Gordon Roy Asprey DCM 1890-1969
Randwick Petersham Cricket Club | October 28, 2024
Gordon Roy Asprey, who was born at Petersham on 23 August 1890 was commonly known by his middle name Roy, throughout his life. And while the Church of England railway clerk had a successful cricket career with Marrickville, he was a “late starter”, not joining the club until the 1911-12 season when he was 21.
A left-arm spin bowler, he began with a match in the Marrickville third team playing in the City and Suburban competition. Taking 1-22 at the bowling crease and hitting 32 with the bat, he was immediately promoted to the Second XI playing in the NSW Cricket Association’s 3rd Grade competition. And it was there that the club became aware they had a real talent in their ranks as he went on to top the bowling aggregate with 39 wickets at just 11.12 runs apiece, which included a 7-27 performance against Sydney. His efforts helped the team improve its position in the competition from 10th the previous year to an impressive fourth. He also showed he had worth as a bat with 199 runs and a top score of 48.
Mellick Wealth Management are proud sponsors of Randwick Petersham Cricket Club
Asprey spent the whole of 1912-13 in the First XI playing 2nd Grade. Again, he dominated the bowling. Off 172 overs he took most wickets with 29 at 18.75. However, for reasons not apparent, he was dropped to 3rd Grade for 1913-14, although he played one match in 2s for a 1-72 return. He showed that his relegation had nothing to do with skill as he had a simply phenomenal season in 3rd Grade, taking a massive 72 wickets at just 10.86 off 216 overs. His performances included match figures of 10-40 against Leichhardt and 13-102 versus Burwood while he also took 8-78 playing Waverley and 7-57 against Balmain.
Roy’s 72 were the most wickets taken in 3rd Grade throughout the life of Marrickville District Cricket Club, although only records after the club was admitted to 1st Grade in 1921-22 were recognised. And if Roy felt he could improve on those amazing 3rd Grade figures, he didn’t get a chance to do so, as he was involved in World War I, missing the following five seasons.
On 14 September 1914 the 24-year-old enlisted in the Australian Army and two months later on 19 December he departed overseas on board the Berrima. Over the next five years, Asprey served in Egypt, Gallipoli and the Western Front before he returned to Australia on 1 November 1918 under the rank of Staff Sergeant. Within a short time thereafter, he was recognised for his outstanding service with the awarding of a Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM), just one step down from the Victoria Cross.
The Commonwealth Gazette of 11 December 1919 included the following description relative to the DCM Award: “He (Gordon Roy Asprey) has at all times during nearly four years of active service, including a considerable period daily under fire, carried out his duties most fearlessly and capably. During the many emergencies arising from the operations between March and September 1918, his intense energy and efficiency as the senior NCO contributed in a marked degree to the success of the unit in coping with the tasks allotted. By his fine behaviour and ability, he proved himself worthy of the entire confidence of his commanding officer”. Asprey also was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.
Roy wasted little time in getting back into cricket upon his return, joining Petersham, due to Marrickville not being operative since 1916. It was mid-way through the 1918-19 season, but he showed the ravages of war had not dimmed his ability, as he took 23 wickets from just 59 overs in the five matches he played in 2nd Grade. His first game back was on 7 December 1918 against Waverley at Petersham Oval.
The following 1919-20 season, Marrickville DCC was again up-and-running but in an amalgamated arrangement with Petersham. With the decision to play two separately labelled Marrickville and Petersham 2nd and 3rd Grade teams under a single 1st Grade team bearing the Petersham name, Asprey played in the Marrickville-titled 2nd Grade team, taking 48 wickets at just 9.3 runs each. He also made his 1st Grade debut that season, playing in the Petersham First XI taking 2-174 while he showed his interest in the management of the club by joining the Petersham committee. With the amalgamation arrangement continuing into 1920-21, Asprey again played in the Marrickville 2nd Grade team, helping bowl it to premiership honours with another 38 wickets.
Season 1921-22 brought new enthusiasm with Marrickville being granted 1st Grade status, thus ending its two-year marriage with Petersham. And while Roy Asprey had enjoyed great success whenever he took the ball in the past, his future in the game over the following four seasons was to know no bounds, as he totalled more than 50 wickets in each of those summers. He had successive returns of 51, 68, 77 and 52 wickets for a total of 248 2nd Grade wickets. And during 1921-22 he recorded a hat-trick against North Sydney as part of an amazing 12-65 (6-31 and 6-34) performance. A single appearance in 1st Grade in 1923-24 however, hardly added to his haul with a performance of only 1-57.
In 1922-23, Asprey had the thrill of captaining Marrickville to win the 2nd Grade premiership with his 68 wickets, including a 7-53 performance against St George, a leading factor in the team’s success. And he again showed he was at the peak of his powers the following summer, taking 77 wickets to establish a 2nd Grade record for the club. He took 7-86 against Mosman at Mosman; 6-18 in bowling out Balmain for 44; 6-65 playing Manly at Marrickville while at Wentworth Park, Glebe were out for just 86 with Roy taking 5-25. While this wicket-taking record was never broken, at one stage of the next 1924-25 season, he was on track to do just that before finishing with 52 wickets. Again, that season he troubled the St George bats, taking 7-46 against them.
Unfortunately for Marrickville and the 35-year-old Roy Asprey, the residential boundaries of the club were changed by the NSW Cricket Association from the start of the 1925-26 season, meaning he was ineligible to play with the club thereafter. This seemed a harsh outcome for a member who had played since 1911 with only a break for war service but nevertheless, Asprey had played his final match with Marrickville. In a 14 years career which covered 10 playing seasons (including a season with Petersham) Roy Asprey took an amazing 502 wickets at just 12.87. He was described by his 1924-25 skipper, Sidney Coomes, as a “match winner” and his figures certainly confirm that description.
Interestingly, Asprey thereafter moved to Dubbo as a railway clerk and played with Railway “A” in the local competition. He had his first game on 28 November 1925 and despite extreme heat, bowled 19 unchanged overs to take 8-56 against Church of England CC. Three years later, he confirmed the maxim that spin bowlers mature with age when, at 38 years of age, he returned match figures of 9-39 playing for United Services, a team he captained against Old Dubbo. And as further evidence that age was not a factor in Asprey’s attitude to playing cricket, the Newcastle Sun newspaper reported on 11 September 1936 that a “new player” Roy Asprey, was to join Merewether for the upcoming season. He was then 46.
Roy married Alma Laycock in Dubbo in 1928 and they had three children, Shirley, Elvire and Beverley. Roy was appointed to the District Superintendent’s Office in Junee in July 1932. They lived there for almost four years before he was promoted into a position in Newcastle. From there he returned to Sydney and lived at Arncliffe up to the time he died on 13 October 1969 aged 79 years.
RPC Hon Historian
