1996/97

Season number forty two was a significant one as it marked the revival of the junior section of our club. After the gradual decline of junior numbers through the early nineties to two fruitless years of trying to recruit new junior teams, Dave Quarford registered one Kanga (U8) cricket team which included Tom Carden & Jack Ritchie.

The seniors fielded two extra teams to make a total of five. The new B4 team brought the following current players into the club; Luke & Ben Ireland, Matt Thompson, Dean Storey, Mark Hoy, Ash McPhee and Jimmy Dyson. With the A1s well out of the finals picture, Rob Minnett and Al Richardson sat on the sideline at Nolans in an elegant lounge chair cheering on Matt Kehoe’s B1s who were only one wicket away from making the grand final.  John Jackson’s A2s also made the semis with the Shearer winner (Todd Wright) coming from this squad. The A2 bowling attack represented some of the Club’s greatest alltime: Williams, Bruckard & Sharp. The weary and well worn Bob Williams was forced to contemplate yet another season after a snick for four byes through the gloves of keeper Mike Salter left him stranded on 999 wickets! The B2 ‘Grizzlies’ were another new team. Marty Lawson provided some interesting philosophy about the squad: “It is what is known in the game as a ‘rebuilding phase’, a new order of fostering the team’s talent as a whole – smashing the ‘inner circle’ way of thinking.” Whatever, the team won three games surpassing their target of one.

The Long Reef Chinese restaurant also hosted it’s last CPCC Xmas dinner as the attendees found themselves moved “downstairs from the VIP room and in with the cattle”. A big field endured 40deg heat at Bayview for the Golf Day. Rob Jenkins re-defined the term ‘burglar’ shooting a net score somewhere around the fifties. A  challenge match was held between the B1 & A1 teams. The A1s scored at 11.8 runs per over early on to end up with 270. The appearance of sausage sandwiches halted the B1 run chase.

The first edition of ‘The Watertower’ newsletter appeared during the season containing, among other quality articles, a piece by Al Richardson about a pair of lofty structures and their divine effect on the psyche of Plateau youth.