West Bentleigh’s Neil Hartlett hits 500-game milestone

A batsman who used the same bat for 28 years and wore Dunlop Volleys for almost as long has reached a major milestone in local cricket.

Neil Hartlett after playing his 500th senior match for West Bentleigh.

Neil Hartlett remembers his starting point in cricket through his football team.

He’s a St Kilda supporter and began playing for West Bentleigh Cricket Club in 1971, a week after he watched the Saints lose the grand final to Hawthorn.

Hartlett was 13.

Fifty years on, he’s still waiting for the Saints to win a grand final. And he’s still playing cricket for West Bentleigh.

On Saturday he brought up his 500th senior game for the club, turning out for the fourths.

West Bentleigh organised a celebration and by the time he went out to bat a lot of past players had turned up to watch him.

It brought on a few nerves. “I thought shit, I don’t want to make a duck in front of everyone!’’ he said.

Neil Hartlett on the day of his 500th match.

Opening the batting, he made 18 before losing his leg stump as he tried to turn a ball to the leg side.

“You’d think I would have learnt by now,’’ Hartlett said on Sunday.

“I would have liked to get a few more but I was reasonably happy to get 18.’’

They could add to a run tally that ticked past 10,000 earlier this season.

Many of his runs were made with a Straight Six bat he used for 28 years.

Two seasons ago wood chips began to come off it – it had already been patched up – and he had to replace it.

He bought a new Kookaburra for $120 at a silent auction at the club. It has a nice new middle but not the same feel as his old favourite.

His Dunlop Volleys were just as durable as his bat and for a long time were a talking point among the West Bentleigh faithful.

Hartlett happily admits he’s known as a down-the-grades cricketer, but he did pop up for a dozen or so games in West Bentleigh’s top team, filling in for injured or unavailable players.

He captained the seconds, and won nine batting awards and received nine trophies as the best fieldsman.

Being a bowler of limited ability and ambition – in 500 matches he’s taken 10 wickets – he put a focus on his fielding and to this day enjoys it.

“You probably can’t play 500 games and not be a bowler without enjoying fielding,’’ he said.

“A lot of blokes still playing at my age prop themselves in slips or somewhere they don’t have to run around too much. But I still like to run around like a 30-year-old.’’

Neil Hartlett and friends at West Bentleigh.

Premierships? A bit like Sat Kilda, they’ve been on the elusive side for Hartlett.

He played in a flag in his first year in the juniors and another later in the seniors. “Been a few hardluck stories, I suppose,’’ he said.

In 2005 Hartlett retired from cricket. In the previous season he had made 60 runs at an average of six and thought it was time to give it away.

He went to the Cox Plate and watched Makybe Diva win, but he’s not much of a racing man and was starting to miss cricket.

“I’d stayed away from the club completely,’’ he said. “But I went down on the Thursday before Round 3. And sure enough they were a player short so I filled in. I started making runs again and I haven’t looked back since.’’

And for how long will this 62-year-old West Bentleigh stalwart play on?

“I can’t play golf and lawn bowls doesn’t do anything for me, so I’ll stick with cricket,’’ he said. “I’ll probably play until I drop.’’