A R E S U M É - Queensland Cricket

9For weeks we had working bees painting the woodwork in Ipson’s yard in preparation forconstruction which duly took place alongside the erection site at North and South ends ofthe ground.The northern sightscreen came first. The contractor had built the screen on the groundand excavated by hand the holes in the ground for the galvanised steel posts carrying thewooden structure to be placed. We were requested to supply the labour to lift the screenupright. This was to be done from the rear firstly with props at various stages of the liftthen by ropes to a top and pull from the front side to lift the screen upright. Well the firstpart went OK, then a couple of the steel posts slipped off the timber slides placed at theback of the hole and buried themselves in the wall of the holes. A very dangerousposition ensued for a time and then due to ingenuity of the contractor the posts finallyslipped down into the holes and were secured although slightly out of alignment I recall.I’m sure to this day the contractor under estimated the size and weight of the lift. Inhindsight I expect we should have had a crane or lifter of sorts, if they had been availablein those days, however cost was foremost in our minds so we took the voluntary labourroute, risky but we made it. I think the sightscreen at the Southern end was erecteddifferently, posts in first and wood structure put in place from builders trestles, a muchsafer procedure. The sightscreens you see at the Gray oval today are I believe in part theoriginal structures repaired and renovated, the original structure is now over 40 years old.Soon after this “A” Grade fixtures became part of the Q.C.A. Club cricket draw atFehlberg Park as it was still known then.The playing surface of the ground and the wickets were quite acceptable although I recallthe ball kept low at times.I can also remember on several occasions receiving frantic phone calls on Fridays orSaturday mornings that a large hole had developed in the outfield where a car body or thelike underneath the surface had collapsed. These were usually filled and the surfacerepaired prior to the start of play so the game proceeded uninterrupted and incircumstances sometimes unknown to the opposition team.Souths Famous Oval (The Norman Gray Oval)Norm Gray always wanted a fence around the main oval to make the place looksomething and to identify the area more clearly with cricket. The oval had to be thecorrect shape, out of the cricket handbook which he had acquired. It needed to be theshape of the M.C.G. he said, “The only true bloody oval around”. So as further fundsbecame available the fence became a priority. Wooden picket fences too much work andupkeep according to Norm and his mates so we settled on a “Cyclone” type fence, as itwas known as then, galvanised steel posts and rails with chain fencing wire between.Norm asked me could I take some time out from work during the week to plan the fence.Somehow I made the time other than at week-ends which was cricket of course and so westarted plotting the oval fence. I can still see in my mind the big man at the end of thepitch area in his memorable Grey Felt Akubra Hat (a top make of felt hat then) giving