Two Swords to honour the past

AN annual celebration is set to take place for past and current members of the Ballarat-Redan Cricket Club next month.

On Saturday 3 February from 7pm, the clubrooms at Alfredton Recreation Reserve will be adorned with memorabilia from three past premierships while the event will highlight the club’s 96 players who’ve played 100 games or more with the Two Swords.

The club’s socials coordinator Greg Wakeling said the day is an important acknowledgement of their history.

“It’s pretty much about bringing the old boys back in here to tell their stories,” he said. “We try to do our premiership reunions most years.

“It’s been in the last five, six years that we’ve made our 100-plus players nod a big thing and recognised the number of players that have reached the milestone.”

The event will celebrate the club’s 1973/74 third XI, 1973/74 fourth XI, 1983/84 second XI, and 1983/84 third XI teams on the anniversary of their premiership wins.

With minimal details in the club’s archives, members are also calling on information regarding the Two Swords’ 4th XI 1973/74 premiership players.

Having been with Ballarat-Redan for 25 years, Wakeling is one of nearly 100 members to have played a century of games for the club.

“For me personally, to play 100 games with one club, it just means we’ve been around the club and contributed for at least 10 years to have reached it,” he said.

“To have it recognised means a fair bit. Our most recent member to have made 100 games will be Samantha Sculley who reached the mark, I think, at our last game before Christmas.

“That just shows in more recent times there’ve been more opportunities for women to play cricket in Ballarat and that means a fair bit for us.”