THE SEMIS - A Grade v Churches 1968
Armidale Waratahs (The Tahs) | March 25, 2026
Waratahs hadn't lost a game since November as they faced up to Churches at the business end of the season - the same Churches team they had beaten outright by an innings the week before. It sounds like an easy path into the Final but bear in mind, that Churches new ball bowlers were Don Foster and Brian Joice and their batting featured Brian Gream, Ross Ridley and Brian Preen, all very good batsmen. Waratahs were at the start of a golden run which saw them play in nine of the next 12 two day Finals.
Churches batted first and as had been the case all season, Tom Cooke (#197) held centre stage with the ball. Churches made a slow but deliberate start, determined to see Cooke off after he felled Goodbody in the first over. If ever a name more grossly did not reflect the actuality. In the hour that followed, they made only 12 but didn't lose a wicket. Allrounder Bruce Kellaway (#213) had replaced Peter Rigg (#201) and a succesion of others had a go at Cooke's end. When Cooke returned, things happened quickly as he and Kellaway reduced all the defensive work to rumble for very little gain. Apart from a few overs of hitting from Joice, in was one way traffic.
Chasing a small total, Waratahs lost Alan Gray (#26) in the first over, bowled by a nostrils-flared Joice. Kellaway and the strokemaker Bill Thompson (#185) added 64 to more than halve the deficit, before the introduction of Rohrlach removed both of them. When Joice ripped through Ian Campbell (#212), Waratahs wobbled slightly at 4-91 and had a few quick breaths when Terry Betts (#205) went to the same fate with a few still needed. The lead obtained, Greg Russell (#131) was smartly stumped by Ross Ridley standing up to Wilkinson and Graham Johnson (#207), who had stayed out of trouble through the chaos, became Foster's first victim.
At that point, John Roberts (#115-pictured) and Cooke made batting look ridiculously easy, showing once again how many times the bowlers have to rescue the batters, adding 105 for the eight wicket. Roberts got red ink and one of only two career half centuries, with Cooke just missing one. In the end, a 157 run victory looked a lot easier than it actually had been.
