Celebrating 175 years - Melbourne Cricket Club

CLUB SPORT
Baseball immortals honoured
Renowned illustrator Paul Harvey has
created a beautiful sketch capturing
the essence of the players who were
inducted into the MCC Baseball Section
Hall of Fame as part of its 125-year
celebrations in February.
MCC president Paul Sheahan was
mightily impressed with the illustration
and quickly claimed it for display in the
Members Reserve! For the record, those
featured in the sketch are: Back Row:
Ross Arthur, Doug Provis, Grant Weir,
Eddie Illingworth, Ken Stephens, Noel
Smith, Daryn Cassidy and Alan Sieler.
Middle Row: Pam Donald, Tim Mead,
Glen Gambrell, Wayne Bishop, Peter
McFarlane and Alan Connolly. Front Row:
Max Lord, Murray Fielder, Roger Miller,
Geoff Mathers, David Went and Rod
Chapman. Insets: Stan Quin, Wally
Ingleton, Charles Simmonds, Vernon
Ransford, Perry Ballmer and Colin Miller.
Lacrosse loses
a fine servant
The MCC sporting
fraternity lost a
valued
member in January
with the passing of
Rob Pettit,
long-serving MCC
Lacrosse Section
secretary and an
outstanding servant
of the sport.
His funeral on
January 31 drew
hundreds. Former coach
and chairman of the section
Bill Stahmer came down from
Thailand for the occasion and
mourners from Rob’s range of work and
leisure interests were strongly represented.
Chief among them were lacrosse players (in
uniform and with sticks), the Australian
Tennis Open drivers group, also in uniform,
and his mates from a productive earlier life
with Victour.
Rob was a most popular fellow and held in
the highest regard by all who knew him. An
endearing habit was a call to his friends on
their birthday, and he never missed.
A member of Malvern’s A Reserve
premiership team in 1972 and C Grade
premiership team in 1974, Rob
joined MCC lacrosse soon
after and became a fixture
within the section for
almost three decades.
He first assumed the
role of section secretary
in 1985 and held that
position until his passing.
“Rob had a reputation
for attention to detail,”
recalled former Lacrosse
Section chairman, captain
and great mate, Bob Crawford.
“He spent a lot of time and
energy fixing the little things.
“He had a reputation for being there
to do things that other people overlooked. A
lot of his essential activities went unnoticed.
“Rob would be first at the Albert Ground
to open in the morning and usually was last
to leave. He would spend enormous time
attending meetings regarding all sorts of
activities, even if only dimly related to
lacrosse or MCC.”
Rob is a Life member of the MCC
Lacrosse Section and Victorian Lacrosse
Association. His large presence in, and
contribution to, lacrosse in this state will be
sorely missed.
Real tennis
display
fascinating display was mounted in
A the MCC Library foyer in January to
celebrate the staging of the biennial
Boomerang Cup, the largest real tennis
club competition in the world, at Royal
Melbourne Tennis Club.
Real Tennis: An Ancient Game at
Melbourne’s oldest club focused on the
literature concerning the game of real
tennis from its origins in medieval
Europe through to the modern game in
Australia.
The exhibition also included the
racquet of the MCC’s 11-time and
current world champion Rob Fahey, as
well as tennis balls in various stages of
manufacture.
16 MCC NEWS March 2013