(By Tom Wood – Club Historian)
On Sunday 18th December 2022 the Parramatta District Cricket Club lost another monumental from its illustrious past with the passing former 3rd Grade captaincy stalwart Alan Cramond.
Alan Cramond was a towering figure, both physically and in deed, in the story of the Central Cumberland lower grade teams. Like ‘Old Man River’ Big AL just kept rolling along underpinning the club’s lower grades in a career that stretched between 1946/47 and 1968/69 and he also played a role off the field as a long time Management Committee member and club selector. On the 20th May, 2022 he turned 100 years of age.
During his time with Cumberland Alan played plenty of 2nd grade, but it was in the 3rd grade arena that he left a lasting legacy both as a captain and player.
He never got to represent Cumberland in 1st grade, but before World War II he ventured out of NSW Country cricket as an 18-year-old tearaway fast bowler, and played with the Western Suburbs club. However after returning from military service, injuries sustained from the New Guinea jungle campaign curtailed his pace bowling days. He then reinvented himself as an off-spinning all-rounder and threw his lot in with the ‘Cumbos’ in 1946.
The powerfully built giant of a man – ‘who loved to bowl’ – was a bountiful wicket-taker with his crafty off-spin, and he was a capable hard-hitting batsman who made his share of runs. In all grades for the club he claimed 612 wickets @ 18.13 and scored 4,691 runs @ 16.58 (H.S. - 94).
Alan won great kudos as a shrewd and resourceful captain of the Cumberland 3rd grade team between 1952/53 and 1968/69 (including Premiership victories in 1959/60 and 1964/65). He was a popular and well-respected skipper, and did a great job of educating young players in the nuances of grade cricket, many of these youngsters going on to impressive 1st grade careers. [He was my captain in my first season of grade cricket in 1964/65 and gave me a great grounding in the game with his sage advice – T.J.W.].
In 3rd grade he remains the club’s most successful all-rounder: 3,197 runs @ 18.27 and 425 wickets @ 17.05. His best season with the bat was in 1953/54 when he compiled 439 runs @ 27.44 (H.S. 64), and as a bowler his most prolific years were 1949/50 – 47 wickets @ 14.34, 1964/65 – 42 wickets @ 13.19 and 1967/68 – 42 wickets @ 13.95. He wasn’t able to score a century but got close with 94 v. Glebe in 1960/61 he also bagged 5/50 in the same match. In all grades he managed 16 half-centuries and his off-spin provided him with 28 hauls of 5 or more wickets in an innings (best – 7/31 v. Waverley in 3rds 1952/53).
His statistics in the other grades were: 2nd grade 1,081 runs @ 13.02 (best – 66) and 124 wickets @ 22.13 – 4th grade 413 runs @ 16.52 and 63 wickets @ 17.54, in all grades he held 61 catches.
Alan Cramond holds the rare distinction of being elected a Life Member of two Sydney grade clubs, firstly the Parramatta District Cricket Club, and later the Sutherland District Cricket Club where he was a long-term club President. He also was honoured with the Australian Medal in 2000 and was a recipient of the Contribution to War Service Medal.
Vale Alan Cramond congratulations on a life well-lived.
