Club History

Foreword

As our great Club finished its 93rd season in 2023/2024, this provides an opportunity to reflect, for a moment, on our rich History that has been a key part of the history of the West Pennant Hills and Cherrybrook district.

Our Club was formed when the Great Depression was just starting. We saw World War 2 when the Association suspended competition between 1942 and 1945 due to the number of players involved in the War. Those with long-term memories recall the orchards and chook farms along New Line Road and when West Pennant Hills was seen as being so far away from Hornsby that the Association ran a bus service to get people from distant areas such as St Ives to games.

This History successfully brings together the unique culture of our Club that has been built over so many years. The statistical history in our Club Wisden is equal to the best of any Cricket Club. What this History achieves though is the capturing of the stories over the generations. The anecdotes and photos bring life to our past. It also gives direction to our future as it is difficult to know where you are going without first knowing where you have come from.

The one common theme that comes out as you read this History is that it is built on the efforts of our volunteers. Every person who has in some way contributed has volunteered their time. It is worth keeping in mind that Noah’s Ark was built by volunteers and the Titanic by professionals.

We would like to call out the magnificent contribution of our Volunteers over the years – our Team Managers, Coaches, Team Scorers, Umpires, Seniors Team Captains, those who run the BBQ’s, enter the scores each week and the parents, Grand Parents and partners who come along to support the boys, girls, and men who play – approximately 21,000 players since we started.

The people on our Leadership Teams across all Divisions: Blowfly Cricket (All- abilities), Cricket Blast (5 & 6 year olds), Juniors (Mixed), Junior Girls and Seniors are exceptional and have been for many years. This also comes out as you read through the history and can almost touch and feel the characters, what they have achieved and the times that they were operating in.

This History is an amazing work that ranks up there with the best Club sporting histories we have seen. The work started just on 30 years ago. Ross Anderson, our Club Director of Operations, has spent over 5,000 hours in producing the content of this History. David Carey, supported by Ross, spent just on 10 years sourcing every Seniors Scorebook / ‘D Sheet’ Team statistical season summary to build our Club Wisden. Since 1946 there are just a handful of seasons that are not recorded making our statistical history the envy of any Club. James Makin has taken this to the next level by building a database that allows the information to be managed and now feeds into PlayHQ with systems based updates.

As you read our History reflect for a moment on the privilege we all have of being involved in this great Club and the opportunity we have to make a contribution to our as yet unwritten history – our future.

Andrew Miedler (President), Ross Anderson (Director Operations), Barry McDonald (Chairman)

Office Bearers

Our volunteers have made a tremendous contribution to who our Club is and what we represent. Click below to read about the people who have made our Club great....

Grounds History

The grounds we play on are some of the best in NSW. Read on to view the history of our grounds, as well as some special achievements of our players on them....

Major Club Awards and Honour Board

See below for our major club award winners.

We have also built up a list of outstanding achievers both on and off the field.