The reunion of 60s and 70s Gordon cricketers took place last weekend. More than 50 ex-players and wives travelled to Avoca and spent a thoroughly enjoyable weekend together, renewing old acquaintances and telling stories about the old days.
An informal get-together on the Friday night kicked the weekend off. This was followed by a relaxing Saturday before the main event – the big dinner! Marshall Rosen was an excellent MC as he began the formalities. The main speaker for the night was Norm Tasker – one of Australia’s foremost journalists and sportswriters, as well as a long-time friend of Gordon cricket and rugby. He regaled the audience with many stories about his times at Gordon as well as overseas tours with the Wallabies and the Australian cricketers on Ashes tours. Norm coached the Gordon 1st Grade rugby team to some success in the 70s. !ronically, the first rugby team he ever coached, a Gordon junior representative team, was captained by a 13 year old half back by the name of Marshall Rosen! (Norm co-wrote four books with the great Alan McGilvray whose nephew, Bruce, was an attendee at the reunion.) One point he stressed was the way in which Gordon players from that era (in both cricket and rugby) have managed to maintain a strong bond of friendship over so many years – something which he believes is a wonderful achievement.
Norm was followed by Graham Mackie who talked about his memories of Gordon cricket in the 60s-70s as well as trying to embarrass a number of the attendees with special ‘awards’. Again, most entertaining! The next speaker, Dr Dan Frogan, entertained the audience with some humorous tales about his role as technical advisor for the Australian Curling team at the last Winter Olympics.
The final speaker was Gerry Elkan, who gave a detailed explanation of how he created the Gordon song. Gerry played 1st Grade cricket for the club as well as playing rugby for Gordon. His speech concluded with… what else?… a rendition of the song, SUNG (not shouted!) most enthusiastically by all present. The formalities of the evening concluded with a selection of photos from the old days on the big screen, put together by Graham Mackie.
Sunday morning saw a number of slightly dusty ex-players bidding their farewells, wondering about the veracity of some of the previous night’s stories and promising to repeat the dose in two years’ time.
While it was fantastic to catch up with many old friends, the attendance of Brian and Fran Taber was a highlight. Brian played 16 Test matches, had a massive career as a coach and selector and was elected to the NSW Cricket Hall of Fame last year. He was a one club man – Gordon – and no-one has ever said a bad word about him. Great to see you, Tabsy!
Many thanks must go to the organizing committee but particularly to Tony Wilson who did a huge amount of work to get it all happening. He’s been instrumental in keeping this group together over the years and I’m sure he would have gained great satisfaction from seeing everyone there on the weekend. Well done, Tids!
V. Trumper
