100 Moments of 100 years of St George First Grade Cricket 1961-62 to 1970-71

St George Cricket Club | May 30, 2025

Here's part 6 of this amazing 10 part series and wasn't this a wonderful era for the club.

1. Brian Booth is selected in the Australian squad for the 1961 tour of England. He makes his debut in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, dubbed ‘Benaud’s Manchester miracle’ after England lose 9 for 51 in the fourth innings. Booth scores 46 and 9 as Australia win by 54 runs. (1961-62)

2. In a match now regarded as one of the best ever grade cricket grand finals, St George defeats Cumberland by 13 runs in a remarkable comeback to claim the clubs 7th first grade premiership. Chasing 254 for victory, Richie Benaud and Doug Walters bat “superbly” to reach 2 for 195 at tea. An inspired bowling change by captain Warren Saunders saw Brian Booth dismiss Benaud for 99 and begin a collapse of 8 for 46. (1965-66)

Australian cricketing icons Brian Booth and Doug Walters

3.  Warren Saunders scores 205 against Central Cumberland, matching his previous effort and joining Donald Bradman with two first grade double centuries. (1967-68)

4. Brian Booth records an innings of 208* against Randwick, claiming the second highest first grade score behind Bradman. (1968-69)

5. Bill Watson completes a streak of seven consecutive seasons (1962-63 to 1968-69) where he scores more than 500 runs. His totals are 595, 507, 655, 680, 587, 515 and 631. (1968-69)

6. Kerry O’Keefe takes 73 wickets in a season, the most since Bill O Reilly’s record-breaking 147 wickets a quarter of a century earlier. (1968-69)

7. The club achieves the first ever ‘double’ in Sydney grade, taking out the Belvidere Cup and the Rothmans knockout competition in the same season. (1968-69)

Legends of 1968-69

8. Keith Francis announces his retirement, owing to a shoulder injury. He finishes with 493 wickets in First grade, which is the third highest in club history. (1969-70)

9. Kerry O’Keefe is selected to make his Test debut in the drawn fifth Ashes Test in Melbourne. He scores 27 but goes wicketless. In the seventh Test he takes three wickets in each innings. (1970-71)

10. The club achieves its third consecutive premiership, spanning the 1968-69, 1969-70, and 1970-71 seasons. The only other time the feat had been achieved was 30 years earlier under O’Reilly’s leadership. 

Kerry O'Keeffe with St George teammates after his selection in the Australian Team

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