Forestry Cricket Association celebrates 50th anniversary

A South West Cricket association celebrated its 50th anniversary this month with an afternoon of reminiscing and good game of country cricket.

Past players of the Forestry Cricket Club united in recognition of five decades of camaraderie and healthy competition for an afternoon filled with banter and stories from the past five decades at their fixtured match against Manjimup on the weekend.

The club was nominated in late 1972 by former Dingup club member Bruce Harvey, helping convert the current Warren Blackwood Cricket Association competition into a six-team competition that included Manjimup, Dingup, Northcliffe, Pemberton and another new team, High School.

The team included players from the Forestry communities at Manjimup, Nyamup, Tone River and Wheatley.

The idea for the team came about from several successful social matches in early 1972 that gave three budding cricketers and Forest Department workers — Mr Harvey, Bill Buchanan and Rod Simmonds, who were playing for other clubs at the time — the idea to expand the current WBCA competition.

FCC has had hundreds of players come through their ranks since inception, winning multiple premierships and continuing to present themselves as a powerhouse club going into their 51st year.

In an article produced by Mr Harvey in honour of the club’s 50th anniversary, he said he first started playing cricket in 1971 after being appointed to the Forests Department in Manjimup after graduating with a degree in forest science.

“I was soon included in social cricket within the Department when we had opportunities to do so,” he said.

Mr Harvey soon began playing with other Forestry staff members at Dingup, including Len East, Bill and Don Ipsen, Greg Starkie, Kim Doust and Laurie Guthrie.

“Next to an old tennis court, where we practised our game after work, we were joined by other foresters such as Mr Buchanan, John McKenzie Sr and fire research staff Rick Sneeuwjagt, Bruce and Colin Ward, Graeme Liddelow, and later, Paul Jones.

“It became apparent that we could put together a team additional to the existing four in the Warren Competition.”

Mr Harvey said while Forestry’s nomination was accepted, there were “serious doubts” that the team could be sustained long term.

Forestry won their first game in November 1972 — which was documented by the Manjimup-Bridgetown Times, then the Warren-Blackwood Times — beating Pemberton at Manjimup, with Mr Sneeuwajagt taking six for 21 and Mr Harvey making 72 runs.

“Like most teams, we suffered from unavailability of players at times especially during fire emergencies,” he said.

Over time, the club introduced players from outside the Department and began to allow forestry students to get involved as well.

Mr Harvey reluctantly moved away from his beloved WBCA in 1979 for work and lost touch with the FCC.

In 2009, Mr Harvey was umpiring in the South Metropolitan Cricket Association when he caught up with John Ipsen, of Manjimup, in the Leeming club for country week cricket, who told him of the continued success of the FCA.

“I was especially pleased to see that the club was still alive and well and the players so enthusiastic about this great game,” he said.

Mr Harvey said he congratulated the FCC on its continued success in 2023.

FCC president David Jeffery said attendees of the celebrations spent the afternoon reminiscing, enjoying the memorabilia on display which brought back old memories and getting involved in discussions about most runs, dropped catches and missed hat-tricks.

He said the afternoon was alive with banter and laughs — all attendees even had a joke about the grade of sandpaper used back in the early years.

“Founding member Bill Buchanan was unable to attend as he was celebrating his 90th birthday the same day — the club wishes him all the best on such a milestone,” Mr Jeffery said.

“Thanks to Bruce Harvey for the correspondence and the committee for the day, I’m looking forward to the next 50 years.”