ON THIS DAY - 30th September
Armidale Waratahs (The Tahs) | September 30, 2023
A busy day in Waratahs history.
In 1950, JOHN RIDLEY (#7), one of the originals, held 3 catches in an innings for A-Res grade v Railway. This is the oldest individual highlight in club history.
In 1961, BOB BRENNAN (#127) did the hat trick for A-Res grade v Ex Services.
In 1967, BILL THOMPSON scored 110 in an all day game for A grade v TAS and shared a 3rd wicket partnership of 139 with BRUCE KELLAWAY (#213). GRAHAM JOHNSON (#207) went onto the Best Match Performance list with 54 not out out and 5-83 in the same game.
Playing along side them and making his Waratahs debut that day was IAN CAMPBELL (#212). A true Waratahs legend, Campbelli made 37 on his first day of a 23 season career. Playing in all five grades, he scored 3,704 runs at the very health club average of 28, which included, strangely, only on century. He held 82 catches. He won four Premierships (in A-Res 1973, 1975 & 1981 and 5th grade in 1987), two of them as Captain and was a runner up three times. A fine player in his own right, he is most fondly remembered as the astute father figure of the last great new bread of Waratahs cricketers who came through his 5th grade tutelage, where sacrifice of his own performances in favour of promoting the boys in his care was the norm. In a total of 500 against Wollomombi in a semi final, he kept shifting himself down the order as the boys did well and declared before he batted at 9 down. They learned so much more than how to bat or bowl, because in Ian's world, the sharp edge of competitiveness was always balanced by the importance of fairplay. The world's most trenchant critic of the LBW law and subsequently the umpires who upheld it, Campbelli had the most delightful grasp of swearing which was expressive yet almost dyslexic and most often expressed when he was dismissed via his batting pads. Ian Campbell was a loyal clubman, including Presidency, who batted in 7 century partnerships, one of them being a club record and three grade records, the highest being 216 with Cliff Schaefer against Uralla in A-Res grade (a grade record). Ian also did his best to further the future of Waratahs by supplying five sons to the club (Matt, James, Tom, Ben and Martin). Any one who knew him, whether it be through cricket or in his role as a lecturer of German at UNE or just a casual acquaintance, would all reach the same conclusion: he was a bloody good bloke.
