certain about Jack’s statistics. We only have confirmed details of him playing in 77 matches for the A team, in which he accumulated 3,540 runs, although the real figures are likely to be substantially higher; it is probable he may have played 100 unrecorded games, with a commensurate increase in his runs aggregate. We know that he scored eight centuries for the A team, three times he passed 140 and a further two where he reached 120. Jack holds the record for highest number of runs in a season for the 1st XI, and also the best average, both achieved in the premiership year of 1937-38: 773 runs at 70.3. Jack played in four premierships in the A team (and 4 losing grand finals) and was a fine finals player. He made 142 in 1937-38, scored 79 & 52 in 1940-41, and carried his bat in 1943-44. A winner of 8 A team batting averages, after his time in the 1sts had finished Jack played in the lower grade teams, and has his name on the Honour Board a total of 22 times. 1-4 Team of the Century Jim McDermott A classical, free-flowing batsman, Jim played 230 games in the 1st XI across 22 seasons, out of a career total of 413 in 38. He scored 5,218 runs for the firsts, with two centuries, including 149 in 1962-63 against Flemington-Kensington, a score that was for very many years the highest score for the team on turf. He won the 1xt XI batting average five times, played in three premiership teams, and captained the 1st XI for seven seasons, including the 1966-67 flag. As a captain Jim was very attacking, and liked to press for an outright victory given the slightest opportunity.