Ballarat Cricket Association

The Ballarat Cricket Association is a cricket league which runs in the Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The league has different divisions for under-12s, three grades of under-14s, two grades under-16s and four grades seniors as well as a 'district' competition where surrounding areas play in 'District' divisions of which there are a further four grades. The league also has select teams for different competitions, as well as for the 'Country Week' competition against teams such as Maryborough, Grampians, Castlemaine and Bendigo.

Ballarat has hosted international and interstate matches since 1862 when the first England touring team captained by H. H. Stephenson of Surrey played a XXII from Ballarat. The most notable match played in Ballarat was during the 1932-33 England tour of Australia known as the Bodyline series on January 22, 1933. There was speculation in the Australian press leading up to the match that the Ballarat team may employ Bodyline tactics in response to the controversial tactic being employed by England in the Test matches. H. Brereton, the Secretary of the Victorian Cricket Association (VCA) wrote to the Ballarat Cricket Association stating that any organised body attack employed by the Ballarat team would be viewed with great disfavour by the VCA.

In the luncheon, the acting mayor of Ballarat J. Harrison criticised Bodyline and hoped that it would not continue. In response, the England captain Douglas Jardine defended his team and his leading fast bowler Harold Larwood. The England manager Plum Warner said von Moltke could speak seven languages and be silent in all of them. Warner said that he could speak one language and preferred to remain silent in it. Warner congratulated the Ballarat Cricket Association on the state of the ground and on its teams play that morning.

Ken Mackenzie during the 1940s was: Secretary of Ballarat Cricket Association, a member of Ballarat Basketball Tribunal Association, involved with the Victorian Provincial Baseball League and Ballarat Softball Team; a foundation member and president of Ballarat Sportsmen's Club which now gives and annual Mackenzie trophy for services to sport. He was also a member of Ballarat Historical Park Association. Mr. McKenzie died during 1969.

Ballarat's Eastern Oval hosted a match during the 1992 cricket World Cup between England and Sri Lanka played on March 9, 1992. England won the match by 106 runs, scoring 280 for 6 and bowling the Sri Lankans out for 174. The ground has also played host to visiting international teams for "warm-up" matches in tours to Australia, such as when Victoria played an England XI in Ballarat in both 1985 and 1990.

Teams

The teams in the league as at the beginning of 2005:
*Napoleons/Sebastopol
*Golden Point
*Mt Clear
*Ballarat/Redan
*North Ballarat
*Wendouree
*Darley
*Coronet City
*East Ballarat
*Brown Hill

The teams in the district division as at the beginning of 2005:
*Lucas
*Buninyong
*Ballarat Fire Brigade (B.F.B)
*Creswick Imperials
*Dunnstown
*Ballan
*Victorian Railways Institute (V.R.I)
*Haddon
*Burrumbeet

ee also

*Cricket

Further Reference

* Garrie Hutchinson, "200 Years of Australian Cricket 1804-2004" Pan McMillan Australia, Sydney 2004
* [http://150.theage.com.au/view_bestofarticle.asp?straction=update&inttype=1&intid=695 the Melbourne Age article on England's match in Ballarat during 1933]
* [http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/events/summaries/icc_world_cup_199192.html ICC 1999 World Cup Summary]