Please enjoy Part 1 of a look back at the 100 years of the Manly Warringah Cricket Association with a sneak peek from the yet to be titled book by Stephen Shepherd. A fascinating look back in our history that we hope to continue over the the next few weeks. Enjoy!
SEASON 15: 1934/35
A RESULTS BOX IS SITUATED AT MANLY WHARF
The appointment of H.F.Moulton as the Association's seventh Secretary was accompanied by further improvements to the Annual Report. Printed by Goodman and Little, Harbord Rd, Harbord. YU 3519 it had a sky blue cover and contained team photos.
The Association changed it's name from the Manly & District Junior Cricket Association to the Manly and Warringah Junior Cricket Association. There is no need to get too caught up on the word Junior. As the photos in the 1934/5 Annual Report show, these were men not boys. It's more likely the term junior referred to being junior to the Manly District Club, and perhaps by extension there was an objective to foster younger players in the development of their skills.
For the first time the Annual Report recorded Association Records, though Mr Moulton could only go back to 1927/8. Either Annual Reports were only published from then or earlier individual stats were lost or unreliable. Here is the list that Mr Moulton compiled:
There was a record number of teams (26) and players (442) registered in 1934/5, a sign that Depression era symptoms had eased and young men had more opportunity for recreation (although the Association was still funding unemployed members for representative matches). The Association welcomed four new teams which largely reflected the growth of new suburbs on the Peninsula. The four new teams were Manly Vale, Warriewood, Manly Juniors and Palm Beach.
In A Grade the North Manly Footballers, who'd finished 3rd in 1932/3 and 5th in 1933/4, hung on to win their first top grade Premiership since 1925/6. The newly merged Brookvale/Dee Why were only three points behind with another four teams in the hunt, but North Manly prevailed because they were the only team not to lose a game outright.
A.Riddle, who'd been runner up on the A Grade batting list two years earlier, swept all before him in 1934/5, scoring 822 runs at a new Association batting average record of 58.7. M.Wellman, also of Brookvale/Dee Why, topped the bowling stats with 62 wickets at 6.2. But is was North Manly who took the spoils, their team photo recorded for posterity. Their leading players were W.Saxby with 322 runs at 32.2, W.Knox with 50 wickets at 9.1, O.Robins and E.Sterland who each took 30 wickets, and J.Pashley who made three scores over 50.
In B Grade Narrabeen, who had won the inaugural C Grade two seasons before, amassed 103 competition points to win their second premiership as a Club. But runners up Manly United coveted the individual awards, A.Butler scoring 674 at 29.3, and C.Meehan taking 31 wickets at 6.4. Meanwhile A.Grundie from sixth place Manly Gas Co. took an Association record 128 wickets for the season. That, with his 535 runs at 21.4, made him a very deserved winner of the Campbell Ltd Cup for Best All Rounder in B Grade.
In C Grade French's Forest broke through for their first premiership, having finished fifth and third in the preceding seasons. They were the only undefeated team in the Association with 11 outright and three first innings wins, compiling 106 competition points.
There were two standout performers in the C Grade - N.Dunsford for the premiers won the bowling average with with 38 wickets at 5.4. F.Norris from runners up North Manly was second on the bowling list with 116 wickets at 5.6. But F.Norris was first on the batting average list with 512 runs at 28.4. And sure enough Dunsford from French's Forest was second with 543 runs at 25.8.
As in A Grade the C Grade Premiers were captured in a team photo. Their star N.Dunsford looks like an older player. N.Rose (100 wkts at 6.4) and R.Martin (60 wkts at 6.5), both with crop tops, gave French's Forest the bowling depth they needed to win their first cricket premiership as a suburb.
Frenchs Forest's undefeated season also delivered them the inaugural “Onoto Pen Cup” for Club Champions. Under the rules at the time, the team with the most points were declared winners. In 1934/5 there were 26 teams and 26 clubs, so it was not complicated, especially with no weighting in favour of the higher grades.
In Rep Cricket there was only a Telegraph Shield U23 side in 1934/5, A Riddle starring as he did in A Grade with four innings at 34. F Norris from C Grade took 11 wickets at 16. Mr Moulton noted:
“Your Telegraph Shield teams, whilst meeting with only partial success were enabled to obtain valuable experience on turf wickets, thereby enjoying cricket in its best environment.”
Over 80 years ago – even then - the Association seemed resigned to the fact that you would have to make a rep team to play on turf.
For the third Easter in a row Treasurer Ray took a team on a tour to Harden and Districts on the south coast. Today its over a three hour drive from Sydney. The Manly Warringah team again completed their tour undefeated.
In off field issues, it was reported that scorebook compilation had improved with “the adoption of C.S.W score books and loose leaf result sheets”. Recording the statistics was described as a “very important part of the work” of Hon. Club Secretaries. The Association was also media conscious:
“To help your publicity officer and enable your Club obtaining publicity of its match results, emphasis is laid on the the necessity to make your result sheet available by noon on the day following play. An adequate result sheets box is situated on the Manly Wharf for this purpose”
A results box situated at Manly Wharf? That's so cool. That's cricket in Manly Warringah in 1934/5
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The yet to be titled Centenary of the MWCA by Stephen Shepherd will be released in line with the Association's celebration of it's 100 years.
MWCA Match Balls and Rep Team Clothing are Sponsored by Kookaburra
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