‘Can’t be forgotten’: clubs remember country cricket champion Blair Hunter

Blair Hunter’s death at age 34 numbed the Gippsland town where had been a champion sportsman. Next week two cricket clubs will play for a cup named in the honour of a young man known as ‘Rowdy’.

Clubs come together to play in honour of Gippsland champion Blair Hunter.

He didn’t say much. They called him “Rowdy’’.

Blair Hunter was a quiet man and when it came to cricket in South Gippsland, his actions spoke far louder than his words.

He was a champion of the country game and his death at the age of 34 in 2004 numbed Wonthaggi, the town where he was born and raised.

Many of its people still remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard he had collapsed at his home.

His teammate Peter Dell was at work, on smoko at the Cyclone factory, when colleague Mark Tiziani told him. He checked his phone to find a missed call from David Tessari, Hunter’s first cousin and premiership teammate.

“It just left me shocked,’’ Dell says. “It shocked everyone.’’

Tessari had been at his parent’s house when he answered the phone to be told the news by a relative. He immediately dropped it, crumpling to the floor in disbelief.

“I was speechless. I just couldn’t say anything,’’ he says. “He was one of the best.’’

Next week, the two clubs where Hunter played senior cricket, Wonthaggi Club (formerly Wonthaggi Workers) and Outtrim-Moyarra-Kongwak (OMK), will play for the Blair Hunter Cup at the OMK ground. They have done so since his death.

Blair Hunter at the crease and on the attack.

Dell, 51, and still playing First XI cricket, will be part of it. He was in a premiership team with Hunter and says the memorial match is a highlight of his season.

“At the start of every year, it’s always No. 2 on the list, behind a premiership,’’ the Australian Over 50s representative says.

“We like to win it, to keep the memory of Blair going. Workers are our biggest rivals, I would say.’’

Hunter was in primary school when he began playing at Workers Club and he was at Wonthaggi Technical College when he began playing in First XI premierships for it.

Blair Hunter (left) pictured with future international Ian Harvey, Gavin Bolding, Darren Tiziani and Bernie Maloney after the 1986-87 season. All hit centuries for Workers Club in grand finals.

In 1986-87 he stroked a brilliant century in a high-scoring grand final against Dalyston before having to retire hurt with a broken finger. Tessari played in that match and remembers the ease with which Hunter scored. That was always his way, he says.

“He was beautiful to watch, very upright, very straight, just a lovely stance and follow-through, kept his head down every time,’’ he says.

And he had an “unflappable’’ temperament to go with his stylish technique, Tessari says.

“It didn’t matter what the situation was in the game, he never changed,’’ he asserts.

“He stuck to his guns. When he was batting, teams would try to upset him and get him angry and put him off his game, but it never worked.’’

When he was a boy, Hunter played a lot of backyard cricket with Tessari and his brother Brett. He also had many hits with future Victorian captain Darren Berry. Hunter and Berry were close friends, sharing a love of football and cricket.

“’Rowdy’ would have been seven when we played juniors together,’’ David Tessari says.

“We played in a grand final one year and he was batting at No. 11. Poor bugger. The game was going right down to the wire and he was next to go in. He was absolutely cacking himself in the back of the car and crying because he was so nervous about going in! Luckily for him, he didn’t have to.’’

Premiership success for Blair Hunter and his OMK team.

Tessari says Hunter was “quiet, bordering on shy … he didn’t have much to say, but when he did you listened’’.

“Funny thing is, he could get a little bit of white-line fever on the cricket field, especially when he was bowling. He could get fired up,’’ he says. “But otherwise, he was a quiet and respectful guy.’’

As a young cricketer, Hunter played in four premierships with Workers Club (and years later it made him an official legend). Fast bowler Rodney Bolding figured in three flags with Hunter.

“Fantastic player, just unflappable,’’ he says. “He was a young player with an old head on him.’’

He says Hunter was meticulous in his preparation and presentation, remembering that not a thing was out of place in his cricket kit. Bolding and others would mess it up as a lark.

Former Workers fast bowler Ashley Sartori has an enduring memory of Club buying a bowling machine in the 1980s and setting up in the middle of the ground.

It was cranked up to full speed and Hunter alone could handle it, he says.

“It was going about 140, 150kmh. We had (Gavin) Bolding, (Darren Tiziani) and obviously ‘Tatey’ (Roy Tate) and without a word of a lie Blair was the only one who controlled where he put the ball,’’ Sartori says. “He was just in his element. He was one of the most focused people you could come across.’’

Sartori and Bolding gave Hunter his nickname, “Rowdy’’. “Because he wouldn’t shut up,’’ he says.

Wonthaggi Club and OMK play for the Blair Hunter Cup.

Hunter joined OMK ahead of the 1990-91 season – Tessari had made the same move a year or two earlier – and went on to be the finest player in the Leongatha association, winning three cricketer-of-the-year awards.

Keen to test himself at a higher level, he joined Premier club Dandenong in 1992-93, playing 13 First XI matches.

At the time, the Brendan McArdle-coached Dandy were strong in batting and could find no place for him in the top six.

But his accurate bowling gained him selection as an all-rounder. It also brought him a distinguished first wicket: Fitzroy-Doncaster champion and former Victorian Sheffield Shield captain John “Barrel’’ Scholes.

In 1993, Hunter headed to England to play for Astley Bridge in Bolton, serving as McArdle’s amateur. Following Josh Marquet and Ian Harvey into the position, he had a lot to live up to, and he did well, in one match cracking 109 off 39 balls. He finished with almost 1000 runs and 40 wickets. His parents, Tom and Marg, had much to read up on when he came home with a bunch of newspaper clippings.

“He was typical Blair … he was solid. Bowled his overs, batted at No. 5, didn’t cause any trouble and everyone loved him,’’ McArdle recalls.

Assessing Hunter’s time at Dandenong, McArdle says he should have persisted with him for longer.

“In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been playing and he should have been,’’ he says.

Blair Hunter is an official Club legend.

Hunter returned to OMK as captain-coach in 1995, and over the next decade led the A grade team by example and with distinction.

On nine occasions he was cricketer of the year. He won six batting and three bowling averages, played in three premierships, made 5300 runs at an average of 46.9 and took 294 wickets at 15.1 with a best of 6-38.

Of his 10 centuries, his highest score was 165. There were also 75 catches.

“He’s the best I’ve played with,’’ Dell says. “Good bat, good bowler, good fielder and a competitor. He didn’t like losing … bit of white-line fever once he got over that line. Played it hard but fair.’’

Blair Hunter (second from left) captained the old Wonthaggi association to a Junior Country Week title in 1986.

In 2003-04, Hunter starred in his team’s grand final. Two weeks later he died at home. He had undergone minor foot surgery and it was thought at the time that a blood clot had travelled to his lungs. In fact, it was found he had a heart condition. He was 34 and a husband to Susan and father to Thomas, three, and Nina, seven months.

Blair Hunter had also been a prominent footballer for Wonthaggi Blues.

“Very good player,’’ Bolding, who was attached to rival club Wonthaggi Rovers, says. “Trouble is, you only got to see him play twice a year, unless they made the finals. It was a hard day for Rovers if Blair was playing well. He was mercurial, on both sides of the body. When he got the ball he always had time and he always used it well.’’

Former Melbourne star Brett Lovett coached Hunter and thought him “highly talented’’.

“Beautiful ball user, nice, beautiful mover, absolutely loved a goal and finishing off for the team,’’ he says.

The Herald Sun reported Hunter’s death on page three, quoting a shattered Berry.

His funeral was held at St Joseph’s Catholic Church. Old-timers said it was one of the biggest seen in the town; many mourners stood outside the entrance. “We couldn’t get inside the church,’’ Bolding says. About 700 people attended, including Lovett.

“Someone so young, full of life, a wife, a couple of young kids and he was only just getting going … it was such a shock,’’ Lovett says.

Sartori was doing renovations on his house and painting the fascia boards when he took a phone call from his friend Steve Griffiths.

“I couldn’t go see or talk to anybody for three days,’’ he says. “It was shattering. Yeah …’’

Blair Hunter’s nephews Ryan, Mitchell and Jakeb preserve his connection to the Wonthaggi club. The sons of Blair’s sister, Caroline, they have played in 19 A grade premierships between them. Jakeb followed his late uncle to Dandenong, opening the bowling for the First XI.

Tessari says the Blair Hunter Cup is a “great initiative’’.

“It’s good to keep his memory alive, because he played a lot of great cricket for both clubs,’’ he says. “He can’t be forgotten.’’

Originally published as ‘Can’t be forgotten’: clubs remember country cricket champion Blair Hunter