Centenary Teams

As part of the clubs Centenary celebrations in 2009, five teams were selected for each decade from 1960. They are listed below.

1960-69 Decade Team

Selected by Bob Pile

Bob Bowman (wkt)- Opening bat, can take time and get the inns away to a good start. A capable wicketkeeper.
Russell Payne- Right hand hard hitting opening bat, keeps the runs coming from the start of an Inns.
Richard Golden- Right hand bat, right arm med, pace bowler. Experienced bat can hold an innings together. Provides variation to the bowling attack.
John Wilson- Right hand bat left arm leg break bowler. Technical batsman who bats to the coaching manual. A bowler who can bowl long spells and keep control.
Chris Taylor- Left hand bat and slow bowler. Reliable batsman who always gets his share of runs. A bowler who is difficult to to score off.
John McCombe- Right hand bat, steady reliable with the bat, a good fielder
Bob Pile (c)- Right hand bat, respected captain, could be relied on when things got tough.
Graham Cowles- Right arm bowler,left hand bat. One of the best all rounders to come out of North Otago cricket. Can be a match winner with bat or ball.
Peter McLean- right hand bat, gets runs regularly in the middle or lower order.
Allan Kelman- Right hand bat and bowler, natural ability with bat or ball. Never let the team down.
Dick Smyth (12th)- Right hand bat. Above average in the field.
Jock Sangster- Ability to communicate with people. Good value on and off the field.
Chris Taylor (player-coac)- Experienced coach..

1970-79 Decade Team

Selected by Russell Payne

Stephen Ross- A dashing left hander, kept the score ticking. Had an ability to leave the ball, late.
Russell Payne- Who has to be in, as he is the selector.
Lindsay Robertson- An excellent stroke maker. Especially when chasing a total. Aggressive fieldsman.
Brian Davidson- A good natural timer of the ball. Brian could be devastating against mediocre bowling.
Bob Bowman (c)- A very good, solid batsman, who always sold his wicket dearly. Great man to come in, if the top order missed out. Reliable keeper.
Mike Ross- Enterprising stroke maker. Could really push things along, if it was needed.
Chris Taylor (vc)- A genuine all-rounder. Exciting batsman and tidy left arm spinner. Good, safe fieldsman.
Bob Mason- On his day, could be a match winner. Tall swing bowler and capable batsman.
Lachie Shea- A young, strong fast bowler, who bowled good lines and showed great stamina.
Trevor Hore- A good wicket taker. Faster than he appeared
Stuart Kendall- Very steady medium pacer. Good into the wind man.

1980-89 Decade Team

Selected by John Crombie

Russell Payne- Top run scorer for the club and 2nd top for the decade, Unions anchor who earned plenty of batting trophies during the decade.
Bruce McGregor- The foil, formed great partnerships with Payne throughout the 80's. A determined opener who gave his all.
Lindsay Robertson- The hardest hitting top order player I witnessed. Strong defence,and engaging attack. Maintained the highest batting average for the decade
Bob Bowman- A 20 year career littered with batting and fielding trophies ending in the early 80's. Certainly for the wicketkeepers spot and top order batsman of note.
Derek Walker- The clubs first professional, and topped the batting stats in his only year. Elegant batsman who scored a couple of big hundreds, and a handy medium pacer.
Chris Taylor- Flamboyant left hand batsman with a wonderful eye, and a conservative left arm spinner. Topped both the batting aggregate and most wickets for the decade.
Michael Dodd- A Botham like allrounder. Hard hitting middle order batsman, first change bowler that could attack or defend. Had the ability to change a game with both bat and ball.
Neville Donaldson- Any captains favourite, and backbone of the team during the 80s. Gritty fighter with blade and dry tormentor with the ball. The tougher the game, the more Neville like it.
Dennis Johnston- Hotley contested position, DJ wins it by virtue of his ability to bring the ball into the batsman sharply, and his very low RPO average. Could be relied on to strangle the opposition.
John Crombie- Had the higest strike rate of wickets per over and forms a very quick opening partnership. Some debate over which brother was the quickest.
Peter Crombie- Tall left armer with genuine pace. Created awkward bounce and angle. Although the older brother, there is no debate over gets the number 11 berth.
Mike Willets (12th)- A complete cricketer. A destructive bowler and resolute batsman, strong fielder and grew into an astute captain in the early 90's.
Doug Brown- Was unlucky to miss out. He was 3rd top wicket taker for the 80s, he also grew into a selfless allrounder as his career progressed.

1990-99 Decade Team

Selected by Mark Wilson

Glynn Cameron- Hard hitting opening batsman who could get a side off to a positive start. Strong on the cut, an option as a leg spin bowler, enthusiastic in the field in all positions.
Gordan Lemon- His trade mark flourishing drive as well as his fielding skills and on occasion med pace bowler made him a valuable part of any Union team.
Duncan Drew- Classy wicketkeeper/batsman. The first Union player play for Otago. Natural ability in huge abundance as a top order player, one of the clubs top batsmen to have worn the Union colours
Ali Fanene- Right Hand bat, very strong square of the wicket and one of the best gully fielders Union has seen.
Mark Wilson- An aggressive left hand bat and a top tactician in the field, Has the second highest total runs in the club. Right arm med pace bowler to tie up an end.
Michael Willetts- Captained Union to the Borton Cup win 1991/92. An astute tactician and contributed with some devastating med pace spells along with recognized batting skills and ability to change a game.
Jeff Mawhinney- Only had a short two seasons with the club but brought a very high standard with the ball, bat and in the field as well as good leadership skills.
Neil Rushton- Very skilled left arm bowler especially with the older ball, very dangerous in the field in any position, could score valuable runs down the order.
John Crombie- Hugely competitive player, in his prime was a very accurate and aggressive bowler. Able to add quality contributions batting in the middle order, An experienced campaigner who offered a huge amount to any team.
Alex Lemon- A very talented opening bowler with excellent pace and aggression, one of the more feared pace bowlers. Very handy with the bat in the lower order. Injuries cut short a very exciting career.
Richard Sidon- Aggressive right arm fast bowler ,has one of the best strike rates. Took 52 wickets in 1997/98. A very handy batsman..
Peter Brown- Very good top order batsman that could bat for long periods. Right arm off spinner that took regular wickets. Very good in the field.

Unlucky to miss the side Michael Dodd, Peter Cameron, Robert Coates, Paul Beare and Grant Hiscoke

2000-09 Decade Team

Selected by Glynn Cameron

Duncan Drew (wkt)- Right hand bat,left arm spinner, when he gets in he scores a lot of runs, played for Otago.
James Cutt- right hand bat, right arm off spinner, only player to score a 100 in a 20/20 club game.
Marcel McKenzie- Right hand bat, right arm leg spinner, best fielder for this era scored 589 runs in a season played for Otago and Canterbury reserve, fielded for the Black Caps.
Mark Wilson- Left hand bat, right arm med, pacer, over all second highest run scorer, very handy bowler to tie up an end and get wickets.
Glynn Cameron- Right hand bat, right arm med. slow pacer, leg spinner also, hard hitting bat, a wicket taker at the death.
Neil Rushton- Right hand bat, left arm quick bowler, a batsman that loves to hit the ball out of the ground, played for Otago.
Craig Campbell- Right hand bat, right arm med fast swing bowler, hard hitting bat that loves to smash bowlers out of the attack.
Peter Cameron (c)- Right hand bat, right arm bowler, very capable batsman scored heavily in the lower grades, a very successful senior captain.
John Crombie- Right hand bat, right arm fast bowler, a quickie with a great slower ball and a bag of tricks to boot, a very good bat as well.
Paul Johnston- Right hand bat ,right arm spin bowler , good spinner that takes a lot of wickets, a good bat, has opened the Inns.
Phil Crossan- Right hand bat, very good right arm med swing bowler,can swing the ball a lot more than other bowlers, hard hitting bat, former opener for WBHS 1ST X1
Dan Conlan (12th)- Left hand bat, right arm med fast bowler, is quickly learning his trade of fast bowling, a good bat, has opened in the lower grades.
Scott Cameron (manager)- dedicated team man, and can process the stats