‘The day the Poms arrived in town…’ by KB Hill

The frenetic build-up to this season’s ‘Ashes Series for the Ages’ takes me back 67 years, to when the Australians were bidding to re-capture the mystical ‘Urn’ in 1958/59.

The Aussies had gained the upper-hand with a convincing victory in Brisbane, and when the cricketing caravan prepared to move to Melbourne for the Second Test, Dad suggested he might take a car-load of us kids to the MCG on New Year’s Day 1959.

For an 11-year-old kid whose entire existence revolved around sport, this was music to my ears……

Our first-ever visit to the ‘Coliseum’……..our initiation to Test cricket……….How good’s that ?………

The only television coverage of cricket in that era was a half-hour package of blurry black-and-white vision of the day’s play, which, despite its quality, you could hardly wait to tune into later that night….

We would absorb all of it….and every tidbit of information that appeared in the newspaper.

The elation of entering the surrounds of the MCG for that second day of the Test…….mounting the steps…..and laying my eyes on the magnificent green sward for the first time, is still crystal clear .

So is the sensation of watching the English skipper Peter May complete his century…..and admiring the polar-opposite bowling styles of Alan Davidson and his fellow left-arm speedster Ian Meckiff.

Davidson took the honours on this particular day, but there was something about Meckiff that struck me…….I remember thinking that I must try to replicate the final delivery stride, and ‘jerk’ in his action, that made him look so dangerous……..

An additional highlight came in the final session when my other hero, the diminutive Victorian Neil Harvey raced to an unbeaten 60, as he peeled a succession of boundaries off Trueman, Statham and Loader……….

…

We enthusiastically dissected the day’s play on the trip home…..then tuned in to the ABC when the match resumed after the rest day, as Alan McGillivray, Clive Harbourd and Johnnie Moyes waxed lyrical about Harvey’s sublimely-skilled innings of 167…….and the big-hearted Brian Statham’s perseverance, as he cleaned up the Aussie tail, to finish with 7/57.

For me, the highlight of the Test, besides Harvey’s brilliance, came on its final day, when Meckiff grabbed 6/38 in England’s second ‘dig’, thus igniting the media frenzy about his action…… which ultimately led to his hounding from the game.

The Aussie’s were now 2-0 up, and we returned to our intensely-fought backyard Test matches, as I strove to emulate the Meckiff action….and the Harvey square-cut……

But we were eagerly looking forward to again seeing the Poms in the skin, at the Wangaratta Showgrounds, in a little over a month’s time……..

It would be the first-ever visit to town by an international team…..if you discount a meeting against a visiting amateur Fijian XI fifty-one years earlier.

But this was the cream of world cricket treading our local turf……providing us with the opportunity to catch a glimpse – at close quarters – of May, Lock, Laker, Graveney, Trueman, Dexter, Subba Row……..

It loomed as Wangaratta’s proudest sporting moment…….

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The initial application for the Match came in 1955, when a letter was sent to the Victorian Country Cricket League, pointing out the favourable aspects of Wangaratta as a venue for a touring match:

“The Match, if approved, would be played at the Wangaratta Showgrounds….The Oval is maintained in magnificent condition, has a fine setting, and a ground capable of accommodating 15,000 people……”

“Wangaratta, on a population basis, is now the fifth largest town in the state. ….We have a population conservatively estimated at 125,000 people within a radius of 50 miles of the town…..”

“Our town has an all-Turf Association, and our 1954 side won the ‘A-Grade Country Week Pennant,” it stated……..

Subsequently, two events occurred which enhanced Wangaratta’s standing within the wider cricket community.

They took out their first Provincial Country Week title in 1957, laying claim to being the leading Association outside Melbourne…….

And, shortly afterwards, they played host to the visiting South Australian Sheffield Shield team, which met a North-East XI at the Showgrounds.

In what was an excellent dress-rehearsal for any future ‘A-Class’ game, the highly-rated South Australians were dismissed for 150, and the locals replied with 192.

The Croweaters piled on 8/250 in their second innings, but the performances of a number of locals drew commendation, particularly left-arm spinner Jock Thomlinson, with 5/56, and all-rounder Stan Trebilcock, who scored a tidy 29 and had match-figures of 6/95.

Visiting VCA official Arthur Liddicut vouched after the game that: “If there’s one country match in Victoria for the upcoming MCC tour, it will be held in Wangaratta….”

…

The official announcement of the match, as part of the MCC’s tour itinerary, generated huge excitement in Wangaratta and beyond.

Work began on the construction of a new £10,000 Grandstand, which would be jointly subsidised by the Show Society, the WDCA, and the Federal Government……It would be dubbed the Richardson Stand, in honour of a long-serving Show Society figure, William B. Richardson.

The centre-strip was the ‘baby’ of legendary local identity, cricketer and curator, Clem Fisher, who knew every inch of the wicket and had devoted hundreds of hours towards its preparation.

And, as the days counted down to the big game, the Victorian Country XI side began to take shape.

It was obvious that several players who had ‘shown their stuff’ in the South Australian match the previous season would be in the forefront to win selection.

And that’s what eventuated…….When the team was announced it included eight members of that side…..and six were from Wangaratta:

MAC HOLTEN: Named as the captain, Holten had, a little over two months earlier, been elected to Federal Parliament as the Member for Indi. He had built his sporting reputation as a versatile 82-game footballer with Collingwood, and a classy batsman for District club Melbourne, before taking on the coaching job with Wangaratta Football Club. He led the Pies to four successive flags in his seven-year coaching stint, besides becoming the North-East’s leading cricketer, and taking Wangaratta to unsurpassed Country Week success.

DES HEALY: A former Collingwood team-mate of Holten, Healy was once rated by the Essendon champ John Coleman as the greatest wingman he had ever seen. Healy also played 52 games of District cricket with Collingwood. He arrived at Wodonga in 1956, to start his coaching contract with the Bulldogs, and also made a huge impression on Wodonga cricket as an upper-order batsman.

GRAEME BATH: A prolific right-hand batsman and off-spinner. He dominated Rutherglen cricket after arriving to manage the Rutherglen Research Station. Had played District cricket with University.

STAN TREBILCOCK: Champion middle-order batsman and multi-faceted bowler. Played in two Provincial-winning CW titles with his home-town, Geelong, and had been a revelation in Wangaratta cricket since 1955.

MALCOLM WARREN: A left-arm speedster with a pronounced ‘drag’. He had taken mountains of wickets with Rovers in the Wangaratta Association, more often than not, acting in tandem with Trebilcock. Played in the WDCA’s Country Week-winning side in 1957, and took 8/13 against Wodonga in a Cup match during the current season.

RAY McLAINE: Recognised as Euroa’s finest all-round sportsman. A speedster with a delightfully fluent action, and a solid middle-order bat, he had been a long-term rep cricket stalwart. Along with two other members of this side M.Holten and G.Bath, McLaine won selection for the match against England at Euroa in 1951.

BOB McARTHUR: Once achieved the feat of taking all 10 wickets for Upper Murray in an innings at Melbourne Country Week. Another all-rounder who had been a consistent performer in North-East Cup cricket for many years.

CLIVE KNEEBONE: The current captain of Shepparton’s Country Week team. An old Wangaratta boy who first represented his home town at Country Week in 1948, and made a WDCA double-century as a youngster. Another of the all-rounders in the side.

JOCK THOMLINSON: Regarded as one of the outstanding left-arm spinners in country cricket. Thomlinson had been taking large hauls of wickets regularly since transferring to Wangaratta as a school-teacher. Played several seasons of District cricket with North Melbourne.

WALLY MITCHELL: A left-hand middle-order bat, right-hand medium-pacer and a brilliant field, Mitchell also played football with Myrtleford. He had been a fine player in the Ovens and King Cricket Association for many years.

MAX BUSSELL: Had been Mac Holten’s vice-captain in Wangaratta’s representative sides for the past 5 years. Had produced countless outstanding performances with the bat and ball over the years, but the highlight would be his 8/23 in the Country Week Final against Shepparton in 1954.

DES JOHNSTONE: Wangaratta’s regular representative glove-man for over a decade. Tidy and reliable behind the stumps, ‘Blinker’ had also given the side some wonderful starts as an attacking opening batsman.

Max Bussell

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We were up at ‘sparrow-fart’ on that warm early-February Saturday morning in 1959……..

We were certain that the locals would give a good account of themselves, but gee, what an experience it would be to watch from the perimeter of the bike track as ‘Fiery’ Freddie Trueman and Peter Loader swung into full stride in their opening overs…….

A sizeable crowd – of just under 7,000 we were later informed – had packed in to watch the action, and we just hoped that the local openers, Healy and Bath, could tuck a couple away early, to give the side a touch of confidence…..

Alas, in Trueman’s opening over Bath sparred at one and edged it to slip…..then next-man-in Clive Kneebone was upended by a Loader delivery.

Shortly after, Healy was calamitously run out for 7, and the procession continued………

In just under 15 overs the pride of North-East Victoria had been bundled out for a dismal total of 32.

The dreams that our boys might enhance the reputation of local cricket were in tatters……. But at least we sat back and watched the Poms give the crowd their money’s worth, as they raced to 8/308 in just 53 overs ( a scintillating run-rate in those days).

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The Englishmen had surely been relieved to escape the media microscope (they had handed over the Ashes at this point, and were trailing 3/0) and they seemed to delight in their time away from the hurly-burly of the major cities.

They appreciated a day-trip to Bright in a convoy of vehicles provided by the local Holden dealers, Donovan-Brush Motors……and were grateful to add a cheque for £572.2.3 to their coffers for their share of the gate.

So they moved on, and the WDCA was commended for its presentation of the touring game – even despite the Country XI’s abject showing on the field.

But another battle was ensuing in its aftermath ………

The Showgrounds landlord – The Wangaratta Agricultural Society – were dissatisfied with their share of the Gate – £86.12.2 – and argued that they had been short-changed £6.10.0.

At the height of the dispute, which raged for some time, one Show Society member described WDCA President Alf Kendall as ‘impudent’, and ‘one of the most awkward persons I have ever had to deal with.’

The WDCA’s future use of the Oval, at one stage, was in question before the Show Society decided to ‘bury the hatchet’ and waive the outstanding fee.

An uneasy truce again prevailed at the Showgrounds Oval……….

This story appeared first on KB Hill’s website On Reflection and is used here with permission.
All photos sourced from KB Hill’s resources unless otherwise acknowledged.

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