United Cricket Club

Tom Kirk signed. Job done. Welcome Tom.

Evening Tigers.

We’ve got the AGM on Wednesday 22 July. 6pm the uBar.

All sorts of wonderful positions up for grabs. Form your factions and come along.

Good news out of Tigerland.

Welcome back James Smith. Smithy took last season off to head up north to get the hammies right. Apparently they are good now.

The Codfather has a terrific cricket CV:
- 2x UCC Div 1 flagsman
- 2x T20 flags
- EVCA team of the year
- Made one of the better 13s you’ll see in a GF
- Missed a straight one on 199 at Bridgy
- Kicked a goal in his last game

Welcome home Smithy.

Tigers,
The club is saddened by the recent passing of wonderful club member, Bruce Corrie.

Bruce came to us from his beloved Strathfieldsaye Jets where he was a valued life member. We were fortunate that he chose United as a club to complete his cricketing journey. His participation at the club was on every level as a player, selector, committee member and significant social contributor.

Bruce brought his son Tom to the club to experience playing alongside him (including sharing a massive partnership at Quarry Hill). Trish and rest of the Corrie family added so much to the Tigers - as they say, good people make a good club. The Corries made our club great.

We valued Bruce’s passion for those other Tiges, his musical tastes, his cricket, football and political theories, and his wisdom on all things that mattered.

Bruce was a true gentleman in every way. He will be greatly missed at both his cricket clubs and his many friends.

Tigers,
At the club’s recent presentation evening we have two awards that we value with high esteem - the Keiran Nihill Club Champion and the Best Clubperson. We value them so highly that they actually receive a trophy unlike the other award winners who get their names on an honour board.

Remarkably this year, two players tied as joint club champions. This has never happened before. One of these players is known in cricketing circles simply as Harry. When this name is mentioned everyone knows who we are referring to which is indicative of the player he is. Harry Whittle, champion player and champion person wins yet another of the top Tiger awards. A special effort, as generally this award is won by all-rounders, but Harry did it this year by his batting alone. Three centuries during the year but these innings were overshadowed by his performance in the semi-final, when he and Tom Calvert put together a partnership for the ages. Wonderful effort, Harry.

The other winner may not be as recognised universally as Harry, but in the confines of the Tiger club, his value is certainly appreciated. Kane Goldsworthy. To illustrate his talent, Kane opens both the batting and bowling in a team loaded with stars. Kane produces when most needed which is a sign of a player that every club seeks. Luckily for United Kane has chosen us. His loyalty to the club is well recognised as we know he is on the shopping list of other clubs, but his love of the Tigers overrules all.
Kane’s first ever club champion trophy could be the start of something special. He could go down as one of the greats as we watch him develop into a player that other teams fear with both bat and ball.

The other major club award is the Best Clubperson. This is won by the person who receives the most votes from all committee persons, to someone who has gone beyond normal expectations and made our club so much better. Club batting coach Rod Whittle is this year’s winner.

Rod really has been our secret weapon. Before our two Division One flags, the club went through four years of disappointment, falling just short of against very good opponents. We realised our batting required two major improvements- a strong top order and dangerous hitters in the lower order to capitalise on those solid starts. We were lucky that the man who could install improvement was someone in our club - enter Rod Whittle. Rod doesn’t just work on technical improvements, but also the mental component of batting and being strong when the pressure is on.

A great example of Rod’s teaching is Paddy Hartney who went from Division Two three years ago to winning both Division One Best Player awards in the past two flags. Our whole batting line up is now confident whoever they play against and whatever the situation - and we thank Rod Whittle’s astute mentorship for this.

Great stuff Kane, Harry and Rod.

Evening Tigers, we had our presentation last week for the historic 25/26 season.

DIV 3
Batting Ave/Agg- Ian Alexander
Bowling Ave/Agg- Brent Bogaski
All rounder- Ian Alexander

DIV 2
Batting Agg- Jayde Mullane
Batting Ave- Justin Hancock
Bowling Agg- Bailey Walsh
Bowling Ave- Dharmik Desai
All rounder- Justin Hancock

DIV 1
Batting Ave/Agg- Harry Whittle
Bowling Agg- Kane Goldsworthy
Bowling Ave- Joe Hartney

We’ll circle back later with the 100s, 6fas and ducks.

We’ll also have a special post for the winners of the club champion and best clubman.

A dominant season to celebrate at the United Cricket Club presentation night over the weekend.

United Cricket Club capped off an outstanding 2025/26 season with premiership wins across Division 1, Division 2, Division 3 and T20 - a remarkable achievement.

Photo: Harry Whittle (L) and Rod Whittle (R), a standout son-father duo who played a key role in the club’s success. Harry led from the front as Division 1 Captain, while Rob’s guidance as batting coach helped shape a winning season.

Committee members Mitch Blackburn and Demi Rayner-Blackburn have celebrated the Tigers’ big March (and to a lesser extent their wedding) with a month around Europe.

Mitch hasn’t picked up much language, but can now say “74” in 6 different tongues. In exchange for this knowledge, many European villagers now have a deeper understanding of the politics and nepotism involved in the selection of the Shane Hartney Medal.

Demi has done a good job of preserving Australia’s diplomatic relationships.

Don’t forget the presentation on 1 May.

The tigers have landed a big 12 leg multi! The spider and a half was stacked with $1.05 favorites but all 12 premiership tigers have recommitted for the 26/27 season.

Don’t forget the presentation on 1 May.