The West Torrens District Cricket Club ("Western Eagles") is a Premier Grade Cricket Club in Adelaide, South Australia. It competes in the West End Premier Cricket Competition, which is administered by the

South Australian Cricket Association The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) is the peak body for the sport of cricket in South Australia. The association administers the Southern Redbacks based in Adelaide. SACA is the controlling body for the South Australian Grade Cri ...

(SACA). The Western Eagles field four senior men’s, two women’s and seven junior teams and are based at Henley & Grange Memorial Oval. Other grounds used by the club include Henley High School, John Mitchell Reserve and Lockleys North PS. Previous home grounds have included Lindsay Circus (1857-1921),

Thebarton Oval Thebarton Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia currently used for a variety of sports including Australian rules football. It was the home ground of South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club West Torrens Football Clu ...

(1921-1988) and Kings Reserve (1988-1997). The club has won 15 1st grade men's premierships with the last being in 2021/22, breaking a 5-year premiership drought. In an amazing 2006/07 season, the Eagles fought off a merger ultimatum from the SACA and became the first ever South Australian Premier club to record a clean sweep of the 2-day, one-day and T20 competition titles. The Eagles have now won 6 West End Cup (One Day) Premierships (1971/72, 1972/73, 1993/94 and 2003/04, 2016/17, 2021/22) and the single T20 Premiership (2016/17). During the past decade the club has become one of the strongest in South Australian Premier Cricket, winning lower grade premierships in 1995/96, 2002/03, 2007/08 & 2012/13 (B Grade), 2003/04, 2004/05 & 2006/07 (C Grade) and winning the SACA Club Championship in 2004/05, 2006/07, 2007/08 and 2011/12. In season 2017/18, the West Torrens Women's 1st Grade emulated their male counterparts by also winning every title available, becoming T20 and One-day Premiers. Most recently the “Sheagles” took out the 2019/20 One day premiership.

History

The Club began in 1857 as the Hindmarsh Cricket Club with its headquarters at Lindsay Circus (now

Hindmarsh Stadium Hindmarsh Stadium (currently known as Coopers Stadium due to sponsorship from Adelaide-based company Coopers Brewery) is a multi-purpose stadium in Hindmarsh, an inner western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the home of the Austral ...

) and has continued, with only a change of name in 1897, until the present day, making it the oldest continuous and 2nd oldest existing cricket club in South Australia. Morphett Vale Cricket Club (established 1849) is the oldest cricket club in South Australia. The club moved to

in 1921 where it remained until 1988 when it transferred to the adjacent King's Reserve. A lack of junior players and inadequate facilities saw a final move to the

Henley and Grange Memorial Oval Henley may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Henley, Dorset, a location * Henley, Gloucestershire, a location * Henley-on-Thames, a town in South Oxfordshire, England ** Henley (UK Parliament constituency) ** Henley Rural District, a former ru ...

for the 1997-98 season. West Torrens started fielding female teams in the 2007/08 season with many players coming from the former Flinders University Women's Cricket Club. The Eagles have won 1st Grade Women's Premierships in 2008/09, 2012/13, 2017/18 and 2019/20 and were T20 Champions in 2013/14 and 2017/18. They have also won the 2nd Grade Premiership in 2013/14 and 2015/16 and doubled up, also winning the T20 Premierships in the same years. Two books have been published on the history of the club: * From the Circus to the Pughole (History from 1897/98 - 1996/97) D Brien and R Cassidy (1997) * All the Kings Men (History of the Hindmarsh Cricket Club, 1857 - 1897) - D Brien (2017)

Famous players

Many famous names have worn the blue and gold cap. Affie Jarvis, Jack O'Connor, Ron Hamence, Bruce Dooland, Graham Hole,

David Hookes David William Hookes (3 May 1955 – 19 January 2004) grew up in Torrensville and was a South Australian and Australian cricketer, broadcaster and coach of the Victorian cricket team. An aggressive left-handed batsman, Hookes usually batted in ...

and

Ian Chappell Ian Michael Chappell (born 26 September 1943) is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. He captained Australia between 1971 and 1975 before taking a central role in the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation. Born ...

played Test cricket for Australia while West Torrens players. Merv Waite (Australia),

Jeff Crowe Jeffrey John Crowe (born 14 September 1958) is a former New Zealand cricketer. He played Test and One Day International cricket for New Zealand from 1983 to 1990, and first-class cricket for South Australia and then Auckland. He has been an I ...

(New Zealand),

Gladstone Small Gladstone Cleophas Small (born 18 October 1961) is an English former cricketer, who played in 17 Test matches and 53 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for the England cricket team. Small was primarily a pace bowler, he was selected for the 1986� ...

(England),

Jason Gallian Jason Edward Riche Gallian (born 25 June 1971) is a former English Test cricketer. A right-handed opening batter, he originally hails from Australia and captained their Under-19 side for two Under-19 Tests in 1989 and 1990. He played three Test m ...

(England) and more recently Dom Bess (England) played Test cricket soon after leaving West Torrens. Matthew Elliott also represented Australia before playing 2 seasons for the Eagles after transferring from the

Victorian Bushrangers The Victoria men’s cricket team is an Australian first-class men's cricket team based in Melbourne, Victoria. The men’s team, which first played in 1851, represents the state of Victoria in the Marsh Sheffield Shield first-class competi ...

to the West End Redbacks .

Rick Darling Warrick Maxwell Darling (born 1 May 1957), known as Rick Darling, is a former Australian Test cricketer. His tendency to play the cut and hook shots provided much entertainment, but also meant that he was inconsistent and error-prone. It has be ...

, Rod McCurdy and Bradley Young have been Australian one day international representatives and Charlie Walker,

Phil Ridings Philip Lovett Ridings (2 October 1917 – 13 September 1998) was an Australian cricketer. Nicknamed "Pancho", Ridings played first-class cricket for South Australia from 1937 to 1957, scoring nine hundreds. Primarily a batsman, he also took 61 ...

were members of Australian touring teams. Former player and club coach

Tim Nielsen Timothy John Nielsen (born 5 May 1968) is a former South Australia state cricketer and formerly the head coach of the Australian cricket team. Nielsen played 101 first-class matches for his state between 1990–91 and 1998–99. Nielsen was co ...

is former coach of the Australian Cricket Team and is now working with the West End Redbacks . Past club captain

Callum Ferguson Callum James Ferguson (born 21 November 1984) is a former Australian cricketer and commentator who has represented Australia in all three forms of international cricket. He also represented South Australia in the JLT One-Day Cup. He was former ...

and current player has represented Australia, South Australia and the

Pune Warriors Pune Warriors India were a franchise Twenty20 cricket team that represented the city of Pune in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team was one of two IPL franchises from the Indian state of Maharashtra, the other being Mumbai Indians. It was ...

in the IPL. Peter George represented Australia in a single Test Match in India while

Dan Cullen Daniel James Cullen (born 10 April 1984) is a former Australian first-class cricketer who played for South Australia and Somerset in a career that lasted from 2004 to 2009. He was a right-arm off break bowler who appeared six times for Austra ...

has also represented Australia in One-Day and Test Match cricket.

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

inductee

Bob Hank Robert William "Bob" Hank (19 June 1923 – 14 June 2012) grew up in and lived in Lockleys and was an Australian rules footballer who played for West Torrens in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Career Hank began hi ...

also played for the WTCC and in March 1947 Bob Hank (playing for West Torrens) bowled

Sir Donald Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has bee ...

(playing for Kensington) in a final at Adelaide Oval Current first grade stars Tahlia McGrath & Amanda-Jade Wellington are just two of a host of talented female players who have represented Australia along with Lauren Ebsary, Andrea McCauley and Caroline Ward, all who still have taken to the field in the 2020/21 season.

1st Grade Men's Club Records

Batting Most runs in career: Andrew Haslett, 6781 runs Most runs in a season: Paul Nobes, 974 runs @ 88.54 in 1987-88 Highest Score: Merv Waite, 339 v P. Adelaide @ Adelaide Oval, March 1936 Highest Team Score: 492 vs P. Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, March 1936 Bowling Most wickets in career: Percy Combe, 623 wickets Most wickets in a season: Graham Stanford, 72 wkts @ 10.87 in 1971-72 Best Bowling: Ross McLennan, 10/39 vs University @ Thebarton Voal, Feb 1958 Fielding Most dismissals in career (wicketkeeper): Rex Blundell, 164 ct, 71 st, 235 dismissals Most dismissals in a season (wicketkeeper): Jesse Lewis 43 ct, 4 st, 47 dismissals, 2004–05 Most dismissals in an innings(wicketkeeper): Rex Blundell, 0 ct, 7 st, V Woodville @ Thebarton Oval, Oct 1969 General Records Most Games: Brian Isaac, 211 (1959-60 to 1978-79) Youngest Player (WT): Ron Hammence, 15y. 25d. v Kensington @ Kensington Oval. 20-12-1930 Youngest Player (Hindmarsh): Affie Jarvis, 14y. 82d. v Kent @ Adelaide Oval 9-1-1875 Oldest Player (WT): Charlies Chittleborough, 56y. 43d. v North Adelaide @ Hindmarsh Oval, 10-2-1912 Oldest Player (Hindmarsh): James Chittleborough, 40y. 330d. v Kent @ Lindsay's Circus, 25-10-1873

1st Grade Women's Club Records

Batting Most runs in career: Lauren Ebsary, 3389 runs Most runs in a season: Kristine Britt, 730 runs @ 66.36 in 2008/09 Highest Individual Score: Lauren Ebsary, 202* (33 x 4, 2 x 6) vs P. Adelaide at Henley Oval, October 2010 Highest Team Score: 4/403 vs P. Adelaide at Henley Oval, October 2010 Bowling Most wickets in career: Lucy Williams, 95 Wickets Most wickets in a season: Jess Joseph, 26 wkts @ 8.19 in 2017/18 Most wickets in an innings: Kristy Williams, 6/16 vs TTG/ND at Pertaringa Oval, February 2013 General Records Most Games: Angela Moritz, 91 games Youngest Player (WT): Beatrice McDowall, 12y. 162d. v TTG @ Pertaringa Oval. January 2010

References

External links

Western Eagles website

SACA website

WTDCC Facebook Page

SACA West End Grade Cricket
{{Authority control South Australian Grade Cricket clubs 1897 establishments in Australia Cricket clubs established in 1897