Archived Wonga News

Archived NEWS

Vale Will Harvey

Dear members, families and friends of Wonga Park Cricket Club

It’s with great sadness that we pass on the news that Will Harvey passed away peacefully in his sleep Sunday December 10th after a brave 21 month battle with a traumatic brain injury.

Will was a talented young cricketer but more importantly was a terrific young bloke and a part the Wonga Park Cricket Club family and a friend to many.

Will, will be sadly missed but will always be remembered.

Our thoughts and sincere best wishes to Tony, Kathryn and Jonno, and also to Will’s mates at the Club, in this really difficult time.

Vale George Hartley and Werner Schlueter

Its with great sadness that I announce the recent passing of George Hartley and Werner Schlueter.

George is the father of current player and Life Member Wayne and also Ray who played cricket at Wonga, and of course grandfather to Wayne and Julie’s cricketing kids, Billy, Laura and Matilda. After serving in Papua New Guinea in WWII George returned to Wonga Park and played cricket for the Club for 21 years. George’s father Les and his brother Joe also played at Wonga and demonstrates the great contribution the Hartley family has made to our club over our history.

Werner Schlueter is the father to Life Member John and also Mark who played cricket at Wonga some years ago. John and Alison’s kids Nick, Dan and Steph currently play at Wonga. While Werner didnt frequent Wonga alot the commitment to his boys in allowing them to play juniors and into seniors typifies the importance of families in letting kids chase their sporting passion and dreams.

On behalf of all members, families and friends of the Wonga Park Cricket Club I extend our sincere sympathies and condolences to Wayne, John and their families.

Vale Sue Contarino 

Dear members, families and friends of Wonga Park Cricket Club I am very saddened to announce the passing of Sue Contarino after a long and inspired battle with ovarian cancer. Sue has been a great friend to many of us at the Club and was introduced to the Club by her husband Steve who has played cricket at Wonga since juniors.

Sue had the most brilliant, positive attitude and embraced life to its fullest. It was not surprising that since being diagnosed with her illness in 2013, that she, with absolute support from Steve, fought a very hard battle. Her strength and determination to overcome the illness was amazing and inspirational to all those that knew her. Her zest for life never waned. She gained her strength through “Hope, Faith and Love”.

Two years ago Sue started the “Walk With Me” fundraising campaign to raise funds for Ovarian Cancer Australia Research . In 2016 the walk from Lilydale to Warburton raised over $10,000. Sue threw herself into the campaign and her story was featured on a “60 Minutes” interview. In February this year hundreds of people did Walk and it raised over an incredible $70,000! I encourage you to check the Walk With Me website.

Sue’s passing will have a great impact on many people. Many of us have lost a great friend and the broader community has lost an incredible lady. Our best wishes and thoughts go to Steve and Raina.

Award Winners 2015/2016

Congratulations to all award winners for season 2015/16. It was a great night and there were some very deserved winners on the night. Special mention to Alan Hassan who organised the trophies for this year.

Award Winners – Batting /Bowling /Captains Award/MVP/Fielding

1st XI – Josh McDonell /Tom Hancock /Tom McKinney /Tom Hancock/Tom McKinney

2nd XI – Rohan Allport /Stuart Dunk/ Sam Meadows/ Stuart Dunk/Nik Henkes

3rd XI  – Justin White /Jake Purtle /Sam Henkes /Billy Hartley/Cameron Hull

4th XI – Tony Harvey /Anthony Crowe /Callan Boyle /Tony Harvey/James Kimpton

5th XI – Russell Hughes/ Paul Doevelaar/ Matt Milne/ Russell Hughes/Matt Milne

6th XI – Dave Stevens /Sam Russell /Richard Semken/ Anthony Uhr-Henry/Dave Stevens

7th XI – Nigel Murray/ Jordan Burke/Jake Guerin / Lachlan Barr/Jake Guerin

DUCK AWARD – Nick Jane

MOST IMPROVED – Josh McDonell

COACH’S AWARD – Dan McKinney

BEST UNDER 21 – Bayley Forbes

LES KNEE – PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Anthony Uhr-Henry

JOHN KNEE – CLUB CHAMPION – Tom Hancock

BEN BARLEY CLUB PERSON – Trevor Foster

Well done to Trevor on his Best clubman award. Trevor has been part of the junior committee for the past few years, involved with helping coaching on Wednesday nights and has been instrumental in running the kitchen on a Friday night.

Vale –  Ross Lusk

The WPCC is saddened to announce that Ross Lusk passed away  aged 87. Ross was heavily involved at the Cricket Club during the 1970s and 1980s. Ross and his two sons Peter and Gary played cricket at Wonga.

Its Ross’s huge off the ground contribution, however, that significantly shaped the Club as we know it today. Expanding Junior Cricket Ross was a massive advocate for junior cricket and was a main instigator in the RDCA establishing an U12 competition. Before moving to Wonga Park in the early 1970s Ross was involved in the Wantirna Cricket Club, and during this time he challenged the Association to consider this view and the U12 competition was formed in 1969. Ross then became an instigator in getting our first U12s up and running in 1974-75 (and the first U14 team began in 1976-77). Establishing the second (bottom) ground

Some extracts from the WPCC Centenary Book to highlight Ross’s contribution. As the Club was expanding in the 1970s there was a growing need to establish second ground in Wonga Park, as close as possible to the existing ground for convenience etc. The area to the west of the ground which was once an orchard owned by Alan Bickford, was more recently being used by the Council as a landfill, hence members were asking the question “could this area become a second ground as its close proximity to the existing ground would make an ideal cricketing home for Wonga. “In 1979 it was decided to transfer the ownership of the ‘old ground’ to Lilydale Shire Council for a deal of 30 years free rental on the old ground, and a new ground to be established on the west side that was being prepared by Council as a ground. After many debates the deal was done. We did this because the land was of no financial value to us. We couldn’t sell it and the maintenance was becoming a burden. Transferring the land meant that Council would do all the maintenance of both grounds. With the building of the new ground meant that we were able to field more teams as Wonga Park was growing quickly. With more children in the area we needed both new ground and money” (Ross Lusk) Ross Lusk played a significant role as being the Club’s representative in dealing with Lilydale Shire Council, and consulting with Club members over a long period of time to have the top ground transferred to Council and in return, the Club having a second ground and pavilion constructed. With two adjacent grounds the Club now has a magnificent setting to play and watch cricket and Ross’s involvement was critical to make this happen. Above all else Ross was brilliant bloke and a mate to so many at the Club. A better bloke you will never meet. For all of us the knew Ross we will miss him, for those that didn’t know Ross be grateful for the huge amount of work he did for the Club. Our deepest condolences and best wishes to Heather, Peter, Jude Garry and Kaye and families.

 

 

WPCC home1Congratulations to Doevs on being promoted to the big RED mower having received the ceremonial mower keys and hat from our good friends at Croydon Mower Power.

Remember straight lines as Pete will be monitoring via Google Earth!

DSC_0311[1]  DSC_0314[1] DSC_0313[1]

Vale –  Fred Knee

It’s with great sadness that we announce the passing of Fred Knee, a Life Member of the Wonga Park Cricket Club and an absolute legend of the Club, a better, more genuine bloke you will never meet. Fred was 90 and has been suffering ill health for some years now. Our thoughts and best wishes are with Hilda, Ken, Jude and the extended Knee family. Of course his eldest son Les (“Legend”) Knee (Life Member) very sadly passed away in 1999.

Freddie was a handy cricketer but his biggest contribution to the Club was his enormous contribution to the Club off the field for a long time. Fred started playing cricket when he was 14 when we had just two senior teams. The top ground was much smaller than it is now and as Fred described some years ago “it was pretty much gravel”. He only played for one year and was then in the navy for a few years. He started playing again when he was 21 and played his last game when he was 56 (in ~1982). Fred played in our 1950-51 premiership team. He married the wonderful Hilda (Life Member) in 1946. Fred was President of the Club for 16 years, beginning in 1964 and finishing in 1984 (Herb Read was President for a few years in between). In that time Freddie oversaw some key moments in our history including: the agreement with Lilydale Shire Council to construct a second ground at Wonga, now the main ground. Having an adjacent ground was critical to our development as a cricket club, and the club as we know it today In the 1950s the guys began to take beer to the cricket for after game celebrations for the first time but people then wanted a BBQ to go with it. So in about 1965 Fred and Hilda invited everyone back to their house in Dudley Road to have more formal social evening after cricket. And so our wonderful tradition began of Saturday nights ‘back at Wonga’. A beer barrel was ordered, Fred would fire up his BBQ and the days cricketing stories would begin. Fred and Hilda hosted Saturday nights for approximately 15 years – this is Wonga folk lore.

Our long history of people getting together to socialize is absolutely the fabric of our great Club, and Fred and Hilda played a huge part in this. We cannot thank them enough. Our 1st XI Bowling Award was named in Fred’s honour back in 1971/72. After Freddie stopped playing cricket, and moved away from his official duties he became involved in bowls, and of course threw himself into that. But while his health permitted he was never far from the cricket club, attending functions with Hilda when he could. For those of us who knew Fred we have many wonderful memories. For those that didn’t know Fred, take a moment to look around the Club and understand that Fred Knee had a massive part in what you see.

Vale – Sally White

It is with much sadness and a heavy heart I inform the Wonga Park Cricket Club Community that Sally White lost her battle with illness and passed away. Sally has been an active member of the WPCC, with her sons Josh and Ben playing their junior cricket at the Club. Both Josh and Ben have subsequently gone on to play District Cricket with Fitzroy Doncaster. Saturday mornings, and very often on Saturday evenings as well, you would find both Sally and husband David in the kitchen at the club, cooking, serving and cleaning. If not there, they would be proudly watching their boys or helping with other jobs around the club. Sally will be sadly missed and I ask the Wonga Park Cricketing Community to pull together and rally behind David, Josh and Ben at this very sad and difficult time in their lives.

Vale – Peter Knee

It is with great sadness that we advise you of the passing of one of our great clubmen – Peter Knee. Peter passed away Sunday vember 30th, 2014 after a battle with illness; he was 82 years old. Our sympathies and best wishes in these difficult times go to Rhonda, his children Jenny, Glynis (Hughes) and Greg, and the extended families. The Knee’s have made a massive contribution to our great club and Peter played a major part. Peter started playing (senior) cricket at Wonga in 1946 as a 14 year old and ended up playing over 200 games for the Club. Back in those early days the only drink for the kids was the warm water out of the tank next to the ground so at the end of the games the boys would run up to Wonga store for cold milkshakes. Peter was a member of the 1950-51 Premiership team with this bothers Fred and John. He was also a member of the 1956-57 Premiership team with John. Like many of our great clubmen, Peter did an enormous amount of work off the field also. He and Keith ‘Skinny’ Burch were usually on the door for many WPCC social functions, he was on the grounds committee for 15 years and on the general committee during the 50s. Peter also helped out the club by storing the beer kegs in his cool store during the 80’s. Peter coached the U/12s when his son Greg was playing and he continued to assist at junior training and umpired throughout Greg’s junior years. It was always his weekly chore to drive his truck out to Fred’s shed to pick up the mats for the junior and senior teams. Some of Peter’s documented cricketing achievements include: . C Grade Batting average in 1964-65 season . E Grade Batting average in 1971-72 season . C Grade Bowling average in 1978-79 season

Peter Knee, a great Wonga Park Cricket Club clubman and his contribution will always be remembered.

2013/2014 MVP and Fielding Awards

Congratulations to our MVP & Fielding Award winners for 2013/14. Thanks to everyone who came along. It was a fantastic night.

1st XI – John Taylor Medal – Ben Mathews

147 – Ben Mathews
141 – Steve Marillier
127 – Tom Hancock

2nd XI – Wes Britton Medal – Haydn Spurrell

88 – Haydn Spurrell
84 – Michael Williamson
75 Stuart Dunk

3rd XI – Paul Doevelaar Medal – Nick Burke

109 – Nick Burke
100 – Anthony Crowe
91 – James Thomas

4th XI – Darren Walton Medal – Jayden Dhar

77 – Jayden Dhar
67 – Callan Boyle
65 – Jamie Arnold

5th XI – Warren Ashby Medal – Todd Murtagh

20 – Todd Murtagh
18 – Sam Hennessey
11 – Greg Ford

6th XI – Nigel Murray Medal – Peter Wigney

129 – Peter Wigney
102 – Anthony Uhr-Henry
75 – Michael Carusi

7th XI – Paul Parker Medal – Tony Harvey

146 – Tony Harvey
93 – Reilly Pitts
91 – Sam Meadows

Fielding Awards

1st XI – Jackson Ford
2nd XI – Jack Meadows
3rd XI – James Thomas
4th XI – James Kimpton
5th XI – Matt Luckhurst
6th XI – Matt Milne
7th XI – Ben Thomas

2013-2014 Wonga Park Grand Final Winners

A great day for Wonga Park Cricket Club! Three teams in Grand Finals, three premierships!

It all got started early this morning as our Under 16/3’s got the ball rolling taking 5/11 to bowl the opposition out for for 57 having already made 70 the previous morning. Sam Meadows the star of the day taking 4/5 to claim man of the match honours.

Meanwhile on the opposite ground our Under 14/1’s were in a tight battle which ultimately was won by a brilliant period of cricket after …Tea where Wonga took 8/38 to have North Ringwood 32 runs short of our score with Bailen Clarke man of the match.

Finally, our Father-Son 7th XI also played out a tight hard fought contest. After Wonga posted a score of all out 229, Scoresby resumed at 4/90. Warrick Dickson picked up 4 wickets (including some ordinary celebrating, something to work on in the off season) while Craig Meadows 76 not out was enough to claim another man of the match for the Meadows Family.

All in all a fantastic day for the club, much worth celebrating.

 Matt Fotia

Matt represented Australia as part of a 15 man squad in the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup played in the United Arab Emirates, February 2014.

Matt is a former WPCC junior player, starting with the club in 2002/03 with the U/12s and playing 80 games before moving to Ringwood for his final year of U/16s and then moving into Premier Cricket. Matt made his Premier Cricket debut this season.

http://www.cricket.com.au/teams/u19-australia-men

Garry Harwood’s 300th game.

Garry, at the time of playing his 300th game had the achieved the following on the field along with notable contributions off the field including inducted as a life member of this great club:

  • 300 Games
  • First Game 1986/87
  • Runs 3094
  • Highest Score 94
  • 50’s 8
  • Ducks 25
  • 381 wickets
  • Best 7/21 versus Glen Park 1989
  • Best match figutes 11/100 of 40 overs versus Warrandyte
  • Has taken 5 wickets x 11 times
  • Catches 93
  • Premierships – 3
  • Won Chandler 5 Association Bowling in 1992/1993 @11.1

Please if you see Garry both acknowledge and congratulate him on his milestone.

Vale – Ernie Kear

We at the Wonga Park Cricket Club are deeply saddened at the recent passing of one of our great club men – Ernie Kear on Friday November 1st. Our sincere sympathies to Norma, Lorraine, Bruce and the extended families.

Ernie’s contribution to the Club over a very long time was outstanding, both on and off the field. He was awarded Life Membership in recognition of this contribution in 1972, and as most of us will know, he mowed our grounds for years and only stopped a few years back when ill health finally caught up with him. He took great pride in making sure the grounds were looking great and ready to go for Saturday cricket.

The Kears moved to Wonga Park in the early 1930s and as a 6 year old in 1934 Ernie would go along to the game each Saturday afternoon hoping that someone wouldn’t turn up so he could get to field, and on most occasions he would. Ernie probably started playing when he was 13.

As a cricketer Ernie would make “1 or a 100”. He liked to hit the balls up towards the Hall, once getting a century in about 30-40 balls. He captained the B Grade Premiership team in 1956/57 and in that season took 7/18, including a triple hatrick! Five wickets in five balls! So Ernie was a very accomplished cricketer, but of course he made a huge contribution off the field as well.

Ernie recalled a story in 2007 that in 1966 the Club decided to level the top ground so a whole bunch of blokes were there with shovels until Ernie rolled up in his bulldozer – much to everyone’s delight! Whether it be improving the grounds using a bulldozer, or a mower, Ernie loved the place. He will always be remembered.

It’s an extremely sad period of time for the Club with the passing of Ernie and two other Life Members, John Knee and Dave Burch recently. Each are from families that are folk lore at Wonga, our history is built upon the huge contribution of families such as the Kears, Knees and Burchs. Even if you didn’t know these gentlemen, you have to be inspired by their contribution. It’s up to all of us at the Club to ensure the tradition of selfless hard work continues.

Paul Doevelaar’s 300th game.

Paul, at the time of playing his 300th game had the following impressive statistics along with being a life member of this great club:

  • 300 Games
  • 625 wickets at @15.8
  • Best 8/49 versus Vermont 1991
  • Has taken 5 wickets x 29 times
  • Has taken the most wickets in the 2nd XI (193)
  • Has taken the most wickets in the 4th XI (272)
  • Wickets taken 1st (73), 2nd (193), 3rd (47), 4th (272), 5th (1), 6th (-), 7th (38) & 8th (1) for a total of 625
  • 2114 Runs
  • Best 81
  • Ducks 30
  • 50’s x 6
  • Catches 89
  • Club Bowling Average 13 Times
  • RDCA Bowling Award 5 Times
  • Premierships – 5

Please join us in congratulating Doevs on a wonderful achievement, only the 4th player in the club to do so.

Coaching Appointments 2013-2014 Season

We are pleased to advise that Paul McDonald has been appointed as Coach of the Wonga Park Cricket Club for Season 2013/14.

As you  will know Paul worked with Ryan Wilson last year as Director of Coaching.
Unfortunately, due to injury Ryan was not able to be considered for the Captain/Coach role for the upcoming season. However, should be overcome his injury he will return to play with us in 2013/14.
Steve Marillier, will be returning from overseas to play for the 2013/14 season and will also be taking on the assistant coach role.
Whilst disappointed that Ryan may not be able to play we are excited that both Paul is continuing and taking on the coaching challenge and that Steve is returning and will be sharing his knowledge and experience.

MVP & Fielding Awards Thursday March 7th, 2013

Congratulations to our MVP and Fielding Award winners for 2012/13. Well done to all of the guys on a great season.

Most Valuable Player 1st XI – John Taylor 2nd XI – Steve Paterson 3rd XI – Hamish McWhirter 4th XI – Liam McClean 5th XI – Russell Hughes 6th XI – Mick Carusi

Fielding Award 1st XI – John Taylor 2nd XI – Josh McDonell 3rd XI – Oliver Twine 4th XI – Liam McClean 5th XI – James Kimpton 6th XI – Gareth Curran

Congratulation’s to our young veterans Grand Final winners of the Masters Division 1 (Bill Dean Trophy) Flag led by Goldy

Wonga Park 1 >> 5/208(cc) W Hartley 42* A Brush 42* G Knee 41* R Knee 40*

def Croydon 1 >> 9/170(cc) P Doevelaar 2/17 G Knee 2/31

Vale – John Knee

It is with great sadness that I advise you of the passing of one of our club legends – John Knee. John passed away peacefully Thursday morning  July 4th after a battle with illness; he was 83 years old. Our sympathies and best wishes in these difficult times go to Marg and his sons Warren (Jack), Russ, Rod and of course the extended Knee family. The Knees have made a massive contribution to our great club and John played a major part.

John arrived at Wonga Park in 1943 as a 13 year old boy and has rarely been away from the club since. John played in our premierships in 1950-51 and 1956-57, and went on to play in our first Chandler Shield premiership team in 1974-75. He continued to play until retiring in 1984. John was one of our greatest batsmen and a very good bowler. He played over 300 games for the Club and, with his son Jack, became the first two Wonga players to achieve this amazing milestone.

During his time John:

– Scored over 5,000 runs and won the batting average on six occasions – Took over 300 wickets and won the bowling average on two occasions

In recognition of his contribution to cricket at Wonga, the “John Knee Club Champion Award” was established in 1970-71 which is now awarded to our best performed First 11 cricketer each year.

John’s exceptional on field efforts were matched by his massive contribution to the Club off field. Just one example is that he would often mow the ground during practice on Thursday evenings during the 60s.

John’s off field contribution was acknowledged in 1974 when he was awarded Life Membership of WPCC, our ultimate award.

Since retiring from the game John would be the dedicated dad watching Jack and Rod every Saturday, and even in the last couple of years with his health failing, John would still go and watch his boys playing on Goldy’s vets team.

During our Centenary Ball in February 2011, John was announced one of the 10 inaugural inductees into the “WPCC Hall of Fame” (awarded to our best performed First 11 cricketers).

Many of our current members (Seniors and Juniors) would not know John Knee but his dedication to family and Club is an inspiration to all of us at Wonga.

Greg Mathews President, Wonga Park Cricket Club.

john knee Life Member - John Knee 001

 

It is with great excitement and pleasure that we are able to announce the appointment of Ryan Wilson as Captain/Coach and Paul McDonald as Director of Coaching for the upcoming 2012/13 season.

In introducing Ryan we would like to talk about his history. Ryan played junior cricket with Wonga Park from 1993/94 until 1999/2000 winning a number of club and competition awards. He also played a number of representative games for the RDCA in the WJ Dowling Shield and for Croydon in the RM Hatch competition.

After leaving Wonga Park, Ryan joined Fitzroy/Doncaster and later Ringwood where he enjoyed a lot of success at the top level of Premier cricket. He is looking forward to returning to his junior roots and leading the club into the future.

Paul McDonald is an experienced cricketer and coach who also played a number of seasons of Premier cricket for both Ringwood and Dandenong. He was the leading wicket taker in Dandenong’s 1st XI on 6 occasions. Paul has coached in Victoria, ACT and in the UK where he also played a number of seasons.

We look forward to both Ryan and Paul leading the club into the future.

We are extremely please to announce that Jim Higgs has offered his service as a bowling coach for the 2012/13 season.

Jim’s experience in 22 tests (66 wickets) and 122 First Class (399 wickets) matches will be an enormous benefit to our players. His expert tuition will be a significant advantage for our spin bowlers.

We look forward to seeing him in pre-season and down at the club.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/5652.html