If you drive past Bottomley Park near Easts Rugby Club in East Brisbane these days you will see a tiny little brick building opposite the Norman Park train station with a few cricket nets and some large gum trees. It was once the home of the Eastern Suburbs District Cricket Club.

The clubhouse was known as the “Crab Pot” as once you got in you couldn’t get out!

It was a fantastic joint and loved by Easties all opposition players and the umpires as well. It was the good old days when after matches meant having a beer with the opponents.

It was actually the unofficial umpire’s clubhouse. Popular umpire Mel Johnson played for Easts before becoming one of our greatest ever test umpires and he may well have started the tradition.

Umpires like Peter Parker, Merv Musch and the late, great Jimmy Taylor could be found there on most summer Saturday evenings.

The most popular opposition player was former Queensland fast bowler “Wild Bill” Albury who lived only a couple of hundred yards away but played for Wynnum-Manly. What fantastic company he was.

The clubhouse was very modest with a few uncomfortable chairs and a pool table which was used more as a bed than a pool table.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/233/evan-bancroft/blog/1026/the-story-of-the-crab-pot