By David Nagel
Beaconsfield Cricket Club has recognised the on and off-field champions of its almost 100-year existence at a grandiose Hall of Fame function at the Cardinia Cultural Centre.
A total of 44 players, volunteers and administrators were inducted into the inaugural Hall of Fame, on an emotional night for a club that was first established in 1922.
In addition, six teams of the decade were announced to the 220-strong crowd, along with two 25-year silver jubilee teams, and numerous service awards acknowledging the unsung heroes of the Beaconsfield Cricket Club.
Club president, historian, inductee, and Hall of Fame committee member Mick McMahon, said the event would go down as one of the more special occasions in the long and proud history of the club.
“It was a very special event, and the feedback I have received from the Beaconsfield faithful is that it is probably the grandest and most glamourous event in the history of the cricket club,” McMahon said.
“It was a long time in the making. The Hall of Fame committee did a wonderful job of making sure the event was special, even down to the decorations and red carpet – it was all class.
“The only problem for me was I probably didn’t enjoy it as much as I should have.
“You are always worried about things that might go wrong. I would love to have a time-machine and just sit back and enjoy what was a fabulous event.”
McMahon said the club was blessed with a rich history and had a story that needed to be told.
“I took over as club historian about eight years ago now, and started calculating things like games played, runs made, wickets taken, premierships won, and it all just progressed from there,” McMahon said.
“It soon became apparent that we had so much information, it was just a matter of what do we do with it all.
“I started looking at other clubs and what they had done, with hall of fames and team of the decades, that type of thing, and gained some ideas from there. We had very little in that regard, but we had the information to make something happen.”
McMahon and his fellow Hall of Fame committee members Nathan Boon, Brendan Ewert, Penny McMahon, Kylie Southgate and Sean Young, set about organising an event that would encapsulate the spirit of the club.
McMahon said there were many that had made a significant contribution.
“Emotions did run high at times I must admit, because I was in awe of the on and off-field contributions that so many people have made to this cricket club,” McMahon said.
“Some of the stats, from people who were at the club for a short time, were just incredible, and just talking to people made me realise there were so many contributors who really hadn’t been recognised in the past.
“Handing out service awards and recognising those who had not quite made it to life membership status, that was one of the most important parts of the evening.”
McMahon said the club had been blessed with some wonderful cricketers over the years.
“It’s not just my opinion, it’s pretty wide spread, that Mark Betheras is the standout cricketer in the club’s history,” he said.
“It’s hard to single players out, but others like Ron Allan, George Cunningham and Alan Richards would be up there on a list of the best players at this club.”
Lynette Cunningham, George Cunningham’s widow, became emotional when accepting the Hall of Fame honour on her late-husband’s behalf.
Highlights of the night included interviews conducted by Hall of Fame inductee Anthony Thomas, who welcomed Betheras and legendary figure Ron Garth to the stage.
Garth, a leg-spinner, took over 100 wickets in the 1964/65 season. He presented McMahon with the ball, 56 years later, at the function.
“Mark and Ron are both special people and you could hear a pin drop in the room when those two were talking about their time at the club and what the club means to them,” McMahon said.
“Mark spoke about the tough times and the build up to the 1987/88 A Grade flag, the club’s first, and what that meant to the club, everyone was hanging on his every word.”
McMahon said the deeds of Ron Garth, who took 100 wickets in a season, held legendary status at the club.
“Ron played at the club, prior to 1959, and then left and came back, and his effort to take 100 wickets in a season is amazing,” McMahon said.
“But it was great for people to hear more about the man, who was an incredibly talented sportsman who swam and played table tennis at a very high level.
“The 64/’65 team lost outright to Tooradin in round one that year and then won 11 games outright in a row, before losing reverse-outright to Tooradin again in the grand final.
“We must have had some very attacking captaincy back then.”
McMahon paid special thanks to the commitment and dedication of the Hall of Fame committee, and also to Pakenham Cricket Club president Phil Anning for doing a wonderful job as master of ceremonies.
Attendees received a 96-page history of the Beaconsfield Cricket Club, along with a special gift bag, including key rings, key chains and wine accessories.
Turn to the following pages of sport for a double-page wrap on the big event.
BEACONSFIELD CRICKET CLUB – HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
1 Kevin Allison
2 George Cunningham
3 Alan Richards
4 Ron Allan
5 Mark Betheras
6 Kevin Rankin
7 John Whiteley
8 Maureen Crook
9 Ray Crook Jnr
10 Rik Crook
11 Mark Palmer
12 Wayne Hocking
13 Anthony Thomas
14 Michael Lynch
15 Anna Goodes
16 Peter Goodes
17 Alan Tomamichel
18 Rohan Treasure
19 Geoff Bliss
20 Alan Sauvarin
21 Darren Vandenberghe
22 Royce Landy
23 Robert Read
24 Russell Vincent
25 Allan Aurisch
26 Stephen Clydesdale
27 Glenn Read
28 Greg Tomamichel
29 Wayne Holden
30 Don Kerslake
31 Andrew Mercier
32 Brendan Ewert
33 Greg Butler
34 Ryan O’Connor
35 Stephen Keam
36 Joe McMaster
37 Jason Dodd
38 Glenn Marinic
39 Ray Cook
40 Kris Fletcher
41 Michael McMahon
42 Jarrod Williams
43 Nathan Boon
44 Brad Miles
