The story of the Crab Pot
Evan Bancroft | May 25, 2023
If you drive past Bottomley Park near Easts Rugby Club in East Brisbane these days you will see a tiny little brick building opposite the Norman Park train station with a few cricket nets and some large gum trees. It was once the home of the Eastern Suburbs District Cricket Club.
The clubhouse was known as the “Crab Pot” as once you got in you couldn’t get out!
It was a fantastic joint and loved by Easties all opposition players and the umpires as well. It was the good old days when after matches meant having a beer with the opponents.
It was actually the unofficial umpire’s clubhouse. Popular umpire Mel Johnson played for Easts before becoming one of our greatest ever test umpires and he may well have started the tradition.
Umpires like Peter Parker, Merv Musch and the late, great Jimmy Taylor could be found there on most summer Saturday evenings.
The most popular opposition player was former Queensland fast bowler “Wild Bill” Albury who lived only a couple of hundred yards away but played for Wynnum-Manly. What fantastic company he was.
The clubhouse was very modest with a few uncomfortable chairs and a pool table which was used more as a bed than a pool table.
In my time at Easts the Bubke’s – Cec and Betty - became surrogate parents to many of us. Betty was the cook and her “Tiger Burger” was world renowned. In the last session of play you could smell the aroma from the number 2 oval (which was nicknamed “The Moon” as it had so many craters on its surface.)
The beer was Cec’s domain. He would start icing it around 11.00 and keep topping it up throughout the day. He would lay hessian on the ice like he was making a bed. That beer was only for the players so if you wanted one as a spectator, it came out of the fridge – still cold but nothing like the hessian beer !
The opposing teams also loved the Crab Pot. It was not unusual for them to arrive with their going out kit on in readiness to hit the town after play with the Easts boys.
The car park on a Sunday morning quite often seemed busier than Saturday’s with the occasional leg sticking out of a car window from a bad night’s sleep - the clubhouse became a very cheap motel.
On one occasion when I was playing Under 19s we decided it was easier to drink through the night at the Crab Pot to prepare for the 19s Sunday fixture against the Sandgate-Redcliffe team captained by Trevor Barsby.
At around 6.00 am a very random rain event occurred but luckily we were on the spot to put the covers on. When the umpires and the Sandgate boys arrived they were pleasantly surprised to see the game would go ahead as the covers were on but when they pulled the covers back and found four Easties asleep they thought a victory should not be too tough to achieve.
Somehow we won that game with four or five players who would not have registered well on a breathalyser.
Easts had a lot of history before my era with greats like Peter Burge, Ross Duncan, Darryl King, Tony Dell and Wes Hall amongst plenty more stars playing at Bottomley Park..
Through my era we had the Evans brothers – “Bench” and Jack, Al Kennedy, former Queensland rugby league halfback John Salter, the Bubkes , “Rowdy” Freeman – the list goes on and on – all great mates to this day.
It’s one of the great things about cricket, the friendships stay with us forever.
The Crab Pot as it was back then is now gone. Bottomley Park is now used by Coorparoo Cricket Club in the Sub-Districts competition.
Easts moved to the growth suburbs of the Redlands district to firstly become Easts-Redlands but are now known as the Redlands Tigers.
“Easts” will always be in our hearts and minds and it’s pleasing the old logo still sits proudly on the current day Redlands shirts as if to say “hey lads I am still here” and you’ll all be pleased to know the “Crab Pot” sign adorns the bar at the impressive Redlands clubhouse these days.
The beer is still cold and looked after by the current crop of supporters led for many recent years by the Cullens up until this season. The current crop of players featuring Bulls captain Jimmy Peirson and new Aussie star Marnus Labuschagne along with the rest of the club do a great job in acknowledging our rich history and many of us were there to see them win their initial First Grade premiership as Redlands Tigers a few years ago.
So, please, if you drive past Bottomley Park these days tip your lid to the traditional owners of the Crab Pot – Easts
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