TheRail CricketClub

/84 season he took an astonishing 76 wickets, which remains a South Coast record. Since the club’s inception, we have had only 20 First grade captains, and 16 life members have been awarded to hard working committee members and players. In the season of 2013/14 The Hall of Fame was introduced for the first time. We had three very fitting past and present players inducted to the Hall of Fame, Robert Carey, Andrew Warren & Peter McIlwain. Since 1983 Croome Oval has been the home of the Club. The ground is located within the Croome Road Regional Sporting Complex and was established by the hard work and dedication of the club’s members, who continue to be responsible for its maintenance. Our first curator was Dave Richards, who also designed the clubs first emblem; a chugging steam train which symbolised the local roots of the club proximal to the Illawarra Rail line. Today the ground is regarded as one of the best cricket facilities on the coast. In recent years improvements to the ground and our facilities have included:

• The Construction of a hill, which took place in the late 90’s. The raised hill wraps around most of the ground and makes for a great view of play.
• Planting of many native trees around the ground to provide shade and comfort for spectators.
• The installation of wider sight screens at both the northern and southern ends of the ground, which took place in the mid 1990’s.
• Construction of seating along the perimeter of the ground, which was completed in the late 90’s
• Installation of an extra net for practice, taking the total number of practice nets to 4.
• Purchase of a club bowling machine in 2002.
• The construction of a new white galvanised fence around the ground, which was completed with the help of Shellharbour City Council in 2006.
• Purchase of a more modern roller for the centre wicket in 2006.
• Purchase of new covers for the wicket in 2007, including covers for the bowling approaches.
• The installation of an underground 100,000L water tank and electronic sprinkler system, enabling our curators and grounds people to water the wicket whenever they like.
• In 2011 new sightscreens were installed at both ends of the ground, which were constructed with the assistance of the NSW State Government Grant. They were completed in 2013 with the Northern end frame been replaced with a new steel frame to match the Southern side sightscreens. In 2016 new covers for wicket and also a new roller purchased from a grant provided by NSW Parliament member Gareth Ward