The winning run for the Reds.

Death of John Loh

John Loh, one of the great characters of the club's formative years, died early this week.

John arrived at the Royal Park Reds, as we were first known, at the start of our second season in 1980. He was well known on the Melbourne left and union scene as an activist in the Victorian Builders Labourers Federation rank-and-file group, which had supported Jack Mundey's model of militant democratic unionism and opposed the bureaucratic tactics of the infamous Norm Gallagher. John was an "Aussie original", thin with curly brown hair, a laconic way of speaking and a wit as dry as a bag of unmixed concrete. He thoughtfully brought with him a complete second XI, "the mountain men" as he called them, a collection of union activists and other ratbags who had played together on a social basis, though many would have starred in our nominal "firsts".

John was their natural leader, and his side was implacably loyal to him as skipper, most refusing all our blandishments to "come up to the firsts". A shrewd character, he was hell to negotiate with over team selection, although there was always the consoling thought that we only had to do it once a fortnight; the bosses on his building sites had to negotiate with him every day. True to his anarcho-syndicalist principles, John stepped down from the captaincy after a couple of seasons in favour of a rotational system where every player captained for a game. The system failed miserably, but it did unearth a fine successor to John whom no-one had previously thought of in Peter Persson.

John was given to flashes of quixotic inspiration. At our one and only attempt at a presentation dinner, he threw a hundred years of cricket tradition out the window and rather than present his stars with gaudy trophies for the mantelpiece, gave them each a bouquet of flowers.

As a cricketer, John was the archetypal Reds middle-order bat. His innings promised much but were invariably cut short, often by his unrequited love affair with the drive wide of mid-on. By dint of sheer perseverence, he turned himself from an end-of-training net bowler into a very handy off-spinner with over 100 wickets to his credit. All were taken with a quirky goose-stepping delivery stride that gave his bowling action the jerkiness of a 1930s wind-up toy.

When the club split amicably in the mid-1980s over selection policy, John naturally remained with the Royal Park Reds at Poplar Oval as one of their elder statesmen while we in the Reds headed off to Fawkner Park. John was probably the first Red to have the pleasure of playing in the same team as his son when Joe joined him at Poplar Oval.

On the union front, John recognised the Victorian Labor government witchhunts of the 1980s against Norm Gallagher and the BLF for what they were, and became a prominent BLF organiser, facing serious charges along with John Cummins and John Sitka as they fought to keep the union alive. John possessed an intelligent sense of his audience, and was one of the best presenters on 3CR's builders' labourers program. Tony Roberts, another Reds stalwart of the 1980s, now edits many union journals at Publicityworks and reckons that John's entertaining contributions to the CFMEU journal were always a blessed relief from the sludge served up by many union officials.

We have heard that John died at his home in Northcote, his body being found by his longtime mate John Cleary. We don't yet know the cause of his death. Our sympathy and best wishes go to Laila, Joe and all of the Royal Park Reds.

Clubrooms campaign

The Melbourne Times and Melbourne Leader both carried prominent sympathetic articles last week about our campaign to keep the Straw Field clubrooms. The articles seemed to get a quick response. Cr Kate Redwood's office, who had not responded to our request to have a meeting to discuss the situation, was on the phone immediately to arrange a time to talk to us. Jim Todd and I are due to meet Cr Redwood, who heads the Council's Parks & Recreation section, tomorrow at 11.30am.




In this issue:
Tenth wicket record
Next weekend's games
Four teams in the four
Last weekend's games
Clubrooms campaign -- progress report

Tenth wicket record falls -- again

The big talking point around the Reds has been the smashing of the club's tenth wicket record for the second week in succession. This is a record that has been stuck in the fifties for longer than John Howard, bearing proud testimony to the collective ineptitude of the no.11's of the club (who must number several hundred by now). The old record of 53 had so many holders it was starting to resemble an Emmanuel group hug. Such unlikely and scary combinations as Jamie Croft-Rob Lane and Jim Todd-Hung Le proved Andy Warhol's old theory that at the Reds, everyone can have their fifteen overs of fame.

All that changed on Saturday November 29 when those mad professors, Dave Guest and Mike Leach, the latter batting in a trance-like state and obviously influenced by some vegetative substance, inched the record forward to 54. An advance of only one run, but like the four-minute mile it proved the breakthrough that the world had been waiting for. Given the longevity of the previous mark, Dave and Mike probably expected to enjoy their record-holder status for several years. But their glory lasted just eight days. Those rude Rhids ring-ins, Gibbo and Roy, blitzed a flagging Coles attack on Sunday for an unconquered 76 to propel the record into hitherto uncharted territory. Though credit must also go to diminutive Coles keeper Mark Lane, who after having an appeal for a huge snick off Roy turned down, was so stunned he forgot to remove the bails with Roy several feet out of his crease.

Anyway, the floodgates have opened and now everyone wants to take a crack at the record. As they should. Mike has cancelled his previous engagement to team up with Dave in his last game to try to wrest the record back. First they will have to fight off the Bickster and the Rickster, who are suddenly available and clamouring for the coveted no.11 berth. The Cheating Hippy and the Dude have been tempted back to have a go in the Ones. Tomek and Byrney are putting forward their credentials strenuously at training, as did the entire A Grade batting lineup last Sunday. And merely getting the captain's nod for no.11 may not be enough .... expect a rash of retired-hurts on Saturday as the jockeying for the new glamour batting position continues throughout each game.

Next weekend's games:

A Grade: v Chili Dogs, Saturday 1pm, Straw Field No.1
B Grade: v MHSOB, Saturday 1pm, Herring Oval, Domain Rd, South Yarra
D Grade: v Powerhouse, Saturday 1pm, Straw Field No.2
Under-14s: v Strathmore, Saturday 8.30am, Straw Field No.1
Under-12B: v Craigieburn, Saturday 8.30am, Straw Field No.2
Under-12E: v Strathmore Heights, Saturday 8.30am, Boeing Res No.4, Boeing Rd, Strathmore (Melway 16 C5)
Under-10s: v Tullamarine, Friday 5.15pm, Arden Street

Four teams in the four!

Here are all the latest ladders in percentage order. We currently have two senior and two junior teams in the top four.

A: Old Caul 40; Carnegie 33; Powerh 27; Reds, Emmanuel 24; Cantbry 21; Burnley, Sacred H 15; Chili Dogs 10; Monash 9.
B: Powerh 36; Coles 30; Carnegie 25; MHSOB, Glen Iris 24; Arcadia 22; S.Yarra 21; Bayswater 18; Reds 16; Ajax 6.
D: Powerh 42; Gunbower, Reds 40; Sacred H 24; Coles, Barnawartha 21; Burnley 16; Brighton E 15; Ajax 13; Carnegie 6.
U14A: Doutta 24; Merlynston, Kens-Reds 18; Strathmore, Greenvale, Craigieburn 15; Sydenham 12; St Bernards 3.
U12B: Taylors Lkes 19; W.Coburg 18; Craigieburn, Airport W 15; Flemington 12; Reds, Moonee Vly 9; Strathmore Hts 3.
U12E: St Francis, Broadmeadows 21; Sydenham 15; Reds 12; Craigieburn, Socials 9; Flemington 6; Strathmore Hts 3.
U10s: don't have ladders

Last weekend's games:

A Grade: Emmanuel 9-cc-281 d Reds 164

Well, it's 10.45pm and Rogo's match report still hasn't arrived. So here's what snippets we've heard about our runchase.

"Brett doesn't want to talk about it. Pathetic, he says." -- Guido on the phone, Sunday night.
"Conditions were perfect for batting. Not as fast as last week, but they never will be. But no excuses." -- Rogo.
"The Emmanuel bowling was nothing. Just old hacks." -- Brett.
"Knorpp and Serapiglia bowled long spells. Then some new medium-pacer Brudar and Radchenko the leggie. Nothing special." -- Rogo.
"Funk and Steve got us off to a pretty quick start. Funk got thirty-something. Then Krings did alright for twenty-odd. Then we just started losing wickets. Usual story." -- Rogo
"It seems like no-one in the A's can bat for more than half-an-hour without suffering a brain explosion." -- Brett.
"I got a few at the end." -- Tomek.
"I was left not-out as usual." -- Brett.

B Grade: Coles Myer 189 & 5-42 d Reds 82 & 9-dec-238

REDS started the day at 2/44 still 63 runs behind the Trolley Pushers, but full of confidence with draftees Roy and Gibbo on hand and Deadly back in the park subbing for Haggas.

Having been at a numerical disadvantage last week, the tables were turned with only 9 TP's in attendance (1 was a sub).
However, with only 5 minutes to go there was no sign of The Deputy, so we had to tax an ump from the A grade game, leaving the REDS A's having to square leg (but not for long as it turned out). The Deputy is still missing in transit, and a coalition of the unwitting (sorry - posse!) is trying to be organised (contact the Boatbuilder).

The REDS top order took advantage of the situation - it feels good to say that - and batted us to a strong position with runs from Mozz (26), MTC (44) and The Poet (18). The innings was finished in true style with Gibbo (48no) and Roy(41no) sharing an unbeaten last wicket partnership of 76 that left the Trolley Pushers devoid of what little humour they could muster before the declaration of 9/238.

With 27 overs at our disposal and only 8 batsmen under the tree the REDS were keen to impress with another outright. With a bowling attack of Steve, Ivan and Roy and a full field, the REDS were soon roaring, reducing the Trolley Pushers to 4/3 which included a hat-trick to Steve and 20 overs left. The Phillimore Bros came to the crease and had us crying with their alternate impersonations of the infamous Kahn/Norling, Mitchell/Campbell combos of yesteryear. 17 overs - no shots -no runs. Ivan finally broke through with a wicket after countless near misses, and with 2.5 overs to go and only a bunny under the tree, there was still a chance but it did not happen. Fantastic effort but no cigar.

One game before the break - MHSOB - who we had on the rack in Rd3. A win here will see us just out of the four and we have played all the top sides.

D Grade: Reds 257 & 1/8 d Barnawartha North 147 & 113
Barnawartha North resumed at 2/10, needing another 148 runs to make the Reds bat again.

Only a new recruit put up a fight - Paul Huxley (78), nephew of the Barneys' captain of the day. With a build now like the old Marty Vana, it's hard to imagine once upon a time he'd been selected by the Footscray Football Club's U19s. (Or that he'd lost 75kg in the last few years!) It was much easier to believe his uncle's other claim -- that he used to open the batting for Essendon seconds as a teenager. Blocking the good ball and murdering the full toss, he hit twelve fours and three sixes before coming down the wicket and being bowled/stumped/whatever by Dave Guest (2/19). But only two other players could reach double figures, as "Radio" Roberts took 7/52 off 14 overs.

When Barnawartha were asked to follow on, dangerous allrounder Wazza Brown wanted to make amends for failing with the bat and ball so far in the match, so he paid $20 to open the innings, and lasted three deliveries. Ouch. Huxley made 40 not out, but thanks to an inspired spell by Cailean Moore (4/38), only three of the rest of the Barney Army made double figures as they were dismissed for 113, with some good solid catching by the Reds a feature. Radio (2/13) and Dave Guest (2/35) bowled well again.

With us being set four to win in the final half hour, Ewan Greenfield finished the match with an all-run five when nobody wanted to field his hit back over the bowler's head. Next week sees possibly Dave Guest's last home and away game for the club, in a battle against top team Powerhouse.

U14A Grade: Reds 9-cc-102 & 1-17 d Merlynston-Hadfield 81

Defending a modest total, we started in the best way possible. Cailean and Ewan conceded just 4 runs in the first six overs while Ewan bowled both openers. The crucial moment came in the seventh over, when their star bat Vinnie Sundar cracked a short ball from Sam Thurlow behind square, only to see Paddy grab a great overhead catch -- 3/9. A stubborn stand took the score to 37 in the 21st over before Aaron pocketed a neat slips catch off Tom. The other danger man, Michael Pell, began to accelerate the scoring, and at 4-71 things looked tight. Then Aaron switched to medium after six fine overs of legspin and bowled Gleisner with an outswinger. Next over Cailean skittled Pell and we only had two tail-enders to remove since Merlynston had conveniently turned up two short. In a comedy of errors, we dropped a catch, then threw wild when both batsmen ran to the same end. Fortunately Dario kept a cool head, backing up and throwing down the stumps. Soon after Cassie held a neat catch at backward square to give us the points. Ewan was our star with the ball, taking a fine 3/4 off 6.2 overs.

Under-12B: Reds 7-dec-178 d Strathmore Heights 110 & 6-106

After a lot of good cricket over the last month, we deserved to get up for a win. Shea Tierney (53 no) and Fergus Reilly (20) took up where they left off last week, and carried us past the opposition with a magnificent 100 run stand. Among a number of personal best performances, Gus Kueter Luks then followed up with a stylish 30 no, to give us a sniff of outright points. Tom Reilly (2-6) and Chris Scott (2-14) had us headed in the right direction, but two of their batters performed under real pressure to hold us at bay, and scored some good runs into the bargain. One area for us to improve on is our out-fielding, where some fumbles saw us concede a lot of unnecessary boundaries. Nevertheless, a solid effort to which everyone made a contribution - well done, boys!


Under-12E Grade: Sydenham-Hillside 6-dec-110 d Reds 37 & 7-77

Sydenham resumed at 5-77, and we got an early run-out but had no further success before they declared at 6-110. Sam Ward (2-5 off 4), Max Diciero (2-10 off 4) and Curtis Hamid (1-3 off 4) were the pick of our bowlers. With 37 overs to survive to avoid the outright, we put up a much better show than in the first dig. Curtis (26 ret), Sam (17*), Jack Dinale (8) and Ruairi Cleary (7) all did well to take us to 5-77 before a couple of late wickets made it look closer than it was.

 

The team meets.

Under-10s: Ascot Vale 5-87 d Reds 1-cc-61

Batting first, we made a modest score, with Declan Reilly (6) and Charlie Roberts (4*) doing best with the bat. Extras were again to the fore, contributing a useful 43. Ascot Vale always had our total covered, but several bowlers did well. Nicky Manley (2/4 off 3), Charlie Roberts (2/3 off 2) and Mitchell Wood (1/12 off 2) took wickets, and Fred Cawte (0/3 off 2) kept the scoring down.

Clubrooms campaign

Cr Kate Redwood, head of City of Melbourne's parks & recreation committee, will meet with Jim and Alec on Tuesday December 16 to give us council's response regarding the clubrooms.

(* musters all the grace of John Howard dispensing cup medals*)

Nice work Gibbo and Roy!

P.S. I defy Clarky to find a more crap batsman than me. I OWN that no.11 spot. On merit.

However, I might be persuaded to lease it out, on the Barney auction model. Bidding starts at $20 gentleman.

Warming up the kava,

Mike

Leachy,

The gauntlet has been thrown down, and you will have a fight on your hands. Mike G may have a highest score in the low 30s, and a few 26s under his belt, but this club is about more than just numbers (no feral abacuses here). When it comes to pure aesthetics (all that really matters with batting) the Gosling wins hands down for no.11. There is a rumour that Mike once moved his feet while attempting a shot. Some time in 1998 I believe. However, like the argument about the tree falling in the forest making a noise, as I did not see it, therefore I refuse to believe it happened. I look forward to the battle for the bottom in 2004. That is what we pay our money for!!!

Pete