Fitzroy Doncaster Cricket Club stalwart Jeff Harvey awarded The Medal of the Order of Australia
Fitzroy Doncaster Cricket Club | June 24, 2026
Congratulations to Fitzroy Doncaster CC stalwart Jeff Harvey, who was awarded The Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the recent King’s Birthday Honours. Jeff’s award was for community service to a range of organisations. His service covers an extraordinary number of organisations, including St Vincent de Paul Society for over 45 years, the Rotary Club of Hastings Westernport, Salvation Army (assisting with Rotary projects), St Anne’s Catholic Church Seaford, Chelsea Baseball Club, a number of schools, and several cricket clubs, including Fitzroy, Fitzroy Doncaster, Prahran, Frankston Peninsula, Oakleigh and Baxter.
For our Club, Jeff initially joined Fitzroy as a player in the Fifth XI in 1959-60. Jeff continued the Harvey family tradition at Fitzroy, where six brothers, including his father Merv, all played in Fitzroy’s First XI (Merv played one Test Match for Australia, and Jeff’s uncle Neil played 79 Tests). Later, Jeff and his brother Graham also played, as did Jeff’s son Robert (who went on to have a great football career at St Kilda, including winning 2 Brownlow Medals).
Jeff had to fight hard to make his way up through the XI’s before he made his debut in the First XI in 1969-70 at the age of 25. He later left the Club for some years, during which he spent several years at Prahran Cricket Club, where he was vice-captain, but captained the team many times when their regular captain was away playing for Victoria. He was also a member of their selection committee. He returned to Fitzroy in 1982-83 to captain the Second XI but was soon recalled to play in the First XI. In the following season, he was appointed captain of the First XI, which he held for 2 years. Jeff also spent time as Chairman of Selectors at Frankston Peninsula Cricket Club when his son Robert was playing there. He finished his First XI career with 51 Games for Fitzroy and 59 for Prahran, but it was oU the field where Jeff made a major contribution to the Club.
Fitzroy amalgamated with Doncaster CC in 1986-87, and before long Jeff was back at the Club to captain the Second XI for a few seasons and also to act as Chairman of Selectors, a position he held for many years.
When the Club formed a cricket sub-committee to assist with running the cricket side of the Club, Jeff was appointed to Chair the sub-committee and again held this position for many years. The role of this sub-committee was to strive to create conditions that would allow the players to reach their full potential, as well as to establish a long-term team culture for the benefit of the Club. It also made recommendations on the playing conditions of the ovals and practice wickets. Jeff also served on the General Committee for a period.
Jeff and George Murray were instrumental in the establishment of the Club’s Hall of Fame in 2012, and he has been Chair of the sub-committee selecting new inductees and planning the functions for 5 Hall of Fame events since that time. The Hall of Fame functions have all been extremely successful and are an important focus of the Club’s social life in attracting past players back to the Club. The Hall of Fame has achieved significant status amongst players, past players and supporters in large part due to Jeff's efforts in its establishment and the ongoing success of Hall of Fame functions. He is still the Chair of this sub-committee.
Jeff's commitment and loyalty to Fitzroy/Fitzroy Doncaster Cricket Club, with which his family name is synonymous, for the majority of his over 60 years of involvement in cricket, has been exceptional.
Jeff’s loyalty and dedication are also apparent in his working life, where he has been employed at Bowen’s Timber and Hardware for over 65 years.
Jeff’s life of service through community and sporting organisations is extraordinary and well deserving of the OAM he has been awarded.
Congratulations Jeff
