The Barkly Street Uniting Church Cricket Club has a proud and great history. One of the things that makes our club so special is the large number of father and son/daughter relationships, let alone other family ties like brothers, uncles, nephews etc. that have played for ‘The Streeters’. To date there have been over 50 father/son combinations, yet out of all these numbers only six of these families have had a third generation play for the purple and gold.
Bates, Hogg, Quinn, Graham Law and McPherson, family names that are all legendary at our club. These families have had the unique distinction of having had three generations, grandfather, father and son play for the club. There are still two of these families who have one or more members currently playing.
Sid, Leon, Stephen and Colin Bates were the first family to register three generations milestone. Although not much is known of Sid’s career other than he played in at least 2 premierships and that he served as the club secretary prior to the war. Leon is one of the greatest players to have padded-up for us. He along with Jack Law and Ian Moore are primarily responsible for resurrecting the club after the war. Leon holds many records and was until the end of the 2010 season the club’s greatest run scorer, over 30 years as club treasurer and was our games record holder for a very long time. Leon is a life member, Team of the Century member and a Hall of Famer as well as a member of the WSUCCA Team of the Century. Stephen also has played over 20 years and over the past couple of seasons has been playing in our one day team after a lengthy retirement. Just recently he has been recognised with a life membership. Obviously the layoff has helped him as he scored only his second career 50. Colin began in the juniors before playing senior cricket with us ending his career on 95 games. The Bates’, not including Sid’s contributions, have played in excess of 600 games and that is not taking into account another family member in Leon’s brother Harold who played 17 games.
Wes Hogg, number 2 life member (1961), was one of the mainstays of the clubs success during the mid to late 1930s and early 40s. Wes was the eldest of the Hogg boys with Bill & Stan also playing for the club and his legacy has led to two further generations of his family playing with us. He was recently inducted into our Hall of Fame and like Sid Bates most of his records are not available other than we know that he played in 4 premierships, in two of which he was captain. His son Alan and his grandsons Cambell Hogg and David Lenepveu all had brief careers with the club. Wes’s grandson Matthew also played 173 VFL/AFL games with Footscray and Carlton, playing in their 1995 premiership team. An example of his standing at our club is that the First XI champion player trophy is named in his honour.
Ivan, Brad and Brenton Quinn, covered the various facets of the game. Ivan was a wonderful bowler, Brad a useful wicket-keeper and lower order batsman and Brenton an elegant top order batsman. Brad and Brenton played a number of games together like a lot of our father/son combinations but Brad had to get the whites out of mothballs to do it. In recent times Brenton has concentrated more on his emerging football career and hasn’t played for a number of seasons but there is always hope that he may reignite the passion some day as he is still only a young man. Ivan has the First XI bowling trophy named after him and in addition to this he also played in the 1970/71 A Grade premiership team where his contribution was extremely valuable snaring 4 wickets.
The Graham family has left an indelible memory at our club. Charles Graham, a thorough gentleman who always thought and cared about his beloved club. He is the number one Life Member (1957) a huge honour for any person no matter what level of sport. He was Club President from 1971-77 and has recently had the honour of having the club’s best clubman award named after him. He was also an inaugural inductee into the Hall of Fame. His son Noel was a champion cricketer, a fast bowler of the highest quality and a more than useful batsman with a few centuries to his name. Noel too was recently inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame and along with his wife Dorothy rarely misses a club presentation night as they continue to keep the Graham tradition alive. Noel’s grandson Joel Baker began playing with our juniors but unfortunately due to lack of numbers in his age group had to continue playing at another club but we still hope that he will return to the beloved club of his grandparents.
When you think of Barkly Street it is hard not to think of the name Law. Jack is the club’s ‘father figure’, always at the club doing something. The club is his life. Diligently supported by Joyce they are the heartbeat and soul of our club. For 57 conscientious years he served as club secretary, numerous honours such as an OAM, Australian Sports Medal and City of Maribyrnong Sports Volunteer of the Year awards to name a few, have been bestowed upon him. Jack played in a number of premierships and coached the Under 16 team for over a decade. His sons John and Jeffrey continued his legacy and now his grandson, Aaron, has also proudly pulled on the gold cap and even Jack’s granddaughter Renee has managed a game. John played over 200 games and like all the ‘older’ Laws’ is a life member. A left arm medium fast bowler and right hand bat he worked hard for the club and served as treasurer for a number of years. Like Jack, Jeffrey has continued the tradition of club administration where he is currently the administrator and treasurer. He has an outstanding club record and was one of the WSUCCA most highly decorated cricketers. He was the first player to be named captain of the Australian Churches Carnival team as well as 2 other selections and the vice-captain of the WSUCCA Team of the Century. He is a premiership captain, the clubs games record holder and life member. Aaron is currently playing in the under 15s and was the second XI’s regular 12th man, where somehow he always seems to manage to get a run at some stage of the game. He too is becoming part of the woodwork, as the tradition continues. Just recently the Laws have amassed between them over 1000 games, in itself an amazing statistic.
Ian “Storky” McPherson, all-round great guy, a real club character who was loved by all at the club and his passing devastated us all. Storky is a life member, Team of the Century member and Hall of Famer just to name a few of his outstanding achievements. Probably his greatest legacy and proof of how much he was revered at Barkly Street, is that there is a junior scholarship award named in his honour, which is presented to a promising junior each season. He was one of the most fearsome fast bowlers the club has ever had but many people still speak of the day he won the semi-final with his bat rather than his bowling. His son Tyne played 62 games with the juniors and like his father took a hat-trick, a unique feat for one family. Currently Ian’s grandsons Anthony Augello is playing in the under 15’s and is showing some promise of what we hope will be a long and fruitful career at the club. Ian’s other grandson Alex Taylor (Under 11) has also recently begun playing with the club and has assisted the Under 15s and doing very well considering he is playing well above his age group.
As I think about these families and how they have made such an impact on this club I can’t help but think of Storky and how I imagine him looking down on us and smiling, as he sees his grandsons and his good mate Jack’s grandson playing cricket alongside one another, in what we all hope will be the building of another Barkly Street dynasty.