the history of western suburbs district cricket club 1921-2002

-48-The club again had full use of its grounds and to mark the occasion a ceremony was held during the teainterval during the opening fixture match attended by the president of the QCA, Mr Douglas Murphy.New practice wickets were laid to be used in future seasons. The club also used the turf wicket on theNo 3 oval..The sight board on the No 1 oval was dismantled at the Chelmer end by Messrs Franklin,McManus, C Heading, R Heading and J J Mclaughlin.FIRST GRADECenturiesFive WicketsS C Trimble 101 N Belous 6/27C Westaway 5/62,6/551970-1The club was saddened by the passing of club patron, Dr Stan McDonnell on 17-10-70. Neil Sartor tookover as treasurer. The club coaches were Owen Driscoll and Bob Franklin. The playing highlight wasThird Grade winning the Cricketer’s Club Cup for the first four rounds and being beaten finalist toUniversity in the final. The captain, Graham Martin scored 581 runs at 34.18 including a century in thefinal. Leading wicket takers were Graham Gilliland (30), David Martin(25) and John Briton (32).Sam Trimble again captained the first grade team, scoring 369 runs at 73.80.John Loxton scored 353runs at 39.22 and Jim Boman 262 runs at 37.43. Ian Morley came to the club from Cairns after playingfor Country Colts earlier in the season. The leading wicket takers were Brian Randolph(25), NickBelous(18), Col Westaway (21) Peter Donaldson and Rex Barlow from Maryborough. When SamTrimble was away on state duties Des Hughson captained the team. Both Sam and John Loxtonrepresented the state. Kevin Maher and Greg Martin played for QCA Colts. The club travelled toBallina to play two matches over Easter. During the season, two new practice wickets were in use. Ajunior coaching nursery was instituted at the suggestion of Sam Trimble and Jack McLaughlin..Assisting were Neil Sartor, Ron Archer, Tom Veivers, John Townsend, Keith Bimrose, KevinMaher, Tom Frisby, Jim Boman and Geoff Morris. Fund raising occurred with raffles at the HighwayHotel-Motel organized by Brian White. On 5-6-71, a golden jubilee dinner was held at the QueenslandCricketer’s Club, attended by eighty people. The guest speaker was Lou Rowan. Life membership wasconferred on Bob Spence on 23-7-70.FIRST GRADECenturiesFive WicketsS C Trimble 179* B W Randolph 7/30 (10 wickets for the match)C E Westaway 5/86P W Donaldson 6/311971-2Eric Knowles became Patron. Bob Franklin was again QCA Executive Officer. The club fielded sixteams fom A grade to Schoolboys. The best performed was the U19 team which came 4th. SamTrimble again captained the team scoring 375 runs at 53.57. Other successful batsmen were JimBoman with 398 runs at 36.18, Greg Baker 462 runs at 30.80, John Loxton with 244 runs at 30.50Peter Driscoll with 217 runs at 27.12 and Col Westaway with 256 runs at 25.60. Leading wicket takerswere Nick Belous (40), Col Westaway (34) Des Gerrard (18) and Peter Donaldson (32). Kev Maherand Greg Martin played for QCA colts. The advent of daylight saving resulted in greatly improvedattendances at club practice. Gerry Warr assisted with winter coaching. A new lease was negotiatedby the club with the BCC much to the club’s detriment financially. Fund raising continued at the HighwayHotel-Motel organised by Brian White. John Loxton left in February for two years in England. The onfield performances were poor overall and the Chairman implored club members to try harder.