My welcome to Sydney Grade Cricket: another Len Pascoe and Jeff Thomson story

Dennis Hourn | August 27, 2024

To my cricket friends

I was recently asked to write an article for the Waverley College old boys magazine on Dave and I. It got me thinking. One thing that came to mind was the unbelievable difference between school and fair dinkum cricket.

Here I was at Waverley College in the early 60's taking bags of wickets and scoring easy runs as the "gun" opening bat. The Ian Botham of school cricket if you like.

My first game of grade cricket is in Municipal and Shire, now 5th grade. It's 1966 and I'm 16 years old. Judge John Foord is the captain. I practice on Tuesday and Thursday prior and wide eyed and bushy tailed, keen as, I tell John how many runs I have scored as opener at Waverley where John actually went to school.

John, after due consideration, says Dennis you'll be opening on Saturday. You beauty, I think. I can't sleep I'm that excited. Turn up at Jensen Park all decked out ready to plunder the hapless Bankstown attack.

But there's a problem. A big problem. A massive problem. The opening bowlers for Bankstown are Jeffrey Robert Thomson and Len Pascoe nee Durtanovich. All of 15 years old and all fired up. No bouncer rules, no helmets, wafer thin thigh guard and pads that you may as well had the SMH wrapped around your legs.

Here I am with coke bottles on my nose facing Thommo, who was to become the fastest ever bowler in test cricket and Pascoe the meanest.

First over from Len I'm nearly killed. In typical Len style I'm served up the entree, a barrage of bouncers, Len's stock ball at the time. Second over from Thommo the main course. I never saw a ball. It was just a blur. F*** I thought but didn't say it because I didn't swear in those days. This is a bit of a step up from the Trinity College, Cranbrook School, St. Aloysius etc private school pie throwers.

We were skittled for 55. Go on to lose the game outright. I subsequently reviewed my position in the batting order and slowly worked my way down the list till I was closing the innings at the other end with DWH.

What an introduction. If that's not a baptism of fire, I don't know what is.