Almanac Cricket: Ken Eastwood – entering the nineties

 

 

 

Kenneth Humphrey Eastwood is a legend of Victorian cricket.

Captain, coach, mentor, run machine. And, as of November 23 this year, Nonagenarian.

Across his remarkable 184 game tenure under the crimson-hued Footscray Cricket Club cap, the Chatswood (New South Wales) born Eastwood amassed 6920 runs – a club record that stood for more than a quarter of a century. The highlights – 11 centuries and 44 half centuries compiled at an average of 32.49. He captured 106 wickets at a cost of 20.81 per scalp with his left arm wrist spinners. No slouch in the field, he grabbed 104 catches. Clubs champion on three occasions (1963/64, 1966/67 & 1972/73) the award now bears his name along with fellow 23/11 birthday boy Mervyn Gregory Hughes – many happy returns Merv.

Eastwood celebrates two milestones this summer. Along with entering his personal nervous nineties the 2025/26 season marks the 70^th anniversary of his senior debut for the Bulldogs. If it feels like a long time ago it’s because it was – think Rock n Roll, Rosa Parks and Reds under the bed.

 

All those years ago

“Ken Eastwood, a 19-year-old left-handed batsman is the only new player chosen by Footscray, which this season will be captained by George Murray. Last season Eastwood was twelfth man for a New South Wales Country XI against the MCC” – Percy Beames, The Age, Friday 30 September 1955.

Beames’ modest season preview mirrored the teenager’s first up effort the following day. K H Eastwood – leg before wicket to Melbourne’s Cyril Smith for 14. A solid 1955/56 debut season followed, his top score of 78 coming against Richmond in the final home and away fixture. Eastwood’s personal best, along with a century from skipper Murray, ensured victory and the Dogs advanced to their first Senior XI finals appearance since entering the VCA in 1948/49. Alas, the pennant pursuit ended with a semifinal loss to Hawthorn East-Melbourne at Glenferrie Oval. Despite failing to score in the Dogs first innings, Eastwood tempered any disappointment by taking 4/41 in the hosts’ first dig. The Combine coasted to an eight-wicket outright victory on the second afternoon of play.

A solid contributor to the Footscray cause across the following three seasons, Eastwood came of age in the summer of 1959/60. In November he compiled his maiden First XI century (117) against South Melbourne at the Lakeside Oval. Three months later he was elevated to the Victorian Sheffield Shield team for their final match of the competition. In a do-or-die clash with Western Australia at the MCG, Eastwood’s first inning score of 37 helped push Victoria to a total of 431. Despite a 10-wicket triumph Victoria had to settle for silver, with NSW crowned the champions.

 

Dedication to the craft

Unable to establish a permanent spot in a team that included names such as Bill Lawry, Keith Stackpole, Bob Cowper, Ian Redpath and Jack Potter, Eastwood represented Victoria on just four occasions over the next two seasons. Reduced to a cameo role wasn’t due to a lack of application. His training regime at the Western Oval according to Footscray Cricket Club legend Lindsay James was ahead of its time:

“I first met Ken Eastwood when I tried out for the Dowling Shield team (Under 16) at Footscray in 1962. It was quite an eye opener to see how hard the senior team trained, particularly Ken Eastwood. To be successful, he had to do more than a 10-minute batting session – he had to be fit to endure lengthy stays at the crease. Before AND after a batting session Ken ran laps of the ground in his full kit – pads, bat, gloves.  Whilst a naturally aggressive batsman he was adaptable depending on the circumstances of the game”.

Eastwood’s 1963/64 efforts were truly outstanding – 632 runs (three centuries, two half centuries) at an average of 39.50. Only the MCC’s Graeme Watson (862) managed more runs that summer. Unable to convince state selectors for a recall, the 28-year-old accepted an offer to coach Sub-district club Williamstown for the following two summers.

 

Didn’t miss a beat

Any thoughts that Eastwood might struggle upon his return to Footscray in the Spring of ’66 were rapidly dispelled. When Richmond visited Barkly Street in late October, he became only the second player in the sixty-year history of Melbourne’s premier cricket competition to register centuries in both innings of a first XI match. Next up, the Dogs travelled to the Brunswick Street Oval to face Fitzroy. The Lions received fair warning of their impending doom:

“Ken Eastwood will be the centre of interest when Footscray turns out at Fitzroy today. He scored a century in each innings against Richmond last round. Eastwood will certainly embarrass Victorian selectors if he produces the “goods” again in this match.” – Percy Beames, The Age, Saturday 12 November 1966.

Rain washed out the first day’s play and the teams reconvened seven days later for a one-day contest. To the surprise of no one Eastwood dominated with an unbeaten 119 to lead his team to 5/189, passing the hosts 8/159 in the process. Beames was proven correct on both counts – Eastwood starred and the Victorian selectors took heed and spared themselves any further blushes. After an absence of 1851 days Ken Eastwood’s state cricket career had been resuscitated.

 

Back on the big stage

“Kenny Eastwood was a really tough competitor but never felt the need to exhibit his toughness by mouthing off at the opposition; he let his bat do the talking and, with a first-class average of 41.87, it sure did some talking. As an opening batsman, he faced the biggest, the toughest and the fastest but he never flinched; many of today’s cricketers could learn a thing or two from his dedication and commitment to the task.” – Paul Sheahan

Despite taking points from their opening three contests of the 1966/67 season the Victorian team was far from a finished product. Ken Eastwood and Paul Sheahan were added to the side to take on Queensland in the early December clash at the MCG. They were joined by Shield debutant Norm Emerson, the Collingwood opening bowler promoted after toiling for ten years in club cricket. Peter Burge won the toss and offered first use of the MCG pitch to the hosts. If Eastwood was nervy at the thought of facing an attack spearheaded by former/future Internationals in Peter Allan and Ross Duncan it didn’t show. An opening partnership of 84 with Ken Thomas, was followed by a 52-run union with Bulldog teammate Les Joslin for the second. Having passed his previous best in interstate cricket (60 v SA in 1960/61) Eastwood kept on keeping on. Jack Potter came and went, his dismissal heralding the arrival of A P Sheahan to the contest. Soon after Eastwood would pass three figures for the first time in his stop-start state cricket career. The pair took the home team to a score of 237 before Ken Eastwood became the fourth wicket to fall, caught Peter Burge, bowled Bob Crane. With 121 next to his name, the fairytale comeback to interstate cricket was complete. Later that afternoon Sheahan (136) would record his second Shield ton of 1966. Six decades later Paul Sheahan speaks warmly of the support he received from his former colleague:

“As a teammate, he was one of those whom you’d have been happy to have had in the trenches beside you at Gallipoli … even though you were in enormous trouble in 1915, anyway. He’s a ‘salt-of-the-earth’ type of bloke, no airs or graces, but he has a heart of gold, bigger than Phar Lap’s.”

Although Victoria failed to take full points in Ken Eastwood’s comeback match, they did attain the 1966/67 Sheffield Shield. Eastwood’s contribution (300 runs at 42.85) proved to be a major factor in his adopted state’s success. Whilst a consistent performer over the next two campaigns Footscray’s favourite son remained on the periphery of the Shield team. Perseverance paid off and with the swinging sixties drawing to a close opportunity knocked. With Lawry, Redpath, Sheahan and Stackpole touring India and South Africa for the entirety of the 1969/70 domestic cricket calendar, Eastwood appeared in all of Victoria’s eight contests. The selectors faith was repaid, in full, with a little interest. 584 runs (fifth on the aggregate run table) at an average of 41.71 (ninth best in the competition) underlined the significance he played in lifting Victoria to another interstate title. His was a feel-good story for the ages.

What cricket aficionados didn’t realise was the 34-year-old was warming up for something bigger, more elaborate. Special.

 

Read more from Mic Rees HERE

 

 

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