Shaun Graf - be in the game
St Kilda Cricket Club | January 30, 2023
Shaun Graf made his first grade debut for St Kilda Cricket Club during the 1976/77 and for the next 24 seasons forged a tremendous career playing first grade district cricket in Victoria and Western Australia, first class cricket in both states and played 11 one day international for Australia. He was named in the Australian Test team for the 2nd Test Australia v New Zealand and the 1st Test Australia v India in 1980/81 but was 12th man for both Tests
A highly talented all-rounder Shaun played 243 first grade games scoring 4,200 runs at 32.06 including 3 centuries and 17 half centuries. With the ball he took 382 wickets for Saints at 21.03 and took 5 wickets or more in an innings on 13 occasions.
Shaun had three seasons with Frankston Peninsula CC and took 52 wickets at 26.73 and scored 891 runs at 24.08.
All up in first grade cricket in Victoria Shaun took 434 wickets at 21.72 including 15 five wicket hauls, scored 5,091 runs at 30.30 and hit 3 centuries and 21 half centuries. He also took 147 catches.
Shaun spent one season playing first grade cricket with South Perth in Western Australian 1983/84.
In a first class career with Victoria and Western Australia Shaun played 55 first class games from 1979 to 1985. He scored 1,559 runs at 24.14 and took 124 wickets at 33.91.
He played significant roles in Victoria winning the Sheffield Shield in 1978/79, 1979/80 and with Western Australia in 1983/84.
Shaun if a Life Member of St Kilda Cricket Club and elevated to Legend status in Victoria Premier Cricket as well as being a member of the CV200 Club.
Shaun's contribution to the game has continued well beyond the playing field as he has been working with Cricket Victoria for 27 years as General Manager of Cricket.
Let's find out more about Shaun's journey in the game.
What year you were born?
1957
Can you remember your first game of cricket?
1965-66 in the Somerville U16’s! The pads were bigger than me and the Slazenger polyarmoured weighed a ton. My fondest memory from that time was being an 8 or 9 year old coming in at No 11 and generally trying to avoid the bowler getting a hat trick. However there was one special day at Seaford when my brother, who was the skipper, a good player and 6 years older had been dismissed for two and then I pulled the leggie for four…. I’ve never let him forget.
Tell us briefly about your cricketing journey?
I started at Somerville, as mentioned above. It was a small country town back then about 50kms south of Melbourne on the Mornington Peninsula. There was no more than 300 people in the town and fortunately we owned the only pub which meant we were quite a popular family in the town.
After I had a pretty good senior country week in my teens I was invited to train at a few district/grade clubs. I trained with Prahran and Richmond and was also invited to Melbourne and North Melbourne training sessions however Ted Lynch from the St Kilda Cricket Club came and watched me during country week and really went out of his way to make me feel welcome, not just a number so to speak, so I ended up playing at the Saints.
Also played at Frankston Peninsula CC, South Perth in 1st grade, Caulfield in Sub Districts and in the UK for Hampshire CCC, Wiltshire & Cornwall in the minor counties and Knowle CC, Bristol league cricket.
I was fortunate to play first class cricket for Victoria and Western Australia and 11 One day internationals for Australia.
In which grade and at what age did you make your debut in first grade cricket?
I was 19 and it was St Kilda v Essendon. With the ball my figures were 0 for 35 off 7 overs and I slogged a few with the bat. I played against ‘the General’ John Grant that day who is a legend of Victoria Grade and State cricket and also another debutant playing for Essendon from Geelong, Graeme Ross who got me out with his knuckle ball … I later played a game with him for the Victoria, good fella ‘Taj’
What were your strengths as a player?
Competitive type, swung the ball, had a very good bouncer and a capable bat.
What was your highest score in senior cricket?
130 odd for the St Kilda v Richmond at Punt Road Oval
What were your best bowling figures in senior cricket?
In country cricket 8 for 30 v Mornington at Somerville. In Grade 7 for 31 for St Kilda v Prahran
You made your first-class debut for Victoria in 1979/80. What did it mean to you to be selected for the big V?
At the time it was a big deal. State cricket shared equal footing with the VFL (AFL) in the media so there was a bit of press….my first game was actually the first Sheffield Shield match I’d ever seen live as I’d only watched on ABC TV - the last session of a shield match
In 1983/84 you moved from Victoria to Western Australia, why did you make the move and why only one season?
I felt I’d been type cast in Victoria as a bowler and late order hitter in the one day games. The selectors never really told you their plans in those days so I thought I was on the outer. Daryl Foster the Western Australian coach saw more in me as I’d performed well in the couple of shield matches I’d played at the WACA so he chased me to open the bowling or bowl 1st change with Denis Lillee and Terry Alderman plus bat at 6 or 7 around Rod Marsh’s availability.
Daryl Foster
I truly loved my short time in the west, we won the Sheffield Shield that year, were runner-up in the McDonalds Cup and South Perth, my grade club won their first premiership in 40 years.
I was man of the finals and was joint winner but lost on count back (not shared in those days) with Greg Shipperd for the State cricketer of the year.
However as mentioned previously by not knowing what the Australian selection panel thought about my future I decided I had to make the call and get a real job to earn an income rather than the $136 take home pay for a 4 day Shield match and no security!
You played one day internationals for Australia can you share with us how you found out you’d been selected in the one-day team and what do you remember about your debut?
I’d just made my maiden first class century for Victoria v WA at the MCG. Jeff Moss and I put on a big partnership to win the match and I was told after we came into the rooms.
I was pretty bloody excited and it was a magic experience. It’s far more treasured as I’ve got older.
My debut was against New Zealand at Adelaide Oval and there were a few things I remember vividly. Getting fitted out in the Australian kit, canary yellow and bright green. Fielding at fine leg that day a bee tried to sting me thinking we were daffodils!, rooming with Dougie Walters, what a character!, full house at Adelaide Oval, bowling a couple of no balls in my first over, first wicket of Bruce Edgar, making a duck and the lonely walk back off the ground through the members .. just too name a few.
124 wickets and 1,559 first class runs in just over 4 seasons is a handy career, how do you look back on your first class career?
Average, I’d say unfulfilled especially at Australian level. I believe I could have established myself in the team as there was and still is a huge opportunity for an allrounder but I lacked self-belief and did not feel I belonged within such a great team of players such as Lillee, Marsh, Walters, Chappell’s, Thomson & Kim Hughes etc. I’d idolised many of them as a teen.
In hindsight being selected after a season or more rather than a few games in Shield may have helped me in this regard.
St Kilda has always been your club, how hard was it to leave to help set up Frankston Peninsula CC in their formative years and what are you most proud of from your time at Frankston?
I’d been at the St Kilda for a long period, many as Captain/Coach, and felt the club and myself needed a break from my cricket methodology for a bit so the three years at the Frankston was a challenge but also rewarding.
I think Dave Robinson (former Victoria and Tasmanian) and myself, a teammate at the Saints whom I recruited as my assistant coach, brought a dose of cricket reality to a new club that mainly consisted of young country cricketers. They were quite wet behind the ears and needed to understand how to train properly, how to play well consistently against good opposition and how to prepare for the many variations in conditions associated with turf competition.
I’m proud of the fact they are now established in the competition with great facilities and bi-partisan support from the local area which will bring success shortly, something that has narrowly eluded the club on several occasions!
Who were the best fast bowlers you have played against?
Lennie Pascoe was such a competitive beast… I always felt he wanted to hit you first and then hopefully fall on your stumps to get the wicket.
Dennis Lillee and Richard Hadlee; the Rolls Royce’s … their action, accuracy, pace and guile were exquisite.
Imran Khan: serious pace and an amazing ability to swing the ball so late, can certainly see why Wasim and Waqar were so deadly having learnt off the master!
Special mention to Michael Holding, Jeff Thomson, Franklyn Stevenson, Garth LaRoux, Vince Van Der Bijl, Joel Garner, Milliken, Hartley Alleyne, and Mark Hill … all bloody quick and fine exponents of pace, seam, swing and bounce!
Richard Hadlee
Who were the best three spinners you have played against?
John Emburey was a quality offie with a tremendous arm ball, very difficult for a left hander especially in English conditions.
Abdul Qadir was tremendously accurate, really attacking with a magnificent wrong’un, he would have been possibly the greatest leg spinner if Shane Warne never came on the scene.
Graeme Beard - always had trouble with him, very accurate back in the day when the SCG was a turner.
Abdul Qadir
Who were the best 3 batsman you’ve played against?
Tough question as there are so many.
Ken McEwan - one of many great unknown South African players, played for Essex and Western Australia and was an absolute quality bat.
Ian Chappell - usual adjectives to describe Ian, tough, hard but his ability after a ‘competitive’ day physically and mentally on the field was matched by his comradery and genuine interest in you off the field…tremendous leader of men.
Brian Davison - former Rhodesian that captained Tassie and Leicestershire, brutal hitter of the ball, never intimidated and a competitor of the highest order
Ken McEwan
Who played the best innings you’ve seen firsthand playing with or against?
Easy one, David Hookes … 100 off 35 balls. He was seriously upset because Graham Yallop declared very late just before tea on day 4 setting SA about 240 to win in a session.
In those days it was near impossible to chase down that sort of total off 40 odd overs so he came out and opened the innings,. He brought up his 100 in the 7th over, Rick Darling, himself a dashing bat was only 7. An unbelievable innings of power and placement!
David Hookes
Was there any batsman/bowler in particular who for whatever reason always seemed to cause you a few problems?
Most! … In my early days in grade cricket Keith Stackpole was an absolute superb player, aggressive and highly skilled … learnt a lot watching him make plenty
Greg Shipperd was always difficult to remove!
Bowling wise, Malcolm Marshall in the nets at Southampton wasn’t much fun however from a local bowling attack perspective Northcote’s David Saker, Billy McGinty, Muddy Waters and Troy Corbett were the best attack I faced and was always a challenge!
Can you recall a time when you thought, wow, this is a step or two up from what you were used to in grade cricket?
My first class debut match v NSW at the SCG. I remember bowling to McCosker, Dyson, Trevor Chappell, Ian Davis, Peter Toohey and Doug Walters thinking how good are these blokes and then facing the ‘Sliptor’, mad Lennie Pascoe, with Steve ‘stumpa’ Rixon behind the stumps, David ‘cracka’ Hourn and TC sledging the poop out of me and my teammates … proper cricket, the beers were also cold at the end of the day!
Who was the best wicket keeper you’ve seen firsthand playing with or against?
I only played against him a couple of times but in my time playing, watching, selecting, and administering I believe Darren Berry to be the best gloveman I’ve seen, Richie Robinson the best keeper batsman I played with and against.
Who are the players you admired most in terms of competitive spirit in the competitions you played?
First class – Bruce Laird, John Scholes, Robin Jackman, Tony Dodemaide
Grade cricket – Peter Cox, David Saker, Richard Herman, Nigel Murch and Nick Jewell.
Peter Cox
Who are the players you admired most in terms of sheer skill in the competitions you played?
First Class – Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee, David Hookes, Julien Wiener, Ritchie Robinson
Grade cricket – Keith Stackpole, Warren Whiteside, Jamie Siddons, Warren Ayres, Gary Watts, David Broad, Ash Robertson… apologies to the many other fine players I’ve missed.
Who are the players you have admired most in terms of skill and competitive spirit in your 20+ years as the boss of Victorian State cricket?
There are so many who represented Victoria over my time in a very successful period who had enormous talent, to be fair and rather than talk about who or the best it would be easier to highlight players from other States, outside of the ‘big dogs’, that I have admired.
We have had many great contests against Queensland, they were a formidable unit in the late 90’s and throughout the 2000’s. Their success helped form our winning and steely mindset over the past 10-20 years, Hayden, Law, Love, Maher, Kasprowicz, Dale and Bichel epitomised skill, aggression and presence. Hopes, Seccombe and Foley always played well against us.
Hussey, North, Voges, Katich, Campbell were wonderful WA players. Little remembered West Aussie Rob Baker was a fine player and could have been anything but struck down early in his career with chronic fatigue
Di Venuto, Marsh, Jamie Cox, Dean Hills, George Bailey, Michael Bevan were all excellent players for Tassie.
Siddons, Ferguson, McDonald, Ryan Harris very good players for SA, Tim Nielsen was always a pain in our side and a true competitor! I always felt that the two young spinners Dan Cullen and Cullen Bailey were handled poorly, they both had serious talent.
NSW have had a plethora of top players, Ben Rohrer, Steve O’Keefe, Trent Copeland, Wayne Holdsworth and Doug Bollinger were great competitors in that next group below the established Aussie players. I always rated Grant Lambert and have wondered why he didn’t get more of a go, he could play!
Who were the best captains you had the good fortune to play with?
First class cricket - Dav Whatmore was an aggressive attacking captain and a superb man manager especially with his bowling attack
Grade cricket - Gary Cosier created a team environment that was fun to play in, great tactically, always played to win so very attacking, great socially.
Gary Cosier
Who have been your funniest teammates?
Tough one
First class cricket - Max Walker, Ian Callen and Mark Nicholas
Grade cricket – St Kilda lads Darren Walker, David’s Johnstone & Robinson, and Gerard Cull
Can you recall some banter, a sledge or a crank on the cricket field that still makes you laugh today?
When captaining Frankston Peninsula v St Kilda, I won the toss and mumbled to my mate, Jason Jacoby the Saints skipper, that “you can have a bat …. after us!” … the umps heard what I said but Jason didn’t which was exactly what I wanted. It was very funny when there’s 4 openers out in the middle at the start of play. The Saints openers had to run off hurriedly as did the rest of the team who were just starting to put their feet up relaxing in their shorts and trackies … that was a pretty good crank!
What was your most embarrassing dismissal in senior cricket?
Facing David Emmerson, Collingwood CC skipper in a Grand Final v the Saints. I had a big’ windy woof’ going for quick runs and slipped from swinging that hard and fell over watching the keeper stump me by a mile … embarrassing!
Who were your childhood heroes?
Bill Lawry, Sir Garfield Sobers and Dennis Lillee
Bill Lawry
Who would be the famous sports people in the world you’d have or would most like to meet?
Angelo Dundee - Muhammad Ali’s trainer. Babe Ruth, Nadia Comaneci, Eric Cantona, Arnold Palmer, Steve Ovett and Carl Lewis
Angelo Dundee
Who’s your favourite cricket commentators?
John Arlott and Richie Benaud
Can you share which cricket journalists whose work you’ve enjoyed most over the years?
Peter McFarlane, Mike Coward, John Woodcock and Greg Baum
What was your favourite ground to play at?
The SCG closely followed by Lords and Flinders back home on the Peninsula
Was there a particular team you especially looked forward to playing against?
First class cricket – Western Australia. Great competitors on and off the field, the old WACA was a tremendous cricket deck and if you could knock them over in less than 4 days they had brilliant beaches
Grade Cricket - Melbourne CC. Always competitive, many great players, tremendous rivalry with the Saints, played the game in the right spirit and good socialisers off the field
What’s been your most memorable moment in cricket?
As a young bloke in my first one day international for Australia. Full house at Adelaide Oval throwing the ball back to Dennis Lillee at the top of his mark, saying “well bowled” as the crowd chanted Lillee, Lillee … kill, kill, kill … surreal and still gives me goose bumps!
What’s the best wins you’ve been involved with?
Playing in the final Shield match of the 1979-80 season having to beat South Australia who were top of the ladder. Victoria were 2nd before this deciding match and it was such a classic climax to the season that the concept of a Sheffield Shield final was born two seasons later.
In grade cricket - chasing down 427 to beat Richmond in the 1985-86 Grand Final. Beating Melbourne in the 2nds Grand Final in 2005 when I came back and captained the Saints in my late 40’s, both the 1sts and 2nds beat the Dees that year … big celebration at the Albert!
St Kilda 2nd Grade team
If there were a couple of match ups, a bowler and batsman going head to head at their peak, who would you choose?
Derek Underwood v Bradman and Shane Warne v Botham at Headingly.
Lillee v Kohli and big Wes Hall v Adam Gilchrist at the old WACA
Wes Hall v Adam Gilchrist
Who are five players from your first class playing days at the top of the list for a Saturday afternoon barbeque?
David Hookes, Lillee, Marsh, Mike Proctor, Rodney Hogg
What are your hobbies?
Reading crime thrillers, cooking Jaimie Oliver and Donna Hay recipes, lying at the beach in the sun reading one of those thrillers, appreciating fine reds and occasional golf
What’s the best advice you’ve received?
Max Walker told me before my first Shield game that as you go through the grades to the top, all the better players still have blood running through their veins like you however the batsmen just make less mistakes, the bowlers bowl less balls to score off and the fielders are far more intense for longer …. Very true!
What is your occupation and who do you work for?
I'm retired now. I worked for Cricket Victoria for 30 years, General Manager Cricket
Can we ask what in your opinion needs to be done by cricket’s future administrators for Australian cricket to remain strong and successful on and off the field?
Be careful not to distribute too much revenue to too few at the expense of the longevity of our game throughout the land; State venues need to have unique pitch characteristics again, that challenge our players by scrutinising technique, question their mental strength and reward perseverance under pressure; recognise and find a solution to the heavy toll on dedicated cricket staff and curators because of increased scheduling demands with many more matches of different formats, male and female, for longer each year.
