Jack Gregory arrives at Manly

Manly Warringah District Cricket Club | November 09, 2024

Excitement ran high among Manly cricket followers when, in September 1923, it was learnt that the great test all-rounder Jack Gregory would be joining the Club. Young members may not know much about Gregory, but it should suffice to say that he stood 6 feet 4 inches tall, was probably the fastest bowler in the world at the time, batted left-handed in the Gary Gilmour fashion, and was an acrobatic slip fielder who rates as one of Australia's finest in this position.

Gregory's advent made the first-grade side of 1923-24 a strong one, as it also contained test player Dr. Roy Minnett, newcomer Les Gwynne from Glebe, the ever-green Jim Randall, quickie Roy Bubb, and a fine young keeper-batsman in "Äli" Freeman. The side finished second on points and fourth on averages in 1923-24, and fifth the following year - a fine effort.

A huge crowd turned out to witness Gregory's fist match for the club at Manly Oval, and he certainly did not let his supporters down. He scored exactly 100 (with 17 fours) in roughly even time when Manly batted first, and by the end of the first day had taken six Balmain wickets for four runs. When the Balmain innings was concluded on the second day, his figures stood at 9-24. One wicket in the second innings gave him a rare double of 100 runs and ten wickets in the match. The ferocity of his bowling is shown by the fact that in the Balmain first innings he twice broke the stumps.

Sadly though, only a few days after his performance, Jack Gregory broke down at practice with a serious knee injury which required an operation. The surgery however was not fully successful and Gregory was never again the same force as a bowler, playing only a handful more games for the Club, and those primarily as a batsman.

As published in our 100 year book. Visit https://manlycricket.com/100-year-book-digitised-a-history-of-mwdcc-1878-1978/