1965-66: THE GATHERING OF EAGLES: A Grade semi finalists; A Reserve Grade Runners up

NOTABLE GAINS: Tom Cooke, Norm Buckley, Peter Rigg & D Little
NOTABLE LOSSES: Brian Richardson, Terry Mackenzie, Brian Roberts, J Woodward, Peter Barrett, Bruce McClenaghan & Ray Reeves

The failure of the B Grade side after all it had achieved - even though key personnel changed yearly - was past the caring stage by the time the new season started and the ensuing years worried little about building a constant renewal into the Waratahs club system. Instead, probably by fortune initially, players were gathered who would bolster the A Grade side and oh what players they were.

In this season which started without it's leading bowlers, Terry Mackenzie & Brian Roberts and soon lost the youthful talents of Geoff Marshall, much was needed to make the A Grade competitive. Banking on the acquisition of opening batsman and wicketkeeper Bill Thompson at the end of the previous season, four other gains came on board. From the start of the season opening bowler Tom Cooke plied his trade. He would prove to be the most successful and most penetrative new ball bowler who played for the club. Successful and established alrounder D Little joined from Easts and a young quick, Peter Rigg began his Waratahs career. At the end of the season, Norm Buckley, one of the best cricketers Armidale produced and a Waratahs junior, came back to the club ten years after leaving.

These new players bought the best out of Alan Gray and Alan Cox and players like Allan Cash and John Failes also seemed to lift. Eric Smith concentrated on his bowling, batting at the end of the order. This was just the start.

In Reserves, Col Marshall returned to bowl with great effectiveness after a five year break and the young men flexed their batting muscle with a series of big scores from Chisholm, Greg Russell and Keith McIntyre. John Russell was very consistent with the ball. This side played strong cricket and didn't seem to believe they could ever be beaten.

This was Waratahs strongest season for many a year and marked the start of a build up of top end quality players which would, following many disappointments, lead to another A Grade Premiership .

A Grade

The season started against an Ex Services side which many would consider the strongest Waratahs ever played against in its fifty year history. In the season unfolding, they would twice score more than five hundred and even Blair, Miller or McLean might fail, Rene Mullen could dash off 190 in an hour and a half. In the light of that, losing by only six wickets on the first innings after Gray and Ian Stewart batted well, could be a consider a good result. In the next game against Churches there were plenty of runs, led by the newbies Little and Cooke, who both scored half centuries and Mr Consistency, Alan Cox. Marshall batted well in his last game. Churches got past two hundred in the chase but Tom Cooke's six wickets kept them from winning. Teachers College chased well but not quite well enough after Watatahs set nearly two hundred thanks to Gray and Thompson at the top of the order and Smith and Brennan at the bottom. Cooke took another six wickets. At Backfield, TAS failed twice against the combined talents of Smith, Little and Cooke and Waratahs chased quickly twice to win outright by 9 wickets. Cox and Thompson made it look so easy on the last afternoon.

December and January weren't good. At Uralla, Walter Taylor caught up for lost time with a century and despite a brilliant 78 from Bill Thompson, Taylor's eight wickets gave Uralla the game. A first innings collapse against University I cost them game, despite an improved second innings in which Gray and Thompson put on a hundred for the first wicket. In the New Year, Public Service caught them without five regular A Graders or the first Saturday and their total was never enough. Tom Cooke took five and Duntroon man McNaught three as Public Service racked up a score on the second day. Without Cox, Smith and Porter, the second afternoon was mere procession to an outright loss with only eight. They licked their wounds through the following bye.

Thompson returned with a great unbeaten hundred, adding 158 with Failes before an early declaration against Easts. With Norm Buckley in his return game after a ten year absence opening the bowling with Cooke, Waratahs sought to take advantage owing to Cooke's second week absence. It backfired and Easts won by three wickets. With two games left, Waratahs were on fingernails to qualify for the semis. DLSC were handsomely beaten on the first innings, Buckley taking six wickets and the batting order firing all the way down to Smith, now batting at 10. Down at Uralla, all the guns fired at once. Thompson and Gray once again made a good opening and Cox, Little and Cooke kept the runs flowing. Uralla were crippled by Tom Cooke. After all, any time you have the distinction of bowling Walter Taylor twice in the one afternoon, you know you've had a good day with the ball. Eric Smith cleaned up those trying to get to the other end.

The semi-final was played over the one weekend for the first time. Batting first in damp conditions at Bellevue, Waratahs struggled through the afternoon to make 113. On the following day, Tom Cooke produced a fabulous spell of bowling to put Waratahs back into the match and although he had total control over the University batsmen, there were two things he couldn't stop. One was Bob Grant, who kept his side afloat and the other was the rain which returned and stayed with University seven down and still 29 behind. The drawn match allowed University passage to the the final and left Waratahs counting the cost of the losses from December to early February.

Whilst Bill Thompson (528 runs at 52.80) was easily the side's best batsman, the notable change was the way the side batted in partnerships and the contributions from many of the batsmen. It's what made it a far more dependable batting line-up. Alan Gray (398) was in the unusal position of being second in the batting aggregate after a very successful season. Alan Cox (321), D Little (224), Tom Cooke (162) and John Failes (141) all batted with distinction and averages over 20. Tom Cooke (40 wickets at 12.08) was the force with the ball all season and Eric Smith (25) was his counterpoint with spin. Little was a handy, if expensive support as other like Marshall and Cox faded. Buckley was wonderful in his only two matches at season's end. Thompson was tidy behind the stumps (11 cat, 1 st).

A-Reserve Grade

What a remarkable side and what an incredible season they had. On the eve of the last game before the semis, Reserves had lost seven from eleven games and won only one of their last six. Despite being in many of the contests they lost, they now faced the narrowest of possibilities in qualifying - an outright win, whilst two other sides both had to loose. We'll work our way to there.

The season started well, chasing a lot against University IV, they got there, with A Chisholm posting his first century for the club and B Barrett in strong support. The very powerful St Peters side gave them a first innings hiding with the veteran Hugh Ferris top scoring and the new man Brendan McGee batting well in the second. They flogged Teachers College, Chisholm raising three figures for a second time and McGee looking the goods for his own hundred when out in the eighties. The batting collapsed to its lowest point against a TAS outfit with a youthful David Tilbury as the spearhead. McGee saved the side from an outright with wickets and second innings runs. The trickle of wickets Col Marshall had been getting turned to a deluge against DLSC. A bag in either innings - thirteen in all - whilst Smith, McGee and Keith McIntyre comfortably set DLSC a target too far ahead of their abilities. University bought them back to earth. The batting all got starts but no one pushed on. Keith McIntyre made sure enough time was used in the second innings to avoid further damage. The last game before Christmas was a loss to a Uralla side which scored about fifty more than it deserved and won by that margin.

The January games were tough, as usual, with half the side playing in A Grade plus they had their own holiday makers and the results were good considering. Hillgrove won by a big margin on the first innings but a nice Max Schaefer fifty stopped it at that. Ex Services - strong in Reserves as well as A Grade - were kept to two hundred thanks to John Russell after Waratahs had them seven down when they passed chalked up the first innings. In the Waratahs second innings, the batsmen cut loose with Greg Russell making his maiden century. Russell emulated Chisholm's earlier feat by making another hundred in a huge first innings against St Peters and P McCann in his first game scored well too after taking five wickets. The next game against Uralla was lost again and the outright win scenario was the only card left.

Luckily, their opponent was DLSC, who they had routed earlier in November. The second day details are missing, beyond the knowledge they won outright but on day one DLSC had been rolled for a hundred, passed and declared two down and were half out in their second for not much more than a few hefty swings. The win and fortunate results elsewhere, gave Waratahs fourth spot and a semi against the Minor Premiers, University III.

Having lost in their only meeting against a side which had won all but one game and with Waratahs run to the semis, form was not suggesting a good result. Having given up 207 on the Saturday, thanks in the main to a splendid 91 by University's Tony Gordon, Waratahs had fought back with the Uni bats flying at 3-144. It was a Keith McIntyre stumping off John Russell that started the rot and from there, Schaefer, J McCann and Russell finished them off. On the Sunday, Waratahs started well, getting half way to their target only two down. Keith McIntyre was playing the innings of his career, attacking the bowling and never releasing his control, but when first Schaefer and then McIntyre fell to Hobbs within eleven runs of each other, the game underwent a sudden shift. Greg Russell, with first P McCann and then John Russell got the score to 184 before falling. Dawson then edged along with the tail ... runs would be scored ... a wicket would fall ... until Bill Nixon left at 9-202. No 11 Butler, whose highest score wouldn't be enough to secure the win, pushed and prodded and edged with Dawson doing his best to get the strike. The run fairy won favour on the day and Waratahs were into the final.

Their opponents in the final, Ex Services, were a very good Reserve Grade team and should a team have been called upon from Reserves to play in A Grade, this was an outfit that would handled the task well. The records we have don't indicate a meeting during the season but with a match missing in the record either side of Chrstmas, its likely they crossed swords then. Players like Ritchie Clutterbuck, Laurie McCann, Melville, Cameron and Godley had all played or would play A Grade cricket but it was another, Dibley who starred through out the first day's play in late March, 1965. He made a wonderful hundred but despite him, Waratahs were still in the game at 6-177 but Mowle combined with the opener to add 116 for the seventh wicket and really make Waratahs task hard. A few more cameos and Ex Services had more than three hundred for the Waratahs boys to chase. Col Marshall and John Russell, a pair of nightwatchmen openers, survived one over before stumps.

The match resumed the following Saturday and Melville soon had Marshall. Keith McIntyre, the side's gun bat, joined John Russell in a partnership 53 before Melville claimed him and in the next over, Laurie McCann claimed the crucial wicket of McIntyre. R McIntyre, renowned for his stiff defence, dug in and looked for strokemakers to keep the runs flowing. J McCann added 49 with him until hitting a catch to Melville from Godley. 4-106 but Waratahs best strokemaker, Greg Russell, was on his way in ... and unfortunately on his way out the next ball as Godley went straight through him! Melville and T Browning were back into the attack to finish things off and Max Schaefer and P McCann had short stays. K Dawson, batting at nine, lower than normal because of the use of Marshall and Russell, then set about helping R McIntyre launch a rescue package. By stumps, they had added 74 and Waratahs were now within Nelson of a win.

Unusually for the time, this final was played over three days. Finals, when held previously had always been over two and in the event of a draw, the premiership was declared joint, regardless of sides relative position on the competition table. Not only was it a three day final, but the thrid day was two weeks later! It didn't last long on the third day. McIntyre, for all his dogged defence remained unbeaten bythe bowlers but was run out instead. Melville, fresh and back on to finish it, did just that, scattering first Dawson's and then Butler's stumps in successive balls. Beaten by a far better team but it was a grand and gallant defeat.

Keith McIntyre (367 runs) was the leading batsman, just ahead of Greg Russell (344). A Chisholm (306) and B McGee (238) also batted well but mention should also be made of R McIntyre, Max Schaefer and John Russell, whose game had moved on from the days when he regularly recorded the most ducks. Col Marshall (38 wickets) was a long was ahead of the rest but R Russell and John Russell also bowled well.