1987/88 at Penrith Cricket Club: the Bicentenary, the Big Wet and an International Clash
Penrith Cricket Club | February 17, 2026
Pictured: Barry Coad hits out in the match against a visiting Indian team. The wicket-keeper is the Indian Test player Syed Kirmani.
The Bicentenary coincided with the season of the ‘Big Wet’ (1987/88) for Penrith Cricket Club. President Trevor Wholohan, who’d been with the Club since its inception, thought it ‘probably the worst in our history in regard to inclement weather’. At Howell, six full playing days were lost to rain.
Sadly, the Big Wet would also impact what was arguably one of the biggest promotions in the Club’s history. As part of the City’s 1988 Bicentenary celebrations, Penrith Council gave the Club a grant ‘to conduct an event’, and the Committee decided to host a Round Robin Cricket Tournament over the Easter Weekend.
Penrith, Campbelltown and Northern District Grade Clubs were invited to participate, along with Country Zones Illawarra, Hunter Valley and Western Districts. The three city clubs were drawn to play the three Country Zones in matches at Howell Oval, Cook Park and Rance Oval. Rain interruptions meant Campbelltown were declared the winners on averages, with Northern District
runners-up. Player of the series was Neil Maxwell (ND); Andrew Crawford (Penrith) took the most wickets; Malcolm Smith (Campbelltown) was the ‘gun’ fieldsman; and Trevor Bayliss was the best keeper. The tournament was notable too for the appearance of a female umpire, Stephanie Harman.
The Club also hosted an overseas team at Howell Oval for the first time. A Penrith Invitation XI, which included Mark Waugh, took on visitors from India, the Bangalore Colts and Vintage XI, which included former Indian Test players Prasanna, Chandrashekar, Viswanath and Kirmani. The match was played midweek, and a large crowd attended.
Bangalore made 6/215 from 45 overs. The Penrith fielding was brilliant with three run-outs, and leg-spinner Andrew Crawford (2/17) and Mark Waugh (1/17) were the best bowlers. At lunch, the Bangalore manager was telling one and all it was a winning score. Fair enough, as Penrith required 4.8 runs per over to win, and the tourists had the wily off-spinner Prasanna, often rated by Doug Walters as the greatest, to contain the run-rate.
Penrith got away to a flier, with Barry Coad scoring a brisk 58, then NSW players Mark Waugh and Trevor Bayliss came together at 3/103 and turned on a display of power hitting that will be long remembered by the enthusiastic crowd. They scored an unbeaten 116 in 40 minutes—extra smart time, because so many balls had to be retrieved from either Station Street or McDonald's! Waugh
(83) and Bayliss (52) took the score to 3/219 from 33 overs, with a run-rate of 6.6 per over.
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