WEBVTT
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Welcome to the Bear Essential podcast, where I will chat to the people who have contributed
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to the rich history of the Bayswater Morley Cricket Club, formerly known as the Bassendean
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Bayswater Cricket Club, established in 1946.
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My name is David Baird and my association with the club began in 1983, and over the
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years I've been a player, lower grade captain, president, secretary and club coach.
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Today I will be chatting to Gary Ireland.
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Gary, or GI, is the club's first first grade premiership captain and the leading run scorer
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in the club's history.
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He played 174 games for Bayswater Morley and eight Sheffield Shield matches for Western Australia and is a life member of the club.
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Gary commenced in 1977-78 with a brief appearance in the lower grades before debuting in the ones during 1978-79.
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The first few seasons were tough, but by 1982-83, J.I. scored his first first-grade century and the ones had played in a first-grade grand final.
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State selection followed in 1984-85.
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In 1985-86, G.I. was made captain and the first grade side won the club's first first grade flag.
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A Lawrence medal in 1987-88, a one day Toyota Cup win in 1988-89 were surrounded by multiple first grade grand final losses.
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In 1990-91, G.I. moved to Mount Lawley for a number of years, but returned to Bayswater Morley to finish his career in 1997-98.
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a year in which the club were club champions.
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Welcome, Gary, or GI, so we might flip between the two as we go through,
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but just so as people know who we're referring to.
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Gary, you're a country lad from Collie.
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How did you and your older brother, Jimmy,
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who also played many years at the club, find your way to Hillcrest?
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Yeah, interesting.
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When I first decided to do this, I was thinking of some of these things
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and I honestly thought that Jim would have been contacted by a Ray Robbie
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or a John Moore knowing that there was a country lad coming up
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and he came up five or six years before me,
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so probably around 72, 73.
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So I actually gave him a call and quite to the contrary,
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he was actually going to play with Perth
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where a lad from his school had already come up, Lindsay Flynn.
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You may know Lindsay from the WACA.
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Yeah.
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Great lad.
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Anyway, but Jim didn't have any way of getting to the ground in those days
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so he was living in Bassendean doing an apprenticeship at Midland
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having to ride his bike everywhere, footy training, cricket training
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so he landed at Bassendean Bayswater which was quite interesting
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and he was actually telling me that his first game that he got picked
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he was only 16 and they didn't tell him until the Thursday night
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that he was playing and he didn't even have a pair of long trousers to wear
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so he actually had to ride his bike to the train station, catch a train into Perth
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went to Bones and bought a pair of long whites which were about a foot too long
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as you can imagine with us, and in the end he made it to the ground
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riding his pushbike to the ground for his first grade game as a 16-year-old.
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Times have changed, eh?
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Times have certainly changed.
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I was a bit different because I was always going to live with Jim
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and his wife Trish when I came to Perth five years later,
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so it was always going to be a matter of me following him.
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So I just followed suit.
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Now your first few years in first grade were tough,
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but a remarkable period of competitiveness for most of the 80s followed.
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How were the early years and what was the main reason for the rise in fortunes?
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It's a good question, Dave,
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because we actually had some quality players still in those late 70s.
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Malcolm Wolfe, we had Wayne Clark, Tom Mullooly, Greg Beveridge.
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I think Danny McEvoy might have still been playing at that time,
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but the wicket was a lot different.
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It was pretty heavily grassed.
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It was a real struggle to make a competitive score there
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and because Wayne was out a lot with shield duties,
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we didn't have an attack that we managed to get sides out with.
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So we struggled for about those first three years.
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Then came the fantastic 80s.
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Apart from those, the losses in, well, I was a player in four grand finals
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that lost during the 80s.
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We lost two semifinals.
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One of those semifinals when Wayne was captain against North Perth,
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we had what I would have said was the best first grade side
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that I've probably seen over the last 40 years, batting and bowling.
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When you've got a side with Dennis Baker, Bruce Reid, Wayne Clark,
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and you've got Derek Aslett, Glenn Hughes,
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and a few others at the top of the order,
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Steve Mylos bowling and Dennis Baker coming on board,
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it was just a fantastic side.
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it was a real pity we didn't pick off at least two or three of those premierships.
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It would have been a fantastic achievement.
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Yeah, so by the mid-'80s, Wayne Clark had been a captain
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and coached a little bit there.
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Then he left and you took over the captaincy in 85, 86.
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What impact did that have on your batting or your enjoyment of the game?
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It was quite a funny period because we had a dominant side
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in the early 80s, then we lost seven players from that grand final side in 84, 85. And it was though
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we needed, or we were just going to plummet down the ladder. We were just going to be cellar
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dwellers. So 85, 86 was an absolute credit to the club, the administrators, the way we recruited.
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You lose Wayne Clark, you lose Derek Aslett, you lose Glenn Hughes. Jim Walters was opening the
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batting. Don McKenzie was our sort of second, third seamer. And Peter Lawrence, our long-term
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wicketkeeper, all left at one hit. So we then had to balance up the recruitment of a few
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players, which the club did very well. And we brought up at least three players from
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the seconds who won the grand final in 84-85. And they came in and just complimented the
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side beautifully. So we had a new group, a new group to look forward with, and they just
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performed fantastically.
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And I think looking at some of those names, Jamie Snadden had played a year in the twos,
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Dave Lewis were ones that came up. And then really critical, I think, was Daryl Smith
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who joined us and Scotty McRae or Ian McRae. So those sort of people, they were quality
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people and quality players that come up, eh?
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Yeah, they brought so many different things to the club. Scotty was, you know, was a clever
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man working with Channel 7. He brought a lot of business acumen and he brought a lot of good
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cricket knowledge and a lot of them just brought a lot of humour and the club prospered. The players
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got on really well on and off the field and we had a unit together there for the next five years
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that every year we'd sort of bring someone else new in. We always were going to lose people but
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we had a core group of players who dominated first grade cricket
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and the club itself won several Kevin Sullivan shields along the way
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and the focus was on club depth,
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but the first grade side just continually won more than enough games
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to qualify for finals every year.
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I mean, I think we only lost one game in 85-86
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and we just had a fantastic unit of players.
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Yeah, and you mentioned the Kevin Sullivan Cup,
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which was the award for the side that finished top after the home and away series.
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in first grade and then club championships
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for all four grades contributions.
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So, yeah, it was certainly a great time.
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So, again, keeping, you mentioned a number of players already.
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Any favourites amongst those?
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I do remember, and it's not on the script,
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I remember watching your captain at different times
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and bowlers would get hit and that cat would come off
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and occasionally bite the dirt and a little kick of the ground.
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Does that strike a memory?
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Who are your favourites and who gave you some
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of those grey hairs you've got now?
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Gee, it's a good question.
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I mean, all the players, I took great enjoyment out of captaining them
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and none of them really gave me any grief.
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Sometimes I was a little bit angry,
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but it was only because I knew that the players could do better.
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So the hat throwing, it didn't happen as often as a lot of people think it did.
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But to captain, sort of Bret Mulder, Steve Mylos,
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it was a challenge because they always wanted to bowl.
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They wanted the ball next.
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two of the probably other highest wicket-taking players in grade cricket.
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I haven't seen the statistics, but they were fantastic.
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Some of the people like Jamie Stadden, who we've mentioned before,
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who came from Perth and played, must have played 200 games of A-grade cricket.
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300.
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300.
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It's amazing, isn't it?
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That is amazing.
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And it ended up being, I don't know whether he coached,
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but he certainly captained the club.
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We had, I loved batting with Glenn Hughes during his period.
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We brought Glenn when he was really struggling
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and in two or three years he became a quality shield player
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when he went to Tasmania.
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Derek Aslett, Dennis Baker, Bernie was a challenge sometimes,
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had some funny ideas.
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But the beauty of Bernie was that he was the true professional
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of great cricket.
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He would bowl up against a brick wall for a half an hour
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before each match.
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So when he got out on the field he was ready
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and he was at his best first ball
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and that made a huge difference.
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We had Vic Marks from England for two seasons.
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Vic was fantastic, professional.
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Heels, Greg Healy, just flicking out his little bits of turf
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in front of the batsmen when he was keeping wickets.
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Yeah, the list, you know, obviously Reedy.
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Bob Parry came to the club and he was, you know, in 85, 86,
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was obviously a first coach, a coach at the time.
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So a first-year coach and a first-year captain,
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which made it even more memorable from that point of view
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because I've got no doubt when Midland turned up for that final,
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they would have looked at our side
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and thought with the strength they had in Tom Moody, Alex Stewart,
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who went on to be England's highest test run scorer for a while there,
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Tony Mann, of course, Ian Phillip was a Scottish international,
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Tim Zura, they had a good side.
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But we had a great day, a great weekend, and pulled off a flag.
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Celebrations lasted quite a while.
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Quite a while.
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Yeah, they did.
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So we've covered quite a few of the players,
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and you talked about recruitment and just the club in general.
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Any behind-the-scenes people and characters
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that maybe didn't play in your side with you
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but were important through your time at the club?
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The committee were fantastic.
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During my tenancy as captain, they allowed us to play cricket.
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They did the behind-the-scenes work.
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All we had to do was turn up and play cricket.
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People, you know, the John Moores, the Ray Robinsons.
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We had the Clarks in the early days.
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We had the Lawrences.
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My favourite man, Eddie Metherall.
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For those people who wouldn't know Eddie,
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they may have seen him on the scoreboard at Hillcrest
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for near on 60 years from memory.
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Absolutely amazing person.
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We had people like Ricky Booth was always at the club.
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Jono, Greg Johnson, Angry, Steve Walker, of course.
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Still there, still at the club, still having a beer every Saturday afternoon,
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still supporting the club.
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Quite amazing, really, yeah.
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Yeah, it's been great support over a long time.
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What about some of your toughest opponents that you came across during your days?
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Some of the guys who regularly got me out weren't necessarily name players.
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I think I tended to play better against tougher opponents.
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I used to get out to certain bowlers
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who sometimes I didn't think they were the greatest bowlers
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and they probably got me out every week
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or every time I played against them.
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So it's hard to pinpoint.
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But we had regular fantastic games against Mount Lawley
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who were a similar club when I went to Mount Lawley.
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Strong administration, well-run club.
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The 82-83 grand final was probably one of the most...
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It sticks in my memory.
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Unfortunately, we lost by three runs,
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but it certainly sticks in my memory.
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been a great, great game of cricket against two fantastic sides, which is how it should
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be. We had a great match against South Perth the following year in a grand final. Lost
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that, unfortunately. People like Tony Mann, there was a lot of quality leg spinners around
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during the 80s. Bob Paulson, I found extremely challenging. Giles Bush was a fantastic grade
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player. Played a couple of shield games with Giles. Interesting chap.
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A lot of leg spinners are, aren't they?
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They are, yeah.
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No, nothing else sort of springs to mind.
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When you talk about those leg spinners
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and you go back to that Mould and Mylos combination,
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you've followed great cricket over time.
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You just don't see it on a Saturday where both your leg spinners
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and off-spinners bowl 25 overs each in tandem.
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And, like, it's just unheard of now.
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It's a changing game.
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Maybe it's just time.
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Yeah, well, and it's probably been impacted by white ball cricket, you know.
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Oh, guys bowling quick off spinners, pushing through overs,
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just trying to keep runs down.
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And big bats that you kind of, you might have enjoyed
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having an innings or two of some of those new sticks.
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I would have loved to have had one of those, yeah.
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Now, we mentioned that you represented the state,
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but not often enough for Basil and Morley people's liking,
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or I'm sure yourself, and timing's often said to be everything.
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The state of the WACA wicket back when you sort of were coming
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into the side wasn't great then. It was relayed and there was lots of stuff going on. How
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do you view your time in the state scene, if you like? And it was a pretty strong era
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as well.
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It was and I was in the squad for probably the best part of 10 years. So there was a
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lot of training involved and with the knowledge that it was going to be hard to get a game
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and the key probably was to be in good nick when and if I ever did get picked. And unfortunately
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when that did happen, I wasn't in the best form.
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The wicket was very average at the WACA.
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The outfield was terribly slow.
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I mean, the pace bowlers were leaving,
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Chris Matthews was leaving footprints in the turf,
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you know, four or five inches deep.
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And the wicket for that first year or so
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when it was relayed was pretty average.
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I had a couple of dodgy decisions,
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but I certainly have no regrets
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and I certainly have no fault on anybody.
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I, of the fault, lied with me.
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I don't think I prepared as well as what I could have.
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It was more, once I got in,
00:15:55.700 --> 00:15:57.860
I was hoping that I could get some big scores.
00:15:58.610 --> 00:16:02.450
But like a number of players, it was like it was a long wait
00:16:02.450 --> 00:16:05.030
and you never, I certainly never quite thought
00:16:05.030 --> 00:16:08.470
that I was quite good enough in that environment.
00:16:09.070 --> 00:16:14.270
And so the time came and it went and I'd missed an opportunity.
00:16:14.270 --> 00:16:16.600
But certainly no regrets.
00:16:17.850 --> 00:16:20.070
But there's things I certainly could have done better
00:16:20.070 --> 00:16:21.550
if I had the opportunity again.
00:16:22.170 --> 00:16:23.470
And you came back to the club.
00:16:23.550 --> 00:16:24.650
You had a few years at Mount Lawley
00:16:24.650 --> 00:16:28.410
and I think maybe even in the subterf for a scene with Dianella,
00:16:28.490 --> 00:16:29.650
but came back to finish your career.
00:16:29.830 --> 00:16:31.050
Are you glad you came back to finish?
00:16:31.150 --> 00:16:31.870
Oh, most definitely.
00:16:32.130 --> 00:16:33.790
Yeah, I had five years at Mount Lawley.
00:16:34.090 --> 00:16:34.930
I had a young family
00:16:34.930 --> 00:16:38.250
and we were living close two doors up from the ground.
00:16:39.110 --> 00:16:43.520
So I also felt a bit of guilt over some of my performances
00:16:43.520 --> 00:16:45.560
in the late 80s.
00:16:47.110 --> 00:16:52.170
The 89-90 grand final against Claremont, which was a debacle.
00:16:53.170 --> 00:16:54.410
I remember that pretty well.
00:16:54.830 --> 00:16:59.120
And I've spoken to people about that and the state of the WACA wicket.
00:16:59.520 --> 00:17:01.620
Went down on a Thursday night before the game.
00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:03.880
The pitch was jet black.
00:17:05.490 --> 00:17:08.430
And I found out, I thought it was because they were going to underprepare it
00:17:08.430 --> 00:17:11.470
because there was a Dockers game early the following week
00:17:11.470 --> 00:17:15.050
and they were trying not to because it had been fine all week.
00:17:15.480 --> 00:17:16.520
It was just wet.
00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:18.460
We lost the toss.
00:17:18.460 --> 00:17:23.750
I was just, we made, we struggled to make 90.
00:17:24.260 --> 00:17:29.080
We had them five for 50 and readied a bold non-stop
00:17:29.080 --> 00:17:31.360
for about 10 on the trot to get us into that position.
00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:34.920
But we couldn't get over the line and then James Brayshaw
00:17:34.920 --> 00:17:39.020
and Dave Lovell put on quite a substantial partnership
00:17:39.020 --> 00:17:40.660
that afternoon and that was the end of the game
00:17:40.660 --> 00:17:42.180
and it rained the next day.
00:17:43.020 --> 00:17:43.120
Yep.
00:17:43.560 --> 00:17:44.000
Yes.
00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:48.400
The year before, it should be Florida.
00:17:49.390 --> 00:17:52.390
We lost a final to Midland the year before, a semi,
00:17:52.510 --> 00:17:54.430
but I was away playing shield then.
00:17:55.340 --> 00:17:57.680
And the year before that, we lost the grand final to Seabee.
00:17:58.100 --> 00:18:01.800
We had them nine for 200 and I took the new ball.
00:18:02.760 --> 00:18:04.240
Giles Bush and Tom Hogan were batting.
00:18:04.460 --> 00:18:06.220
I thought we'd knock them over pretty quickly.
00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:09.350
I put on 70 and that was,
00:18:10.150 --> 00:18:12.790
we got about 230, 240 in reply.
00:18:13.150 --> 00:18:16.450
So a couple of things that I regret as captain,
00:18:16.570 --> 00:18:18.150
but I mean, you can't help the toss of a coin,
00:18:18.270 --> 00:18:19.530
but you cannot, you cannot.
00:18:19.690 --> 00:18:20.250
Well, you know what?
00:18:20.390 --> 00:18:21.470
I reckon we should finish there
00:18:21.470 --> 00:18:22.670
because I'm starting to get a bit sad
00:18:22.670 --> 00:18:23.850
thinking about a couple of those.
00:18:23.850 --> 00:18:26.160
But Gary, what a fabulous career.
00:18:26.300 --> 00:18:28.920
Thank you for those of us that saw you bat and play.
00:18:29.140 --> 00:18:30.640
It was always enjoyable.
00:18:31.060 --> 00:18:32.660
And thank you for your time.
00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:33.720
Pleasure. Thanks, Dave.
00:00:03.270 --> 00:00:07.050
Welcome to the Bear Essential podcast, where I will chat to the people who have contributed
00:00:07.050 --> 00:00:11.370
to the rich history of the Bayswater Morley Cricket Club, formerly known as the Bassendean
00:00:11.370 --> 00:00:14.120
Bayswater Cricket Club, established in 1946.
00:00:15.040 --> 00:00:19.740
My name is David Baird and my association with the club began in 1983, and over the
00:00:19.740 --> 00:00:24.340
years I've been a player, lower grade captain, president, secretary and club coach.
00:00:25.360 --> 00:00:29.090
Today I will be chatting to Gary Ireland.
00:00:29.500 --> 00:00:34.640
Gary, or GI, is the club's first first grade premiership captain and the leading run scorer
00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:35.540
in the club's history.
00:00:35.540 --> 00:00:42.800
He played 174 games for Bayswater Morley and eight Sheffield Shield matches for Western Australia and is a life member of the club.
00:00:43.870 --> 00:00:51.810
Gary commenced in 1977-78 with a brief appearance in the lower grades before debuting in the ones during 1978-79.
00:00:52.430 --> 00:01:01.590
The first few seasons were tough, but by 1982-83, J.I. scored his first first-grade century and the ones had played in a first-grade grand final.
00:01:02.470 --> 00:01:05.230
State selection followed in 1984-85.
00:01:05.470 --> 00:01:13.240
In 1985-86, G.I. was made captain and the first grade side won the club's first first grade flag.
00:01:14.110 --> 00:01:24.220
A Lawrence medal in 1987-88, a one day Toyota Cup win in 1988-89 were surrounded by multiple first grade grand final losses.
00:01:25.210 --> 00:01:34.430
In 1990-91, G.I. moved to Mount Lawley for a number of years, but returned to Bayswater Morley to finish his career in 1997-98.
00:01:34.570 --> 00:01:37.520
a year in which the club were club champions.
00:01:37.890 --> 00:01:43.450
Welcome, Gary, or GI, so we might flip between the two as we go through,
00:01:43.530 --> 00:01:46.010
but just so as people know who we're referring to.
00:01:46.270 --> 00:01:48.530
Gary, you're a country lad from Collie.
00:01:49.030 --> 00:01:50.810
How did you and your older brother, Jimmy,
00:01:51.010 --> 00:01:53.710
who also played many years at the club, find your way to Hillcrest?
00:01:54.630 --> 00:01:55.540
Yeah, interesting.
00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:00.130
When I first decided to do this, I was thinking of some of these things
00:02:00.130 --> 00:02:04.350
and I honestly thought that Jim would have been contacted by a Ray Robbie
00:02:04.350 --> 00:02:07.270
or a John Moore knowing that there was a country lad coming up
00:02:07.270 --> 00:02:10.680
and he came up five or six years before me,
00:02:10.760 --> 00:02:12.660
so probably around 72, 73.
00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:17.630
So I actually gave him a call and quite to the contrary,
00:02:17.750 --> 00:02:19.960
he was actually going to play with Perth
00:02:19.960 --> 00:02:24.270
where a lad from his school had already come up, Lindsay Flynn.
00:02:24.890 --> 00:02:26.210
You may know Lindsay from the WACA.
00:02:26.470 --> 00:02:26.610
Yeah.
00:02:26.890 --> 00:02:27.530
Great lad.
00:02:28.410 --> 00:02:31.470
Anyway, but Jim didn't have any way of getting to the ground in those days
00:02:31.470 --> 00:02:36.810
so he was living in Bassendean doing an apprenticeship at Midland
00:02:36.810 --> 00:02:40.840
having to ride his bike everywhere, footy training, cricket training
00:02:40.840 --> 00:02:45.430
so he landed at Bassendean Bayswater which was quite interesting
00:02:45.430 --> 00:02:50.960
and he was actually telling me that his first game that he got picked
00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:56.490
he was only 16 and they didn't tell him until the Thursday night
00:02:56.490 --> 00:03:00.720
that he was playing and he didn't even have a pair of long trousers to wear
00:03:00.720 --> 00:03:05.920
so he actually had to ride his bike to the train station, catch a train into Perth
00:03:05.920 --> 00:03:10.130
went to Bones and bought a pair of long whites which were about a foot too long
00:03:10.130 --> 00:03:14.210
as you can imagine with us, and in the end he made it to the ground
00:03:14.210 --> 00:03:18.660
riding his pushbike to the ground for his first grade game as a 16-year-old.
00:03:19.040 --> 00:03:20.640
Times have changed, eh?
00:03:20.720 --> 00:03:22.060
Times have certainly changed.
00:03:23.220 --> 00:03:26.640
I was a bit different because I was always going to live with Jim
00:03:26.640 --> 00:03:29.530
and his wife Trish when I came to Perth five years later,
00:03:29.970 --> 00:03:32.660
so it was always going to be a matter of me following him.
00:03:33.920 --> 00:03:35.760
So I just followed suit.
00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:38.740
Now your first few years in first grade were tough,
00:03:39.300 --> 00:03:42.680
but a remarkable period of competitiveness for most of the 80s followed.
00:03:43.160 --> 00:03:47.300
How were the early years and what was the main reason for the rise in fortunes?
00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:49.240
It's a good question, Dave,
00:03:49.300 --> 00:03:52.780
because we actually had some quality players still in those late 70s.
00:03:54.250 --> 00:03:58.610
Malcolm Wolfe, we had Wayne Clark, Tom Mullooly, Greg Beveridge.
00:03:59.560 --> 00:04:02.380
I think Danny McEvoy might have still been playing at that time,
00:04:02.440 --> 00:04:04.540
but the wicket was a lot different.
00:04:05.180 --> 00:04:07.080
It was pretty heavily grassed.
00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:10.080
It was a real struggle to make a competitive score there
00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:13.900
and because Wayne was out a lot with shield duties,
00:04:14.260 --> 00:04:18.100
we didn't have an attack that we managed to get sides out with.
00:04:18.280 --> 00:04:20.940
So we struggled for about those first three years.
00:04:21.870 --> 00:04:23.490
Then came the fantastic 80s.
00:04:24.490 --> 00:04:31.310
Apart from those, the losses in, well, I was a player in four grand finals
00:04:31.310 --> 00:04:32.550
that lost during the 80s.
00:04:33.330 --> 00:04:34.630
We lost two semifinals.
00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:41.130
One of those semifinals when Wayne was captain against North Perth,
00:04:41.290 --> 00:04:44.150
we had what I would have said was the best first grade side
00:04:44.150 --> 00:04:49.050
that I've probably seen over the last 40 years, batting and bowling.
00:04:49.490 --> 00:04:53.630
When you've got a side with Dennis Baker, Bruce Reid, Wayne Clark,
00:04:54.340 --> 00:04:56.340
and you've got Derek Aslett, Glenn Hughes,
00:04:56.680 --> 00:04:58.340
and a few others at the top of the order,
00:04:58.990 --> 00:05:03.780
Steve Mylos bowling and Dennis Baker coming on board,
00:05:03.780 --> 00:05:06.720
it was just a fantastic side.
00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:11.750
it was a real pity we didn't pick off at least two or three of those premierships.
00:05:12.010 --> 00:05:15.070
It would have been a fantastic achievement.
00:05:15.830 --> 00:05:20.310
Yeah, so by the mid-'80s, Wayne Clark had been a captain
00:05:20.310 --> 00:05:22.330
and coached a little bit there.
00:05:23.130 --> 00:05:27.510
Then he left and you took over the captaincy in 85, 86.
00:05:28.130 --> 00:05:31.350
What impact did that have on your batting or your enjoyment of the game?
00:05:32.670 --> 00:05:37.780
It was quite a funny period because we had a dominant side
00:05:37.780 --> 00:05:46.990
in the early 80s, then we lost seven players from that grand final side in 84, 85. And it was though
00:05:46.990 --> 00:05:51.820
we needed, or we were just going to plummet down the ladder. We were just going to be cellar
00:05:51.820 --> 00:06:00.440
dwellers. So 85, 86 was an absolute credit to the club, the administrators, the way we recruited.
00:06:01.080 --> 00:06:09.450
You lose Wayne Clark, you lose Derek Aslett, you lose Glenn Hughes. Jim Walters was opening the
00:06:09.450 --> 00:06:16.110
batting. Don McKenzie was our sort of second, third seamer. And Peter Lawrence, our long-term
00:06:16.110 --> 00:06:22.780
wicketkeeper, all left at one hit. So we then had to balance up the recruitment of a few
00:06:22.780 --> 00:06:29.440
players, which the club did very well. And we brought up at least three players from
00:06:29.440 --> 00:06:35.740
the seconds who won the grand final in 84-85. And they came in and just complimented the
00:06:35.740 --> 00:06:42.380
side beautifully. So we had a new group, a new group to look forward with, and they just
00:06:42.380 --> 00:06:43.400
performed fantastically.
00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:47.980
And I think looking at some of those names, Jamie Snadden had played a year in the twos,
00:06:48.080 --> 00:06:52.460
Dave Lewis were ones that came up. And then really critical, I think, was Daryl Smith
00:06:52.460 --> 00:06:56.640
who joined us and Scotty McRae or Ian McRae. So those sort of people, they were quality
00:06:56.640 --> 00:06:58.920
people and quality players that come up, eh?
00:06:59.140 --> 00:07:05.350
Yeah, they brought so many different things to the club. Scotty was, you know, was a clever
00:07:05.350 --> 00:07:13.060
man working with Channel 7. He brought a lot of business acumen and he brought a lot of good
00:07:13.060 --> 00:07:19.690
cricket knowledge and a lot of them just brought a lot of humour and the club prospered. The players
00:07:19.690 --> 00:07:26.070
got on really well on and off the field and we had a unit together there for the next five years
00:07:26.070 --> 00:07:31.030
that every year we'd sort of bring someone else new in. We always were going to lose people but
00:07:31.030 --> 00:07:35.310
we had a core group of players who dominated first grade cricket
00:07:35.310 --> 00:07:40.030
and the club itself won several Kevin Sullivan shields along the way
00:07:40.030 --> 00:07:42.650
and the focus was on club depth,
00:07:43.220 --> 00:07:48.030
but the first grade side just continually won more than enough games
00:07:48.030 --> 00:07:49.670
to qualify for finals every year.
00:07:49.810 --> 00:07:53.170
I mean, I think we only lost one game in 85-86
00:07:53.170 --> 00:07:56.020
and we just had a fantastic unit of players.
00:07:56.020 --> 00:07:57.940
Yeah, and you mentioned the Kevin Sullivan Cup,
00:07:58.040 --> 00:08:02.020
which was the award for the side that finished top after the home and away series.
00:08:02.580 --> 00:08:04.500
in first grade and then club championships
00:08:04.500 --> 00:08:06.320
for all four grades contributions.
00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:08.640
So, yeah, it was certainly a great time.
00:08:09.180 --> 00:08:11.980
So, again, keeping, you mentioned a number of players already.
00:08:12.690 --> 00:08:13.970
Any favourites amongst those?
00:08:14.130 --> 00:08:16.330
I do remember, and it's not on the script,
00:08:16.450 --> 00:08:18.790
I remember watching your captain at different times
00:08:18.790 --> 00:08:21.750
and bowlers would get hit and that cat would come off
00:08:21.750 --> 00:08:24.730
and occasionally bite the dirt and a little kick of the ground.
00:08:25.110 --> 00:08:26.010
Does that strike a memory?
00:08:27.010 --> 00:08:29.850
Who are your favourites and who gave you some
00:08:29.850 --> 00:08:31.050
of those grey hairs you've got now?
00:08:31.940 --> 00:08:33.420
Gee, it's a good question.
00:08:33.580 --> 00:08:38.180
I mean, all the players, I took great enjoyment out of captaining them
00:08:38.180 --> 00:08:41.580
and none of them really gave me any grief.
00:08:42.530 --> 00:08:44.040
Sometimes I was a little bit angry,
00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:48.370
but it was only because I knew that the players could do better.
00:08:49.550 --> 00:08:52.510
So the hat throwing, it didn't happen as often as a lot of people think it did.
00:08:54.110 --> 00:08:58.880
But to captain, sort of Bret Mulder, Steve Mylos,
00:08:59.160 --> 00:09:01.740
it was a challenge because they always wanted to bowl.
00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:03.300
They wanted the ball next.
00:09:04.530 --> 00:09:08.970
two of the probably other highest wicket-taking players in grade cricket.
00:09:09.270 --> 00:09:11.430
I haven't seen the statistics, but they were fantastic.
00:09:12.350 --> 00:09:15.390
Some of the people like Jamie Stadden, who we've mentioned before,
00:09:15.470 --> 00:09:20.880
who came from Perth and played, must have played 200 games of A-grade cricket.
00:09:21.160 --> 00:09:21.640
300.
00:09:21.760 --> 00:09:22.120
300.
00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:23.640
It's amazing, isn't it?
00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:25.020
That is amazing.
00:09:25.340 --> 00:09:29.410
And it ended up being, I don't know whether he coached,
00:09:29.450 --> 00:09:30.670
but he certainly captained the club.
00:09:30.670 --> 00:09:35.850
We had, I loved batting with Glenn Hughes during his period.
00:09:36.570 --> 00:09:38.270
We brought Glenn when he was really struggling
00:09:38.270 --> 00:09:42.270
and in two or three years he became a quality shield player
00:09:42.270 --> 00:09:43.270
when he went to Tasmania.
00:09:44.090 --> 00:09:47.930
Derek Aslett, Dennis Baker, Bernie was a challenge sometimes,
00:09:48.450 --> 00:09:50.230
had some funny ideas.
00:09:51.030 --> 00:09:54.770
But the beauty of Bernie was that he was the true professional
00:09:54.770 --> 00:09:56.150
of great cricket.
00:09:57.010 --> 00:10:00.270
He would bowl up against a brick wall for a half an hour
00:10:00.270 --> 00:10:02.080
before each match.
00:10:02.680 --> 00:10:04.940
So when he got out on the field he was ready
00:10:04.940 --> 00:10:06.600
and he was at his best first ball
00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:08.540
and that made a huge difference.
00:10:09.540 --> 00:10:12.250
We had Vic Marks from England for two seasons.
00:10:12.550 --> 00:10:14.550
Vic was fantastic, professional.
00:10:15.760 --> 00:10:20.300
Heels, Greg Healy, just flicking out his little bits of turf
00:10:20.300 --> 00:10:22.360
in front of the batsmen when he was keeping wickets.
00:10:23.640 --> 00:10:26.960
Yeah, the list, you know, obviously Reedy.
00:10:27.610 --> 00:10:31.410
Bob Parry came to the club and he was, you know, in 85, 86,
00:10:31.550 --> 00:10:34.290
was obviously a first coach, a coach at the time.
00:10:34.690 --> 00:10:36.970
So a first-year coach and a first-year captain,
00:10:37.430 --> 00:10:41.820
which made it even more memorable from that point of view
00:10:41.820 --> 00:10:46.160
because I've got no doubt when Midland turned up for that final,
00:10:47.040 --> 00:10:48.660
they would have looked at our side
00:10:48.660 --> 00:10:54.880
and thought with the strength they had in Tom Moody, Alex Stewart,
00:10:54.880 --> 00:10:58.860
who went on to be England's highest test run scorer for a while there,
00:10:59.550 --> 00:11:03.530
Tony Mann, of course, Ian Phillip was a Scottish international,
00:11:04.180 --> 00:11:06.550
Tim Zura, they had a good side.
00:11:07.500 --> 00:11:12.680
But we had a great day, a great weekend, and pulled off a flag.
00:11:13.640 --> 00:11:15.160
Celebrations lasted quite a while.
00:11:15.220 --> 00:11:15.720
Quite a while.
00:11:15.800 --> 00:11:16.360
Yeah, they did.
00:11:16.860 --> 00:11:19.310
So we've covered quite a few of the players,
00:11:19.570 --> 00:11:22.590
and you talked about recruitment and just the club in general.
00:11:22.590 --> 00:11:25.310
Any behind-the-scenes people and characters
00:11:25.310 --> 00:11:27.170
that maybe didn't play in your side with you
00:11:27.170 --> 00:11:29.350
but were important through your time at the club?
00:11:30.390 --> 00:11:31.950
The committee were fantastic.
00:11:32.450 --> 00:11:36.540
During my tenancy as captain, they allowed us to play cricket.
00:11:36.920 --> 00:11:38.660
They did the behind-the-scenes work.
00:11:39.370 --> 00:11:41.190
All we had to do was turn up and play cricket.
00:11:41.710 --> 00:11:44.390
People, you know, the John Moores, the Ray Robinsons.
00:11:44.930 --> 00:11:48.040
We had the Clarks in the early days.
00:11:48.260 --> 00:11:48.880
We had the Lawrences.
00:11:49.630 --> 00:11:51.240
My favourite man, Eddie Metherall.
00:11:52.780 --> 00:11:54.930
For those people who wouldn't know Eddie,
00:11:55.030 --> 00:11:57.030
they may have seen him on the scoreboard at Hillcrest
00:11:57.030 --> 00:11:59.730
for near on 60 years from memory.
00:12:00.390 --> 00:12:02.110
Absolutely amazing person.
00:12:02.110 --> 00:12:07.820
We had people like Ricky Booth was always at the club.
00:12:08.410 --> 00:12:14.350
Jono, Greg Johnson, Angry, Steve Walker, of course.
00:12:15.110 --> 00:12:19.050
Still there, still at the club, still having a beer every Saturday afternoon,
00:12:19.330 --> 00:12:20.330
still supporting the club.
00:12:21.060 --> 00:12:22.760
Quite amazing, really, yeah.
00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:24.800
Yeah, it's been great support over a long time.
00:12:25.160 --> 00:12:29.700
What about some of your toughest opponents that you came across during your days?
00:12:32.050 --> 00:12:38.420
Some of the guys who regularly got me out weren't necessarily name players.
00:12:39.330 --> 00:12:42.600
I think I tended to play better against tougher opponents.
00:12:43.810 --> 00:12:45.350
I used to get out to certain bowlers
00:12:45.350 --> 00:12:48.280
who sometimes I didn't think they were the greatest bowlers
00:12:48.280 --> 00:12:51.460
and they probably got me out every week
00:12:51.460 --> 00:12:52.940
or every time I played against them.
00:12:53.220 --> 00:12:54.890
So it's hard to pinpoint.
00:12:55.050 --> 00:12:58.860
But we had regular fantastic games against Mount Lawley
00:12:58.860 --> 00:13:01.040
who were a similar club when I went to Mount Lawley.
00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:03.950
Strong administration, well-run club.
00:13:04.410 --> 00:13:08.480
The 82-83 grand final was probably one of the most...
00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:10.250
It sticks in my memory.
00:13:10.390 --> 00:13:11.990
Unfortunately, we lost by three runs,
00:13:12.090 --> 00:13:13.810
but it certainly sticks in my memory.
00:13:13.950 --> 00:13:19.560
been a great, great game of cricket against two fantastic sides, which is how it should
00:13:19.560 --> 00:13:26.860
be. We had a great match against South Perth the following year in a grand final. Lost
00:13:26.860 --> 00:13:34.270
that, unfortunately. People like Tony Mann, there was a lot of quality leg spinners around
00:13:34.270 --> 00:13:39.950
during the 80s. Bob Paulson, I found extremely challenging. Giles Bush was a fantastic grade
00:13:39.950 --> 00:13:43.900
player. Played a couple of shield games with Giles. Interesting chap.
00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:46.180
A lot of leg spinners are, aren't they?
00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:47.100
They are, yeah.
00:13:49.010 --> 00:13:52.590
No, nothing else sort of springs to mind.
00:13:53.220 --> 00:13:54.990
When you talk about those leg spinners
00:13:54.990 --> 00:13:57.670
and you go back to that Mould and Mylos combination,
00:13:58.280 --> 00:13:59.960
you've followed great cricket over time.
00:14:00.380 --> 00:14:03.260
You just don't see it on a Saturday where both your leg spinners
00:14:03.260 --> 00:14:05.720
and off-spinners bowl 25 overs each in tandem.
00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:08.700
And, like, it's just unheard of now.
00:14:09.140 --> 00:14:10.560
It's a changing game.
00:14:11.230 --> 00:14:12.290
Maybe it's just time.
00:14:12.430 --> 00:14:16.580
Yeah, well, and it's probably been impacted by white ball cricket, you know.
00:14:17.040 --> 00:14:21.170
Oh, guys bowling quick off spinners, pushing through overs,
00:14:21.370 --> 00:14:22.670
just trying to keep runs down.
00:14:23.030 --> 00:14:26.530
And big bats that you kind of, you might have enjoyed
00:14:26.530 --> 00:14:28.950
having an innings or two of some of those new sticks.
00:14:29.030 --> 00:14:30.870
I would have loved to have had one of those, yeah.
00:14:31.750 --> 00:14:34.760
Now, we mentioned that you represented the state,
00:14:35.020 --> 00:14:38.740
but not often enough for Basil and Morley people's liking,
00:14:38.900 --> 00:14:42.500
or I'm sure yourself, and timing's often said to be everything.
00:14:42.860 --> 00:14:45.980
The state of the WACA wicket back when you sort of were coming
00:14:45.980 --> 00:14:50.140
into the side wasn't great then. It was relayed and there was lots of stuff going on. How
00:14:50.140 --> 00:14:55.200
do you view your time in the state scene, if you like? And it was a pretty strong era
00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:55.760
as well.
00:14:56.400 --> 00:15:01.940
It was and I was in the squad for probably the best part of 10 years. So there was a
00:15:01.940 --> 00:15:08.310
lot of training involved and with the knowledge that it was going to be hard to get a game
00:15:08.310 --> 00:15:14.890
and the key probably was to be in good nick when and if I ever did get picked. And unfortunately
00:15:14.890 --> 00:15:17.720
when that did happen, I wasn't in the best form.
00:15:20.030 --> 00:15:22.850
The wicket was very average at the WACA.
00:15:23.450 --> 00:15:26.050
The outfield was terribly slow.
00:15:26.190 --> 00:15:28.250
I mean, the pace bowlers were leaving,
00:15:28.770 --> 00:15:31.530
Chris Matthews was leaving footprints in the turf,
00:15:31.710 --> 00:15:33.170
you know, four or five inches deep.
00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:35.710
And the wicket for that first year or so
00:15:35.710 --> 00:15:37.410
when it was relayed was pretty average.
00:15:38.190 --> 00:15:40.100
I had a couple of dodgy decisions,
00:15:40.760 --> 00:15:43.540
but I certainly have no regrets
00:15:43.540 --> 00:15:46.900
and I certainly have no fault on anybody.
00:15:47.140 --> 00:15:49.460
I, of the fault, lied with me.
00:15:50.640 --> 00:15:53.460
I don't think I prepared as well as what I could have.
00:15:53.620 --> 00:15:55.660
It was more, once I got in,
00:15:55.700 --> 00:15:57.860
I was hoping that I could get some big scores.
00:15:58.610 --> 00:16:02.450
But like a number of players, it was like it was a long wait
00:16:02.450 --> 00:16:05.030
and you never, I certainly never quite thought
00:16:05.030 --> 00:16:08.470
that I was quite good enough in that environment.
00:16:09.070 --> 00:16:14.270
And so the time came and it went and I'd missed an opportunity.
00:16:14.270 --> 00:16:16.600
But certainly no regrets.
00:16:17.850 --> 00:16:20.070
But there's things I certainly could have done better
00:16:20.070 --> 00:16:21.550
if I had the opportunity again.
00:16:22.170 --> 00:16:23.470
And you came back to the club.
00:16:23.550 --> 00:16:24.650
You had a few years at Mount Lawley
00:16:24.650 --> 00:16:28.410
and I think maybe even in the subterf for a scene with Dianella,
00:16:28.490 --> 00:16:29.650
but came back to finish your career.
00:16:29.830 --> 00:16:31.050
Are you glad you came back to finish?
00:16:31.150 --> 00:16:31.870
Oh, most definitely.
00:16:32.130 --> 00:16:33.790
Yeah, I had five years at Mount Lawley.
00:16:34.090 --> 00:16:34.930
I had a young family
00:16:34.930 --> 00:16:38.250
and we were living close two doors up from the ground.
00:16:39.110 --> 00:16:43.520
So I also felt a bit of guilt over some of my performances
00:16:43.520 --> 00:16:45.560
in the late 80s.
00:16:47.110 --> 00:16:52.170
The 89-90 grand final against Claremont, which was a debacle.
00:16:53.170 --> 00:16:54.410
I remember that pretty well.
00:16:54.830 --> 00:16:59.120
And I've spoken to people about that and the state of the WACA wicket.
00:16:59.520 --> 00:17:01.620
Went down on a Thursday night before the game.
00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:03.880
The pitch was jet black.
00:17:05.490 --> 00:17:08.430
And I found out, I thought it was because they were going to underprepare it
00:17:08.430 --> 00:17:11.470
because there was a Dockers game early the following week
00:17:11.470 --> 00:17:15.050
and they were trying not to because it had been fine all week.
00:17:15.480 --> 00:17:16.520
It was just wet.
00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:18.460
We lost the toss.
00:17:18.460 --> 00:17:23.750
I was just, we made, we struggled to make 90.
00:17:24.260 --> 00:17:29.080
We had them five for 50 and readied a bold non-stop
00:17:29.080 --> 00:17:31.360
for about 10 on the trot to get us into that position.
00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:34.920
But we couldn't get over the line and then James Brayshaw
00:17:34.920 --> 00:17:39.020
and Dave Lovell put on quite a substantial partnership
00:17:39.020 --> 00:17:40.660
that afternoon and that was the end of the game
00:17:40.660 --> 00:17:42.180
and it rained the next day.
00:17:43.020 --> 00:17:43.120
Yep.
00:17:43.560 --> 00:17:44.000
Yes.
00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:48.400
The year before, it should be Florida.
00:17:49.390 --> 00:17:52.390
We lost a final to Midland the year before, a semi,
00:17:52.510 --> 00:17:54.430
but I was away playing shield then.
00:17:55.340 --> 00:17:57.680
And the year before that, we lost the grand final to Seabee.
00:17:58.100 --> 00:18:01.800
We had them nine for 200 and I took the new ball.
00:18:02.760 --> 00:18:04.240
Giles Bush and Tom Hogan were batting.
00:18:04.460 --> 00:18:06.220
I thought we'd knock them over pretty quickly.
00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:09.350
I put on 70 and that was,
00:18:10.150 --> 00:18:12.790
we got about 230, 240 in reply.
00:18:13.150 --> 00:18:16.450
So a couple of things that I regret as captain,
00:18:16.570 --> 00:18:18.150
but I mean, you can't help the toss of a coin,
00:18:18.270 --> 00:18:19.530
but you cannot, you cannot.
00:18:19.690 --> 00:18:20.250
Well, you know what?
00:18:20.390 --> 00:18:21.470
I reckon we should finish there
00:18:21.470 --> 00:18:22.670
because I'm starting to get a bit sad
00:18:22.670 --> 00:18:23.850
thinking about a couple of those.
00:18:23.850 --> 00:18:26.160
But Gary, what a fabulous career.
00:18:26.300 --> 00:18:28.920
Thank you for those of us that saw you bat and play.
00:18:29.140 --> 00:18:30.640
It was always enjoyable.
00:18:31.060 --> 00:18:32.660
And thank you for your time.
00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:33.720
Pleasure. Thanks, Dave.
