The period from the 1950s to the 1970s was a heyday of Sydney grade cricket.
St George was clearly the team to watch, but Western Suburbs often proved to be the Saints nemesis at finals time. This was particularly so when Alan Davidson turned out for Wests, as he won finals in 59-60 and 63-64 and the 64-65 semi-final almost single-handedly. Each time he had with him a fine state bowler in Les Ellis but Davo’s exploits were telling. Each time St George was missing Brian Booth while Norm O’Neill also missed the 63-64 final as both were on their way to the 1964 Ashes in England. Wally Wellham, Ken Muller, Grahame Corling and Jim De Courcy were the pick of the Wests players in the early 60s. In the late 60s Test skipper Bob Simpson captained effectively and had Gary Gilmour, Brian Rhodes and Stuart Webster as three fine pace bowlers and a dangerous left arm tweaker in Peter Ferguson, while Bob Bartlett was a tough top-order batsman.
