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.