Goodbye to a friend.... A Tribute to Bill Ball
Penrith Cricket Club | September 08, 2025
From the Archives:
Following World War II, Bill went to school at Hurlstone Agricultural College at Glenfield, where he played rugby in the winter and cricket in the summer.
After school, his first cricket “Club” was the Bungarribee Cricket Club, based on the Church of England Church that was located on the Great Western Highway at Blacktown. The land of that Church was adjacent to what is now known as the H.E. Laybutt Fields of the Blacktown Workers Club.
Bill relocated and lived in Christchurch, New Zealand, for most of the 1950s. We are not aware of who he played for and at what level on the other side of the ditch.
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Returning to Blacktown in 1959, he was part of the inaugural Blacktown Workers’ Cricket Club, the first “Sub-Club” of the Workies. They played the first two seasons in the Parramatta Cricket Association. However, the Registration papers to play in the 1961/62 Season were lodged a day late, and the Secretary of the Parramatta Association at the time refused to accept the late registration.
Bill took over the role of Secretary and went to see Darcy Smith at the Nepean District Cricket Association, who accepted Blacktown Workers, where they stayed until the creation of the Blacktown Cricket Association in the early 80s.
Bill was a Delegate to the NDCA and served on the General Committee of Management of the NDCA from 1962 until the formation of the Penrith Grade Club.
In the Season 1970/71, the NDCA hosted a special game of the Mayor’s XI and the NDCA President’s XI as part of Penrith Local Government Centenary Celebrations. NSW players of the time: John Benaud and Geoff Davies played in this match, and it was at the after-match function that the NSWCA Chairman, Fred Bennett, spoke of the possibility of Nepean playing Grade cricket in the near future. The wheels were then in motion to make that suggestion a reality.
In the 1971/72 NDCA Annual Report, Darcy Smith notes in his President’s Report: “Rumours are circulating about Nepean playing in the Sydney Grade Competition. If we do, it should be in the 73/4 Season. If this comes about, it will mean a big change in our present set-up. A new District Club will have to be formed, which would be separate from our local Association.”
The Nepean Cricket Club was born not long after and debuted in 1972/73.
It was also in the 1971/2 Season that Cook Park St. Mary's first had a turf pitch in use, and a scoreboard was built at Howell Oval.
One of the achievements Bill was most proud of in his time in the NDCA was the encouragement of a team from the Emu Plains Prison Farm. All games had to be played on the grounds of the Prison Farm, and all games had to be finished by 5.45 so the players could be available for the 6 pm muster. An Association By-law had to be introduced to allow the team to change their nominated eleven in the middle of a match, because if one of the Prison Farm players was released from custody, part of their release conditions was to not consort with known criminals and that included playing cricket with them.
In 1975, Bill was honoured with Life Membership of the Blacktown Workers Cricket Club and the Nepean District Cricket Association.
Bill then dedicated his time to the newly formed Grade Club. Part of the Inaugural Committee of Management, the Club started with a $1,000 sponsorship from the NDCA.
Finding sponsorship in the local community was a difficult task. On the suggestion of the local business community, the Club changed their name to Penrith and Panthers signed on as Major Sponsors.
In 1982/83, Bill became Club President. What a year, as we won our first Club Championship and second First Grade Premiership. The most pleasing aspect of this achievement is that the season was the first the Sydney Grade Competition expanded to 5 Grades; however, Penrith only played 4 Grades that year!
In 1984/5 Bill took over as Secretary, a position he held until his retirement.
Bill was also honoured with Life Membership of the Penrith District Cricket Club.
Bill was passionate about Howell Oval being one of the premier grounds of Sydney Cricket and was most proud of the days the Club hosted the City v Country Origin games; as well as when the Club hosted matches when Sydney was the venue of the National Under 19’s or 17’s; and as a neutral venue for Grade Semi-finals and Finals.
Another passion Bill had was the creation of a talented junior squad to train once a week during the winter at the St. Mary’s Indoor Cricket Centre, which was coached by John Benaud in the early 1990s.
During the 1970s and 80’s he acted as a Selector of the A W Green Shield (Northern Division) team to play Southern each year. This identified players in contention for the NSW Under 17s the following year.
On moving to Coffs Harbour, he was encouraged by Cricket NSW Administrators to help out the struggling Committees up there. He was the President of the Coffs Harbour Cricket Association and Delegate to the North Coast Cricket Council.
In his time there NSW hosted the touring New Zealand side and a couple of domestic one-day matches at Coffs Harbour Stadium.
Since moving to Bargo, he wasn’t wasting his time either. He worked as a volunteer at the Bradman Museum Library, conducting research into games played in the Southern Highlands in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.
He co-authored the First Edition of the History of Cricket in Penrith, which is available for loan at the Penrith City Library.
Of that research, he was most proud of finding information on a match played in Penrith by the touring Marylebone Cricket Club led by Dr. W. G. Grace. The MCC Eleven defeated the Nepean District twenty-two by an Innings. The match was played on an oval in what is now known as the North Penrith Army Land just near the Railway Station.
Prior to his death, a lot of work had been undertaken on the next edition of the Penrith story and his son, Wayne, has indicated he will assist if necessary, with the final product of the next Edition, to ensure the history of the Club is maintained and the work and legacy to cricket in Penrith of Bill Ball is honoured.
People like Bill Ball are assets to Clubs such as ours; they are a rare breed of people who are committed to the good of others and not themselves. We are sure that his work and legacy to cricket in Penrith will long be remembered, and part of him has been linked with the hallowed turf of his beloved Howell Oval, reminding us of the spirit and passion he had for the game of cricket.
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