Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Wanneroo’s most decorated cricketer is returning to his district club to help mark its 50th anniversary.
Michael Hussey, who played in 79 Tests for Australia with a batting average of 51.52, will be joined by his brother and fellow former Australian international David Hussey at a gala dinner on Saturday night.
Also there will be Aussie paceman Mitchell Johnson, who joined Wanneroo when he came to WA from Queensland, and Roos legend Joel Charles who has been involved in all five of the club’s A grade titles.
“It’s going to be great,” Michael Hussey said. “To celebrate 50 years is pretty special for the club, and we’ve achieved quite a lot really in that first 50 years.
“And the thing about all clubs, it’s all about the people, and that’s what I’m looking forward to the most is people that I haven’t been able to see a lot of probably in the last yeah five, 10 years.
“It’d be great just to go back and reconnect with them and reminisce over old times. So I’m really looking forward to that the most I think. “
Hussey, who was involved in his club’s first 200-run and 300-run partnerships, described his family, including mum Helen, brother David and late father Ted, as “Wanneroo people”.
“We all owe that club a lot,” he said.
“They gave us a lot of great opportunities, a lot of great memories, a lot of great friendships.
“It really helped us boys develop our cricket skills and learn the game from more senior players there.
“And mum and dad were just great supporters. They were pretty much there at every single game, watching us and supporting us wherever we were playing.
“Dad also got involved at the club as well, on the committees and being the WACA delegate for a long time.
“You just become part of the Wanneroo family or the community and it’s a great place to sort of grow up.”
David Minear, who is the second longest president of the Roos behind Ken Oates, was looking forward to the celebration as well as the opening of the club’s new clubrooms at Kingsway in December.
“We started this process (of getting new clubrooms) in my second year as president in 2019 … – of trying to obtain funds because we only had two change rooms,” he said.
“Obviously, they were quite dated, and we didn’t have any any ability to have female players there due to the fact of just being so inadequate for female sport.
“And we also had a building that had asbestos, and it was an old building. It was a former toilet block that had just been extended on to consistently.”
The club has produced a rich vein of cricketers.
Former Australian batsman Damien Martyn, who debuted for A grade at 15, was the first Wanneroo player to make Test cricket.
The late Robbie Langer was the club’s first cap holder. The uncle of former Test batsman Justin Langer, won three Sheffield Shields with WA and played for Australia in World Series Cricket.
Marcus North represented Australia after starting his grade cricket at Wanneroo, and Callum Thorp and John Rogers played for WA.
Jarrad Schofield became the first Wanneroo player to play first grade cricket and AFL when he debuted for West Coast Eagles in 1993.
In 2001, the club won its first A grade premiership — in the one-day competition..
The team consisted of Michael Hussey, Joel Charles, Andrew Slattery, David Hussey, Wes Robinson, Victor Lawes, Daniel Stumpers, Callum Thorp, Andrew Lucas, Ian Purcell, Matt Mason and Jason Parry.
Minear said the club owed him nothing.
“I owe the club everything,” he said.
“When I moved here to WA, they’ve given me my inclusion into the community.
“They gave me an opportunity to play cricket at a good level. They gave me the friendships… blokes who were best men at my wedding and groomsmen and blokes who I’m still very close with now.
“And I just wouldn’t have any of that without this cricket club. This cricket club’s given my family so much, and we owe the club.
“And I always say that you want to leave it in a better place than when you picked it up. My dad always said that to me. And he was our president for seven years…. and still mows the outfields to this day.”
