ST. JOHN BOSCO YOUTH CENTRE CRICKET CLUB
The inaugural St. John Bosco Youth Centre Cricket Club commenced in 1968 under a committee headed by Ken Jamieson. The first team played as under 10 although the average age was about eight years as virtually the entire team was made up of U8 Rugby League players. They came across in full to play Cricket but despite their youth they still won their premiership.
The St.John Bosco Junior Cricket Club continued to grow during these early years with players predominantly coming from the St John Bosco Primary School. As the popularity of Cricket continued to rise in the early 70’s so did the influx of players from schools other than Bosco, creating a small but successful Club with players coming from the surrounding areas of the district. It wasn’t unusual to have players make the trek each week from Bundeena to have a game of Cricket with Bosco.
The club continued to gain strength and in the 1981-2 season had nine teams. In the 1982-3 season the club won premierships in the under 12s and the men’s A3. In 1983-4 Bosco fielded nine teams and ten in the 1984-5 season with the under 12 winning a premiership.
Since the early days and indeed until recent times, the Bosco Cricket Club has experienced a wonderful relationship with Boys’ Town. We had the opportunity to utilise the practice nets inside the grounds of Boys’ Town every year since the Clubs’ early days. The recent Boys Town renovations and expansion and the subsequent demolition of the nets heightened our need for our own facility
After several years of hard work and heartache our new nets were completed in 2011 and look fantastic. We had the official opening of the new Errol Gilbert Cricket Nets at the start of the 2011-12 season named in honour of our long-serving Secretary and Life Member for his more than 20 years service to the Club. Congratulations to Errol, much deserved and only a small return for the amount of time and effort he has put into the Club.
These nets were only finally been realized thanks to the wonderful efforts of our hard working Committee. We now have the “showcase” nets of the Shire and along with our new little “Clubhouse” and we have a wonderful asset that we can be very proud to offer our players as an integral part of their cricketing experience. We also have great training aids and equipment which should also enhance our drawing power into the future.
This work would not be possible without the assistance of the NSW Government, Cricket NSW, the Sutherland Shire Council, Sutherland Junior Cricket Association and Boys Town who have made significant contributions to the project. The Cricket Club recognises the continued cooperation between Boys’ Town and the Bosco Cricket Community.
The Club has undergone other changes in recent seasons, not the least being the introduction of a new playing strip. The traditional all-white uniform has made way for a very smart looking white with royal blue side panelled playing shirt and the traditional white pants. This new sun-smart shirt with 3/4 length sleeve looks great on all the teams and has drawn many favourable comments from opposition sides.
On the field the Cricket Club has experienced much success over the years, particularly for such a relatively small Club. Our playing numbers peaked in the late 1990’s, when we had 12 junior teams and 4 Men’s teams competing in regular weekend competitions. Competition successes have come regularly through the age groups with several “A” Grade Trophies in the cabinet. In fact, the only age group not to have won an “A” Grade Competition remains the Under 16’s – the Premier Competition in the Association – however we have been Runner-Up in several finals.
Similarly the SSJCA Club Championship has evaded our grasp, however we have finished second overall on two occasions and once by only a fraction of a point. The Yearbooks of the SSJCA are littered with outstanding feats by Bosco cricketers whose efforts have earned them records in various categories – too many to mention – and these stand as a testament to the fine quality of players produced by this Club.
From our early days until more recent times, Bosco has produced many fine players who have gone on to play Representative Cricket and achieve higher honours. Mark Preddey who was a member of the inaugural U8 side in 1968 played his junior Cricket at Bosco and went on to achieve First Grade honours with a couple of Grade Clubs, and then progressed into the NSW Sheffield Shield Squads of the late ‘70’s.
Matthew O’Brien is a star local junior whose father Dennis spent some time as Club President. He rose to success by reaching the NSW Colts Teams in the middle ‘90’s. Matthew was the 2005/06/07 First Grade Captain for the Sutherland District Cricket Club as well as being Club Captain. During his time as a Junior in the late ‘80’s, Matt and Craig Haran left their stamp on the history books by becoming Bosco’s first (and Only) Association players of the Year – in following seasons!
In 2003 Ryan Mulally became the first Bosco Junior to be selected in the NSW Under 15’s Catholic Colleges side and has now progressed into Grade Cricket with Sutherland along with a number of recent Bosco Juniors. Members of the first men’s team included Father Briffa, Father Fleming, Father Morahan and three Boys’ Town lads.
Over the years Bosco has presented many fine Cricketers to the SSJCA for selection in Junior Representative Shield sides and more recently have carried on that success with selection in A.W.Green Shield (U16) Teams and promotion into the Grade ranks. We have proven to be a fantastic nursery for cricket at a higher level, no doubt as a result of the fine level of Coaches the Club manages to provide year in and year out.
Since the Club was founded in the late 1960’s, it has been fortunate to have a very passionate and enthusiastic group of people on its Committees leading the Club in the right direction. As a consequence, a number of these Committee people have been recognised for their outstanding service to the Bosco Community by election to Life Membership of the SJBYC – Ken Jamieson, John Henry, Errol Gilbert, Steve Mulally, Phil Batchelor, Col Roddan, Greg Thomas and Mark Piper have all been honoured in this regard.
Looking forward, the Bosco Cricket Club is in a fantastic position where it is held in extremely high esteem by the local Controlling bodies of Cricket in the Shire, and remains a place where boys and girls can be given every opportunity to play the game at whatever level they desire in a safe and healthy environment. We look forward with anticipation to many more years of the same.