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last year



RECORD: 310*runs in 1936-37 by Richard Taylor (173*) / Hugh Chilvers (154*) for Northern District 6-402 declared against Marrickville 250 & 3-82 at Waitara Oval (now Mark Taylor Oval) in round 5, 31 Oct.-7 Nov. 1936.

On a sunny October afternoon at Waitara in 1936, Marrickville’s fast bowlers, NSW Sheffield Shield player Les O’Brien and Goulburn representative Harold McQuirk, made early inroads into the Northern District batting line-up to have them struggling at 6-92. That brought NSW leg-spinner Hughie Chilvers to the crease to join no 4 bat, Richard “Dick” Taylor. Over the following 140 minutes, the pair flayed the powerful attack to all parts of the oval as they rattled up an unconquered 310. The innings was declared at the stumps score of 6-402 with Taylor 173* and Chilvers 154*. They hit 45 fours between them–Taylor 23 and Chilvers 22. It was by far the highest 7th wicket partnership in Sydney 1st Grade, smashing the previous mark of 218* established 16 years earlier. On the second day’s play, Marrickville could only manage 250 and 3-82 with Chilvers taking 4-101 and NSW off-spinner Tim Caldwell, who later became Chairman of the Australian Cricket Board, finishing with 5-80.

The Taylor-Chilvers record has stood the test of time and has never been bettered. In the 89 years to 2023 since it was created, it is the only 7th wicket partnership to have passed the 300 runs milestone. It is also the highest partnership by a Northern District team in any grade.

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last year



On the 21st August 1986 Sir Ian Botham became the highest wicket taker in test history when he trapped New Zealand batter Jeff Crowe LBW for 8 on the first day of the 3rd test between England and New Zealand at the Oval.
The record was held by Australian Dennis Lillee who took 355 test wickets.
Botham went on to take 383 test wickets in 102 test matches and held the record until passed by New Zealand paceman Sir Richard Hadlee.
In the first innings of the third test Botham took the wicket of Bruce Edgar to equal Lillee’s record of 355, Jeff Crowe to pass the record and then dismissed Jeremy Coney to finish the innings with 3 wickets. It was Botham first test back after being suspended by the England test and County Cricket Board.

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last year



Cricket can be the loneliest of all team sports. Yes, you’re part of a team but when you break it down it’s simply one bowler against one batter surrounded by 10 others whose sole objective is to remove the batter from his cherished position.

The batter job is to blunt the bowler, preserve their wicket and score runs on behalf of their batting partner at the other end and 9 team mates watching from the sidelines.

For cricket fans, it’s theatre and can be a show you don’t dare miss.

I asked a cricket fan to choose the one bowler from any era they’d like to see take on one batter from any era.

Their answer was – Allan Donald v Steve Smith.

What a match up that would be, and there’s been so many memorable match ups throughout the years

In asking others the same question, there are some fascinating responses. Let’s take a look.

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last year



Bathiya Perera arrived onto the Sri Lankan first class scene as a young 19 year old leg spinning all rounder. As his career progressed he would mature into a dominant top order batsman scoring 8254 first class runs with a high score of 220 not out. Bathiya put in many dominant performances for Sri Lanka A against world class lineups but could never break into the test side.

Bathiya has since moved to Australia where he had a short stint playing at Berwick, before he spent time as the coach of Upper Beaconsfield and Frankston Peninsula and skills development coach of various junior clubs.

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last year



David Thompson made his first grade debut for Bankstown during the 1981/82 and is first grade cap number 144.

In 1985/86 David became the inaugural first grade captain of Fairfield Cricket Club where he spent one year and has the honour of Fairfield Liverpool Cricket Club Player of the Year Award named after him.

In first grade David scored 3,336 runs at 24.35 including one century and 21 half centuries. He took 58 wickets with his best figures 5 for 53.

In all grades David scored over 7,000 and continued to play into his 40s and became a tremendous influence and mentor to many younger players.

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last year



On the 20th August 1931 Australian test cricketer number 1 Charles Bannerman passed way at the age of 80.
Bannerman faced the first ball bowled in test cricket on 15 March 1877 at the MCG and went on to score 165 before retiring hurt with a broken finger in Australia’s first inning of 245.
Australia had won the toss and elected to bat and after being bowled out in their first innings they dismissed England for 196. Australia was bowled out for 104 in their 2nd innings with Bannerman scoring only 4 and England needed 153 runs to win. Australia bowled England out for 108 and Australia was the test match by 45 runs.
Bannerman played 3 test matches for Australia scoring 239 runs at an average of 59.75.
He played first class cricket for NSW and in 44 first class matches he scored 1,687 runs at an average of 21.62 including one century and nine half centuries.
Bannerman retired from first class cricket in 1888 and went on to become an umpire and umpired in 12 tests matches.

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last year



During my Education studies, I was introduced to the seminal theory of learning and development of Belarussian Psychologist, Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development is typically defined as the space between what a learner can do without assistance and what a learner can do with expert guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers.

As Aussie Cricket Season 2023/24 approaches, I thought Vygotsky’s ideas might be helpful to players, parents, and coaches as they grapple with a common, perennial cricket development issue: which age group should a youngster play in?

Before jumping into our issue, for our purposes we can interpret Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development as having two main recognisable elements: masterful coaching and stretching players by training at the edge of their capabilities.

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last year



Matt Chasemore joined St Kilda for the 2013/14 season and made a tremendous contribution in his 2 seasons with the Saints.

He scored 1,207 first grade runs for the club at an average of 44.70 including 5 centuries and 5 fifties. With the ball he took 43 wickets at an incredible 14.18.

Matt made his first grade debut in Victoria Premier Cricket in 2001/02 when playing for Dandenong.

In 15 seasons of first grade cricket with Dandenong, Frankston Peninsula and St Kilda, Matt scored 7,377 first grade runs at 32.93 including 12 centuries and 37 fifties. He took 219 wickets at 19.77 and took 5 wickets or more in an innings on 7 occasions. He also took 107 catches.

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On the 19 August 1992 Sri Lanka wicket keeper batter Romesh Kaluwitharana scored 132 not out on day 3 of his test debut in the first test between Sri Lanka and Australia in Colombo.
In the test match Sri Lanka won the toss and sent Australia into bat and Australia were bowled out for 256.
Sri Lanak declared their first innings 8 for 547 and along with Kaluwitharana, Asanka Gurisinha and Arjuna Ranatunga also made centuries.
Australia scored 471 in their 2nd innings setting Sri Lanka 180 to win.
Kaluwitharana test debut century was in the same test match Australian spin legend Shane Warne bowled Australia to victory with 5.1 overs and took 3 wickets for 11 runs as Australia bowled sri Lanka out for 164 to win by 16 runs.
Kaluwitharana played 49 tests for Sri Lanka taking 119 dismissals, 93 catches and 26 stumpings and scored 1,933 runs at an average of 26.12. He ht 2 centuries and 9 half centuries and his highest score was 132 not out.
In 189 one day internationals Kaluwitharana took 207 dismissals, 132 catches and 75 stumpings and scored 3,711 runs at an average of 22.22. He scored 3 centuries and 23 half centuries in ODI and his highest score was 102.

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last year



Andrew Grant made his first grade debut for Prahran Cricket Club during the 1981/82 season and played 209 first grade games for the club scoring 6,959 runs at an average of 36.43 including 11 centuries and 38 half centuries.

Andrew remains the third highest all-time first grade run scorer for Prahran.

In 1996/97 Andrew played for St Kilda Cricket Club for two seasons scoring 1,006 at an average of 40.24 and hit 8 half centuries.

All up in Premier Cricket in Victoria Andrew Grant played 238 games and scored 7,965 runs at 36.87 with 11 centuries and 46 half centuries.

He’s a member of the Cricket Victoria 200 Club and a very proud Life Member and Hall of Fame Member of Prahran Cricket Club.

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last year



My Best Grade team - Peter Clifford 1979 to 1992

I played Grade Cricket for Randwick Cricket Club in Sydney from 1979 to 1985 before moving to Brisbane and playing for Toombul Cricket Club from 1986 to 1992.

Here is my Best Grade team from players I played with. In batting order

1. Alan Turner (Captain)- Randwick, NSW and Australia
Tough man, led by example and a wonderful mentor and leader. Even at the end of his career played some amazing innings. Aggressive captain and was always 2 hours ahead of play.

2. John Dyson – Randwick, NSW and Australia...

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last year



Neil Maxwell made his first grade debut for Northern District in 1985 and has since gone on an incredible cricket journey.

As an all-rounder Neil played 35 first class and 27 one day cricket games for Victoria and NSW. He played for Australia A against the West Indies and has represented Fiji, the country of his birth on numerous occasions.

Off the field cricket Neil’s contribution to cricket has been extensive. His business, marketing and entrepreneurial skills are very highly regarded in Australia and Internationally and he is currently the Chairman of Sydney Cricket Club.

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last year



Stroll around the Brisbane bayside suburb of Deagon and you may come across a game of cricket being played at Kirsten Pike Oval, proudly named in honour of Sandgate/Redcliffe’s first women’s test cricketer. Kirsten was an accurate medium pacer who represented her country 37 times achieving great success in One Day Internationals where she took 34 wickets @ 23. A distinguished playing career is just part of her story as she is the first woman to be elected deputy chair of the Queensland Cricket board, fulfilling her fiduciary duties around a busy work life as a partner of major Australian corporate law firm Thomson Geer.

Pike was Queensland Fire player of the year in 2006/07 and toiled hard for 13 seasons finishing her career as Queensland’s all-time leading wicket taker. She was an integral member of the first Queensland team to win a national title, taking most wickets in the 2013/14 T-20 competition. She retired after the final against the ACT citing that there could be no better time and that she was sick of giving free conveyancing advice to her teammates.

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