General Cricket History

Click here to read some great info on the history of cricket.

WDCA Cricket History

Did you know that the Border Post newspaper in Albury reported on a game of cricket between Wangaratta and Beechworth on Saturday, 29th December, 1860 !

• Scores were - Wangaratta 121 and 80 defeated Beechworth 98 at Wangaratta.
• Wangaratta's oldest ground - The Cricket Ground - now called the W J Findlay Oval.

(Click here to read article)

• First WDCA Game played - 2nd November, 1895.
• First turf wicket laid - Wang Showgrounds - 1928.
• Other turf wickets laid - Whorouly - 1947, Bruck - 1952, Cricket (Rovers) Ground, Tarrawingee - 1962, Golf Links / Barr Reserve - 1962.
• First International Match in Wang - 1907/08 V's Fiji XI

Whorouly C C V's Buffalo River C C  - 1913 / 14 Grand Final

The 1913-14 Grand Final between Whorouly and Buffalo River, which was won by the latter side, but just happened to produce three world records for the game world-wide. According to the Guinness Book of Records, these extraordinary statistics remained the world record in cricket for over 75 years.

They included the highest second wicket partnership ever of 641, a record that stood for 75 years, and was only beaten in 1988 by Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli in India. Other remarkable statistics were the team score of 893, as well as the highest individual score of 408. Not surprisingly, these two records still stand today in the local grade cricket competition.

On October, 31st, 2004 a re-enactment of the game took place with the teams comprising of descendants of the two original teams that played in that match in 1913-14, with some players coming from as far away as South Australia, New South Wales and Gippsland.

The game was played at the Gapsted cricket ground, adjacent to the Great Alpine Road between Wangaratta and Myrtleford. Visitors were invited to travel to the ground in horse-drawn carts, vintage cars and to wear period costumes in the fashion of 1914. 

A great story about this world famous event can found by clicking onto this attached pdf file .

 1959 - Victorian Country C L V's England

1959 VCCL Side  

Back Row  - Max Bussell - WDCA, ?, ?, Clem Fisher - Team Manager, Malcom Warren - WDCA, ?, ?.

Front Row - ?,  Stan Treblecock - WDCA, Mac Holten - captain - WDCA,  Des Johnstone - WDCA, ?. 

Venue - Wangaratta Showgrounds 

Victoria Country CL was dismissed for 10 / 31.

Only 3 England bowlers were used.

F. Trueman 5/1/8/1

P. Loader  7/5/17/5

J. Laker, 2.6 /1/4/2

TEAMS COMPRISING THE WDCA A. GRADE COMPETITION SINCE 1895/96

VB Premier Cricket Country Rounds played in Wangaratta

Victorian Country Venues that have hosted

Senior VB Premier Cricket Matches

(No of matches in brackets including 2007/08)

Alexandra (1)
Bairnsdale (3)
Ballarat (8) Eastern Oval (4), North Ballarat (4)
Barooga (1)
Benalla (3)
Bendigo (7) QEO (5), White Hills (1), Eaglehawk (1)
Bundalaguah (1)
Castlemaine (1)
Cobram (1)
Colac (4)
Glengarry (1)
Kyabram (3)
Lavington (2)
Leongatha (2)
Maffra (3)
Maryborough (10) Hedges Oval (2), Princes Park (8)
Mildura (1)
Moama (2)
Moe (2)
Mooroopna (3)
Morwell (1)
Newborough (1)
Numurkah (1)
Port Fairy (1)
Seymour (2)
Shepparton (5)
Stawell (1)
Swan Hill (5)
Tallangatta (2)
Terang (1)
Torquay (1)
Traralgon (5) Cameron Reserve (1), Rec Reserve (4)
Wangaratta (8)  - W J Findlay Oval (4), Norm Minns Oval (4)
Warragul (2)
Warrion (2)
Warrnambool (2)
Wodonga (1)
Wonthaggi (4)