Northern Socials Cricket Club Historian

Old clipping from the Sun
newspaper.
Leigh Carlson

Happy Birthday Paul
Great to see you the other night at the reunion.

Happy 57th birthday Paul Rizonico 🎂
Born on the 16th of February 1966.
(Biography courtesy of the Collingwood Forever website)
An outstanding junior sportsman from Bundoora, Paul Rizonico was almost 15 when he was first invited to the junior squads of the Collingwood Football Club.
For a time, he balanced his football talent with cricket, as a representative of the Australian under 19s cricket team.

Football won out in terms of his passion, and Rizonico spent three seasons with the Under 19s side before looking a realistic chance to play senior football in 1983.
But he suffered a broken nose after he “tangled” with St Kilda hard man Robbie Muir in a practice match before an on-going groin complaint curtailed his career for several seasons.
It wasn’t until Round 20, 1986 – when he was 20 – that Rizonico finally made his debut in black and white, against Hawthorn at Princes Park.
He missed his coach Leigh Matthews’ phone call on the Thursday night before his first game, having gone out to watch a few of his mates play tennis.
Rizonico had 15 touches in his first game, kicking a behind, but the Magpies lost the match by 72 points. Yet he did kick two goals the following week in the club’s win over Richmond.
He managed 12 games in 1987. His best performance came against Footscray in Round 5, when he had 24 disposals and kicked a goal, being named third best behind James Manson and Terry Keays.
That year he also shared the Joseph Wren Memorial Trophy as reserves best-and-fairest along with Mark Beers.
His last season at Victoria Park in 1988 resulted in only three games late in the season, taking his career games tally to 17.
Frustrated by a lack of opportunities, the 22-year-old left Victoria to sign with Port Adelaide in the SANFL, where his former Collingwood coach John Cahill was in charge.
It was a sort of a homecoming. He had been born in Port Adelaide hospital and lived his first 10 years in South Australia before moving to Melbourne with his parents.
Rizonico’s impact with the SA Magpies would be significant. He played 102 games; would become a dual premiership player (1990 and 1992) and a life member of the club (2014).
He was also a long-time staff member of Port Adelaide, acting as an interchange steward among other roles for the AFL club.
Importantly, he was one of a number of mentors for a young footballer on the rise during Port Adelaide’s 1992 SANFL premiership season. The young player’s name was Nathan Buckley.

(Biography courtesy of either Michael Roberts or Glenn McFarlane on the Collingwood Forever website, credit not showing exactly who wrote this one)

https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/paul-rizonico/

Great interview attached https://www.portadelaidefc.com.au/news/585612/this-is-crazy-rizonicos-escape-from-fat-boy-club

Still time to get your tickets
Message the club to secure your tickets

Celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the Northern Socials Cricket Club.

We're hosting a dinner in February to mark the special occasion with a theme of 'Celebrating Premierships'. We will celebrate the occasion and give special focus to Premierships won over the years, in particular the 50th anniversary of our first A Grade Premiership.

It is sure to be a great night. Tickets are limited to venue capacity, so get in quick to avoid disappointment. Once they're gone, they're gone.

EFT details in the attached flier. Please contact Danny with confirmation of your payment. If any problems with this method of payment please contact Danny for other arrangements.

We look forward to a great night of celebration!

Buy online to avoid disapointment

Single Tickets - https://www.northernsocials.com/store/p/80th-year-celebration-single-ticket

Double Tickets - https://www.northernsocials.com/store/p/80th-year-celebration-double

Celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the Northern Socials Cricket Club.

We're hosting a dinner in February to mark the special occasion with a theme of 'Celebrating Premierships'. We will celebrate the occasion and give special focus to Premierships won over the years, in particular the 50th anniversary of our first A Grade Premiership.

It is sure to be a great night. Tickets are limited to venue capacity, so get in quick to avoid disappointment. Once they're gone, they're gone.

EFT details in the attached flier. Please contact Danny with confirmation of your payment. If any problems with this method of payment please contact Danny for other arrangements.

We look forward to a great night of celebration!

Buy online to avoid disapointment

Single Tickets - https://www.northernsocials.com/store/p/80th-year-celebration-single-ticket

Double Tickets - https://www.northernsocials.com/store/p/80th-year-celebration-double

Get a load of this score from the 77/78 Semi Final in B Grade.
Neil Crosthwaite smashing 177 v Bundoora at Sullivan Reserve, in a 7 run victory.

Brilliant score Neil.

Good Evening All.

Tonight i take you back to 1979/1980 season.
We see the Class of Rob Mac, Leigh Carlson and Colin Dean with bat.
And with the ball W Hansen had a terrific season with 22 wickets at 15.. also including 3 Five wicket halls.

Also check out the close finish in the club championship.

Unfortunately another past player has passed away.
Rip Victor.

Tribute to Glen ('Sconna') Smith
As most of you will already be aware the cricket club has lost another one of our favourite sons during the off season. Glen Smith (Sconna) passed away in late August at the age of 60. Unfortunately we had lost contact with Glen over the last few years. We believe he was living in Yarrawonga and we are not sure of the circumstances of his passing. Our love and thoughts go out to Glenn’s family.

Glen was a Life Member of NSCC and one of the real characters of the club. There are not too many people that can say that they actually grew up at NSCC but Glen certainly could. Glen's dad (Ron) and uncle (Cyril) were both life members of our club.

John Daley (IP) has provided the following information about the Smith family:
When I first arrived at the club Glen's dad (Ron) and mum (Dawn) were one of the couples who warmly welcomed Noelene and me to the club. Ron (also Sconna) was a real character and a very good fast bowler. Ron also served the club as Jika delegate for many years and eventually became a member of the Jika Executive. He talked me into taking over the Jika delegate position from him and I continued in this role for more than 10 years. Ron's catchphrase was 'If I may sir' when asking to speak. He also liked to provide advice to all young fast bowlers calling out loudly from the boundary 'Keep that arm up, young fella'!
Ron and Dawn had this skinny little red headed kid and all he wanted to do was play cricket. He was always around the club 'hitting balls' and 'rolling his arm over'. He was a bit cheeky but a really likeable young boy. Eventually he grew up enough to play in the juniors (at about age 9, playing in the Under 16s). As he continued to grow he began to work his way up the grades. He eventually grew to about 6 ft 4 and he became a very good bowler in our top grades. He was a likeable larriikin and a very good cricketer and someone that I was always very fond of. As your dad would say 'Keep your arm up, son'. RIP Glen.

Glen was an excellent bowler with a beautiful high arm action (he obviously took notice of his dad). Glen was also a fantastic clubman and he was on the committee for a number of years. He was a very funny guy with a loud and strong personality. Everyone at NSCC loved Glen (most of the time anyhow). It would be fair to say that at times Glen didn't look after himself as well as he might have. Because of this and along with a couple of serious injuries and illnesses Glen probably didn't reach his full potential as a cricketer. However he was still a very good player on the field (and an even better player off it). He probably didn't get to play as much A Grade cricket at NSCC as he would have elsewhere because of the club's strong bowling depth. However you just need to check some of the old score books to see what a good player Glen was.

Here are just a few examples:
A Grade - 5/47 vs Keon Park (including the wickets of Greg Smith, Ray Shaw & Casey Radcliffe, all top Jika players)
B Grade - 5/68 vs Thomastown
- 7/43 vs Reservoir RSL
C Grade - 9/49 vs Brunswick Amateurs
- Glen was a member of the A Grade Grand Final Team in 1980/81 (narrow loss to Preston Socials). Phil Walker still regrets not bowling Glen more in that final.
- However the highlight of Glen's career at the club was his outstanding effort in the B Grade Grand Final in 1984/85 against Reservoir Colts. He bowled brilliantly in both innings (6/37 & 5/50). Even more importantly he made 18 n.o. as part of an unbeaten last wicket partnership with Russell Haynes in the second innings that just got the team over the line. It was a famous premiership for our club and Glen's contribution was enormous. Andy Jenkinson (Jake) has indicated that the side was very well captained in that final and throughout the year.

Jake was also responsible for getting Glen a job at the Tramways back in the early 80s. He has passed on the following story about Glen.
With a little bit of trepidation I recommended Sconna for a job at the Tramways. He made a good start and surprisingly he was quite a good worker although he usually didn't do too much work on a Monday (I am not sure what the reason for this would be). Glen had only been working for about 6 months when he badly injured his knee playing cricket (or it may have been in the post match celebrations). Glen was devastated because he had very little sick leave and he couldn't afford to be out of work and paying for medical expenses. We put on our thinking caps (or at least I put on my thinking cap) and we came up with a plan for the following Monday. I picked up Glen in the morning and drove him to work. We were working in different departments at the time. I dropped him off at the door of his department and headed off to my department. Thirty minutes later the word spread throughout the workplace. 'Poor Sconna!' He had fallen over on the slippery floor and badly injured his knee. He was on his way to the hospital after carefully filling in a worker's compensation claim.

Neil Crosthwaite also has a story about Glen and it seems as if his career at NSCC was almost a very short one.
We were playing a Juniors final at Blake Park on a Sunday morning. Sconna was very young and I am not sure if he was in the side or was 12th man. There was a bit of controversy on the day because there was a clash with the cricket being played at the same time as the horses were trotting around the track. It was agreed that the cricket could go ahead as long as the players knew that under no circumstances were they allowed to run onto the track. Peter Uren was our coach and he made sure that these expectations were made very clear to everyone (however I am not sure if Glen was listening or not). We were bowling and Glen was fielding at fine leg. The first two overs went well but in the third over their batsmen got a top edge and it flew high to fine leg. Little Sconna tried his best to take the catch but the ball kept going over his head and over the boundary for 6. The ball kept going and stopped in the middle of the trotting track. Glen must have forgotten Peter's instructions and he ran on the track to pick up the ball just as the two horses and their drivers came thundering around the bend. Seeing this 'skinny little redhead' in the middle of the track the drivers did their best to pull up their horses. However it was too late and the two horses kept going with their drivers (who were swearing their heads off) just managing to steer each horse around Glen (one to the inside and one to the outside). A very pale Glen (even paler than normal) returned to the ground and called out 'Sorry boys I should have caught the bloody thing!' .

Rob McFarlane also has another 'off the field' story about Glenn. This occurred at Roxburgh Park SC when Rob was Principal.
It was a typical busy Friday afternoon at RPSC and I was dealing with the usual end of week issues - badly behaved students, angry parents and some complaining teachers. I was in a meeting in my office when the receptionist rang to say that there was a Mr Smith at the counter who urgently needed to see me. I asked her to inform Mr Smith that I was really busy at the moment and I suggested that she organise an appointment for him on Monday morning. She rang me straight back to say that Mr Smith insisted on meeting with me now. I thought Mr Smith might be another angry parent or a disgruntled neighbour. I didn't think there were any Smiths in the student cohort because Smith certainly wasn't a common name in Roxburgh Park. I thought it might be best to come out and meet with Mr Smith. I was walking up the hallway to the General Office when I heard this booming voice telling the receptionist - 'What's this nonsense about Mr Bob McFarlane. His name is Robbie Mac.Tell him Sconna is here and if he's not out here in two minutes I'm coming in'.
I hadn't realised that Glen was living in Roxburgh Park at the time and that he was on the committee at the RPCC. He was looking for junior players for the club. I spent the rest of the afternoon taking Glen on a 'warts and all' school tour. Friday afternoon certainly wasn't the ideal time for a school tour but Glen didn't care. We found a couple of kids who were interested in joining the cricket club. We then had a coffee in my office (although Glen said he would have preferred a couple of stubbies) and he headed off. He thanked the receptionist for her good work on the way out.

We are sure there are many more stories that could be told about Sconna both on and off the field. Perhaps we might be able to share some of these on the Coterie Day. .

In cricketing parlance, Glen ('Sconna' or 'Baked Bean Head' as Artie Ellis refered to him) walks off the ground (out for 60). Like Darryl Butler his innings was much shorter than we all would have liked. However it was certainly an action packed one. Glen was certainly more of a bowler than a batsman and a very loyal and highly regarded teammate and clubman. He can proudly raise his bat and hold the ball high in the air (and perhaps a VB can as well) to acknowledge the applause of the crowd. Well played Sconna! We will always remember you and you will be sadly missed. 'Keep that arm up Sconna!'

Here come the Socials!

https://www.facebook.com/100057353384888/posts/360784439176666/?d=n

The Northern Socials Cricket Club are proud to unveil our 2021/22 First XI and Women's Uniform, designed by Gunditjmara and Wamba Wamba man, Tyson Austin (pictured).

Tyson is a proud Aboriginal man that has been a valued member of our club since 2006. Tyson has played since juniors with us, is a First XI Premiership player, Life Member and current Secretary at our club.

The design Tyson put together tells the story of multiculturalism and inclusion at our club. Unique design elements are representative of our team coming together on the field and walking a journey together of understanding and mateship.

*The chest piece shows 11 unique symbols, representative of the 11 players taking the field together, and are all linked together. The cross hatching used on the upper portion of the chest is a local and traditional style used in Aboriginal art.
*The Kangaroo and Emu tracks are representative of the fact that whilst many of us come from different cultures, we walk a journey and share the space of the cricket club and more broadly in society, together.
*The spears and circular mark the clubs First XI Premierships. The Spears for our Jika Shield Premierships, and the Circular shapes for our Quick Shield Premierships.
*The arm band and feather in the colours of the Aboriginal flag on the left arm is to recognise and pay respect to the Aboriginal people who have walked and cared for the land that we live and play on for upwards of 60,000 years. The feather is representative of the Aboriginal creator spirit, Bunjil, who take the form of a Wedgetail Eagle.
* The Southern Cross is a symbolism of reconciliation. Whilst it is displayed on the national flag, this was used as a traditional navigational tool for Aboriginal people. All Australian's can find meaning and connection to our shared identity through this.

We are so proud and honoured to have Tyson share his artwork and culture with us. We are also proud to have such a strong number of Aboriginal players at our club in both men's and women.

We can't wait to see both our First XI and Women's team showcasing this new design.

Now it's easier to send Northern Socials Cricket Club Historian a message.

Pumping a few out this week :)
B grade 80/81

Frank Ellul with a great 105 no and Peter Hunt 92* in the same match v Footballers

Russell Haynes was on fire with the pill 30 wickets at an average of 15.6 with 2 x 5fa’s
M Holding and Glenn Smith also picked up 5fa’s.

Enjoy the score cards.

Hi Socials.

Today we head back to the 1980/1981 A grade season.
This season was a good season for the club making it to the A Grade Grand Final, unfortunately loosing to a good Preston Socials team. To Make 220 batting first was a great effort, unfortunately couldn’t get it done.

Rob Mac and Phil Walker had outstanding seasons with bat.
Rob McFarlane averaging 60 and Phil walker 50.
Both made Tons and a heap of half century’s.. what an opening pair.

Ross Carlson again dominated with the pill. 32 wickets at an Ave 14.94, with 3 x 5fa’s.

Enjoy the score cards.

G’Day Socials.

Hope you are all holding up well in these troubling times.

Today we check out our second XI from 81-82

We see D Butler, G Gilles and M Weston all
Making over 200 runs for the year, but G Giles holds on to win the Averages with 3 50’s at an average of 42.20

With the ball we see W Graham take 2 5fas in the last 2 weeks to see his average jump to 5.83
Bob Stratford another great season with 10 wickets at 13.40

No finals though for the lads.
Enjoy the score cards.

Danny

Good morning Socials.

Today we head back to the 81/82 season for A Grade.

What a season it was for the skipper Phil Walker.
681 runs, and the only 2 hundreds for the season.

114 in round 8 v Mayston
150no out in round 10 V Res RSL
And a 93 in round 7 v Footballers

With the ball we had the usual Carlson boys getting 5fa plus Peter Browning.. Peter also took out the Bowling Averages.

The team made the semi final but fell short to strong Keon Park side.

Well done lads

Go Socials.

Earlier this month i asked club great Rob McFarlane to sit down and get some early memories from the one and only John Daley.

Great Read, thanks again Rob and John.

NSCC History – Memories from John Daley
I arrived at NSCC at the start of the 1967/68 season. The reason I joined the club was that I had played against NSCC in the two previous seasons and to me it looked like a good family club. As it turned out I made a really good decision to join the club.
In the early days there were many wonderful people involved in the club. These included Norm Plant, John Searle, Bob Hoskins, Frank & Ernie Barry, Harley Boyles, Ern McLaughlin, Eddie Cox, Bob Johnston (who lived in Wood St) and all of their wives and families.
There were special dinners held in the rooms after each two day game. This was a highlight for me and my family. My wife Noelene really enjoyed the friendship with the other ladies. It is a pity that that this doesn’t happen any more.
When I first arrived at the club we were in B Grade but after a couple of years we won our way up to A Grade. We have been there mostly ever since.
We enjoyed a really good social life in those days. There were annual games played against Woodend (at Hanging Rock) and Broadford. We would also go on Pokie Trips to border towns like Tocumwal, Corowa & Barooga.
The club then started fielding a Junior team and this proved to be a big success. We were able to recruit and develop some very good players and wonderful people. These included Ross & Leigh Carlson, Rob McFarlane, Glenn & Dale Birthisel, Colin & Rohan Dean, Andy Jenkinson, Mick Weston, Jack Cahir and many others. This new generation helped make the club even more successful both on and off the field. Andy Jenkinson became a very good friend of mine and he was a great help to me during my time as President of the club.
My three sons, Mark, Neil & Brent, all played for the Socials. I was always very proud of them and for what they achieved. It was wonderful that I was able to play at least a couple of games with each of them.
Northern Socials has always meant a lot to me and I have enjoyed every moment of my involvement with the club. I even enjoyed cleaning the rooms every Sunday morning and picking up the drinks and setting up the rooms on Fridays in preparation for Saturday. I enjoyed being the club’s Jika Delegate for many years and it was an honour to receive an Outstanding Service Certificate from the Jika in 2004.
There have also been some great people who have kept the club going in more recent years. Thanks to people like Paul Clohesy, Craig McGaw, Garvin Simmons and others we still have a really good club. Thanks also to Rob McFarlane and Shane Fuller for organising the Coterie Group and keeping the past players informed about what is going on.
‘Here come the Socials’

Evening Socials.

Tonight we look at the 3rds from 82/83.

Made the semi final v Lalor but just fell short.

No hundreds but a 99 from pickles and a 98 from W. Graham in the same game v Footballers.
Also T. Gilson a 91 v Brunswick Amateurs.

With the ball
6/75 W. Graham
5/17 S. Dare
5/50 Russell Haynes.

M. Weston took out the batting averages.
Jeff Ryan the bowling.

Well done lads,

Go socials 🦁

https://www.facebook.com/100057353384888/posts/269530174968760/?d=n

Good Evening Socials.

Tonight again we take you back to the 82/83 season this time with the seconds in B Grade.

Some highlights.

Andy Jenkinson 109 v in Round 5 v Reservoir Socials.

D Butler 6/45 in round 1 v Footballers

Jack Hall 6/57 in round 5 V Reservoir Socials.

P Hunt taking the batting averages.
D Butler taking out the bowling averages.

Go socials.

🦁

Great news for Steve’s young fella
Jordan.
Well done champ.

https://www.facebook.com/308774395894378/posts/3573458436092608/?d=n

Premier Cricket star signs state rookie contract

G’Day Socials.

Today we head back to the 82/83 A grade season.
Disappointing season on paper, won the first four matches, but couldn’t get a win after Xmas to miss the finals.

Some Season highlights though.

Ross Carlson in round 3 v Kingsbury at home ripped through them taking 8/39, great bowling Ross

Leigh Carlson in round 4 v Preston YCW making another unbeaten 102.

Leigh and Ross also took out the batting and bowling averages, as well as Leigh beating Phil Walker in the club championship by a whisker.

Well done lads.

Danny

G’day Socials.
Today we continue our trip back to 83/84, this time looking at C Grade.

Some nice hundreds.
Pickles 100 Not out V Camrea
A Gilson 102 Not out v Footballers
K Ferrari 102 Not out v Footballers

With the ball
Jeff Ryan 6/42 v Oakhill
M Weston 6/41 v Rosebank
Wayne Johnson Jnr 5/21 V Camrea

A Gilson taking out the batting averages and Jeff Ryan the bowling.

Go the Socials.

Good Evening Socials.

Today we head back again to the 83/84 season, this time we look at our seconds in B Grade.
Tough year for the lads only Winning one game for the year.

A few standout performances.

No Hundreds but a few 50’s
John Daley 66 v Keon Park
Dean Wilson 79 v Clealnds
Frank Ellul 65 v YCW
Bill Graham 50 v Clealands.

And with the ball
Michael Christodoulou 6/79 v Princess Hill.

Carn the Socials.
Danny.

Today we take a trip back to the 1983/84 A grade season.
Colin Dean took the batting averages while the Beast grabbed himself 28 wickets and the bowling averages.
3 individual stand out performance over the year.
Leigh Carlson making 100* in Round 5 at Ruthven v Lalor
Steve Buckingham taking 5/44 in round 3 v Kingsbury Away
Wayne The Beast Johnson taking 5/40 in round 7
At Ruthven V Epping.

G’Day Socials.
Now the the regular season has finished, I’ll be re starting up again entering the old scorebooks into My Cricket, Starting today with the A grade team of 1983/84.
Keep an eye out over the coming days for more score book photos and giving a shout out to great individual performances.
Regards
Danny

The 2020/21 Presentation Night will see us introduce six new award names to honour some of our past greats - we still might see some of them take the field from time to time!

Jason Williamson, Andrew Finikarides, Andy Jenkinson, Tony Vescio, Arty Ellis and Billy Finikarides will all have trophies named in their honour.

These will join our existing named awards after Norm Plant, John Daley, Steve Buckingham and Harry Carlson.

As a club we are excited to honour these club legends and we look forward to presenting these awards to their inaugural winners.

Hi Everyone.
We have just received some very sad news. Darry Butler ('Butts') passed away today after a long illness.
Butts was a larger than life character and a much loved and respected member of NSCC over many years. He was an excellent sportsman (cricket & football) and an even better person. He was a key member of NSCC's first A Grade premiership side. Opening the bowling with Ross Carlson (at 16 years of age). Butts was also an incredibly generous person and he was a wonderful supporter of NSCC (especially during some tough times for the club). His marvellous sense of humour and love of life will never be forgotten by everyone who knew him. We will provide some further information about Butts' wonderful life in the coming days. We salute you Butts! Here come the Socials!

Regards Ross Carlson & Rob Mac

Well done Skipper

Northern Socials star fires with bat and ball

Photo from the coterie day in 2015. Some legends in this photo.

Gday Socials
Today we go back again to the 84/85 season, Glen Smith took a wonderful 7/43 to help roll Reservoir for 79.. great effort mate.

Life Membership awarded to Tyson Austin!

Tyson is awarded Life Membership after 14 years with the club, first arriving by chance in 2006!

Tyson and his Dad, Troy went down to the trotting-track one day to watch their friend, Michael ‘Mad Mick’ Monteleone play in the Thirds. The team was short so Troy pulled on the whites, and from there the Austin father-son team were locked in.

During that first season in 2006 Tyson filled in as a sub-fielder occasionally, including in the 2006/07 Third XI Premiership. After some persistence and support from Thirds Captain, Arty Ellis, and inspired by his dad, Tyson joined the team as a first time player in 2007/08. Tyson won his first Premiership with the club in that year scoring 16no in the Grand Final, a 28 run win against Rivergum.

Since then, Tyson has played a total of 174 games, a top score of 89 in the 3rd XI Prelim Final in 2017/18 in a season where he captained the team and picked up 545 runs in the season; and has best bowling figures of 3/28.

More recently Tyson has held the opening batting position in our First XI and has been our Vice President over the last three seasons, whilst he has been on the committee since 2014.

Tyson is always working to better the club and support where he can, including being the driver behind our Wurundjeri Acknowledgement plaque and ‘Welcome to Country’ ceremony where Wurundjeri Elder, Aunty Di Kerr and Darebin Mayor, Susan Rennie unveiled our plaque in December 2018.

Thank you, Tyson for all of your work and leadership at the club in your time. Now a Member for Life!

Life Membership awarded to Joel Simmons!

Joel is awarded Life Membership after more than 16 years of direct service to the club. However his indirect involvement in the club stretches before he was born, through his dad, Garvin being a great of the club. With the cricket club deeply ingrained in the family, it was only natural for Joel to get heavily involved himself.

Joel first his the field as a junior way back in 2003. Through his junior days, Joel’s bowling was always a strength of his and the team and his batting was always handy. Not many that witnessed it will forget his 102 not out in the 13s in 06/07 against Cobras, even after having to retire on 35 first.

Joel also went on to play in the under 14s, 16s and 18s State Championships with the Northern region alongside his Socials teammate, Haydn Love.

Fresh out of under 16s junior competitions, Joel quickly became a regular member of our First XI team between 2011 and 2015. As a young fella, with no doubt, he held his own during this period which was a particularly strong time for the competition.

Overall, Joel has played 171 games for the Socials. Has a high score of 127 not out and best bowling figures of 6/53.

Joel has spent the last few years as a dedicated committee man, a strong supporter, whilst still playing the occasional game for the club when he’s not working.

Congratulations on this special achievement, Joel. A member for life!