Former Queensland captain Chris Hartley leads alumni cricket list
GPS First XI cricket: BBC’s finest past and present recognised here, including a mysterious Test omission who stands aloft as the college’s greatest player.
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Brisbane Boys College is one of the finest breeding grounds for elite sportsmen in the country.
From swimming legend Kieren Perkins to Tokyo Olympic Games bronze medal decathlete Ashley Moloney, through to former Wallaby Will Genia, Origin league champion Dane Gagai and Lions champion Chris Scott, BBC has an army of elite high achieving sporting old boys.
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Brisbane Boys College has also provided plenty of outstanding cricketers over the years.
This story features some of the very fine players from the college who have graced the college’s lush green fields, including Chris Hartley who somehow missed Test cricket selection.
BEST OF THE BEST
Chris Hartley
Has there been a better player from Queensland never to play a Test match? It is doubtful.
Hartley is simply one of Queensland cricket’s most remarkable players.
Desperately unlucky not to play for Australia, Hartley was somehow overlooked for Matthew Wade who was a good batsman who absolutely earned a chance as a top six batsman, but who was one of the less memorable keepers to wear the baggy green.
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Hartley never seemed to let his disappointment of missing selection eat away at him, which was a show of his unyielding fortitude.
Hartley was actually three players in one for the Queensland Bulls - he was a captain, a top six left handed batsman and gloveman.
You lost count the number of times Hartley dug Queensland out of a hole with his defiant batting.
He could both build an innings, and also accelerate the tempo, depending on the situation.
Hartley was good enough to bat in the top six, making him one of the most valuable all-rounders in Shield cricket this decade.
Over 131 first class matches he scored 6138 runs at 34.48, including 10 centuries, took 547 catches and snared 17 stumpings.
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MOST UNDERRATED BEST OF THE BEST
Andrew Courtice
One of the great characters of Queensland cricket, Andrew Courtice was an unsung batsman across 49 matches for his state between 1982 and 1987.
He scored almost 3000 Shield runs at 35, but put a modern day bat in his hands and his first class average would have ballooned into the 40s.
He was also a wonderful teammate.
No less a judge than former Test selection Trevor Hohns rated the colourful opener as his favourite former teammate because of his dry wit and colourful story-telling.
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Always his own man, Courtice on tour could be found in places not normally associated with cricket tourists as zoos and libraries.
A past BBC First XI captain across two seasons, Courtice retired from first class cricket in his late 20s, claiming “I had a lot of fun but I’ve always believed if you are not going to play for Australia, you shouldn’t hang around too long in the Sheffield Shield’’.
A qualified solicitor, he now runs his own practice.
GRAND OLD-TIMERS
Desmond Bull
Left hander Bull was one of Queensland’s most successful batsmen of the 1960s.
In 68 games he scored 3292 runs at an average of 29.92 when pitches were hit and miss and bats were the size of toothpicks.
Put a modern bat in his hand on roped off fields and he surely would have averaged mid-40s in the current era. He struck five first class hundreds.
John Loxton
Loxton was a solid campaigner across five seasons for Queensland, twice scoring Sheffield Shield hundreds.
A western suburbs boy, he particularly enjoyed success at the WACA.
Overall he scored more than 1000 runs for the Maroons.
Ryall Ayres
A right handed batsman and googly bowler, Ayres had the honour of playing for Queensland on four occasions - spaced out over seven years.
Roy Rushbrook
If not for the tragic onset of World War II, Rushbrook would surely have played more than two matches for Queensland.
He acquitted himself well in both, taking five wickets on debut and another three when called upon for a second match.
David Biggs
Biggs makes the list for a slightly different reason. Revered at both the University of Queensland club and by the BBC community, Biggs had the distinction of last year being named an Honorary Member of the Old Collegians’ Association.
Biggs has had a huge impact, not only on the BBC cricket community, but also on the lives of many young men who have worked their way through the college over the last three decades.
THE EAST DYNASTY
Three generations of the East family have created some interesting BBC cricket statistics. Each of the generations has produced opening batsmen: Bill East in 1954 and 1955 and eldest son David in 1981-1982. Both Bill (1955) and David (1982) were First XI Captains.
All four of Bill’s sons, David, Mark, Jonathan, and Lachlan, played in the College’s First XI. Lachlan, the youngest son, opened the batting with the late Justin Mail in 1994 and played for the First X1 for three years 1992 - 1994. He also represented and played for the Queensland U14 team and was a member of the state emerging players squads until he concentrated on his career.
In 2022 Noah, the son of Jonathan, became the third generation East to open the batting for the First XI side.
In one match Noah scored 111 off 111 balls when BBC (248) beat Churchie (9-206). It is believed to be the first BBC century since Tom Ham in 2018.
NOT SO OLD GRAND PLAYERS
Chris Torrisi
Torrisi was a thrilling opener who at times would have been close to state selection.
As a schoolboy he took youth cricket by storm, rising to represent both the Queensland Under-17s and Queensland Under-19s in 1993-94.
Known as a funny man who could make teammates laugh with some of his impersonation, he is regarded as a UQ club legend and one of BBC’s finest cricketers.
Jarrod Turner - and Mat Cox
Turner was an outstanding player, but his coaching also impacted hundreds of youth around both BBC and the University club.
A one-time UQ Sport Club Coach of the Year, Turner co-coached BBC to joint premiers in 2020 alongside Mat Cox, another BBC old boy.
Turner was both a team coach but also a BBC director of sport and director of cricket, and was a highly successful coach at University.
Cox was also an outstanding bowler who rose to represent the Australian Universities with distinction.
Other elite schoolboy players of that error were the Brundle brothers, Matthew and Jonathon, Richard Coombs, Simon Blood and later Graham Skennar.
BROTHERS WITH ALL THE SKILLS
Craig Philipson
Craig Philipson played Sheffield Shield cricket for Queensland between 2004 and 2010, including scoring 110 on his first class debut against Tasmania.
He is a former Australia Under-19 player and was part of the side that won the 2002 U19 World Cup.
Michael Philipson
A University club legend, Michael and his brother Craig, mentioned above, had the rare distinction of both representing their state in sport.
Originally from Middle Park State School, he did his secondary schooling at BBC which contributed to his cricketing education ahead of a startling career with University.
Twice a Uni clubman of the season, Philipson was also once crowned the Peter Burge Medallist as club cricket’s finest player.
Michael, an off spin bowler and batsman, won countless premierships for Uni across multiple formats.
YOUNG VETERAN
Peter Tucker was a achieving cricketer who played First XV as Year 10 student, and went onto play another two summers in the side.
Tucker was both the First XI cricket captain and school captain, a bowling all-rounder who could swing the ball.
He also played first grade at University.
MODERN DAY MARVELS
Jack Clayton
A stylish batsman, one senses 25-year-old Clayton still has plenty to offer at Sheffield Shield level for Queensland.
He has so far played 29 games, scoring 1500 runs at 32.63, smattering three centuries and nine 50s across his resume.
He is a lovely player, a class act whose rise to Shield cricket would shock no one who observed his school cricket at BBS.
Matthew Willans, Max Clayton, Harry Walker and James Grady
Willans, Clayton, Walker and Grady were BBC old boys who helped University of Queensland win the first grade one-day premiership earlier this month.
The boys played a major role in UQ securing the John McKnoulty Cup for the first time since 2016.
Max Clayton (76) put on a 190-run partnership with teammate Angus Lovell, while Grady blasted a quickfire 29 off 12 balls to get UQ up to 312.
Willans, the 2019-20 Australian U19 left arm pace bowler, took two critical early wickets to put UQ in prime position.
Gloveman Walker was clinical behind the stumps, taking two catches, including a great catch to win the match.
Walker, Willans and Clayton all played BBC First XI in 2018, while Grady is a 2014 old boy.
Walker and Clayton both played Queensland U17 together.
This season Clayton has ramped up his career and is enjoying a breakout season with the bat, including captaining UQ in some matches.
Grady has always been a hard hitting all rounder, perfectly suited to the short game.
He has been an integral part in University’s success in recent seasons, including a match winning 100 in a grand final.
THE BEST THIS DECADE
Blake Armstrong
Armstrong has been one of Queensland‘s finest youth cricket players decade and is BBC’s best current youth player.
Having just represented Queensland at the U17 national championships, Armstrong is both an opening batsman and left arm orthodox spinner capable of taking the new ball.
A left hander, Armstrong is coming off scores of 102 not out and 70 batting for the Maroons at the national carnival where he batted at No.4 or No.5.
Armstrong will be playing in his third season of First XI cricket at BBC.
Ryan Atley
Atley joined Armstrong at the top of the order playing for the Queensland U17s at the nationals.
Also a gloveman, Atley is a damaging, fast scoring batsman who can mount pressure on the bowlers and the fieldsmen. He will be one of the most prized wickets this season in the GPS season.
Jamie Alexander (BBC)
The 2023 Queensland under 17 national championship winning captain, Alexander would have been a potential Queensland representative cricketer had he not decided to concentrate on rugby.
He bowled medium pace swing and was an outstanding batsman. In his final season at BBC, Alexander took 19 wickets at 13 with his right arm medium pace swing and scored 244 runs at 34.86 batting at No.4.
Taj Annan
Like Alexander who is mentioned above, Annan was also lost to rugby post-graduation from BBC in 2021.
He captained the BBC First XI to a joint premiership with Terrace in 2020 - the same season he helped BBC to the First XV premiership - and also played First XI in 2021.
Annan was a classy middle order batsman who played with the same grace whether his team was under pressure or enjoying pole position in a match.
Sam Bell
Bell had a bumper season with bat and ball in 2022, earning selection in News Corp’s Team of the Season.
Bell was an effective leg spin bowler who could spin out a batsman while also building pressure, but he was also a trouble shooting batsman who scored fluently in the middle order.
He captained the 2022 side and was an outstanding player.
Special mentions:
Zac Robinson
A classy batsman from the Sunshine Coast, the GPS competition did not see the best of Robinson last season but his skills were renowned after he batted his way into last season’s Queensland U17 side. Watch this space in season 2025.
What do you think? Email andrew.dawson@news.com.au for any suggestions on who else can be added to this story when it is updated later today.
Round 1
BSHS v Nudgee
Churchie v TSS
Terrace v IGS
TGS v BBC
Bye: BGS
Originally published as Former Queensland captain Chris Hartley leads alumni cricket list
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