Barry Holland
Randwick Petersham Cricket Club | February 12, 2025
Barry Holland had the rare distinction of not only taking most wickets for Petersham-Marrickville in his first season but also achieving what many Grade players failed to do in a full career—take a hat-trick. While his 49 wickets across three grades was the club’s top, that 1963-64 summer, his hat-trick came in 4th Grade in just his fourth match. Playing Gordon at Turramurra, Holland’s three wickets in three balls to finish with 3-15, helped bowl his team to victory.
John Barry Holland was born at Kogarah on 28 August 1942. A schoolboy cricketer at Tempe High, he attended the Saturday Morning Coaching Classes conducted at Petersham Oval by Dudley Seddon, from the age of 11. He progressed from there to the Petersham-Marrickville A W Green Shield team of 1957-58. However, due to back problems throughout his teens, he wasn’t seen in Pete’s colours again until he was 21. The late start didn’t hold him back and mid-way through his second season, he was a regular 2nd grader. He had a brief introduction to that grade late in his first summer, impressing good judges with a 6-58 effort against Wests at Pratten Park.
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Over the following two seasons, Barry was at the forefront of the 2nd Grade attack. The right-arm swing bowler was seen as a real handful for opposing batsmen and regularly made an early breakthrough. Solid returns of 6-46 against Gordon and 5-54 playing Waverley, confirmed his talent and potential.
In 1967-68, Holland made his 1st Grade debut in a one-day match against Cumberland at Marrickville Oval, on the Labour Day Monday holiday. It was a rather inauspicious start with figures of 0-23 and being bowled by Richie Benaud for a duck. But he didn’t have to wait too long for his first scalp in the top grade, taking two early wickets in the next round against North Sydney at Marrickville. He bowled the opening bat for one, then had the thrill of clean bowling Doug Walters for just nine. And while he finished the match with an impressive 3-29, he had the disappointment of being last man out lbw to Bevan White for five, with his team an agonising 153 chasing 154. Holland finished his first season in 1st Grade with 19 wickets, including a 4-74 performance to bowl his team to a win over Randwick.
While he was a consistent performer in two seasons in 1st Grade, up-and-coming bowlers like David Chardon, Billy Moffatt and Greg Hartshorne created limited opportunities for him in the immediate seasons which followed. And while he continued to produce some outstanding performances in 2nd Grade, including a then personal best of 6-24 off 20 overs against Balmain, he also had a stint in 3rd Grade where he played a full season in 1971-72. That turned out to be a record-breaking season for the energetic pace bowler in more ways than one.
With 70 wickets in 15 matches, it was not only a new 3rd Grade record for the club, but also the most wickets in the season by any player from any club in any of the Sydney Grade Cricket five grades. Barry had only taken 20 wickets at 14.7 in eight rounds up to Christmas, but with a number of rain-affected wickets after the break, he was in his element, capturing 50 at 5.9 each in the remaining seven games. He also had his best batting season, scoring 251 runs including a career-best score of 59.
The performance of Holland that season was as spectacular as it was outstanding. Playing North Sydney in a one-day match, he had 4-1 and Greg Oliver 2-6 in Norths’ first innings which was declared closed at 6-7 in response to Pete’s 152. Chasing maximum points, skipper Graham Howlett immediately declared his second innings at 0-0 leaving Norths 146 to get for an outright win. Holland was again up to the mark however, taking 7-13 to have them all out for 73 to record an outright win by 72 runs. Barry finished with the amazing match figures of 11-14. He also had another “eleven for” match when he took 11-95 against Gordon in the 3rd Grade semi-final. Unfortunately, the Grand Final didn’t go Pete’s way, and they went down to Northern District.
Over the following seasons, Barry Holland remained one of Petersham-Marrickville’s most consistent lower-grade cricketers. He had a brilliant start to the 1972-73 season, producing a career-best 8-64 in the second round to win against Northern District 113 to 109. Unfortunately, Barry broke down shortly after and played only a handful of games that summer.
Two seasons later in 1974-75, he captained 3s, again producing one of the club’s top all-round performances with 43 wickets and 239 runs while holding 10 catches. He moved up a notch to skipper 2nd Grade the following summer, again heading the bowling attack with 30 wickets. And while he also made an appearance in 1st Grade that summer, it was to be Barry’s last full season.
In 1976-77, Holland bowled just 85 overs for 10 wickets in the club’s 3rd Grade side which went on to win the premiership. His sixth game that season was his swansong with his on-going back problems forcing a premature retirement at age 35. After 14 seasons with Petersham-Marrickville, Barry finished with the impressive tally of 426 wickets at the excellent average of 17.07. He was most effective in 3rd Grade, where he took 162 wickets while he almost matched that in 2s with 155. In 1st Grade, he took 42 and in 4th Grade 67. He was a handy tailender, scoring 1,630 runs with two half-centuries. He also held 88 catches with 12 in 2nd Grade in 1966-67 his best.
Barry Holland also had a successful career in baseball. He started as a 13-year-old in the St George Red Sox under 15s and four years later, joined Canterbury Bankstown DBC. In 1962, he was selected in the NSW Colts Baseball side and in 1969-70, reached the pinnacle of his playing career as a member of the NSW Claxton Shield team.
After his 1st Grade playing career concluded in 1978, he went on to coach the Canterbury 1st Grade team for a total of 24 years, winning eight premierships along the way. He was also a specialist pitching and hitting coach for the NSW Claxton Shield team for many years, while taking on the prestigious head coach role in 1983 and 1984. He was made a life member of the Canterbury Bankstown Baseball Club (now Bankstown Vikings Baseball Club) in 1984 and had that same honour bestowed upon him in 1991 by the NSW Baseball League.
Lyall Gardner OAM
