Matthew Halse on Ronnie and Scorch: An Enduring Legacy

Left to Right: Rod Evans, Matthew Halse, and Ron Halse with the Poidevin-Gray Shield.

The early 90s was to be the dawn of one of the Club’s most important, successful and enduring legacies. Although Ron Halse and Rodney “Scorch” Evans were already well known to each other, this was to be the beginning of a long partnership, both on and off the field, which continues to this day.

Coming to the back end of their playing careers, and in at least Ronnie’s case, a couple of unsuccessful retirement attempts, they already had an eye to the next chapter of their cricket lives.

In the summer of 94/95, Ron was coaching the Springwood Under 14s club side, and Scorch was lending a hand as well as captaining Penrith’s Fifth Grade side. Round 1 of the Grade season that year was a local derby against Hawkesbury. A late-night pull-out on the Friday saw Scorch scratching around for numbers. A quick phone call to Ron, and I was drafted into the XI at the tender age of 13. An eye injury during the game to young, quick Matt Hopkins saw Ronnie make an appearance as a substitute fielder. By mid-season, he was filling in for the odd game and helping Scorch guide a very young team around the park. Not many wins that season, but names such as Shane Stanton, Brendan Jansz, Adam Park and Simon Williams had emerged.

94/95 was also the beginning of a 3-year run with the Green Shield. Ronnie was the coach, Scorch his able assistant/manager and Brett Newman the captain that year. They showed foresight by picking up to 6 players, who would be available for the next season, and a couple available for the next two. The Green Shield missed the finals by a win that year but would follow up the next season as narrowly beaten grand finalist. Didn’t quite get the chocolates, but players such as Liam Zammit, Glen Bradley, Nathan Saville and Michael Myerscough were off and running in their Grade careers. Season 96/97 bore the fruits of the previous two years' labour. The team went on to beat longtime rivals Parramatta comprehensively in the Final and claim the Club’s first AW Green Shield Premiership. Luke Morrissey arrived on the scene, as did Mark Graham (who knocked over Michael Clarke in the Semi-final)

amongst others.

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Back in Fifth Grade, season 95/96 saw Ron come out of retirement again and take up a semi-permanent playing position in Fifth Grade as Scorch’s right-hand man. An improved season was had, the side littered with some of the above mentioned names from Green Shield. Scorch signed off on the season in the Annual Report with the following prophetic words: “If we can achieve stability in having fewer players unavailable in the grades above – especially in those critical mid and end of

season games, the future looks exciting”.

Season 96/97 saw a slight tweak to the Fifth Grade, with Ronnie taking on the captaincy and Scorch remaining as the senior batsman of the side, a role he performed to perfection in the Final. With only two losses during the regular season and a hard fought Semi-final win over old foe Parramatta, the team earned a home Final at Howell against a vastly older and more experienced Uni of NSW.

Coming off a bit of a lean season to date with the bat, Scorch arrived at the crease with the team in a spot of bother at 3 for 10. What transpired over the next few hours was a display of grit, determination and pure bloody mindedness. Scorch turned back the clock and featured in a 4th wicket partnership of 115 with me. Early on in the partnership, I distinctly remember the following from Scorch as we stood mid-pitch, “Matty, you bloody stay with me, I’m not going anywhere. They’ll have to carry me off in a box to get me off this pitch”. From a position of vulnerability, the team went on to post 217, of which Scorch contributed a hard-fought 48. A couple of wickets at the end of day one left us in a decent position. Things got tight the next day, however, as they invariably do in Grand Finals. At tea on day two, it was either team’s game. Not many runs needed but only a few wickets in hand. Scorch

had never won a Grade Premiership, and as we were about to head out after the break, Ronnie pinched a bit of motivation from the great Phil Gould and got on the table in the old Howell Oval dressing room and uttered something like “This old bloke has never won a Grade Premiership, now let’s go out and get him one”. At that moment, the other nine players would have gone through the

proverbial brick wall to get the job done, such was the love and respect we all had/have for Scorch. The rest, as they say, is history: a 17-run victory.

Whilst Scorch and Ronnie had the nous and experience to guide some of the district’s best young talent, they could also spot a diamond in the rough. This is no better evidenced by the selection of Ryan McDermott in the Fifth Grade Premiership team right from Round 1. “Billy” was a tall, strong and athletic quick who had only started playing cricket the year before and certainly did not come through your traditional path to Grade cricket. He bowled at good pace, swung the ball, but was a little bit raw

as you might expect. Ronnie and Scorch saw something in Billy, and he finished that Premiership year with 22 wickets @ 16.82. An eye for such raw talent was to play an important part in their future roles with the Club away from the playing field.

The next couple of seasons saw Ronnie and Scorch diverge from each other. Ron took on the role of President (a role he’d fulfill for the next eight years) and Fourth Grade captain, Scorch stayed on as Fifth Grade captain and Green Shield coach, as well as fulfilling the role of Cricket Manager on the Committee. In this time, Fourth Grade were runners up in a washed out Final and Scorch took the “Greenies” to another Semi-final appearance.

Season 1999/2000 saw a new millennium ushered in, but one thing remained constant at Penrith Cricket Club, Scorch’s and Ronnie’s continued service and focus on junior development. That season saw Ron take on the role of Poidevin-Gray Shield coach. An extremely talented team that was one wicket or four balls away from victory in the Grand Final before rain intervened. Unfortunately, the team lost a rain-affected replay the following week to Northern District, after being sent in on a wet

wicket. That team featured prominent players such as the Burke brothers, Tim Lang and Tim Johnson. It also featured a number of players like Brett Newman, Shane Stanton, Brendon Jansz, Simon Williams, Matthew Kimble and me, all of whom had come through Fifth Grade and Green Shield with Ronnie and Scorch in the previous years. The majority of these players had risen through the ranks and were now playing First or Second Grade. Scorch also took the Green Shield to a Grand Final appearance, which ultimately ended in defeat but saw the likes of Greg Hunt and Patrick Jackson start to make a name for themselves around the Club.

The PGs team, under the guidance of Ronnie and Scorch, were to go one better in season 2000/01. After the heartbreak of the season before, this team was pretty determined and confident in equal measures that they could win an elusive PG's title. Ultimately, they went through the season undefeated and beat a very good Parramatta side by 83 runs. Pretty comprehensive, and to be fair, the team was littered with talent. Tim Lang, Simon Williams, Liam Zammit, Jarrod Burke, Luke Morrissey, Glenn Bradley, Rhett Lockyear and Greg Hunt. A few of these names would go on to play First Class cricket; arguably, a few more of them should have. There were also “lesser lights” in that team, for want of a better word. Another thing Scorch and Ronnie excelled at was giving each player a role in the side, no matter their experience or so-called pedigree. Jason Moss was a perfect example

of that Premiership side. Probably the name in the batting lineup the opposition would do the least amount of work on, but he was given a role to play, and he did it well, providing vital contributions at various times. In many ways, this PG's title was the pinnacle in terms of Ronnie’s and Scorch’s coaching partnership. They had taken a core group of players from Fifth Grade and Green Shield all the way through to PGs and won yet another Premiership.

Season 2001/02 saw the PGs make another run at a Premiership, only to fall short in the Semi-finals against Fairfield-Liverpool, which featured a young and very quick Doug Bollinger. Whilst disappointing to miss out on back-to-back Final appearances, the First Grade side went on to win the One Day competition that season and featured quite a few of the PGs players that had been through the system in the last few seasons. Williams, Burke, Zammit, Morrissey, and I all featured in the First Grade One Day team. This shows the value of putting time and development into a cohort of talented young cricketers, something Ronnie and Scorch did in spades.

This was never more evident than in 2002/03 with a couple of individual performances from players who had come through the Green Shield/PGs system. Simon Williams broke the First Grade run-scoring record this season, and Luke Morrissey the First Grade wicket-keeping record. Ronnie again coached the PGs, the team just missing out on the Semi-finals by the barest of margins.

From here, their involvement as coaches of teams wound back a little. Ron remained President, Scorch spent a bit of time helping out Dan Christian and the “Bumble Bees” of Uni of NSW. It may just be a coincidence, but Uni of NSW had a bit of success around the time of Scorch’s involvement. Inevitably, though, Scorch was drawn back to the Club he loves.

Ronnie’s and Scorch’s involvement does not end with this decade; in many ways, they were just getting started. They have filled the thankless role of independent selectors for God knows how many years, being at the helm of Club Championships and individual grade teams’ success. They have also filled various Committee roles and had ongoing involvement as coaches/managers. From 2013/14 to 2016/17, they served as First Grade managers and were instrumental in getting Steve Small to be First Grade coach during that period. That period saw First Grade make the Finals in three of the four years and culminated in a Limited Overs Premiership in 2016/17. How they survived that Final with their health in check is beyond me. They served as selectors and a sounding board for Ryan Smith as he led an extremely young side to the Belvidere Cup in 2018/19, surely the Club’s greatest

achievement. Despite all this success, they never seek to take any credit; they just get on with the job and see it as a way to give back to the game and the Penrith Cricket Club.

Scorch has honed the skills of many a slip fielder over the years, of all ages and grades. The Club should commission a statue of the great man, down on two knees, bat readied in the air. Such a familiar sight every Tuesday and Thursday just near Brian’s shed.

It is extremely hard to sum up the influence these two men have had on our great Club. They have been involved in so many Premierships, they have probably lost count (at least five they have had direct involvement in, by my count). They have also been rocks during not-so-successful times and have always been there to help chart a way forward. Whilst there are no signs of their interest in cricket and the Club waning, there will come a time when they do step away or greatly scale down their involvement. Perhaps only then will we get a true indication of their value. They may well prove harder to replace than any flashy opening batsmen or lively opening bowlers. Long live Ronnie and Scorch, and long may they continue to share many more beers, the odd glass of red, some very tall tales, many a laugh and a few more Premierships to boot!

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