Roger Coles receives life membership

ANGLESEA Cricket Club stalwart Roger Coles was awarded a life membership at the club’s recent presentation night for his immense contribution to the club.

Mr Coles said he was grateful to receive such recognition.

“It was a bit of a shock, because they don’t hand out that many. So, I felt very emotional and a little humbled, but it was lovely.”

Mr Coles played 143 games for the club. He jokes he has “just been hanging around ever since” he stopped playing.

However, his involvement is far more telling.

Mr Coles spent more than a decade on the committee, including a couple of years as treasurer.

Club president Brett Kerr said Mr Coles has served the club without expecting recognition.

“He’s helped the club behind the scenes in ways a lot of people wouldn’t know about. The average person at the club would know he’s there, but wouldn’t know the contribution that he’s put in.”

Mr Kerr also noted that Mr Coles “whole family has been fantastic to the club.”

Yet the family’s life in Anglesea got off to a difficult start.

“We moved down to Anglesea just before the Ash Wednesday bushfires, and then we got burnt out. Then we came back a couple of years later when the house was rebuilt, and I got involved with the club straight after that.”

He said the club became particularly important to the community after Ash Wednesday.

“After the fires, it was a very vibrant club with a lot of young families. After the games you’d have 30 or 40 kids chasing the kangaroos and riding bikes.

“A lot of the ex-players pop-in. At the finals on Sunday there would have been 20 or 30 ex-players around. It’s just been a wonderful club and a wonderful group of people to be a part of.”