DAVID LONG REMEMBERS

DAVID LONG REMEMBERS

Throughout the 2003-04 cricket season, Rowville Cricket Club has been celebrating its 50th anniversary. In January last year the club held a dinner at the Polish Club at which the 50 Year Team was announced. The man named as captain was the founder of the club, Stewart Finn, whose recollections of the early days have been published in the previous two editions of the News.
The vice captaincy was awarded to David Long who commenced a long association with sport in Rowville when he and his wife moved to their new home in Seebeck Road in October 1971.
David has made a huge contribution to the club over many years having served as President, Secretary, Coach and Captain. He was adjudged the club’s best batsman in two seasons and took out the bowling honours six times. He was Club Champion in 1977-78 and 1982-83. As well, David was selected on several occasions to represent the FTGCA combined team.
David enjoys the distinct honour of having been made a Life Member of both the Rowville Cricket Club and the Rowville Football Club.

AN ALL-ROUND SPORTSMAN
David was a gifted junior and he enjoyed involving himself in the sports available to boys back in the 1960s. He has a “bagful” of trophies from those days for tennis, football and cricket and represented his school, Blackburn High, in all of these sports as well as athletics. His crowning athletic achievement back then was winning the high jump event at the All High School Championships at Olympic Park in 1963.
Not long after coming to Rowville he was, as usual, picking up the bread and milk at Gilligan’s shop one evening while on his way home from work when he met an old school mate, Trevor Hutchins, who suggested that he come and play football with Rowville. David accepted this offer, thus commencing his long association with the Rowville Football Club, but during the summer he continued to play cricket with his old club, Vermont.
Denis Doolan and Paul Keen, two of the stalwarts of the Rowville Cricket Club, approached David to ask him to consider transferring to Rowville. David was still committed to Vermont Cricket Club but at the end of their season he came down to join in training with the Rowville boys who were preparing for their appearance in the finals that year. David finally switched to Rowville as Captain-Coach in the 1977-78 season but was disappointed when a number of talented and experienced players decided not to continue. David approached his mates in the football club to help make up the numbers and eventually there were enough players to keep the three teams going - but without much success.

A MAJOR SETBACK
David’s life took an abrupt turn for the worse in March 1981 when he was involved in a very bad car accident that put him in hospital for four months and saw him off work for over a year. When he was able to walk again he slowly got back into cricket playing with the 4ths.
In 1983-84 David had recovered sufficiently from his injuries to take over again as Captain-Coach of the seniors and in the following year the team won its first premiership in nine seasons. In 1986-87 the club enjoyed its most successful season when three teams all reached their grand finals. The firsts and seconds took out the premierships but the thirds, who were strongly fancied, unfortunately went down.
David attributed the success of the firsts to his encouragement of the junior players. David provided the opportunities for boys such as Andy Artner, Chris Berry, Kevin Lees, Darren Hill, Paul Mynott, Alan Freeman, Brian Doolan and Stevie Sparshott and they did not let him down. Kevin Lees went on to win the FTGCA award, the Lomax Medal. Later Kevin married an American girl and now lives in the States where he is employed as a sports commentator.

THE 50 YEAR TEAM
David is very proud to have been selected as Vice Captain of the 50 Year Team. He, of course, never saw Stewart Finn play but remembers Denis Doolan, the first Rowville player to win the Lomax Medal, as being a magnificent stroke player and a bowler of huge out swingers. “He could bend it like a big banana!” recalled David. Jim Pumphrey was a left hander and a very good all-rounder. Paul Mynott was an aggressive opening batsman: “He’d hit a six off the first ball if he had the chance”. He is also a good bowler. Andy Artner and Darren Hill were two all-rounders who rose through the junior ranks to eventually become Club Champions. Paul, Andy and Darren were all made Life Members in 2003 in recognition of their more than 20 years of service as senior players.
John O’Hare was a brilliant wicket keeper in the junior ranks and went straight into district cricket with Prahran to become recognised as being close to the top wicket keeper in the state. He has returned to Rowville as Captain-Coach and in 2003 captained the FTGCA side. Trevor Ashton, a very good slow bowler, is one of only three Rowville players ever to win the FTGCA top award, the Feaver Medal. Dave Burgess Jr was a fine all-rounder who was named the Club Champion on two occasions. Alan Freeman was another very good all-rounder who is the club’s most capped first eleven player. Alan was made a Life Member in 2003. Paul Evans was Captain –Coach from 1998 to 2001 during which time he was Club Champion three times.

THE “VETS”
When David turned 40 an old mate talked him into playing for Wantirna South in the Veterans’ Competition. A couple of years later one of the FTGCA officials said to David that it was about time that Rowville entered a team. Never one to sit on a good idea, David called a meeting at the clubrooms and again it was his old mates from the football club such as Vin Arthur and Ted, Bob and Ray Drane who came to the party to help David, Ken Hill and Barry Mitchell make up the numbers. The team has been quite successful, making the grand final several times. Now, through the involvement of the fathers of junior cricketers, the club is fielding two veterans’ teams.

CHARACTERS AND SUPPORTERS
One of the great characters of the club was the late Alex Simpkin. Alex was a tall, thin Englishman who loved being part of the Rowville Cricket Club. David recalls a day at Rowville when the fielding opposition team were thrown into confusion when a snake was discovered close to their slips cordon. Alex calmly walked out onto the ground, picked the snake up by its tail, cracked it with a flick of his wrist and then just as calmly walked off with the snake dangling from his hand. Alex was the club’s first life member.
Another character was Geoff Gascoyne who, with his own rough old bat, was one of the club’s biggest hitters. One day at Belgrave, after hitting two sixes off their opening bowler, Geoff called out for a screwdriver. A puzzled David went out with the required tool that Geoff promptly used to tighten the screws holding a number of lead fishing sinkers attached to the back of his bat. “I needed to make it a bit heavier,” Geoff explained to the highly amused fieldsmen. During a game at Rowville Geoff hit the biggest six that David has ever seen. The ball flew out of the ground, cleared the car park and continued on its way to sail over Stud Road (it was a two lane road then) before eventually hitting the ground on the other side of the road.
David spoke warmly of many people who have contributed to building up the strengths and traditions of the Rowville Cricket Club. Denis Doolan, who resurrected the club after a brief recess in the mid 1960s, led the club as President and Captain for more than a dozen years. All of his family were also strongly involved and son Brian was President for two seasons after Denis’s death.
The Hill and Mitchell families have provided players and administrators over many seasons; Barry Mitchell and Ken, Stephanie and Darren Hill have all received Life Memberships in recognition of their service. Christine Mitchell has served four years as club secretary.
Mrs Pat Arthur has done tremendous work in the canteen over many years and both she and her son Rod have been honoured with Life Memberships. Pat has earned the unusual distinction of having been named the Best Clubman on five occasions.
Other notable contributors have included Jim Pumphrey, Mike Aston, Paul Keen, Paul Brigham, Bob Lawler, Syd Blake and John Nasr while Neil Kennett, Mick Bond, Ray Draper and Peter Russell are some of many who have done great work with the juniors.
With the involvement of all of these good people and their families the club continues to be a happy, united and successful organization.
David is looking forward to the time when his two grandsons, Matthew and Jesse, might be putting on the pads and taking the new ball as members of a Rowville cricket team.

Interviewed by Bryan Power

Comments

Do you have something to add? Post a comment