1967-68: A Grade Minor Premiers and Runners-Up

NOTABLE GAINS: Ian Campbell, Bruce Kellaway, Gary Holloway, J McDonald
NOTABLE LOSSES: Brian Roberts, Anthony Chisholm, K Dawson, R McIntyre, Bill Nixon

The A Grade side grew in depth and strength again this season with Uralla veteran Bruce Kellaway and literally the greatest father of the club, Ian Campbell both adding their expertise. Brian Roberts had left the club half way through the previious season. Gary Holloway played the first of many seasons in Waratahs lower grades and J McDonald coming across from Hillgrove. A number of long term club members left the lower grades, making Reserves difficult after two seasons of being Runners-Up. Anthony Chisholm & K Dawson (7 seasons) and R McIntyre & Bill Nixon (10) had served their club well before moving on. Nixon had at one time held the record for the most career ducks.

A Grade

This was a season dominated by the bat like no other before it, as A Grade failed only twice in thirteen games to score 200 in a completed first innings. Graham Johnson and Bill Thompson reaped bumper crops, as did new man Bruce Kellaway and Alan Gray and the other newbie, Ian Campbell, also weighed in. Tom Cooke and Kellaway with Terry Mackenzie in support were a formidable bowling attack. Peter Rigg fell away after struggling early and seemed back to his best with 7fa against Uralla in late November but didn't take another wicket. Johnson, with his off spinners, was a revelation of revolution, including four pfeiffers in his season. Apart from losses in November and it had been a perfect season until the final.

It was all runs for the first three games. University I were beaten by three wickets after scoring heavily and making what proved to be a premature and over confidnet declaration. Bill Thompson started the season with a ninety - not for the first time - whilst Terry Betts, Baldwin and Kellaway picked up the pieces. Thompson again went one better with a great hundred against TAS, Kellaway and Johnson both scored fifties and Ian Campbell look good making 39 in a big total only five down. TAS moved their own run mountain but were eventually stopped by Mackenzie good line and Johnson's spin. Thompson's extraordinary run feast continued, with a rain shortened innings causign a declaration with him still five from another hundred. Kellaway, Johnson and Gray joined in as again only five wickets were down. Churches were no match for Tom Cooke's pace and Johnson's spin.

The first loss came at the hands of the Teachers. Thompson and Campbell made sure Waratahs had enough runs but the bowlers couldn't contain TC's opener Sawyer whose century won the victory. The second loss was at the hands of Ex Services who huffed and puffed and blew our batting house down for near the hundred mark twice. Johnson restricted Ex Services first innings but with only 24 needed the second time around, outright points were handed over. Waratahs bounced back hard against Uralla, no longer a force in A Grade cricket. Peter Rigg (7-31) knocked them over cheaply first time around before defector Kellaway and Johnson pilled on a lead. Kellaway did most of the work in rolling them a second time and it was a short stroll to the end of the park for outright points. Easts avoid an outright but not embarassment, out twice in the match whilst that second Thompson hundred arrived, with Kellaway and Gray in support and only twice down when a declaration was made a hundred in front.

Waratahs turned at Christmas in third place and lost a chance to move up the table when both days of the first game in January were too wet for cricket. On the next, they thrashed a Public Service side which only had six players, beating them outright on the first day. Both bowlers and batsmen made easy way against such easy opposition. Next, the tough nuts, Ex Services were dismissed for under two hundred for a second time this season, Johnson again taking a bag against them. When rain stopped the second day, Waratahs position was far from strong but Thompson was still not out and in charge and they shared the points. Waratahs batting continued on its powerful way for a second narrow win over University I. This time Alan Gray was a graceful top scorer with Graham Johnson supporting him with his own half century. Tom Cooke took six wickets as the Uni boys were held at bay by 6. Assured of a semi-final spot but keen to avoid Ex Services, the last game produced some of Waratahs best cricket. Big half centuries to Kellaway and Johnson, supported by cameos from Campbell and Betts and then a blistering opening spell from Cooke and Mackenzie saw Churches blasted out and only two bowlers used. They improved in their second innings but Kellaway and John Roberts shared the wickets and wrapped up an innings victory. The outright points gave Waratahs the Minor Premiership and semi-final draw which avoided Ex Services against Churches, the side they had just demolished.

The semi-final at Newling Oval was close to over by stumps on the first day with Cooke, as he so often did in the big matches, bowling superbly for six wickets and Kellaway as the perfect complement at the other end. Churches totalled a Nelson and despite losing Gray for a duck to the big left arm quick Brian Joice, Thompson and Kellaway looked comfortable until stumps. On the second day, five wickets were down before Churches score was passed and a sixth and seventh soon after but Roberts batted superbly with Cooke to raise 105 for 8th wicket and take the game well away from any heroics from Churches. Better news than even the victory filtered through after play as University I had done the unthinkable and beaten Ex Services. Waratahs, as minor premiers, would face a side they had already beaten twice that season and had escaped the rampant Ex Services juggernaut.

Despite being minor premiers, Waratahs were drawn to play University I on their home ground but should have approached the game with confidence after peeling 7-219 and 217 off their learned opponents in earlier games and with arguable the form bowling attack in the competition Waratahs deserved to be confident. By tea on the first day, that confidence, like their dreams of a premiership, were in tatters and the shredder was a bloke they hadn't seen before called Dick Stayner. Fellows who played against Stayner say he was very, very quick and on this day at the end of March in 1968, he showed it. After the third over of the innings, Stayner had removed Grey (0) and Thompson and John Down had taken Kellaway (0). It was 3-7. Johnson and Campbell improved the score by 39 with the larest partnership of the innings but when Stayner trapped Campbell in front, he almost immediately removed Betts and Russell, both for ducks. There was no wag of the tail this time and when Johnson went to Uni Skipper Down for a brave top score of 41 the innings folded on itself. 72 would never win a premiership and Beer and Dunn simply confirmed it with an unbeaten opening partnership before stumps.

On the second day, Cooke turned on yet another superb display of finals fast bowling, taking 7-36 on the day as University I's last ten wickets went into slow collapse: too slow for any second innings reversals by Waratahs, who could only fill in time with no hope of winning. It was the second year of being Runner-Up and it was a brilliant spell of quick bowling which had again bought them undone.

Bill Thompson (653 at 54.42) was the leading batsman but Bruce Kellaway (481 at 53.44) came very close to pipping him for the average. Graham Johnson (463) would have been the leading scorer in most other years and Alan Gray (259) and Ian Campbell (215) all did their share of the run work. Tom Cooke (46) took the most wickets, 24 of them in the last four games but Graham Johnson (34 at 12.15) took the cheapest. Bruce Kellaway (20) and Terry Mackenzie (15) were the other leading bowlers. Terry Betts behind the wickets was the leading catcher (8) and he also picked up 3 stumpings.

A Reserve Grade

Its usually a sure fire sign that a season hasn't gone well when results don't appear in the local paper. Successions of defeats are often a discouragement to advertising. Maybe that was the reason that not as much is known about the Reserves in this particular season. They had been runners-up in the previous two seasons and there was still significant strength in their ranks - as some of the results show. Of those eight matches we know of, one was washed out and there was only one win. No place in the semi-finals this season.

In the first match, University IV made a reasonable score but Waratahs could only manage 66 as their first attempt, with new man McDonald as the top scorer. This he did again in the second innings, unlucky perhaps to miss three figures with Max Schaefer supporting. Not a lot changed in the second game, with the Teachers College scoring about the same and Allan Smith taking a rare pfeiffer and Waratahs first innings was likewise. Waratahs second attempt was far more to their ability, with Terry Betts making a career best 75 and Greg Russell and Smith batting well. The third match was drawn with Waratahs chasing but St Peters probably having the upper hand. The last we see of Resreves for a month was The Armidale School's routing of them outright by an innings, after yet another first innings collapse. They pop again in the last game before Christmas with their only win of the season, a big scoring first innings effort against University III in which Keith McIntyre made yet another ninety, McDonald was again impressive and the all batting line up did some work on the way to 8-315.

Rain washed out the New Year and no results appear until February when Waratahs again made 300 plus, this time in a draw with Hillgrove. Schaefer, McDonald and Russell all made half centuries but there was also steady work from McGee, Gary Holloway and Col Marshall. The only other game reported was in early March, when DeLa Salle led by Mick Hawkins and Ian Brazel spent an afternoon assassinating bowlers on the way to 430 - the most runs ever scored against a Waratahs side in this grade. Six got starts in the reply but only Schaefer and Smith made it to the forties.

Without detailed result end of season results are unreliable but of what we know, J McDonald (306) was the leading run scorer and Allan Smith (203). None of the bowlers appear to have taken more than Col Marshall (9 wickets) meager effort.