Recently, when my Rambling podcast co-host Brian Hine and I decided to take our podcast on the road and visit our old stomping ground Bendigo, there was one place we both knew we wanted to visit. It was the place we met and a place that holds a special place in both our lives: United Cricket Club. A chat with the club’s 27 year president Shane Hartney – the driving force behind the club’s unrivalled on and off field success – was a must during our Bendigo visit and we were both thrilled when we agreed to join us on the podcast.

 

No sporting club has had an impact on me like United Cricket Club. Over the years I’ve played footy, basketball, lawn bowls – as well as cricket – and have been involved in many different clubs in each of those codes. But for at least two reasons the United Cricket Club will always have a special place in my life: Firstly, I arrived at the club at a pivotal time in my life and the club offered me both a haven and some direction. Secondly, there is simply something very special about the United Cricket Club.

 

 

United Cricket Club was formed in 1968 through the amalgamation of two clubs in the former Bendigo Churches League (later the Bendigo Matting Association) – Golden Square Methodist and Quarry Hill Congregational. After being perpetual cellar-dwellars for the first years of its existence, in 1981 United began recruiting heavily from Sandhurst Football Club, a founding club of the Bendigo Football League. This strategy resulted in an era of unrivalled success. United went on to win the next two flags in the Matting competition. Then, in search of the ability to grow as a club, United moved to the higher quality Emu Valley Cricket Association (EVCA) in 1985 where they immediately settled into Ewing Park, their new home ground in central Bendigo. Immediate success ensued, with the club winning the 1st Division flag in their first two years in the EVCA. This instant success caused some rumblings within the league and immediate rivalries amongst the more established clubs of the EVCA. It also created a prevailing level of expectation for on-field success within the club. United have gone on to win 18 division 1, 10 division 2, and 4 division 3 premierships in the 40 years since they joined the EVCA. That level of success would be hard to beat in any sporting competition in Australia.

 

I arrived at United in 1994. I’d played junior cricket up until under 18s at Maiden Gully, one of United’s fierce rivals in the EVCA. I’d been out of the game for over six years while studying a Bachelor of Arts. I was a vegetarian with dreadlocks, a nose ring, and a major in philosophy. To say I was a little different from the typical club member would be an understatement. But it didn’t matter; I felt welcome from day one. 

 

I wasn’t much of a batsmen and any pace I had as a swing bowler was mostly lost to the years I’d been out of the game. I could nip in a handy in-swinger on an uncomfortable length, but good batsmen quickly worked out that I didn’t have much else in the kit bag. In my first two seasons at the club, there were only two divisions in the EVCA. I was a regular in Division 2 but come finals time it was difficult to get a game as everyone was suddenly available. Finals are what United lived for and every member was expected to be available. When the club won the 2nd division flag in 1995/96 I was 12th man, yet I was made to feel as much a part of the side as the starting eleven. During the presentations one of the players gave me his premiership medal, a-la-Bob Murphy.

 

A 3rd division was introduced to the EVCA for the 1996/97 season. Suddenly I was among the first picked and opening the bowling. We won the inaugural 3rd division flag that year – a very United thing to do.

 

In all the years of playing sport I’d won a handful of premierships, but never won an individual award: Until I won the best clubman award at United in 1998. While it had nothing to do with my on-field exploits, and more to do with how much beer I drank off the field, I was incredibly proud to have won the award. At United I had a place I belonged, a place that valued my contribution.

 

One of the things I always loved about United was the club’s family orientated approach. Wife, partners, and kids were (and still are) strongly encouraged to come back to the rooms on Saturday evenings after games and Thursday evenings after training. This approach has paid off as new generations come through the club and grow into successful on and off field leaders. United have also always had a strong culture of inclusivity, integrating people with disabilities in roles both on and off the field. They have been a leader in this area in the region and other clubs have been inspired to follow their lead since.

 

Any visitors that arrive at United’s Ewing Park clubrooms will immediately know this is a club that is not only incredibly successful, it holds great reverence for the history and traditions of cricket. A white picket fence surrounds the ground; a feature that is unique amongst clubs in the Bendigo region. The two storey clubhouse proudly overlooks the ground, with a second storey viewing platform for players accompanied by an old style scoreboard. A clock that would not look out of place at the Adelaide Oval crests the building and the piéce de résistance; a replica of the old man time weather vane from Lords perches proudly atop. Inside, the social rooms are dominated by a timber bar that could have come straight out of a classic old English pub. Honour boards, photos from countless premierships, and a trophy cabinet that takes up one entire wall highlights the club’s unrivalled successes. A committee room complete with chesterfield lounges and library is a final nod to the peerless traditions of the game of cricket.

 

I hadn’t been back to the club for 10 years. I left during the 1999/2000 season when my wife and I left Bendigo to travel extensively overseas and eventually settle in Perth. The last time I’d been back was for the official opening of the second story of those incredible clubrooms. It was fantastic to be welcomed back by Shane, to reminisce, and to catch up on the ongoing story of a club that takes its success very seriously, but all the while with a sense of humour and a wink in its eye.

 

To listen to the Rambling Podcast episode with United CC president Shane Hartney on Spotify click here, or on Apple podcasts click here. Or you can search for it on all good podcast platforms.

 

 

More from Scott Hunt Here

 

 

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