1998/99 

Ten years ago saw the Club trial a new sponsor in the form of the Surf Rock Hotel. Support for this move was lukewarm as some felt that the then Surf Rock and clientele resembled the Mos Eisley Cantina from Star Wars. Nevertheless the change from the Timo was made and we just rolled our hand in a circular motion to get past security on our way in.

 The lack of unanimous support no doubt resulted in numbers being down however there were some enjoyable evenings - particular the time that became known as the ‘Seafood Splatter’. Quoting from the report: “Late in the season Social Secretary Greg Luckman was busy selling tickets in the popular seafood raffle and all was well. As club members and other patrons quietly sipped their beverages while deep in conversation, a dull wet thud was heard from over in Greg’s direction. For most the initial reaction was along the lines of “I wonder what that could have ….” when barely had this thought crossed their minds than the tragic realisation of what just transpired struck home. On the dusty well trodden floor boards of the Surf Rock lay fifty bucks worth of ocean goodness. The stunned silence of the crowd was only outdone (or out stunned) by the look on Greg’s face. The array of seafood spread out across the floor like the DeCosti’s stall at the Pyrmont Fish Markets. Crabs were making the most of their last chance at freedom by scuttling away under the tables, bream and flathead were making a b-line for the back door and the prawns were schooling. Greg managed to trawl together enough finned felons and crafty crustaceans to tempt the not so fussy but the revenue raising potential of the odorous heap by this stage was well and truly zero. With the sombreness of a state funeral procession, our still numb Social Secretary started the humbling journey around the Surf Rock offering refunds”. On another occasion, outback adventurer Troy Dan won the seafood tray and made an absolute goose of himself trying to work out how to eat it! So much for the TV outdoors hero who fished out of helicopters in the Top End.

The Club welcomed several new players joining us from the defunct Narrabeen Club. These players included Jason James and Toby Horstead. Jas confirmed his reputation as a top player quickly by winning the Shearer in his rookie season with the Club. Toby continues to provide sterling service both on and off the field. It was also Andrew Cameron’s rookie season. In the A1 grade, Pete Henriksen made a belated move to Grade cricket getting a start in 4th Grade and a few matches in 3rds for Mosman. His departure  contributed to the A1s struggling to post challenging scores and bowl teams out. Another big factor was Rob Minnett having his arm broken at Balgowlah Oval by how Captain Al Richardson put it; "...refusing to duck, weave, pull or hook!". Rob failed to convince his team-mates that his arm was seriously hurt and was sent back out to bat where he hit a six before being laid up for a number of matches. The A1 batting awards were up for grabs in the last match with Richardson and Huxley going neck and neck. It was reported that loud cheering came from the direction of C Huxley on the sideline at Kierle Park upon the early dismissal of A Richardson.

The entire A2 report is worth publishing again. Captain Matt Kehoe's masterpiece notes many amusing moments including the appearance of northern Englishman Richie Parks whose run-up was as long as his speech was in-decipherable. Also impressive, together with the run-up, pace and swing was the way Ritchie continued on down the pitch and had a go at the batsman after most deliveries. Matt stated that "... if he keeps taking wickets we'll overlook the trivial detail that he's an illegal immigrant". There was also this classic Dom Tilden moment “Dom had only bowled a handful of overs during the season, but came on and bowled an inspirational spell of 11 overs conceding just 8 runs and taking 4 wickets. The highlight being the greatest piece of sledging I have ever seen, in any level of cricket. To set the scene for you, the batsman had just edged Dom through the slips for 2. Dom had a few words to him about his lack of technique. Not leaving it at that, Luke Arcus questioned his ability to run the length of the pitch. Dom further challenged him about his technique, and our intrepid batsman replied that he would be there all day. Unfortunately for him the very next delivery he played a textbook forward defensive, only to turn around and see his off stump cart wheeling towards the wicketkeeper. Needless to say Dom offered further advice about his technique”.  In the A3s, John Jackson handed over the reins to Shan McGuire and obviously inspired by his new role as skipper took a hattrick (3-4). Other notable performances in a team that just missed the finals were GB's one and only fifty for the club (54) in a 126 run partnership with Shan, John Jackson carrying his bat (64*) against Long Reef and Dave Sharp's ten wickets in a match (10-57). Doug Campbell departed for work in England. The B1s were easy to report on as no report or statistics were submitted by the team. The scorebook was apparently last seen on the roof of Ben Ireland's car.

In another change of tradition, the annual Christmas Chinese Dinner became the Christmas Thai-nese Dinner at the Restaurant on Telopea St. Sparks were flying from the air-conditioning unit as it struggled to cope with conditioning the plumes of cigar smoke emanating from the group. Sadly we mourned the passing of Spen Bennett. As President of the club in the early Eighties, Spen had brought a new business approach to managing the Club which resulted in healthy finances and a record number of teams both Junior and Senior. Rob Minnett honoured the memory of Spen: “I can vividly and fondly recall memories of junior cricket training at Griffith Park …. riding on the tailgate of Spen’s Ford station wagon, whilst a plethora of cricket gear and players were ferried from the sideline to the centre. From time to time both of these would fall off the back of the Spen-mobile much to the humour of those involved”. Foundation member Peter Bond also passed away during this season.

In other news, President Quarford was still battling the Junior Association over the minimum 3 team rule safe in the knowledge that we now met this criteria, current Manly Grade player Jack Ritchie won the Don Leech Trophy, Andrew MacLeman won the Golf Day and a one off edition of the club newsletter ‘The Water Tower’ included an enthusiasts guide to water towers of the world.