Always Great People Around: A Western Suburbs District Cricket Club Story
Western Suburbs District Cricket Club Sydney | November 26, 2024
The following article is an extract from our 2006 publication “Cricket in Black and White: 110 Not Out: The history of the Western Suburbs District Cricket Club”.
"One thing about playing for Wests", says Alan Davidson, "was that there were always great people around, helping out. When we played at Pratten Park, there'd always be Mrs Muller, and the Kelleards, doing all sorts of jobs for us. And the afternoon teas they put on! We'd get back to the rooms at tea-time and you soon found out who was there to play cricket and who was there to eat!"
Grade cricket clubs only exist because of the volunteers who perform the dozens of small tasks that make it possible to prepare for, and stage, matches. The economics of Grade cricket make it necessary for clubs to rely on unpaid labour and the goodwill of their supporters. It has always been so, and it always will, unless the structure of the Grade competition is radically overhauled.
Certainly since the years of the Second World War, the visible hospitality of the Club's supporters has been part of every visit to Pratten Park. During the war, Charlie Willis introduced a mobile canteen service, staffed by a small army of volunteers, that offered tea and other refreshments to players and spectators. His work was carried on by Ken Muller's mother, and Jack and Ness Kelleard, who supported their sons' cricket in the most practical of ways. That work was later carried on by Laurie and Sharon Wilson, whose son Brad played in Firsts and Seconds as a slow-bowling all-rounder. Laurie was so dedicated to his role in the club that he continued to turn up to help even after he was diagnosed with a fatal illness.
Chemist Warehouse Ashfield is a proud sponsor of Western Suburbs District Cricket Club
For sheer long-standing dedicated service, however, it would be difficult to match Bill and Mavis Russell. The Russells were devoted followers of their son's cricket, and when Mark arrived at Wests in 1978, the Club acquired more than just a cricketer. For Bill and Mavis, Saturdays were days for work: Mavis always attended, meticulously, to the scorebook, while Bill made himself busy by taking care of drinks breaks, afternoon tea, lunches in all-day games, and any other task that seemed necessary to him. Bill was thorough, cheerful and totally reliable, and could be counted upon to remember such vital details as the fact that some players preferred water to cordial at the drinks break, or that Lance Brooks preferred his sandwiches without butter. These things seem trivial, but it was important to Bill and Mavis to get everything exactly right. Their services were so highly valued that some captains were suspected of selecting Mark in their side as a means of gaining access to the "Russell package".
During the 1980s, similar services were provided to several teams by Eric and Marj Francis and their son, Steve. Marj scored, while Eric and Steve helped with the other jobs, and Eric often distributed his uniquely whimsical, eccentrically typed commentaries on the previous week's game.
The practical help that all these workers provided has made the game more enjoyable for generations of Western Suburbs cricketers. But other supporters have added to the spirit of the Club simply by being there. In the 1940s, it was unthinkable that a Western Suburbs match could begin without Alf Jenkin and Norman Foster sitting on the hill at Pratten Park. They were always there, and their devoted support to the Club was valued by the players, despite Foster's habit of providing the cricketers with unsolicited advice, especially when the batting was slow. Their modern counterparts are Peter Bardsley, lan Currie, Eddie Harling and Steve McClue, who have followed Western Suburbs cricket for decades. Peter Bardsley, the son of Mick and nephew of Warren, played little cricket himself but seldom misses a Western Suburbs match. At times he has served on the Club's committee, and sometimes he has formally been appointed Manager of the First Grade team; but what really matters is his presence, which helps to remind the players that they are representing, not only themselves and their team-mates, but a club whose supporters are loyal to its traditions and history as well as to the eleven men on the field.
