West Torrens Cricket Club
The West Torrens District Cricket Club ("Western Eagles") is a semi-professional cricket club in Adelaide, South Australia. It competes in the West End Grade Cricket Competition, which is administered by the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA).
| Full name | West Torrens District Cricket Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname | The Eagles |
| Sport | Cricket |
| Founded | 1857 (as Hindmarsh CC) |
| League | South Australian Cricket Association |
| Home ground | Henley Oval |
| Colours | (Navy) Blue and Gold |
| Anthem | "The Road to Henley Beach" |
| President | Kent Sendy |
| Head coach | Mark Harrity (Men) / Manning McInerney (Women) |
| Captain | Daniel Drew (Men) / Jess Joseph (Women) |
The Western Eagles field four senior men’s, two women’s and eight junior teams and are based at Henley & Grange Memorial Oval. Other grounds used by the club include Henley High School, John Mitchell Reserve and Lockleys North PS. Previous home grounds have included Lindsay Circus (1857-1921), Thebarton Oval (1921-1988) and Kings Reserve (1988-1997).
The club has won 14 1st grade men's premierships[1] with the last being in 2016/17, breaking a 10-year premiership drought. In an amazing season when the Eagles fought off a merger ultimatum from the SACA, the Eagles became the first ever club to record a clean sweep of the 2-day, one-day and T20 competition titles. The Eagles have now won 5 West End Cup (One Day) Premierships (1971/72, 1972/73, 1993/94 and 2003/04, 2016/17) and the single T20 Premiership (2016/17). During the past decade the club has become one of the strongest in the South Australian Grade Cricket League, winning lower grade premierships in 1995/96, 2002/03, 2007/08 & 2012/13 (B Grade), 2003/04, 2004/05 & 2006/07 (C Grade) and winning the SACA Club Championship in 2004/05, 2006/07, 2007/08 and 2011/12. In season 2017/18, the West Torrens Women's 1st Grade emulated their male counterparts by also winning every title available, becoming T20 and One-day Premiers.
History
The Club began in 1857 as the Hindmarsh Cricket Club with its headquarters at Lindsay Circus (now Hindmarsh Stadium) and has continued, with only a change of name in 1897, until the present day, making it the oldest continuous and 2nd oldest existing cricket club in South Australia.[2] Morphett Vale Cricket Club (established 1849) is the oldest cricket club in South Australia.
The club moved to Thebarton Oval in 1921 where it remained until 1988 when it transferred to the adjacent King's Reserve. A lack of junior players and inadequate facilities saw a final move to the Henley and Grange Memorial Oval for the 1997-98 season.
West Torrens started fielding female teams in the 2007/08 season with many players coming from the former Flinders University Women's Cricket Club. The Eagles won 1st Grade Women's Premierships in 2008/09, 2012/13 and 2017/18 and were T20 Champions in 2013/14 and 2017/18. They have also won the 2nd Grade Premiership in 2013/14 and 2015/16 and doubled up, also winning the T20 Premierships in the same years.
Two books have been published on the history of the club:
- From the Circus to the Pughole (History from 1897/98 - 1996/97) D Brien and R Cassidy (1997)
- All the Kings Men (History of the Hindmarsh Cricket Club, 1857 - 1897) - D Brien (2017)
Famous players
Many famous names have worn the blue and gold cap. Affie Jarvis, Jack O'Connor, Ron Hamence, Bruce Dooland, Graham Hole, David Hookes and Ian Chappell played Test cricket for Australia while West Torrens players. Merv Waite (Australia), Jeff Crowe (New Zealand), Gladstone Small (England) and Jason Gallian (England) played Test cricket soon after leaving West Torrens. Matthew Elliott also represented Australia before playing 2 seasons for the Eagles after transferring from the Victorian Bushrangers to the West End Redbacks .
Rick Darling, Rod McCurdy and Bradley Young have been Australian one day international representatives and Charlie Walker, Phil Ridings were members of Australian touring teams.[3]
Former player and club coach Tim Nielsen is former coach of the Australian Cricket Team and is now working with the West End Redbacks . Past club captain Callum Ferguson and current player has represented Australia, South Australia and the Pune Warriors in the IPL. Peter George represented Australia in a single Test Match in India while Dan Cullen has also represented Australia in One-Day and Test Match cricket.
1st Grade Men's Club Records
Batting
Most runs in career: Andrew Haslett, 6781 runs
Most runs in a season: Paul Nobes, 974 runs @ 88.54 in 1987-88
Highest Score: Merv Waite, 339 v P. Adelaide @ Adelaide Oval, March 1936
Highest Team Score: 492 vs P. Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, March 1936
Bowling
Most wickets in career: Percy Combe, 623 wickets
Most wickets in a season: Graham Stanford, 72 wkts @ 10.87 in 1971-72
Best Bowling: Ross McLennan, 10/39 vs University @ Thebarton Voal, Feb 1958
Fielding
Most dismissals in career (wicketkeeper): Rex Blundell, 164 ct, 71 st, 235 dismissals
Most dismissals in a season (wicketkeeper): Jesse Lewis 43 ct, 4 st, 47 dismissals, 2004–05
Most dismissals in an innings(wicketkeeper): Rex Blundell, 0 ct, 7 st, V Woodville @ Thebarton Oval, Oct 1969
General Records
Most Games: Brian Isaac, 211 (1959-60 to 1978-79)
Youngest Player (WT): Ron Hammence, 15y. 25d. v Kensington @ Kensington Oval. 20-12-1930
Youngest Player (Hindmarsh): Affie Jarvis, 14y. 82d. v Kent @ Adelaide Oval 9-1-1875
Oldest Player (WT): Charlies Chittleborough, 56y. 43d. v North Adelaide @ Hindmarsh Oval, 10-2-1912
Oldest Player (Hindmarsh): James Chittleborough, 40y. 330d. v Kent @ Lindsay's Circus, 25-10-1873
1st Grade Women's Club Records
Batting
Most runs in career: Lauren Ebsary, 3389 runs
Most runs in a season: Kristine Britt, 730 runs @ 66.36 in 2008/09
Highest Individual Score: Lauren Ebsary, 202* (33 x 4, 2 x 6) vs P. Adelaide at Henley Oval, October 2010
Highest Team Score: 4/403 vs P. Adelaide at Henley Oval, October 2010
Bowling
Most wickets in career: Lucy Williams, 95 Wickets
Most wickets in a season: Jess Joseph, 26 wkts @ 8.19 in 2017/18
Most wickets in an innings: Kristy Williams, 6/16 vs TTG/ND at Pertaringa Oval, February 2013
General Records
Most Games: Angela Moritz, 91 games
Youngest Player (WT): Beatrice McDowall, 12y. 162d. v TTG @ Pertaringa Oval. January 2010
References
- "Adelaidenow.com.au | Subscribe to The Advertiser for exclusive stories". www.adelaidenow.com.au. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
- http://www.westerneagles.com/main/theclub.asp