1957-58: B Grade semi-finalists

NOTABLE GAINS: Ted Crotty, J McIntyre, R McIntyre & P Morse
NOTABLE LOSSES: Ian Hodge, Joe Leahy, Don Paul, Roy Smith

An odd season in that A Grade (26) used more players than B Grade (17) but those stats begin to look odder when you learn that only six from the B Grade played in the higher team at any stage and none for more than one appearance. The top side, it seems, sourced its new players from elsewhere, perhaps believing that their lower graders weren't worth the risk. Hard to maintain that argument when J Walsh scored more than six hundred runs at 46 in the B's and took 61wickets at bit more than 7! Five others scored more than two hundred for the season, including the discarded keeper G Whitton, who ended the season with 22 dismissals. Add in the four others with twenty or more wickets and its hard to see why an A Grade side that only one three games from thirteen could have called on performers below, even if only to blood them. None of the leading lights B Grade were among those given a game in A Grade.

As mentioned, the A Grade season was a disappointing one. It started with the loss of quality players and no real gains. Ross Ridley, a foundation member of the club left for Public Service after seven years and took Roy Smith with him. Don Paul, a teacher, finally went with his allegiances and played for the High School. Joe Leahy, whose appearances had been waning, finally left. Of those who stayed, Brian Richardson and Doug Johnstone were sporadic and John Carr returned for the second half of a long season for players used to having two competitions. Eric Smith led the side, especially by performance and heaven knows how much worse the season could have been without Alan Gray's outstanding contribution.

The season was doomed by the end of November, with three losses, a draw they were going to lose and a bye. On the coir matting at DLSC, the college scored freely and quickly with good scores in both innings, despite Eric Smith ten wicket haul, which was followed by him scoring half the first innings runs in an attacking 81, supported well by Gray (43). Mark McCann spun Waratahs out, getting bounce and turn with his leggies. Across town at the other High School, Waratahs lost by nearly 200 after Don Paul turned the tables with a fine century against us. Smith got wickets again and he, Gray and Nev McDonald got enough runs to avoid the outright. Visiting a third high school, TAS made 307, Smith was the only effective bowler and Waratahs were heading for defeat with three cheap wicket falling before stumps. It rain the following Saturday. A bye gave them three weeks off cricket to regroup but the resumption told a similar tale, with Pubic Service edging to first innings points on a damp first day wicket and then things reasonably even on the second day. Smith too wickets, Gray made runs but their were also handy inputs from G Lee, P Morse and Doug Johnstone.

The first win came in unusual circumstance, the first of which was shear brilliance. Chasing Churches 186, Smith and Gray resumed the second day and by tea had established a 3rd wicket record, both of them notching centuries and Waratahs best total for the season. A future Waratahs player, Roger Roan, claimed Smith's wicket just on tea. The bizarre followed, with Church rolled cheaply, batting only seven men, as the four Ridleys had to attend their brother's wedding. Waratahs won outright.

Things continued to look up with a win against the Uralla Rovers - probably their best performance of the season and one that put them on a roll after the outright victory against Churches. A total just shy of two hundred was posted thanks to a strong hand by Morse, well supported by Smith and Gray. Rovers could only make half that, with John Carr bowling with good hostility and collecting five wickets.

Whatever momentum they had rolling ended with a nasty physics lesson handed out by the real Uralla. Waratahs were smashed about the paddock and responded with two sub hundred totals. Another future Waratahs man, Bede Ryan, took nine wickets for the match. Easts then smashed Waratahs. Scoring 169 on day one (Gray 50), the signs were ominous as Easts chased hard at 1-97 but there were no miracles on the second day. John O'Brein and Ray Farrell both got hundreds even though Smith contained them with five wickets and the second innings fell apart at Ned McCann's urging. Wests 217 was too much for our 136, Gray again outstanding with 56 and Smith made 40. Second innings games just gave Gray the chance for more runs but the rest were too timid to chase and possibly lose. A third outright loss in four games followed at the hands of DLSC. John Carr (6-54) had his best spell of the summer restricting DLSC to a four run first innings lead but the batsmen collapsed again for less than a hundred and then Brother Brendan romped his charges home.

A lonely win was found against TAS, a first innings victory by more than a hundred runs, thanks again to Carr's excellent new ball bowling and runs to Lee, Johnstone and Perrau. On the second day, TAS ran amok and for the second time this season totalled more than three hundred against Waratahs. Rugby League kicked us down to the ground one last time with a 126 run defeat after yet another sub 100 total. Errol Browning (8-33), then more interested in taking wickets than giving them, was unplayable.

A disappointing season ended but congratulations are owing so some. Alan Gray (635runs at 35.28 had his best season for Waratahs to date and Skipper Eric Smith (505runs at 33.67 and 50 wickets at 14.68) certainly gave everything he had. G Lee (212 runs) continued to improve and played some important innings but there's not much you can say about the rest. John Carr (28wickets at 18.07) finished well, most of his wickets coming in the last four games. It can't have helped that five wicketkeepers were used and this is representative of a constantly changing A Grade side in 57-58.

B Grade

What ailed A Grade was reversed in B Grade, where a settled nucleus of only thirteen players played almost all of the games. It was in the engine room - the bowling - where this counted most. Only ten bowlers were used all season and of these, only five bowled every week and two more bowled occasionally. It was the strength of the team, as was the batting, where virtually four players scored more than 300 runs for the season. The most consistent part of their season was the first half, where after two losses in the first three games, they strung together nine wins and a draw to get to Christmas, including a win over the eventual Premiers and they were in the superior position the draw against Easts. After Christmas, there were emphatic victories, a loss to Police Boys and then a couple of lazy, over confident losses before they returned to great strength for the semi against Police Boys.

Waratahs brushed aside DLSC in the first game, with R McIntyre - Waratahs 100th player - making 68 and Tony Morriss and R Marshall taking wickets but University chased down a decent total which had contained runs from R McIntyre and Arty See. ATCII again chased down a reasonable total, as for the second consecutive game the Waratahs bowlers had been unable to break through.

The long succesful run to Christmas started with R McIntyre notched his second fifty in four games with Hugh Ferris and the out of form J Walsh supporting. Morriss (6-26) fired through the ATCI batsmen. The first of a season of nightmares for TAS against Waratahs started with a rare outright win for Waratahs, TAS only making 59 and 30. Walsh, Marshall and See all got cheap, cheap wickets and Walsh and Ted Crotty runs. Public Service were beaten by eighty, Morriss and Marshall again taking the wickets and Walsh played a steady hand in unpleasant weather circumstances. Whitton, back from A Grade, was keeping well and scoring handy runs. Dumaresq were lucky not to lose outright, with J McIntyre (49x & 4-14) the star and See (60x) playing a forceful cameo.

The toughest opposition was beaten in a close encounter where Walsh (36 & 4-19) was the difference after C Heath (8-50) had cut through the Waratahs batting. It was all runs in the win against Easts, where the Waratahs team was brimful of swinging bats, the most prominent being See (67x). Back to TAS and more torture for the school boys. They feared little better (47 & 8-47) and no one making double figures against See's match figures of 10-15. To rub it in, See also top scored. Dumaresq were again beaten easily, bowled out for 78 with J McIntyre, Walsh and Ferris sharing the wickets and Walsh, See and even Morriss scored runs to double that score. In a rain shortened match. Easts 71 would not have held out against Waratahs who were halfway there and only three wickets down. It was a familiar pattern against Public Service with a 72 run victory as Walsh scored a fifty and Ferris an overdue 40. Openers Morriss and Marshall shared the wickets.

Police Boys reversed their loss to Waratahs with a hard fought game in which they were the better batting team. C Health (7-32) again dominated the Waratahs batsmen. Ted Crotty (58) top scored and J McIntyre (45) played another attractive innings after Morriss (6-43) had been too good for the Ex Servicemen. Then a lazy loss to Dumaresq when chasing just 78 after D Gratton (8-23) had performed a season best and his own career best. Milson (7-21) speared Waratahs for 49. Worse was to come against Hillgrove two games later where they made only 48 and were forced to bat a second time and struggled to prevent an outright loss at 8-81. Jim Frost did the first innings damage with 7-24. Walsh's 6-43 in the Hillgrove innings was the only highlight.

The Hillgrove match had followed another TAS towelling and more outrigh points. This time TAS made 39 & 43 and lost by an innings and plenty. See bettered them again with match figures of 9-29 and Walsh belted a classy 63.

In the next two games, Waratahs made runs like millionaires. Against Public Service, only five wickets were lost passing two hundred, with Crotty (76x) and Walsh (52) making big runs but the next match surpassed even that. Batting first against DLSC, Walsh (109x) and J McIntyre (67x) posted a partnership on 180 unbeaten, a record for the grade. Both totals were not touched. The last game before the semis was almost completely ruined by rain.

The semi-final was a sqaure up against two even foes. A win each during regular season and both under similar circumstances. Police Boys batted first and thanks to Walsh (6-35) were restricted to a very manageable target, especially given the form of the Waratahs batting line up. It started so well, with Whitton opening and making a solid 35 but apart from Walsh, no one esle could cope. Effectively, when Walsh fell, the rest followed and Heath another five wicket haul to give him 20 wickets in three games against Waratahs. He had stood between Waratahs and a final berth, perhaps even a premiership.

There was no doubting who the star of the show was. Walsh (671runs at 44.73, 61 wickets at 7.52 and 12 catches) did everything to excess and therefore success. Unlike Gray in A Grade, there was a lot to back him up with Arty See (339 runs and 43wickets at 6.23) being the only man to take a trophy of Walsh in 1957-58. Four other batsmen topped two hundred runs - J McIntyre (359), R McIntyre (307), Ted Crotty (283) and G Whitton (249) - meaning the side was rarely short of runs. Apart from Walsh and See, three other bowlers played satring roles - Tony Morriss (53 at 12.53), R Marshall (31at 10.35) and J McIntyre (26 at 11.08) - and special mention must be made of D Gratton (17 at 7.29), whose occasional bowling earned him the best bowling performance of the season.

The freakish streak of success that Arty See had against TAS in three games this season, deserves special mention. His figures (2-2 & 4-4; 5-13 & 5-2; 5-15 & 4-14) gave him a return of 25 wickets at 2.00. Its unlikely that this level of bowling mastery has ever been bettered by one player against the same opposition within a season.