LATROBE CRICKET CLUB
HISTORY
Latrobe Cricket Club joined the NWTCA
(now Cricket North-West) in 1950 as one of the founding members. After
pulling out of the competition in 1953, Latrobe re-joined in 1959 and has been
a part of Cricket North-West ever since.
Last
season the club celebrated 50 years of consecutive membership of Cricket North-West. A small
sub-committee worked extremely hard to organise a Reunion and Celebration
evening, inviting ex-players back to the club to share their memories and tall
stories! On the night the inaugural
induction of former players into our Hall
of Fame took place.
Throughout
the years we have been lucky enough to have quality players represent our
club. Test players Sadiq Mohammed, Bishen Bedi, Sharesh Sharma and David
Capel have played in our A-Grade team. Scotland's Alastair Storie and Jim
Govan played with us. We have produced State cricketers such as Tim Bower,
Neville Jelich and Errol Harris, plus numerous underage State
representatives. We are great believers in nurturing our talented local
players as well, and it has paid dividends in the last couple of years.
We
have a sister club arrangement with Frimley
Cricket Club in the UK, who play in the Surrey League. In the last
decade we have had many young cricketers come to us from Frimley - Neil Pretty,
Dave Carroll, John Hebditch, Andy Lion, Mike Gray, Gary Durham, Nick Cornell,
Phil Lion and Andy Lion, all contributing to the social atmosphere and on-field
success of our club. We have had quite a few of our players head over
there as well. Current players Paul Dickson, Brad Green, Clint
Donohue, Andrew Boon and Steven Adkins have all played at Frimley and
enjoyed their time there.
In
our years of involvement Latrobe Cricket Club has enjoyed success quite
regularly in lower grades, but has won only two A-Grade Premierships, in
1973-74 and 2005-06.
In
Season 2005/2006 we were fortunate enough to win two Premierships, with our
Senior Colts defeating Devonport in the Grand Final, and our A-Grade team
defeating Burnie-Yeoman in the Grand Final, coming from 4th position on the
ladder. It was the culmination of a dream for many Latrobe people,
including Coach Stewart Ashdown, Captain Paul Dickson and senior
players David Squibb and Steven Adkins, all of whom had been at the
club for 10+ years. The game was also significant as it saw several young
players emerge, most notably James Wescombe, who won the Paddy Martin medal as
best player in the Grand Final. His gritty 81 runs, alongside Steven
Adkins 57, demonstrated the will Latrobe had to win, as he was fighting his
natural instincts at times in keeping his head down and playing a long
innings.
In Season
2006/07 we managed one Premiership, with our A-Reserve team defeating
Ulverstone in the Grand Final, coming from 4th position on the ladder.
Our Senior Colts again made the Grand Final, but were defeated by a committed
Devonport side. Our Junior Colts qualified for the semi-finals, while our
A-Grade side struggled to finish in 5th position, unable to defend their
Premiership from the previous season.
Season
2007/08 saw A-Reserve again win the Premiership, only losing one game for the
season. The team broke several records in the Grand Final, making a club
best 7-413, with Michael Bishop scoring a club best 216. In a good sign
for Latrobe, there was a great blend of youth and experience in the side.
Our Sunday League and Junior Colts teams again made the Semi-Finals, while our
A-Grade team struggled with the bat all season to miss the finals again.
In 2008/09 A-Grade started brightly, leading the competition at Christmas but
faded to miss the finals. However, the club was unable to unearth some new
A-Grade players which should reap benefits in the long run. A-Reserve made the
semi-finals but was unable to win a third consecutive premiership. Our Sunday
League team made the Grand Final but were beaten by determined Devonport team,
while our Junior Colts made the semi-finals and blooded several first-year
players.
This
year is the second under Shane Wootton, who will be looking to further mould a
competitive club from a mixture of young and experienced players. The committee
are constantly looking for additional ways to support the players and community
– this season committing to run an Under-14 team. With some hard work done over
the past 12 months, expect further improvement from all teams this season.
We will be "the club" to be a member of, make no mistake.
If you are interested in joining Latrobe
Cricket Club or are a past player and would like to say g'day, please post
a comment on our forum or email the club at latrobedemons@gmail.com.