THE HISTORY OF THE DINGLEY CRICKET CLUB

On the 29th of August 1958, a meeting was held at the home of Mr A White in Centre

Dandenong Road, Dingley. This meeting was to become the beginning of the DINGLEY

DISTRICT CRICKET CLUB.

PRESENT WERE: W SMITH, J WRIGHT, J MANN, D FAULKNER, B BARNES, G COLE, R CROUCH, A WHITE,

N GARTSIDE.

The following office bearers were elected : PRESIDENT: W SMITH

VICE PRESIDENT: J WRIGHT

SECRETARY/TREASURER J MANN

It was moved by J WRIGHT and seconded by B BARNES that a team be entered in the Dandenong “C” Grade matting competition. The motion was carried. During discussions, it

was agreed by all present that a formal approach be made to the Springvale Council for the use of the grounds and dressing rooms. It was also agreed that an invitation be extended to

the present grounds committee to attend a general meeting on the 5th of September 1958.

There was a vote of thanks to J Wright for his generous offer to meet the cost of advertising the general meeting for the 5th of September 1958.

Membership fees were set at - Seniors £2-2-0, Non-Playing £1-1-0, Junior 10/-.

Match fees were set at - Seniors 3/- and Juniors 1/-

The general meeting on the 5th of September 1958, was held at the Kindergarten Hall, Marcus Rd, Dingley with the kind permission of the Union Gospel Mission.

PRESENT WERE: VICE PRESIDENT & CHAIRMAN J WRIGHT

SECRETARY/TREASURER J MANN

N GARTSIDE, A WHITE, G COLE, B BARNES, R CROUCH, L SMITH

Apologies W SMITH (President in hospital)

The Treasurer received the following donations for the initial funding of the club - W. BARNES £5-0-0 J. THORNHILL £10-0-0 G. COLE £5-0-0

R. CROUCH £2-0-0 R. COGHLAN £2-0-0 L. BURNETT £5-0-0

T. CESTER £20-0-0 L. A. SOUTER £5-0-0 D. FAULKNER £2-0-0 G. SAVAGE £2-0-0 A. HOLLAND £2-0-0

GARTSIDE FAMILY £10-10-0 W. SOUTER SNR £1-0-0

The first development of the Souter oval took place in late September 1955. Following a request from the club, the Council installed a pitch and dressing sheds. The club sought the

view of the Association as to the distances and ways of marking the boundaries. There was a

lot of local support from the sparsely spread population of Dingley. The first fund raiser was organised by Mrs G Cole, when she and her friends held a picture afternoon to raise £29-5-0

for the club.

PREPARATION OF OVAL, NOW KNOWN AS SOUTER OVAL

Men at work — preparing the oval are:-

JOE SOUTER, KEN GARTSIDE, BILL BARNES, LAURIE BARNETT, DON BURSILL, LEN ROBERTS, GUS SCHMIDT ( DINGLEY P.S. HEADMASTER ),

WERNER KERGITIS, TOM SOOUTER, RALPH CORRIGAN, JACK FOSTER, GEORGE SWALLOW, GORDON COLE, GEORGE SAVAGE

Ladies serving tea to the men preparing the oval included: Lyn Bursill, Connie Barnett, Betty Souter, Emily Souter,

Gladys Foster

Joe Souter, & schoolmaster Gus Schmidt with his home made

level circa 1955

Locals of Dingley get behind the preparation of the cricket oval.

Preparing the matting wicket for the inaugural match at Souter oval 1958

The first team to represent the Dingley Cricket Club was as follows : R Mitchell (c),

J Wright (vc), S Fenton, J Fry, B Billing, B Barnes, B Lydall, H Betts,

R Crouch, J Pitcher, K Cole, and M Corrigan. The club in its first season went on to record a premiership in “C” grade, with the Junior team being runners-up. In the

1959/60 season the Senior team were again premiers, this time in “B” grade.

1st match played at Cleland St oval in 1958

Bill Smith

1st President

John Wright George Trotter ‘Snowy’ Fenton Ron Mitchell

Dave Faulkner Kevin Cole Jim Fry Bill Barnes Gordon Cole

It is interesting to note in the minutes of Tuesday the 3rd of October 1961, that a matter of rabbits was raised. It appears that rabbits were feeding on or near the oval and causing

damage to the playing surface. Ern Smith (Dinsan), being a committee member at that time,

offered to take the matter up with the City Engineer. It is rumoured that this was the inception of the Dingo Patrol.

At a special meeting held on the 25th of July 1962, the club voted to move from the

Dandenong Cricket Association to the Federal District Cricket Association. The club entered

two senior and one junior team in the Federal Association for the forthcoming season. The clubs most successful years were to follow, during the seasons 67/68 to 70/71 the

seniors, playing in 1st grade matting won four premierships on end.

In season 71/72 the club was fortunate enough to obtain a turf wicket on the Souter oval. The club for many years had been interested in graduating from matting to turf. The

transition to a higher/different standard of cricket was difficult, but being the club it is,

Dingley progressed through the grades to field a team in FDCA 1st turf. Over the next 6 seasons although playing well the First X1 did not win a premiership. However the 2nd X1

won a number of premierships in 3rd and 4th grade turf. In season 87/88 the club transferred its two turf side to the Victorian Junior Cricket

Association (VJCA) to play in the South “A” and “B” divisions. Ties with the FDCA were still

maintained through the 4 senior and 4 junior matting sides. The move to VJCA paid immediate dividends with Jeff Taylor leading the team to win the clubs only 1st X1 turf

premiership. This year was to be the clubs most successful season, with the 1st, 3rds, and 6ths winning premierships and the 2nds and U/16’s finishing runners up.

Inaugural Under 16 1958 / ‘59

In 1991 the club noticed a gradual decline in the standard of cricket in FDCA and decided to move its matting sides to CMCA. This year was also the inception of woman’s cricket at

Dingley, when, captained by Sue Magee, the Club entered a team in “C” division of the Victorian Woman’s Cricket Association. The team made the finals in its 1st year. A large

turnover of players and an elevation to a higher grade affected their ability to really be

competitive over the last two years, but the team is looking to consolidate by retaining all current players and rebuilding for future years. The team has been managed by Alan Johnson

over the last four years.

This season with the collapse of F.D.C.A. turf and the restructure of V.J.C.A., the 1st and 2nd X1 are now in SENIOR A division of the Victorian Turf Cricket Association, and plays cricket

not just in the southern suburbs, but against teams from the western and northern suburbs.

Prior to season 89/90 the Cricket Club entered into an agreement with the Football club to form the Dingley Sports Club. The results of this are obvious with the opening of the new

social rooms in early 1991.

It is interesting to note that one of the long time members of the DINGLEY CRICKET CLUB,

Max Corrigan played in the first six 1st X1 Premierships. He was in the first ever Premiership team when the Club played in the Dandenong Cricket Association, and then was a member of

the four Premiership teams in the Federal District Cricket Association. He has also been a member of other Premiership teams since then and is a life member of the Club. In addition

to the above he has also won the 1st X1 batting average on 3 occasions. What a terrific

record...... well done Max.

Other noteable achievements are: - Andrew Cook won 4 bowling and 1 batting average. Andrew also played in 4 first

X1 premierships. - Dennis Maxwell won 4 batting averages and played in 4 first X1 premierships.

- Jeff Taylor won 3 batting and 1 bowling average. Jeff also captained the 1st turf

premiership side in 1987/88. - Jack Pitcher played in 5 of the first 6 1st X1 premierships.

FIRST TURF PREMIERSHIP.

In it’s first year competing in the V.J.C.A. the FIRST X1 won the premiership, and the SECOND X1 were runners’ up. A fantastic achievement. The Club at this time was coached by

Hilary De Vos.

The score card for the PREMIERS is as follows :-

1987 – 88 V.J.C.A. SOUTH A GRAND FINAL DINGLEY vs CHELSEA

DINGLEY 1st INNINGS

BATSMAN How Out Bowler Runs

M. HALBISH Bowled Neville 0 P. CLOHESY Caught Davidson 25

D. BARTHOLOMEW L.B.W. Neville 4 J. KINGSLEY Caught Trinn 54

M. BARTHOLOMEW Run Out 13 J. TAYLOR Bowled Chappel 96

G. HIGGINS Stumped Chapple 59

D. FITCH Caught Davidson 31 T. CLARK Caught Chapple 0

G. ZIMMER Caught Davidson 4 A. MILLER Not Out 5

EXTRAS 21

TOTAL SCORE 312

CHELSEA 1st INNINGS

BATSMAN How Out Fieldsman Bowler Runs

S. FLETCHER Caught Halbish Miller 3 H. TRINN Bowled Kingsley 9

A. BAUER Run Out Fitch 3

P. NAGEL Caught Miller Zimmer 14 G. SAVAGE Caught & Bowled Zimmer 25

S. McLEAN Caught Halbish Zimmer 0 R. CUTTLER Caught Taylor Zimmer 02

J. CHAPPEL Caught D. Bartholomew Zimmer 10 J. DAVIDSON Caught Higgins Zimmer 19

A. CAMPBELL Stumped Clark Zimmer 7

P. NEVILLE Not Out 1

EXTRAS 12 TOTAL SCORE 105

BOWLING BOWLER Overs Maidens Runs Wickets

D. FITCH 15 7 16 0

A. MILLER 18 6 26 1

J. KINGSLEY 15 5 30 1 G. ZIMMER 24 16 26 7

CHELSEA 2nd INNINGS

BATSMAN How Out Fieldsman Bowler Runs

R. CUTTLER Bowled Fitch 0

J. CHAPPLE Bowled Fitch 14 S. McLEAN Bowled Miller 8

J. DAVIDSON Bowled Fitch 4 A. BAUER Run Out Halbish 54

P. NAGLE Bowled Zimmer 41

H. TRINN Run Out Taylor 5 G. SAVAGE L.B.W. Fitch 0

S. FLETCHER Not Out 9 A. CAMPBELL Caught Higgins Zimmer 21

P. NEVILLE Bowled Zimmer 2

EXTRAS 17

TOTAL SCORE 175

BOWLING BOWLER Overs Maidens Runs Wickets

D. FITCH 27 7 46 4 A. MILLER 11 3 30 1

J. KINGSLEY 3 1 13 0 G. ZIMMER 34 13 54 3

J. TAYLOR 11 3 18 0

DINGLEY WON BY AN INNINGS AND 32 RUNS

The Clubrooms & oval of today.