Gordon 1974-75 Poidevin-Gray Premiership
Gordon District Cricket Club | February 09, 2025
The 1974-75 season was very successful for Gordon. They won the Club Championship by a huge margin and all Grade teams reached the semi-finals (only the top four went through to the playoffs in those days). Unfortunately, only one of those sides won their premiership but it was, nevertheless, a wonderful year.
The Poidevin-Gray side also had a great season. It was a particularly close-knit team with a lot of the players having been together since Green Shield days. After strong wins against Northern District and Balmain (when leggie Mick Murfin for Balmain took all 10 wickets), an outright win over Sydney (difficult in one day!) saw Gordon at the top of the Northern Division ladder. Then came their only loss, to Manly, on New Year’s Day (Man’s inhumanity to man!). Another good win followed by a washout saw Gordon needing to beat Cumberland to reach the final. This they did, with a really solid all round performance, and so it was off to Waverley Oval to play Sutherland in the final to be played over two Sundays).
Sutherland were always going to be a tough side to beat. Two of their players, John Dyson and Andrew Hilditch, were both established 1st Graders who were to play for NSW and ultimately Australia in coming years. As well, two of Gordon’s leading players were unavailable for the final, making the task even more daunting.
Gordon batted first and, after two overs, had slumped to 2-0. A disastrous start, but opener Darryl Quigley wasn’t going down without a fight. A man of infinite patience, he batted for most of the day (five and three quarter hours in all) for his 84, sharing useful partnerships with a number of other team members. Gordon’s final score of 249 was most competitive and a wonderful fightback after the less than encouraging start. Sutherland had an hour to bat and were 0-38 at the end of the day’s play.
Day Two saw another good wicket and the first session was a really dogged affair, with Hilditch batting very well but Gordon taking the occasional wicket to keep things fairly level. At lunch, Sutherland were 4-125, exactly half way to their objective, and with Hilditch 60 odd not out.
There must have been something in the lunchtime sandwiches. Craig Peifer had been bowling well and looked threatening. However, in his second over after the break he struck gold. Three wickets in four balls! He bowled very quickly (one wicket was a searing short ball that so shocked the batsman that he jerked his head back and his cap fell on the wicket!). Seven down then quickly became all out and Gordon had won on the first innings by 100 runs. All the bowling was very controlled and the catching was superb - no chances were missed.
Sutherland then batted again with the hope of somehow scoring enough to put pressure on Gordon but it was not to be and Gordon had secured a great win. Darryl and Craig’s performances were fantastic but, as it had been through the season, the whole team made valuable contributions when required.
On February 9, 2025, it will be 50 years since that memorable game. The team members will be getting together to try to recall what happened. Some facts may be exaggerated a touch but… who cares? The older you are, the better you were!
[Author: Michael Falk]
