‘Bradman of the Bush’ Henry Gunstone named captain of Weekly Times’ Team of the Century
The Melbourne Country Week cricket carnival has kicked off and the hall of fame inductees have been revealed.
Melbourne’s Country Week cricket carnival is underway with the Provincial title pursuit carrying extra significance this year.
The competition that began in March 1922 and attracted 32 teams from 22 districts across Victoria is celebrating its centenary.
Ballarat beat Hamilton by five wickets to take the first title and on Sunday the two associations went head-to-head again to launch the first Country Week carnival following the Covid pandemic with Ballarat winning again.
Also on Sunday, the Victorian Country Cricket League inducted former players and administrators into its Hall of Fame.
They were: Henry Gunstone (Grampians), Norm Reeves (Ferntree Gully), Alan Sperling (Leongatha), Brad Hauenstein (Geelong), Adam Burns (Bendigo), Rob Oborne (Colac), Ian Wright (Warrnambool), Alan Anton (Traralgon), Jim Merrett (Traralgon),
Jim Anton (Traralgon), Glenn Ward (Geelong), Neil Tatterson (Sale-Maffra), Ray Johns (Bendigo), Greg Hoysted (Benalla), Bryan Mitchell (Ferntree Gully), Linton Jacobs (Bendigo), Trevor Saker (Benalla), Vin Cahill (Ballarat) and Barrie Wrigglesworth (Sale-Maffra).
Bendigo won the last Provincial series played in 2020 and is among 10 associations vying for the coveted title, with the grand final played at the Albert Ground on Friday.
To mark the special occasion, The Weekly Times has chosen its Team of the Century made up of players who have starred at Country Week and/or representing Victorian Country.
HENRY GUNSTONE, Grampians (Captain)
Widely acclaimed as the “Bradman of the Bush”, Gunstone made 129 centuries in an amazing career spanning 36 summers.
From Ararat, he first played at Country Week as a 17-year-old in 1957 and scored 13 tons, including a memorable 133 in the 1966 final.
He has a highest score of 334 in a career that included appearances against England, South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand and the West Indies.
ROY MILLAR, Barham-Koondrook
One of the early superstars of Melbourne Country Week when he made six centuries in the 1930s.
The Koondrook dairy farmer batted in front of Australian captain Bill Woodfull in Country Week one year and left a lasting impression.
ROBBIE BEDFORD, Mornington
A modern-day run machine who made more than 3000 runs at Country Week for the association that has been a dominant force for three decades.
Bedford played in five Country Week premierships as a player and another seven as captain.
He made two centuries in the 2001 campaign, including one in the final that resulted in a Mornington triumph and being crowned player-of-the-carnival – a feat he has achieved six times.
DON RUSH, Horsham
In a brilliant career, Rush made more than 10,000 runs and took more than 1100 wickets with his off-spinners.
He captained Horsham with distinction, lifting it from the minor grades of Country Week to a Provincial grand final appearance, and also played for Victorian Country against touring teams.
NEIL TATTERSON, Sale-Maffra
With 15 centuries at club level, Tatterson was also a prolific run scorer at representative levels.
He scored 1561 runs at Melbourne Country Week including three centuries and a 98 not out.
Tatterson was part of two Sale-Maffra Provincial triumphs and also made two centuries for Victorian Country.
ALAN SPERLING, Leongatha
Sperling played 93 Melbourne Country Week matches between 1954 and 1981.
He debuted at the age of 15 and scored close to 2000 runs including two centuries.
He captained Leongatha for 14 years and also skippered the Victorian Country X1 against England in 1978.
IAN WRIGGLESWORTH, Sale-Maffra
A dynamic all-rounder who made a huge impact at the end of a career highlighted by representing Victoria.
At Country Week, he scored 1389 runs at an average of 44.81 and, despite only bowling sparingly, took nearly 40 wickets, conceding only 2.44 runs per over.
Produced a man-of-the-match performance in the 2006 Provincial final with 4/45 in helping roll Mornington for 162 and then smashed 76 runs in the successful chase.
LES REED, Euroa
Brilliant wicketkeeper central to Euroa’s rise to prominence at Country Week in the early 1960s.
Reed captained Euroa to victory in the Provincial final in 1967 and again two years later.
He had an ultra safe pair of hands and made multiple centuries with the bat.
Along with fearsome fast bowler Ray MacLaine, the pair played against South Africa in 1963 with Reed making 30 after three early wickets fell.
REX HOLLIOAKE, Ballarat
A menacing fast bowler who saved some of his best performances for Melbourne Country Week.
Hollioake took the remarkable figures of 8/3 on a Whitten Oval green top against Warrnambool and, aged in his 40s, plundered 128 with the bat against Mornington.
He impressed the touring English team in 1954-55 by taking two wickets.
REX MACKENZIE, Horsham
Feared fast bowler who terrorised batsmen in the west of the state in the 1960s and 1970s.
It wasn’t only the locals he had on their toes, with a visiting English team also succumbing to his pace in a match at Hamilton in which he finished with 4/44.
MacKenzie took 17 wickets for Dimboola in a local grand final.
BRAD HAUENSTEIN, Geelong
Quality all-rounder who holds the record for the most number of wickets taken by a Geelong bowler at Country Week in 66 matches at the carnival.
Hauenstein took 125 wickets at an average of 13.3 from 2001 to 2018 with four bags of five wickets just for good measure.
He played in seven Provincial wins including five as captain.
PETER TOSSOL, Wangaratta, Alexandra-Mansfield. 12th man
Selected for six Australian Country Cricket Carnivals, the left-handed bat from the Northeast also represented Victorian Country against the West Indies in his hometown of Wangaratta in 1985.
Tossol stared down a Windies’ pace attack still in its prime to score an unbeaten 69 before later discovering he had broken his hand trying to fend off a rearing Courtney Walsh thunderbolt.
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