It’s stumps for legendary Victorian District/Premier Cricket official Peter Binns
Peter Binns landed a job with the old VCA in 1983. This Friday a man who ‘might be the nicest bloke you’ll ever meet’ finishes up with Cricket Victoria.
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The ad was in the sport section of the newspapers.
It was 1983, and the Victorian Cricket Association was seeking an administration assistant at its offices in Jolimont St.
Peter Binns applied for the job and got it.
He thought himself lucky to be working in a game he was also playing, at Ringwood.
He’s thought that in the 37 years since.
This Friday the amiable Binns’ long innings in the administration of Victorian cricket comes to a close; he was one of many Cricket Victoria staff members squeezed out by the financial crisis that has engulfed the state body.
Many good and talented people have been affected.
About 35 per cent of the CV workforce is facing up to redundancy.
Contrast that with the size of the VCA payroll Binns was added to all those years ago.
Ken Jacobs was the secretary, Ray Steele the president, Bob Parish the chairman of the executive and Frank “Typhoon’’ Tyson the coaching manager.
“I think there were about eight of us when I got there,’’ Binns said.
The newcomer’s early focus was with the Victorian under-age squads. In his first summer the Under 19 titles were staged at Melbourne, which is where he came across a tall WA lad named Tom Moody. That was one of the joys of the job, watching talented young players starting to ripen into first-class cricketers.
In his second summer he was front and centre in the running of the World Championship of Cricket, when the lights at the MCG were turned on for the first time. All the Test nations took part.
“That was huge. The ACB (Australian Cricket Board) in those days consisted of a manager and his assistant and maybe one other person, and they operated out of Sydney,’’ Binns said.
“So the VCA ran the whole thing with the staff and volunteers working 16-hour days. Loved it.’’
In 1989 Binns took over the running of the District competition from Ian McLeod.
His title would change three or four times but he remained involved with it until the end, for the last few years under the management of Mike Ronchi.
His three decades took in a raft of changes: the addition of clubs (Geelong and Frankston-Peninsula), the relocation and rebadging of others (Waverley-Dandenong, Greenvale Kangaroos, Casey South-Melbourne, Monash Tigers, Kingston-Hawthorn), the introduction of the T20s, the integration of women’s cricket, and IT advances that brought electronic scoring (but have chewed up his Saturday nights doing match reports for the website).
Binns never wanted to do anything else, not coaching or development or marketing.
“To be quite honest, when Ian left and I took over, that was the absolute dream job for me, looking after District cricket,’’ he said.
“I was living the dream, I suppose. I was just like a pig in s. t.’’
He needed no Melway to find the grounds. From his involvement at Ringwood, he knew “club land’’ and the people who populated it, and understood they were volunteers and essentially cricket lovers like him.
Over the years he enjoyed trusting relations with them. In fact, he counts many as friends. As one club official remarked last week, “I doubt he’s ever had a bad word said about him, ‘Binnsy’. He might be the nicest bloke you’ll ever meet.’’
Binns said: “I don’t think I’ve made too many enemies. Eighteen clubs, I love every one of them, and I’ve made lifelong friends along the way.’’
Binns was on the Ringwood committee when he started working with the VCA. He had to stand down from it, but he continued to play.
Bowling leggies, he managed to squeeze in a few First XI matches. Former state man Bob Baldry was his first wicket and Ron Bird his second in a debut against Collingwood. His playing days showed him the high standard of the competition and the need for a quality administration for it.
He also spent a few years as skipper of the Ringwood Second XI.
“It’s the best job in the world, captaining the seconds, because you’re never going to get dropped and you’re playing good cricket on the best grounds and you get to see the young guys coming through,’’ Binns said.
“I remember playing against Essendon and they had Jamie Siddons and Simon O’Donnell. To see both of them go on …’’
He regards Siddons as “probably’’ the best player he’s seen in District/Premier Cricket.
“He was just a beautiful player,’’ Binns said.
“I know Warren Ayres has got all the numbers and he’s a legend, but Jamie is the one who sticks with me.’’
As for matches with adhesive qualities, Binns recalls with relish the 1989-90 grand final, the first he watched as manager of the competition.
Richmond tumbled to 8-56 against St Kilda on the first day, leaving curator Barry Hayes with a face as long as Michael Holding’s run-up. But the Tigers rallied through a 142-run stand from Ray Bright and Paul Reiffel to reach 215 and defeat the Saints by three runs, a stirring century from Shaun Graf having taken the Saints to the brink of victory.
“It was a fantastic game of cricket, unforgettable,’’ Binns said.
Tensions stretched over four innings, the Dandenong and Frankston-Peninsula final at Melbourne University two decades later was similarly gripping.
Binns also remembers each of Ringwood’s three flags warmly.
“Having been involved in the early years there when it was a bit of a struggle, it was hugely satisfying to see them come through,’’ he said.
“They’re a club now that holds the respect of all of the competition for the way they got about it. The last 10 years have been a magical period … to see the integration of women’s cricket at the club, Ringwood are a benchmark when it comes to how a club should operate. And I love that.’’
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Binns would have liked to go on at Cricket Victoria for at least another 12 months.
But you won’t hear him criticising CV. He’s thankful he worked for it for so long, allowing him to do something he loved. He gives the impression the pay was a bonus.
The most disappointing aspect of his departure, he said, was being unable to say goodbye to his colleagues owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Farewells have been made by phone, email, texts and social media messages.
The job ad that Peter Binns saw in 1983 suggested a “first career step in sports administration’’.
It turned out the successful applicant made a towering contribution to Victorian cricket, but he looks at it differently.
“I owe everything to that place, really I do,’’ Binns said.
“I’ve been a very lucky man.’’