We have some history
St George District Cricket Club was founded as a subdistrict club in 1911 under the auspices of the NSW Cricket Association, the President of St George DCC being Mr J. Lister.
Hurstville Oval at that time was not an enclosed ground - despite persistent pressure on the Council. The original area of Hurstville Park (of seven acres) was bought from the McMahon Estate in the early years of the century, and vested in the council.
The ground was fenced, planted and developed by cricket lovers over a period of several years - and in 1911 famous Australian left-hander Warren Bardsley brought an invitation X1 to Hurstville Oval to play the St. George district team, on the official opening day.
St George began playing in First Grade in 1921 and then competed in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade competitions.
They also entered teams in Shires competition in 1926 and continued to play teams in that competition from 1926 to 1947 and again from 1965 to 1968.
A 4th grade team had begun to play in 1934 and has continued to the present with a break from 1940 to 1948.
With the introduction of 5th grade in 1969 there was no further participation in the Shires competition.
Currently, St George DCC Inc fields teams in the 1st to 5th grade competitions, the Poidevin-Gray Shield (Under 21), the A.W.Green Shield (Under 16) and the 1st Grade Limited Overs competition.
Sir Donald Bradman - The Don
St George’s best known player is of course Sir Donald Bradman who came to the club in 1926 and later stayed at the Rockdale home of then club secretary Mr F. Cush.
Don Bradman continued to play for St George until 1932-33.
“On 27th November 1926, Bradman took his place in the St George first grade team against Petersham. The young cricketer broke his bat on 98 and managed 110 on debut before being run out.
For the remainder of the season, he continued playing for St George, although it involved a journey from Bowral to Sydney each Saturday morning and a return to Bowral at midnight. It was the willingness of the St George DCC to pay his train fare that was a decisive factor in his choosing St George over Cumberland.
Bradman’s biggest handicap, however, was not the travel, but the lack of practice on turf wickets during the week.”
The Bill O’Reilly Era
Meanwhile, Bill O’Reilly was also making a name for himself and after playing in the country and for North Sydney CC joined St George in 1934-35 where he was to play the reminder of his grade cricket finishing after 15 seasons in 1948-49.
His 147 wickets @8.2 in 1943-44 is unlikely to ever be achieved again.
After entering 1st Grade in 1921-22, St George was unable to win a 1st Grade premiership until 1939-40 (the first team to win a premiership for St George DCC was their 3rd grade team in 1926-27) when a Bill O’Reilly led team was successful.
This was the start of five (5) consecutive 1st Grade premierships.
In this period some of the outstanding players who were “assisting” Bill O’Reilly were Arthur Morris, Ray Lindwall, Bob Cristofani, Ron Moss, Harold Stapleton, Ernie Laidler, Ernie Green, Norm Fisher.
Premierships
St George DCC has won a total of 105 premierships, far more than any other grade club, making it the most successful club in the Sydney Grade Competition. These are broken up as follows:
First Grade - 18
(Includes 2 One Day and 1 T20)Second Grade - 12
Third Grade - 11
Fourth Grade - 9
Fifth Grade - 3
Poidevin-Gray - 16
Green Shield - 12
Perhaps more significantly, St George DCC has won the Club Championship of the Sydney Cricket Association on 24 occasions, more than twice as many as any other club!
Australian Honours
St George is very proud of its fourteen Australian Test Match players whose details are given below.
Three of these, Sir Don Bradman, Arthur Morris and Brian Booth, have captained Australia.
D. Bradman - A. Fairfax - W. O'Reilly - A. Morris, R. Lindwall - W. Watson- N. O'Neill - B. Booth - K. O'Keeffe - M. Bennett - S. MacGill - T. Copeland - M. Henriques - J.Hazlewood - K.Patterson
NSW Honours
Whilst playing members of St George DCC, 49 players have represented NSW and these are listed below:
D. Mullarkey - L. Vaughan - A. Scanes - D. Bradman - A. Fairfax - H. Theak - W. O’Reilly - L. Wall - R. Little - A. Lonergan - H. Stapleton - A. Morris - R. Lindwall - R. Cristofani - R. Moss - E. Lukeman - W. Yeates - W. Watson - B.Booth - W.Saunders - N. O’Neill - K. Francis J. O’Reilly - R. Flockton - P. Leslie - J. Martin - J. Rogers - J. Wilson - K. O’Keeffe - R. Done - M. Bennett - J. Skilbeck - W. Seabrook - G. Smith - P. Stepto - D. Moore - G. Milliken - B. McNamara - P. Alley - N. Jones - G. Rummans - B. Van Deinsen - S. MacGill - S. Thompson - N. Pilon - M. Henriques - J. Hazlewood - T. Copeland - K. Patterson
Our Councils
St George DCC is very appreciative of the assistance of our Councils. Georges River Council for Hurstville Oval, Olds Park and Harold Fraser Oval and Bayside Council for Cahill Park.
Currently, St George DCC plays its 1st & 2nd Grade games at Hurstville Oval which is always top, or near the top, of the ground ratings in the Sydney Grade Cricket competition.
The 3rd, 4th & 5th grade games are played at Olds Park (Penshurst), Harold Fraser Oval (Blakehurst) and Cahill Park (Arncliffe), which all first rate venues.
The opening on Saturday 8th January 2000 of the Booth Saunders Pavilion at Hurstville Oval marked an important addition to the ground’s facilities and has been a great acquisition. Apart from being the perfect place to watch the games it also includes facilities for functions and also an office for our administration purposes
Named to acknowledge our Club Patrons, Brian Booth MBE and Warren Saunders OAM, the pavilion is a fitting tribute to their wonderful service to the Club.
In 2019 the Georges River Council officially opened the Norm O'Neill Cricket Training Facility in Penshurst and the club is please to have come to a Sponsorship agreement with it's management company BlueFit which allows St George cricketers to train and develop.
