29/03/2026
Friday night wasn’t just a celebration of our first season back, but also a night to celebrate the achievements of a man who has given so much to this club. Without his willingness and eagerness to get the club back up and going again, we wouldn’t have been there that night.
This individual has given so much to this club over a long time. What he has brought to the club in the way of coaching, administration, leading, and playing is invaluable and can never truly be repaid.
It’s with individuals like this that clubs can survive anything. Their severe grit and determination are something that can only be described as a truly remarkable feature of our volunteers.
This person has already been recognized for these reasons on two other occasions and received this honour at Bagshot Cricket Club and Bunbartha Cricket Club.
While a part of Bagshot, he worked tirelessly and was able to form an U16’s team, and with the help of students, they would walk around at lunchtimes and collect rocks out of the paddock in preparation to sow grass, install a basic watering system, and lay a concrete wicket. The oval at Huntly school is named after him. While at Bagshot between 1975 and 1980, he won Club Champion four times, three of which were in a row, Club batting four times in a row, and the bowling once.
Bunbartha Cricket Club, which he helped reform and come back to life after disbanding in 1935, saw him instrumental in getting a pitch and oval together, and after their first meeting, they walked away having the numbers to have two senior and an U16’s side to play in the Nathalia Cricket Association.
At Tungamah, this would see him continue with the same dedication and enthusiasm, coaching and mentoring many juniors who were also students of his at the primary school. He was elected captain a couple of times. Club records have been hard to get a hand on, but from the information we have, he won an A-grade wicket aggregate award one season and was a part of the club’s committee through a couple of premierships, being 04/05, 06/07, and 13/14.
Our first Life Member recipient was Les Harrison.
We are extremely grateful for Les’ contribution to the Cricket Club and our community.
The club also renamed the best club person of the year award in his name, with it now bearing “The Harro Club Person of the Year”.
Drew Haebich, who nominated Les for this honour, was asked to present the award on the Friday night, and we had two special guests who had come along as representatives from Bagshot Cricket Club, Jamie Sexton and Errol who played for Kamarooka Cricket Club, a former opposition player turned friend.