1966-67: A Grade Runners Up; A Reserve Grade Runners Up

NOTABLE GAINS: Terry Betts, Graham Johnson, Terry Mackenzie & Brian Roberts
NOTABLE LOSSES: Norm Buckley, Allan Cash, Allan Cox, Hugh Ferris, Graeme Hooper, Geoff Marshall, Eric Smith & Ian Stewart

The return of Terry Mackenzie and Brian Roberts (half a season each) was a boost to the A Grade side but for long term effect, very few debuts can have been as important as Graham Johnson's. Only Alan Gray scored more runs or played more seasons and Guiley's performances would affect premierships, build new skippers and change players in A Grade & A Reserve Grade for the next 25 seasons. Terry Betts would go on to be a Club and Association President and set wicket keeping records which were never broken. Starting slowly by proving himself in A Reserves, he never the less made an indelible mark.

Against these gains big losses. Eric Smith ended a ten year career with Waratahs which earned him more than three hundred wickets and two thousand runs, all in A Grade. He was an A Grade skipper and arguably one of our best all rounders. Allan Cox had starred at the top of the order and with Gray, formed an opening combination which regularly made big starts. Marshall had left early in the previous season. Norm Buckley, who had returned with a splash the previous season, was again gone. In the lower grade, Hugh Ferris called it quits after 15 seasons service, having played in every grade the club had fielded and always being prepared to play a role in whatever way the club needed. Hughie was one of the great Waratahs clubmen. Only Alan Gray had a lower player number. Graeme Hooper, an excellent slip fielder, also left after seven years.

A Grade

Most seasons ride on the back of a star performer and several players whose supporting role sees them rise to occasions. This season, there were two stars - Bill Thompson and Tom Cooke, who captained the side - and very handy cast of support players.

The season opener was a 200 run thrashing of Uralla, whose fortunes waned as did the appearances of the Taylors. Thompson was a safe nick from a century and with Graham Johnson making a solid debut and Tom Cooke pounding a useful half century, Uralla struggled to avoid the outright, despite a bag from Brian Roberts and Cooke. Against Ex Services, Thompson got more than half the score with his own century but they posted a hundred more again thanks to Keith Smith and Rene Mullen. Peter Rigg took five wickets. University II were easily accounted for thanks to Thompson's runs and Roberts wickets. The Teacher's College were beaten in a tight finish when their opener Sawyer was last man out for 100 in the chase. Churches were routed twice by Tom Cooke (7-31 & 4-20) but their first innings was enough for the points when former (Don Foster) and future (Brian Joice) members each took five wickets in Waratah's lowest score of the year. Thanks to a bye, the 104 victory over University I was the last before Christmas. Johnson made his first century for the club in a 156 run second wicket partnership with Gray, before Cooke (6-23) and Roberts (4-55) cleaned up.

With an unusually strong side early in the new year, Waratahs came with one wicket of outright points against Easts. Brian Roberts left for good but his replacement was Terry Mackenzie, returning after 18 months absence and taking five wickets in the first innings whilst Cooke took four in the second. Betts and Cooke made half centuries earlier, batting with either end of the order. The elusive outright was finally secured when first Waratahs and then Public Service made "sporting declarations". Waratahs closed their first innings 69 runs behind after Paul McCann had run through them and then Public Service closed three down and set Waratahs 140 to get in about ninety minutes. At 2-17, things looked grim but a 52 run 5th wicket partnership between Thompson and Cooke won the day. In the last game before the semis, The Armidale School pulled off a very narrow four run win after Cooke had taken six wickets. Gray batted superbly after opening and was out 8th man out with only five needed. Tomkins (8-54) took Rigg and John Roberts off successive balls of the next over. Further innings failed to change the state of the match.

The semi final against University I was played at Bellevue and on the first Saturday, the Waratahs pace trio of Cooke, Mackenzie and Rigg proved took much for their batsmen on a deck that was moving about and with rain interruptions, their 7-81 somewhat dampened their chances. Opener Ian Dunn was 25 not out in a sterling effort. On the second day, the tail was wrapped up quickly but Waratahs were soon in trouble with Gray and Johnson gone in successive overs. Greg Russell helped Thompson add 44 and then Allan Smith, Betts and Cooke were all gone before the victory was achieved by Thompson playing an exciting combination of defence and audacious strokeplay against the seeming deliveries of McDonald and Grant.

Their Final opponent, Ex Services, had been unbackable and unbeatable all season, regularly scoring 300 plus with a batting lineup of Wally Miller, Ray Blair, Errol Browning, Ian McLean, Jack Trestrail and Rene Mullen. Keith Smith collected five successive hundreds. Their bowling attack of McLean, Mullen, Browning and Trestrail rarely conceded more than 100. This team was probably one of the strongest club sides Armidale cricket has ever seen. Against them, Waratahs pitted Thompson, Gray and Johnson with the bat and a bowling line up that was second only to Ex Services and probably had more variety in Cooke, Mackenzie and Rigg off the seam and Johnson and John Roberts to bowl spin.

Waratahs and Cooke made a dream start, with Ex Services soon 4-13 - Miller, Smith and McLean for ducks - and Cooke had all four of them. Browning added 50 with Trestrail and 36 with Mullen until he was the last man out. It had been a grand captain's knock against a grand captain's spell. Cooke finished with 7-49. Waratahs great start to the match was shattered by an early mishap which saw Gray run out and a devastating spell of fast, dangerous, aggressive bowling of 4-9 before stumps by Rene Mullen. With Waratahs 2-9 after McLean had Smith caught behind, Mullen trapped Thompson in front, bowled Johnson and Cooke and had Russell caught behind. At stumps, Waratahs were all but beaten at 6-31. It was a the spell that won the premiership. On the second day, Betts helped Mackenzie take their partnership to 22 before McLean got him and then John Roberts scored runs whilst Mackenzie stoically defended in a stand of 25 which Mullen ended by bowling Roberts. Rigg then took the run scoring role as McLean and Mullen thundered in, trying to break the tail but Mackenzie would not budge. Another 25 were added until the victory was less than the previous two partnerships away and two wickets were left. Mullen (5-34) finally rested and its was the Skipper, Browning, who had the last say. At 8-96, He somehow found a way past Mackenzie's broad bat to the stumps beyond and then had McRae caught next ball. Ex Services batted again to fill out time and they were declared Premiers.

Bill Thompson (508 runs at 42.33) was clearly the leading batsman. Graham Johnson (294) had an excellent debut season. Alan Gray (223) and Tom Cooke (206) made excellent contributions. Tom Cooke (63 wickets at 9.86) was far and away the best of the bowlers and his total is the most ever taken in an A Grade season. Brian Roberts (22 wickets) and Terry Mackenzie (18) bowled in either half of the season, whilst Peter Rigg (19) was very consistent. Graham Johnson's off spinners created some variation but it was the pace attack which dominated. Terry Betts (16 cat) took over the wicket keeping duties from Thompson and Alan Gray (10) kept his high standards at slip.

A Reserve Grade

As Runners-Up in the previous season, it was all good news that there were no major losses from the strengths the Reserves had been building in the previous few seasons. Players such as Keith McIntyre - now a seasoned head of the batting line up - John & Greg Russell, Bob Brennan and Col Marshall had plenty of cricket miles in their legs and they were a firm base upon which blokes like Max Schaefer and Anthony Chisholm could build. Even so, it was an up and down season and it took the last match before the semis to secure their place in the end of season finals.

It started well, with Max Schaefer leading the way in chasing down University IV's 179. John Russell and Col Marshall shared the wickets. Anthony Chisholm and Bob Brennan toiled long and hard with a day in the field chasing Hillgrove's leather but even though McIntyre, Schaefer, Brennan, Chisholm and K Dawson got amongst them on the second day, the task proved too much. Uralla were held to a reasonible first innings, Chisholm and Marshall sharing the spoils and Bill Nixon got Waratahs off to a flyer by stumps. On the second day, Chisholm cut loose with Brennan's support and Waratahs declared a hundred in front. What followed was outright carnage as Col Marshall bowled Uralla out for 12 ... the lowest ever total against Waratahs in Reserves. In the next game they played a rematch of the previous season's Final with Ex Services, still losing but this time by only 14 runs in a high scoring match. John Roberts, dropped from A Grade took six wickets and earned his place again. In the chase, Max Schaefer scored another impressive eighty, whilst another temporary discard from A Grade, Terry Betts, joined with K Lucas and Greg Russell to almost get Waratahs home. A bounce back win against Teachers College was again full of runs, with Greg Russell making a stylish half century but December provided two losses - the first against a classy St Peters outfit where only Russell stood up against Peter Hutchinson's nine wickets and the second a near outright loss against University III when the batting was dismal.

With only three games after Christmas before the semis and in 6th spot, the portents were not good, especially as Ex Services were the first to be faced in the New Year. However, at near full strength, Waratahs rolled Ex Services cheaply with many contributors but John Russell had the best figures (3-6). In reply, Waratahs were several miles in front by stumps with Greg Russell closing in on a century ... only to have Ex Services forfeit the second day and so gift them outright points. Uralla burst the Waratahs bubble setting a score and then rolling Waratahs twice before scoring the few needed to win outright by 8 wickets. This left favourable results and an imperative win for the last game against Hillgrove. First innings points and a semi-final place were gathered with nine wickets down chasing only 123!

The semi-final against St Peters was knife-edged. Batting first, Waratahs could only manage 5-74 on a rain-soaked first day, with Keith McIntyre's top score worth three times as much. On the second day, wickets fell quickly and cheaply and they had less than a hundred to defend. David Robins, the sports store man, was the only one of the Saints to make an impression against Col Marshall, who bowled his team into the final as Lucas cleaned up the tail.

The Reserves problem in the final was always going to be runs. The boys from the University had a deep batting line up which would took containing and Waratahs own batting had become brittle from December on. So it proved. A bounder called Bowdler peeled of a classy unbeaten hundred but Waratahs through Lucas were back in the game with University 6-177 at tea. However, an unbeaten 117 run partnership between Bowdler and Cropley handed the game back to University, aloowing them to make an overnight declaration. Waratahs were never in the hunt as Hobbs and Patterson tore through them and only Keith McIntyre and John Failes made double figures in a total of just 85. McIntyre's last out 55 was an amazing knock. Given there were three sundries, the other ten players only contributed 27 runs!

Remembering the caution about incomplete data, Max Schaefer (267) was the leading run scorer, ahead of Keith McIntyre (241) and Greg Russell (222). K Lucas (23) took the most wickets, closely followed by Col Marshall (22). John Russell (12) was again of great support.