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Waratahs Cricket Club of Armidale - now The Tahs Inc - has an interesting and very accessible history.
With one of the most extensive set of club records of any Australian sporting club, our history is revered and often looked over. It always informed each new group of custodians and linked players over the ages, revering with great equity each member of the Waratahs family.
One of the reasons this ethos was developed and maintained were its leaders, on and off the field. Another was the creation of the Yearbook, issued annually at the Presentation Dinner since 1972. After the speeches were finished and the trophies handed out, a quiet would always descend over the room as everyone first checked their stats, then read the reports and finally thumbed through the records section to see what performances had joined the pantheon of the greats.
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Emergence of a Future Captain in a Winning Campaign: 2009/2010

A quote from the youngest (Ryan Gibson): "Blakey, it's taken you over 50 games in PG'd to win this comp, I've won it in 5 games."

Right off the bat, I'm going to say, this season the boys deserved to win this competition. The achieved victory was a culmination of a few seasons' work/preparation. Led beautifully through 2 different skippers over the past 2 seasons, the lads this season slowly warmed into the comp, before blowing away 3 strong teams in the Finals.

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The Annual O’Reilly Oration was held in the Booth Saunders Pavilion on Friday 19 September. A full house of 126 heard from guest speaker, St George Life Member, Moises Henriques. He was later joined in a panel discussion by Cricket Australia Chair, Mike Baird AO and Cricket NSW Chair, John Knox.

The O’Reilly Oration was inaugurated in 2005 as a way of remembering the enormous contribution that Bill O’Reilly made to St George DCC and indeed the game across Australia and the world. Speakers have always been encouraged to follow in the O’Reilly tradition of providing forthright, considered opinions that challenge the status quo. That tradition continued in 2025.

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23 September 1911, Mayor Blackshaw bowled the first cricket ball at the official opening of Hurstville Oval, with St George XV playing a First Grade X1. Les Blackshaw worked tirelessly to have a suitable first grade cricket oval in the district, not only as an Alderman but also through fundraising and volunteering to tend the soil and plant fifty trees, mainly along the Dora Street boundary.

This was the beginning of a lifetime association with St George District Cricket for Blackshaw. Spanning 61 years until 1968, Blackshaw became known as “Father of Cricket in the District”, according to St George District Cricket Club.

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In 1976, GRAHAM FROST (#333) made 26 on debut for B grade v Centrals in a one day game. In what was the first game in an 18 year career for Waratahs, which although spanning every grade, was dominated by his outstanding performances in A/1st grade.

Originally a middle order player, he soon became a regular opener in the top grade, his batting marked by his elegance and grace. Frosty is the 5th highest run scorer overall for Waratahs (4,781 runs) and also the 5th highest in 1sts (2,974). He made 5 hundreds for the club and famously 6 scores in the 90's. He batted in 10 century partnership (two each with the Rogers - Sattler and Roan), including the highest partnership ever recorded for Waratahs, 293 unbeaten with Tim Muldoon (#296). He is one of only three batsmen to score more than 150 twice. He six times won end of season batting trophies.

Frosty had safe hands in the outfield but was a very reluctant wicketkeeper, only taking the gloves when there was no one else. Despite that, he twice held 5 catches in an innings behind the stumps. His 131 catches for the club trail only Albert Hofkamp (#476), Alan Gray (#26) and Terry Betts (#205).

The organiser of the reunion dinner which led to the formation of The Tahs Inc in 2023, he has always been a clubman first. Its no surprise that when more than seventy ex Waratahs players voted in 2010 for the best Waratahs side ever, he was included.

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Jim Stone enjoyed a long fruitful wicket snaffling career with the Parramatta District Cricket Club (then known as Central Cumberland), commencing with the Club’s Shires team in 1927/28 and finishing in Second grade in1947/48.

Second grade was his playground, and he harvested a bumper crop of wickets at that level, over a prolonged period he was outstandingly consistent and prolific. The crafty leg-spinner and handy lower-order batsman set bowling records in Second grade for Parramatta that have stood the test of time. The most career wickets in 2nd grade 565 wickets @ 14.75, the best bowling average in a season 8.73, claimed 50+ wickets in a season on five occasions, and captured ten wickets in a match four times.

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Having written two books about the Gordon cricketers who fought in World War I and World War II, there are of course many stories of bravery and heroism. Not suggesting in any way that Basil Sheidow was not brave or would have been a hero given the opportunity, his service in World War II was definitely ‘unusual’.

Being keen to serve his country, Basil looked at the study opportunities he might be able to secure to give him a reasonably safe role in the war in the UK. While having no known skills in this profession, he decided on studying to be a ‘nursing orderly’ and upon receiving a certificate, he enlisted. Unable to find an AIF division to take him the enlistment officer decided he should go into the Airforce and be posted to the UK.

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Jack Treanor – A Leg-spinner of the highest order

Jack Cassimar Treanor was born on 17th August 1922 at Darlinghurst and died on 7th November 1993 at East Ballina, NSW. He was a right-hand leg-spin bowler and moderate left-handed batsman.

Treanor bowled in a similar manner to the former great Test leg-spinner Bill O’Reilly, pushing the ball quickly through the air and bowling with great accuracy. Not being a big spinner of the ball, he relied on trapping the batsman around the crease line – utilizing a combination of the accuracy, nip off the pitch and a bouncing top-spinner to detonate the batsman’s downfall. A dedicated bowler he had ‘scant respect’ for batsmen – ‘they were his sworn enemies’.

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The curious case of Nat Hill

There are certain teammates who, when you think of them, simply make you smile - and Nat Hill was undoubtedly one of those. A talented cricketer and an exceptional team player, Nat brought energy, humour, and a genuine love for the game to every Saturday. One of his trademark antics was the now-famous ‘Oh’ play - a moment of light-hearted gamesmanship where he would signal teammates with an “O” above his head, prompting the entire team to bellow “Oh!” the next time a batter shouldered arms. It was a harmless bit of mischief that often-sowed seeds of doubt in opposing batters and gave his teammates a much-needed laugh during long spells in the field.

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Hayden Goulstone is a spirited young spinner, still developing his trade with the bulk of his cricket lying ahead of him, but he has already joined a select band of Parramatta District Cricket Club off-spinners who played important roles in helping the club to win the coveted NSW Premier Cricket’s First Grade Premiership - former Test bowler W.P. ‘Old Bill’ Howell (1899/00), State player W.H. ‘Young Bill’ Howell (1932/33), the club’s highest wicket-taker Bobby Aitken (1964/65) and Hayden Goulstone (2022/23 & 2024/25).

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Michael Bevan

While it’s rare today for international—and even state—players to participate regularly in grade cricket, this wasn’t always the case. Up until the early 2000s, it was common to see Australian representatives turning out for their grade clubs a few times each season. Bankstown boasted the Waugh twins, Northern District had Mark Taylor, UNSW fielded Michael Slater, Mosman had the Lee brothers, Sutherland had Glenn McGrath, and at Manly, we were fortunate to have the original finisher - Michael Bevan.

After transferring to Manly from Campbelltown—where he had already established a reputation for match-winning performances—Bevan became a key figure for the club over several seasons.

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At start of the 2021/22 season Ryan Hackney, then a young NSW contracted player, transferred his allegiance from the Penrith District Cricket Club to Parramatta, in search of a new challenge and to enhance his prospects of NSW first-class selection – in both these pursuits he was ultimately successful.

Ryan is the consummate opening batsman – in many ways the old style opener who blunts the attack – at the crease the left-hander is quiet in demeanour, fully switched on to the job ahead, unruffled, possesses loads of concentration and loves batting for long periods.

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