GCA 2024: Tom Dunn takes six wickets in all-round masterclass but misses out on club honour board

Tom Dunn had a game to remember with the bat and then the ball. But his own brilliance cost him the chance to be etched into the record books.

Tom Dunn took six wickets against Marshall Bears. Picture: Torquay Cricket Club

Torquay cricketer Thomas Dunn produced an all-round masterclass in his side’s convincing GCA2 win over Marshall Bears, but he still won’t find his way onto the club honour board – and his own individual brilliance was his downfall.

Torquay Cricket Club etches the names of every hundred scored onto the batting board, however, it is much taller task for a bowler to find their way on it.

“You get a hundred you go up on the honour board but for the bowlers you have to get seven wickets,” Dunn explained.

“So the bowlers have been not too happy about that saying that we should change that and there’s been a bit of debate about whether a hundred is worth seven wickets or if seven wickets is worth more than a hundred and that we should change it to five wickets for the bowlers.”

After peeling off a run-a-ball 47 the previous week in their two-day match-up against Marshall Bears, everything Dunn touched turned to gold with the ball, claiming his five-fer and then his sixth.

With one wicket remaining, Dunn had the chance to become the first player in seven years to take a seven-wicket haul at the club and have his name etched in history.

Thomas Dunn has a day out against Marshall Bears. Picture: Alan Barber

Skipper Damian O’Brien, who has been one of the biggest supporters of reducing the honour board threshold down to five, kept him on in the hope he would achieve the feat.

However, it wasn’t to be.

“He was like, ‘I’ll keep you bowling so you can be the only person in sort of seven years who has taken a seven wicket haul’ and then very next over I’m waiting to bowl and the ball comes to me and I’ve got a run out,” he said with a laugh.

“I pretty much screwed myself.

“It was never really a run, I couldn’t believe they took the run. I think the nonstriker he said that he had been square legging for the majority of the day and was stiff as a board. If he grounded his bat he would have made it but he didn’t ground his bat and had his foot in the air and hit the stumps from backward point.”

While he won’t be on the board, his staggering day out – 6-33 from 19 overs, 47 runs and a direct hit run out – will live on in the memory of Dunn, his teammates and the opposition.

“It was one of those days. Sometimes they come, you are always trying to find it to have those days every week but it doesn’t happen very often, not for me anyway, so it was good that it all came together,” Dunn said.

One (wicket) was inside edge played on. One of our fielders took a really good catch so I think whenever I get a lot of wickets like that there might be a little bit of luck involved.”

FOOTBALL PAST

It might surprise you that Dunn is actually a better footballer than cricketer.

A talented goalkeeper, Dunn was part of A-League club Melbourne Heart’s set-up over a decade ago, turning out in a number of appearances for their youth side.

He then headed over to England for a two-year stint with Sheffield Football Club, who play in the eighth tier football competition.

Tom Dunn was a goalkeeper for Melbourne Heart’s youth team.

“I was fringe trying to get on. You are battling for a spot sort of with pretty established goalkeepers,” Dunn said.

“Especially initially seeing as I was part of sort of the initial set-up at Melbourne Heart, they had a couple of other established goalkeepers and I was just the 19-year-old that was sort of the number three. I never got to play but I played a lot of youth games in the reserves and stuff.

“I was actually concentrating a little bit more on my soccer when I was younger so I sort of had to make a decision which one to focus on and it was soccer that I went with.

“So I probably didn’t focus enough on cricket to get as high as I possibly could have.”

“It was a good level of football (in England), I probably could have played a bit higher if I had’ve had a UK visa or a passport. There were other teams that were very interested in me but they were the professional teams and they are only allowed to have two visa players.”

Long-retired from football after playing with Werribee and then Surf Coast, Dunn has his full focus on cricket.

Recently notching his 200th senor game with Torquay, Dunn still loves turning out each week for the Tigers.

“I probably started in the seniors in 2005 I reckon… It’s been a long time, especially playing at the one club but I love it, I love playing at Torquay,” Dunn said.

“I always thought that I’d play cricket as long as I possibly could so as long as I’m enjoying it, got mates and stuff, I’ll keep playing hopefully.

Originally published as GCA 2024: Tom Dunn takes six wickets in all-round masterclass but misses out on club honour board