FLY WITH THE HAWKS

The Maylands-Mount Lawley Cricket Club first entered the "A" grade Western Australia Cricket Association (W.A.C.A) district cricket competition in 1924-25 after having applied for entry two years earlier. 

 

Their first home ground was Maylands Oval, which later became known as Shearn Park. In 1927-28 the name Maylands was dropped from the title.

In 1947-48 saw the "HAWKS" use Inglewood Oval for the first time in senior matches. A further move was made in 1973-74 when the club moved to Hamer Park. Finally, the Club relocated to Cornwall Reserve in October 1978 which is now firmly established as the club’s home. In 1982-83 the name of the ground was altered to Breckler Park.

 

Mount Lawley has been lucky to have numerous excellent cricketers represent the club over the years. Players such as Barry Sheppard, Ashley Mallet, Terry Jenner, Tony Mann, Colin Milburn, Geoff Marsh, Dermott Reeve, Ravi Ratneyeke, Gehan Mendis, James Whitaker, Michael Veletta, Ashley Noffke, Chris Jordan, Dean Brownlie and Michael Klinger - who have all represented their respective countries at international level.

The club also has a rich history of local players in the early years like Dick & Frank Bryant, Leo Bott, Les Renfrey, Ted Martin, Stan Francis, Wally Kimpton and George Gardiner. The 1950’s saw the club's first state players George and Alec Robinson, Ron Frankish, Frank Sparrow and Frank Allen followed by Len Pavy and Trevor Bidstrup. 

 

During the 1970’s & 80’s Mt Lawley became the most powerful club in the competition thanks to Don Langoulant and Frank O’Driscoll the two presidents of the time. There were several state players as well as some of the best cricketers in the competition these included John McGuire, Malcolm Wolfe, Ian Green, Peter Grayson, David Boyd, John Davis, Geoff Millar and Ian Kevan. 

 

During the 1980’s and into the 90’s the production line of quality players continued with Shane Clements, Mitchell Ross, Idris Evans, David Virgo, Ben Stewart, Craig Wilkinson, Craig McDonald, Dean Solly, Phil Smith, Marc Lincoln along with some well-established recruits in Gary Ireland, Mark Atkinson, Clint Auty and Jamie Stewart. 

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The next period through the later 1990’s and 2000’s saw great players continue to come through like Phil Alvaro, Michael Carmody, Paul Davis, David Lindsay, Shane Rakich, Matthew Dixon and Tom Beaton. Special mention must be made of Chris Matthews for being the first 'homegrown" Mt Lawley player to wear the baggy green cap for Australia.

Even though John McGuire didn’t play international cricket, he was considered to be one of the best batsmen of his generation who scored over 10000 first-grade runs and holds several of the batting records at Mount Lawley.  The current first-grade team is coached by former Surrey and Glamorgan first-class cricketer Stewart Walters and the team includes players like Clint Hinchliffe who has represented the Melbourne Stars in Big Bash League and formerly represented Perth Scorchers and Western Australia in first-class cricket. First Grade Captain and all-rounder Darius D'Silva represented the United Arab Emirates in International Cricket where he played ODI and T20I formats. Veteran Chris Prescott has added experience in the pace bowling department. The Clubs Head Coach is David Virgo, who has continued to do a fantastic job of preparing our relatively young squad into capable first-grade players.

 

The club is currently in the process of the commonly quoted "rebuilding phase". We have many good young cricketers to carry on the traditional Mount Lawley attributes of fierce determination, unyielding competitiveness, and above all, "our mateship". The committee at Mt Lawley will be looking to increase its support of developing its junior competitions ensuring the great game of cricket continues well into the 21st century.

 

Mount Lawley has had some remarkable club administrators. Two outstanding secretaries Reg Heath (29 years) and Graeme Rolfe (22 years) served the club with great distinction. Three long-serving presidents, Walter Broomfield (18 years), Frank Bryant (15 years) and Peter Murphy (27 years), as well as some very wise leaders in Don Langoulant, Frank O’Driscoll and Denby Gardner.

 

Successful clubs have many quiet achievers and Mount Lawley has had more than its share, including Jack Richards, Don Manual, Trevor Curtis, Colin Tyler, and Paul Tomerini. In the Juniors there have been several that have stepped up Graeme Rolfe, Graham Lynn, Harry Bastow, Peter Melbin and the longest-serving junior coach at the club Paul Worthington. The club has also produced two of the best scorers in the competition in Bev McMullan and Lance Catchpole who followed on from the impeccable John Prescott.