Manly Warringah District Cricket Club - 1999-2000 season starts with a bang

Manly Warringah District Cricket Club | January 01, 2025

The 1999-2000 season was one of immense change at the club. Gary Flowers had stood down as Club President the previous season after 8 years in the role and was replaced by Ron Holmes.

Ron introduced some big changes to our committee at the time, but the biggest challenge was on the field.

In the 1998-99 season our first-grade side finished 12th, while our 2nd Grade side finished dead last in 20th place. While there were green shoots with good performances in 4th Grade, 5th Grade and Green Shield, it still wasn't good enough for us as a club.

Well, the 1999-2000 season started with an absolute bang as we won all grades against Parramatta in Round 1, and by the end of Round 3 we were sitting in 1st position in the Club Championship.

One of the things that the new committee implemented was the return of our club newsletter, which pre-internet was one of the biggest communication tools available. See below for the first newsletter after Round 3. Take note of the playing list. Some absolute legends of our club.

History will show that we went on to win the Club Championship in that 1999-2000 season after not having won it since 1988-89. It was the beginning of a run that has seen us win another 7 Club Championships since year, making it 8 in the last 24 years.