The recent passing of Rushworth and Victorian country cricket great Mal McLeod has stirred a lot of memories for many, including a former Rushworth teammate of McLeod’s, author Alan McLean.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
McLean came onto the Kyabram District Cricket Association scene as a young talent in the mid 1960s just after the greatest fast bowler in northern Victoria’s history McLeod had played in an unprecedented six successive Rushworth flag winning teams in the KDCA.
McLean, known for his well researched historic publications of Rushworth and district, recounts some memories of those glory days in Rushworth and Moora Cricket Clubs history:
While much organised sport was suspended during the Second World War, the Rushworth Chronicle of April 1940 reports Rushworth was the A-grade premier in the KDCA.
With 146 and 150, the Tigers defeated Lancaster 132 and 84 at Stanhope.
KDCA records are incomplete, but this is believed to be Rushworth’s first pennant in that association.
Captain was Jack Hawking, with 30 runs in the second innings, supported by Charlie Curtis with 26 and Alf Cheong with 20.
Borm Fitzpatrick took the bowling honours with 4/34.
Other players were G. Wootton, Noel Curtis, Les “Trouter” O’Donnell, I. Roche, H. Corneliuson, J. Kershaw, and A. Weymouth.
Rushworth’s next success was in April 1954 to take the 1953-54 flag.
Fourteen years on, Alf Cheong and Les O’Donnell were involved again. Rushworth’s 121 and 100 topped Tongala East’s 104 and 53, with Waranga Shire engineer Ted Saunder taking 6/46, and Eddie Gleeson 4/14, running through the second innings in a tight match. Other Rushworth players were Alan Hammond, Matt Toohey, John Stickney, football club coach Jack Roberts, wicketkeeper Ben Holmes, who died in late 2010, and youngsters Ron ‘George’ McLeod and Graeme Hageman.
‘Hagey’ is believed to be the only survivor of that team.
Others to turn out that season were B. James, John Hodson and Howard Hawking, who was excused in February to attend pre-season training for Geelong Football Club.
Then followed a very lean five-year period as Rushworth and Moora regularly contested the KDCA wooden spoon.
Moora players included Bill Laurie’s sons Jack, Bruce and Ron, and their cousin Jim. Others prominent players included Bill Batchelor, Jack Pettifer, Duncan McLean, Lex and Roy Tattersall, who rode bikes from the Moorabool forest near Heathcote to Moora to play, Graeme Geisler and occasionally his father Frank, Bill Campbell, his nephews Laurence and Norman Baldwin, Ned Schade, Henry and Bill Jacobsen, Len Hamilton, Dave and Tom McEvoy, B. Rossell, N. Shay, E. Twyford and Rushworth reject Ian “Wriggler” Coyle.
Aged 16, Wriggler’s bowling included a ten-wickets match haul against his mates from Rushworth.
In February 1957, Moora scored 7/239 against Rushworth, dismissing Rushworth for 115 (Roy Tattersall 4/13, Coyle 4/26) and 70 (Coyle 6/35; giving him 10/61 for the match. Moora wom by an innings and 54 runs.
Cricket at Moora, (on the MCG), is remembered by the older players for its old and rickety wooden pavilion with earthen floor, timber bench seats, stove and fireplace at the western end to boil water for afternoon tea.
The legendary afternoon teas prepared by Vera Pettifer, Mrs Laurie and her daughter Jess McLean, and the large rabbit warren just outside the eastern boundary which resulted in the occasional lost ball, are other recollections.
One match was interrupted when stumps were pulled up to deal with a snake intruding on the MCG.
The final ever match in February 1959, against Merrigum, had a delayed start as Moora players were called off to help fight a grass fire in the district.
With player numbers declining, season 1958-59 was Moora Cricket Club’s last. No Moora photos have been found.
That season Rushworth was the beaten A grade finalist, losing a tight and tense struggle with Stanhope by just three runs.
Rushworth’s 61 (R. Thorson 6/25 for Stanhope) was topped by Stanhope’s 68 (M. McLeod 5/24, E. Saunder 5/25). Batting again, Rushworth made only 42, Thorson again the destroyer with 6/15. Needing only 34 to win, Stanhope lost nine wickets to McLeod (3/16) and Saunder (6/17) and eleven wickets for the match), but squeezed out a victory. Alec ‘Yabby’ Nelson, batting at number ten, was Stanhope’s best with 17.
Highests scoreing for the match was Rushworth’s Alan (Sammy) Hammond’s with 22.
‘Sammy’ Hammond’s role in the glory years to follow was as club president, with some enjoyment in the B grade team.
In 1959-60 with the club in terminal recess, Moora’s four Lauries, Jack Pettifer, Len Hamilton and Ian Coyle continued to play cricket with Rushworth, which also entered a B-grade team for the first time.
Season subscription was two pounds and two shillings, or $4.40 at the original conversion.
Rushworth’s B-grade players included Harvey Morris, Graham Howard, Graham ‘Speed’ Spence, Les Morgan, Mick Quirk, Bill Hardie, Wally Locke, S. Rawlings, Alan and Ron Wootton.
Near season’s end they played a Sunday scratch match against part-timers “The Scrubbers.”
Scrubbers with 103 embarrassed the Bs who could muster ony 87. l
Kevin Clarke, Gordon McGowan and Graeme Hawking were cricketers in the Scrubbers team, supported by Doody Miller, Terry Brasher, policeman and star footballer Con O’Toole, Dick Martin, Gordon Raglus, Ian Borger, Bill Cruz, Ray McArdle, G. Francis and J. O’Brien.
The sensational sequence of six premierships after struggling to win many matches after 1953, losing by three runs in the 1958-59 final to close rivals Stanhope, Rushworth’s real success began in the 1959-60 season.
The Tigers took revenge, with 165 (Jack Laurie 41) and 2/57, outright winners over Stanhope, 106 and 108.
Graeme Johansen (6/9) was the star with the ball and Rushworth’s other team members were skipper Eddie Gleeson, ‘keeper Ben Holmes, Ron and Bruce Laurie, Graeme Hageman, Jack Pettifer, Graham Spence, Ron and Mal McLeod.
The former Moora men certainly lifted the Rushworth talent.
‘Joey’ Johansen made 422 runs for the season with a highest score 77 not out. Mal McLeod won the batting average with 39.4. It was the reverse situation in the bowling statistics.
McLeod took 60 wickets for the summer but Joey’s 7.5 runs per wicket was the best average.
In season 1960-61 Rushworth beat Tongala by an innings in the final, making 211 (Hageman 56, Johansen 41), to Tonny’s 90 (M. McLeod 5/28) and 109 (M. McLeod 5/20 off 16 overs, including 10 maidens).
In season 1961-62 secondary teacher Geoff White joined the club.
In the final White’s 101, Spence’s 83 and Hageman’s 59 helped the Tigers to a mighty score of 385, more than enough to counter Girgarre’s 149 (M. McLeod 5/34) and 110 (Pettifer 5/25).
Ben Holmes made 557 runs at 44.8 to take the batting average in that season. McLeod took an extraordinary 76 wickets, at an average of 7.4.
The final of summer 1962-63 was again Stanhope’s turn to face McLeod.
His extraordinary 8/21 sent Stanhope packing for 97.
Rushworth’s reply of 133 with Johansen 27, then Stanhope’s 4/40, ended the game.
In season 1963-64’s final it was Girgarre going under again, after having the upper hand.
Girgarre made 128 (McLeod 7/39), reducing Rushworth to 6/44 at stumps and all out for 86 the next Saturday.
Batting again, Girgarre could manage only 60 as McLeod took 6/20.
Rushworth, needing 103 for victory, were 5/57, 6/68, then 6/89 at stumps needing fourteen runs on the final day to take the flag.
Johansen hit the first ball for four, ran down the wicket late in the over and was stumped by Ian McDonald.
Rushworth was 7/93 when ’keeper Wes Risstrom joined Mal McLeod.
The young woodcutter belted two fours as the Tigers scraped home to win by three wickets.
The sixth successive flag was a little one-sided, bordering on bizarre.
Rushworth made 286 thanks to Hageman’s 56, Johansen’s 55, and Senior Constable Des Fitzpatrick’s 46.
Kyabram replied with 173, as Rushworth dropped six catches.
Rushworth’s second innings reached 3/260 with Hageman making a dashing unbeaten 86.
Rushworth’s previous record and its lead of 373 with seven wickets in hand frightened Ky to put up the white flag of surrender, not even turning up for the scheduled final day, and failing to phone Rushworth to say they were finished.
Graeme Hageman, with his 1953-54 premiership, played in all six successive flags from 1960, an extraordinary seven in twelve seasons.
Mal McLeod, Jack Pettifer and Graeme Johansen also played in the six-in-a row feat.
Eddie Gleeson, Ben Holmes, and Graham Spence won five, while Ron McLeod and John O’Donnell (four), Ron Laurie, Bruce Laurie, Wes Risstrom and Geoff White (three) and Ian Coyle and Des Fitzpatrick (two).
Jack Laurie, Les Morgan and Ray Cheatley (one), were the other premiership players of the golden era.
A total of 17 Rushworth players winning pennants across six seasons was remarkable team stability, with Eddie Gleeson skipper of the first four, Geoff White the captain of the latter two.
Les Hoyling was 12th man in at least one of the victories and primary schoolteacher Peter Keogh was 12th man in the 1964-65 flag winning team.
Such was the depth of talent through the period that Mal McLeod once recalled a Rushworth team had 10 players who had all made a century
In the six finals, Mal took in excess of 40 wickets.
Rushworth has not reached an A-grade final in the KDCA since 1964-65.
Near last in 1971-72 season and with a team of kids, Rushworth played top team and eventual premiers Kyabram Red at Kyabram.
Chip Hageman, Bill Cruz (the younger), Bruce Wootton and Ian Laurie, all aged 17, and myself (Alan McLean), aged 16, joined Johansen, O’Donnell, Graeme Hageman, Lyle Parker, Ian Williams and Ian Perry.
Wootton’s 4/28 and Perry’s 3/19 blasted Kyabram out for 125, after Rushworth had made 4/215 declared with myself compiling 87 and Johansen 65 not out.
Nearly 40 years on, it remains a memorable match for the Tiger players.
The Tigers got close in 1972-73, losing the semi-final to Kyabram.
Younger players had joined some of the veterans.
Geoff Hawking’s 32 wickets at a cost of 9.1 runs per wicket won him the bowling average, from his cousin John Raglus (35 wickets @ 9.7) and veteran McLeod (33 at 11.3).
The old master McLeod’s batting average was 52, ahead of McLean with 31 and Johansen 29.
Teachers Roger Barnes and Roy Sharkey (an Englishman on teacher exchange) contributed during that season.
The Education Department has virtually dried up as a source of cricketers coming to Rushworth.
At Bendigo Country Week 1973, McLeod turned back the clock.
Playing for KDCA at Goornong against Alexandra DCA and aged 37 Mal took 9/34.
Next day, against Rochester DCA, where he had played for five seasons from 1967, he took 5/39.
Aged 17, I was privileged to have a place in his team to enjoy the week and the feats of the great Mal McLeod.
· The graveside McLeod funeral is planned for tomorrow, Thursday, May 1 at 1pm at Rushworth Cemetery then adjourning to the football pavilion.
Sports reporter