Paul Fitzgerald
Randwick Petersham Cricket Club | December 27, 2023
Paul Fitzgerald has a particular record which any sport-minded person would expect will never be surpassed. He won a cricket premiership, was named man-of-the-match in the Grand Final, celebrated with his premiership team-mates and got married. All in the same weekend!! His wife Suzanne was a very understanding bride.
The occasion was the 1990-91 3rd Grade Grand Final between Randwick and Penrith at Raby Oval, Campbelltown played over both days of the March weekend. With opponent Penrith finishing higher up the points table, Randwick needed to win the match to take the premiership. But disaster struck when the first day’s play was washed out.
The Randwick team celebrating Paul's and Suzanne wedding night after the first day's play in the Grand Final was washed out and in preparation for day 2 of the Grand Final the next day
The Sunday was much brighter and after a 30 minute delay, Penrith won the toss and batted. The Randwick attack was up to the mark however, with Paul leading the way taking 5-45 to have them out for 112. With 34 overs to bat, three wickets had fallen when “Fitzzy” strode to the wicket safely guiding the team home with an unconquered 27 as nightfall closed in. Named as “Man-of-the Match”, Fitzgerald was the centre of the celebrations, not just because of the premiership victory but in a continuation of the previous evening when he and Suzanne were married at Balmain! The wash-out ended up proving of value as the whole team was able to attend the 4 pm wedding!
Paul James Fitzgerald was born on 15 July 1964 in Blenheim, New Zealand. Educated at Marlborough Boys College, the family moved to Australia in 1986 and settled at Kingsford. A right-arm fast medium bowler and right-hand bat, he joined Randwick in 1987-88 playing his first game in 2nd Grade. By round 6 selectors acted and he made his 1st Grade debut against Mosman at Coogee. And while he only had six overs for a return of 0-14 on that occasion, later in the season he led the attack in knocking over Waverley at Waverley Oval for just 76, taking 5-22 off 14 overs in the process.
The following season Fitzgerald played a mixture of 1st and 2nd grades starring in both with some exceptional performances. In 2nd Grade he took 7-34 and 3-42 for match figures of 10-76 in the outright defeat of Hawkesbury at Coogee. Four matches later in 1st Grade against Gordon at Killara, his batting skills were on display when he combined with Trevor Jay to put on 133 for the ninth wicket, top-scoring with 89 which included 11 fours and two sixes. In another 2nd Grade match that season he hit the last ball for six to grab a narrow win over Campbelltown.
A shoulder injury from rugby with increasing work commitments saw the 26 year old miss the 1989-90 season. However, with some business re-arranging he was able to make himself available for lower grades from 1990-91. The result was that he played 3rd Grade over the following three seasons with outstanding success. With Fitzgerald spearheading the attack, Randwick won the premiership twice while being unluckily beaten in the other season, finishing second.
In those three seasons, Paul took 147 3rd Grade wickets. In 1990-91 he took 57 wickets–the best in the whole competition. He followed up with 48 in 1991-92 including a 7-28 performance against Balmain which turned out to be a career-best. During that 1991-92 season, he answered a plea from selectors to play a match in 1st Grade against Sutherland at Coogee. His 4-37 off 17 overs was a man-of-the match performance topped off by hitting the winning runs off a very fast and fired-up Glenn McGrath.
Returning to 1st Grade in 1993-94, in his first turn at the bowling crease against Manly at Coogee, he clean bowled Jason Gallian who went on to open the batting for England then immediately had NSW batsman and Australian aspirant Michael Bevan caught by Richard Chee Quee for a duck. He ended with 3-22 off 11 overs guiding the side to a good win. He showed that effort was no fluke taking 4-28 against Parramatta next game. He also played in the premiership-winning Reschs Cup limited overs competition.
And while he took 35 wickets that season with 20 in 1sts and 15 in 2s, that was Paul Fitzgerald’s last season. Business commitments had forced the issue and the 30 year old had little option but to hang up his boots. He did however, fill in a couple of times the following season but there was no permanency in his few appearances.
In a bit over six full seasons with Randwick, Paul Fitzgerald took 238 wickets of which 42 were in 1st Grade, the same number 42 in 2nd Grade with 154 in 3rds. As the above indicates, he was also a very handy lower-order bat scoring 1,061 runs across the top three grades. The greater majority of his runs were made with a favourite Gunn and Moore bat. Despite it having a broken handle, “Fitzzy” used it with success for more than 10 years. However, during the 1st Grade Limited Overs Reschs Cup win in 1993-94, disaster befell that beloved willow. While Paul was on the field, his bat was cremated in a garbage can by club-mates in what can only be described as some premiership-celebrating ritual. What was left of the noble stick was presented to him during the after-match festivities. The charred remains are now featured on display in the club museum.
During his time with Randwick, Paul was a great contributor to club life being a member of the management committee while fulfilling the role of Social Secretary for a number of years. In recent times he has been a bowling coach, the donor of an annual playing performance award and a valued member of the club supporters group, the Randwick Petersham Cricket Legends Society.
Back Row – Mark Sundin, Ian Brown, Greg Doyle, Paul Fitzgerald, Robert Montedoro, Craig Pentecost
Front Row – Robert Regan, Peter Devlin (Captain), Gary Morrison, Bruce Young, Chris Levick
