History

South West Cricket History

 

The first record of cricket in south west Victoria appears in a local newspaper article which shows a meeting being held in 1859 to form the Camperdown Cricket Club.

 

By the 1870s Camperdown was recorded as playing matches against Birregurra, Cobden, Colac, Corio, Mortlake, Terang and Warrnambool.

 

In the southern area of the district it was around 1895 that newspaper reports first appeared of Port Campbell playing matches against Cobden, Nirranda, Nullawarre, Princetown, Rivernook, Scotts Creek and Timboon.

 

It was around World War I that saw the establishment of Cricket Associations locally and over the years since 22 competitions have evolved or disappeared, while 111 clubs have folded.

 

In 1951, the formation of Hampden CA resulted in significant amalgamations, with the next major almagamation occurring in 1996 when three Associations: Mount Emu Creek, Timboon-Stoneyford and Western Plains-Mininera came together to form the single entity of South West Cricket Association.

 

Presently, there are 13 clubs – Bookaar, Boorcan, Camperdown, Cobden, Ecklin, Heytesbury Rebels, Mortlake, Noorat, Pomborneit, Princetown, Simpson, Terang and Woorndoo – which compete in the association’s three senior divisions and two junior competitions.

 

Representative cricket holds a significant place within the association and has been a proud and annual tradition of the local competitions and continues to be to this day.

 

The Corangamite Cricket Association was successful in winning the first ever Melbourne Country Week premiership in 1925/26, with a further 19 premierships have following since.

 

A number of local Associations won numerous senior premierships at Ballarat and Bendigo Country Weeks, while more recently South West won three country week premierships in the space of four years to earn promotion to the provincial grade in 2011/12.

 

At a junior level, South West has also enjoyed great success with representative and has been successful in winning a number of the local under-age competitions.

 

Alongside the success of the competition, South West has also enjoyed success with its female programs, which most notably have included the rise and success of Mortlake’s Georgia Wareham from local cricketer to BBL spinner to Australian cricketer.

 

Georgia continues to be a great role model and ambassador for our association and locally we have seen rapid development in the uptake of female cricket, especially at Pomborneit, but also at Bookaar and now Cobden.

 

More recently, Veterans cricket has also started to gain traction locally, with the formation of the South Western Districts Cricket Club. Numerous South West players are featuring within this side and we expect this growth to continue in future seasons.

 

Off-field, we have had six locals – Edwin Currie, Ron Murnane, Don Lang, Warren Riches, Malcolm Roberts and Kelvin White (current VCCL president) – who have contributed significantly to the administration of the Victorian Country Cricket League. We acknowledge their contributions to our sport’s governing body and congratulate them on their many years of service.

 

Further to this, Cricket Victoria in recent years presented 50 years service recognition to Graeme Fischer, Lindsay McGrath, Grant Myers, John Royal, Geoff Stafford and Kelvin White.

 

A further 68 players, officials and volunteers have also been recognised with life membership of the associations and we duly recognise their contribution to cricket within our local area.

 

 

1996 – 1999         Gary Cronin

1999 – 2006         Max Castle

2006 – 2007         Gary Cronin

2007 – 2012         Keith Baker

2012 – 2017         Don Sherwell

2017 – current      Kym Mathew

1996 – 1999         Max Castle

1996 – 2006         John Royal

1999 – 2006         Gary Cronin

2006 – 2007         Max Castle

2006 – 2007         Keith Baker

2007 – 2016         Stephen Cain

2007 – 2012         Rob McLaughlin

2012 – 2016         Graeme Fischer

2016 – 2018         Rob McLaughlin

2017 – 2021         David Costin

2017 – current    Andy Casson

2022 – current   Matthew Hanks

1996 – 2000         Ross McIlveen

2000 – 2004         Graeme Murphy

2004 – 2015         Grant Myers

2015 – 2016      Gerald Edwards

2016 – 2019         Grant Myers

2019 – 2020         Daniel Missen

2020 – 2022         Fraser Lucas

2022 – current     Daniel Missen

1996 – 1997         Ivan Ferguson

1997 – 2001         John Mills

2001 – 2008         Dennis Rosolin

2008 – 2011         Paul Hewitt

2011 – 2016         Susan Boyle

2016 – 2022      Brian Rowbottom

2020 – current    Daniel Missen