It was truly a night long to be remembered, with just over 150 past players, friends and family of our great club in attendance. Old teammates got together for the first time in many years, stories of cricket from long ago were shared with a captive audience, the inaugural Hall of Fame inductees, and Sam Riggio compelled the audience with his memories of his time as a young promising SCC cricketer and his trials and tribulations since his unfortunate accident.

The night started off with a brief introduction, at times in verse, by MC Michael Corcoran and the traditional welcome from President Brendan Doyle.

Special guests in attendance included SCC  No. 1 Ticket holder Jack Ogilvie, Hume Councillors Leigh Johnson and Jack Medcraft and  GDCA Life Members Kevin Sulivan and Mick Jenson.

SCC Life members in attendance were also welcomed:

Don Bremner, Travis Botten, Ken Hosking, Marty Kelders, Richard Lee, Ray Lethlean, Bill Morrison, Barry Palmer, Jim Pearson, Dean Surkitt, Paul Webber, Scott Yardley, Gary Wollington (apologies due to ill health)

Sponsors Phil Lithgow of Sunbury Social Club, Devin Powell of DJP Accounting and Travis Botten of Colour Perfect were thanked for their ongoing support.

Brendan spoke of SCC being a family club, its push to promote women’s cricket and the focus on the future through our junior program as a pathway to 1st-grade cricket.

Club History

SCC Secretary Marty Kelders gave a brief rundown of the formation of the club and a few highlights up to the time of the first premiership in 1952/53. The formation of the club, the building of a new pavilion in 1895 and joining GDCA in 1923.

1952/53 Premiership player Ron Forbes gave his account of the early 1950s, our first 2 premierships, moving to the Clarke Oval on a turf wicket, interestingly the soil for the wicket was sourced from out the back of Rupertswood.

1969/70 Premiership Captain Clyde White congratulated his teammates from the 1969/70 Premiership team all of which were present bar one, Ron Harris who has sadly passed. Clyde joked with GDCA Life member Kevin Sullivan about the condition of the wicket at times. hearing these stories was very entertaining.

SCC Life Member Bill Morrison gave a brief account of his experience in the early 70s and how SCC had 4 teams in the same grade as the GDCA but chose to select even teams for the betterment of competition.

SCC Life Member Doug Smith spoke of the late to early 80s with the rise of the juniors coming into the senior ranks and propelling the club into an era of great success including the 1986/87 Premiership.

SCC Life Member Dean Surkitt spoke passionately about former coach Tony Pearson and his ability to attract young players to the club in the mid-80s, the tough times as a young player in uncompetitive teams and the rise to ultimate glory.

1992/93 Premiership Captain / Coach Neil White entertained the crowd by not only praising the strong committee during the early ’90s and the resounding success of winning 3 of the available 4 GDCA premierships but also retelling some classic moments from Bendigo Country week cricket.

SCC Life Member Scotty Yardley spoke of the difficult era of the early 2000s without the investment in the junior program and the slide to 2nd-grade cricket. Scott had led the senior XI back to McIntyre cricket after a long campaign with many setbacks and the current status which has a strong committee and a focus on youth development.

The evening ended with a powerful presentation by Sam Riggio, a former SCC U16 Captain and senior player. Sam shared his experiences at SCC, his passion for cricket and sports, and other outdoor activities with honesty and openness.

His captivating recount of his tragic accident, being told he would never walk again, and his determination to prove the doubters wrong left a lasting impression on the audience. SCC is immensely proud of Sam’s achievements, and we were privileged to have him share his award-winning presentation with us on this special occasion.