Icon Of Hurstville Oval Turns 100
St George Cricket Club | February 21, 2025
On the 26th of January, the Dunbar Pavilion, like many of the amazing cricketers that played in front of the spectators it housed, reached a century.
You can only imagine the feats that have been witnessed in the the years since it was built in 1925. The premierships, the performances, the battles, the start of many amazing careers, the ups and downs of cricket.... and the mateships forged. It hasn't been just cricket. The history of Hurstville Oval is so vast and amazing that it even had a 261 page book written about it in 2001 named Hurstville Oval, A History Of Sport And Community.
The Pavilion itself is known as the Dunbar Pavilion. It is named after the Groundsman that tended to the oval for 30 years between 1919 and 1949.
Lou Dunbar, a returned "Digger" from the 1st World War, transformed Hurstville Oval from suburban cricket ground to one of the best playing surfaces in Sydney, perhaps even Australia. To Dunbar, the ground was not just his workplace, it appeared to be his passion and for this reason he was a highly regarded individual, not just to the St George cricketing fraternity but to all those that played and administered their sport at the ground.
Such was his impact at Hurstville that when the council decided to build a Grandstand, it was named in his honor.
Tenders for the construction of the Pavilion were opened in June 1924 and was eventually won by Young and Gorringe for 1250 pounds which then blew out by a further 200 pounds.
The engineers report states that the pavilion length of 60 feet would allow for 585 people with undue crowding. 13 rows of seats - 11 covered with a roof. 2 Dressing rooms, one at each end (18 feet by 16 feet) with a room (22 feet 2 inches by 16 feet) in the middle.
These dressing rooms would house some of Australian Cricket's greatest and after completion it wouldn't take much for the Grandstand and the rest of the outer to hit its capacity as spectators crowded to see Don Bradman ply his remarkable trade.
Sadly we don't see such crowds at Hurstville anymore unless it's a special occasion such as a final, but it was nice to see a heap of families and young local cricketers at our "Juniors Day" event, taking in the excitement of an Ed Pollock century on the 15th of February as 2nd placed St George took on 4th placed Randwick Petersham in First Grade.
Article by Hamish Solomons
View of the Oval and Pavilion in 1925
"Juniors Day" from the century old Dunbar Pavilion
Many have commented that they feel a little sad knowing that those seats and changerooms where so much of our history played out, now play 2nd place to the new and fresh Blackshaw Gould Pavilion. Perhaps those rooms still have a place to play in the education of every new generation of St George cricketer coming through the ranks.
To finish this tribute we thought we'd leave you with this amazing letter by legendary St George and Australian cricketer and renowned journalist, Bill O'Reilly to Warren Saunders on the 20th of January 1989.
I have very happy memories of St George, two of which stand out predominantly in my memory. First there was that team of kids which rose from the ranks to become one of the very best, and certainly the most interesting ever to play Cricket. Secondly, old Lou Dunbar, our incredible Hurstville Groundsman, ex-First World War Digger, the like of whom Sydney Cricket has not produced since. Lou's influence in turning out week after week, the best wicket in Australia played an enormously important part in the careers of many young locals whose names later became highly important.
Many of the clubs players came together for a discussion about the club and the significance of Hurstville Oval and the Pavilion etc.
