Club centenary celebrated

By Stuart Teather
CRICKETERS past and present came together at the Yarra Junction Cricket Club on the weekend to help celebrate the club’s centenary.
Former members made their way back to the Main Road oval from all across the country for an evening function on Saturday night and a veterans’ match against old foe Wandin on Sunday.
The weekend did not go entirely according to plan, with many members sending apologies due to the bushfires ravaging the state.
There was some good news, however, as the Yarra Junction side claimed victory in the veterans’ battle.
Jeff Long, a familiar face to many at the club, was the star of the show with an unbeaten 70 to help his team to a comfortable victory.
Club secretary Greg Mitchell said the 100 or so members that did make the function on Saturday had a fantastic night.
“There was a lot of young kids being introduced to the oldies — and of course they were telling a few stories about what they used to do and how good they were,” he said with a laugh.
“We had a lot of old scorebooks there so it was good to find their names in the scorebooks.”
Mitchell said there were plenty of old hands at the club to entertain the crowd, including 82-year-old Wally Monette, who played for the club in the 1950s.
The cricket club is not the only organisation to break the 100-year mark in 2009, as the Yarra Junction Football Club will have a similar celebration later in the year.