HURSTVILLE OVAL, A History of Sport and Community by Elizabeth Butel & Tom Thompson (ETT/Kingsclear; $32.95) was launched by Brian Booth & Warren Saunders at the Oval on June 22. This Centenary of Federation history covers sport in the St George area over the last 100 years, concentrating on cricket, rugby, league, AFL, cycling and athletics. It includes over 80 pages on the history of the St George District Cricket Club, early women's cricket, Trumper and Reg Fusedale, who conducted AIF matches on Salisbury Plain. Other highlights are the Bradman Era, Morris, Lindwall and O'Reilly at the Oval - and the full record of Bradman's first turn on turf wickets in his original first grade club.

On 27th November, Bradman took his place in the St George first grade team against Petersham. The young cricketer broke his bat on 98 and managed 110 on debut before being run out. For the remainder of the season, he continued playing for St George, although it involved a journey from Bowral to Sydney each Saturday morning and a return to Bowral at midnight. It was the willingness of the St George DCC to pay his train fare that was a decisive factor in his choosing St George over Cumberland. Bradman’s biggest handicap, however, was not the travel, but the lack of practice on turf wickets during the week.

1929-30 season

Test Trial match Bradman scored 124 and 205 not out, all in the one day!
St George v Glebe 180 not out
St George v Riverina 126 (retired)
St George v Randwick 187 - breaking the club record, twice.
NSW v Queensland 452 not out, in 415 minutes, a world record score in first class cricket

HURSTVILLE OVAL includes the story of the amazing schoolboy prodigy team wins in grade, with Morris, Lindwall and Cristofani as teenagers as well as new material on the first one day games, during WW2! Here you'll find one Reg Gasnier, keen on his cricket and the successful teaming of Brian Booth, Warren Saunders and Norman O'Neill made the club's preferred "attractive cricket" dominating the 1960s. The development of spinners Kerry O'Keeffe and Murray Bennett pushed St George into the new era of professionalism.

A big book containing all the key cricketing moments for one hundred years to December 2001, when Shoaib Akthar delivered the fastest seven overs ever on the Oval for Mosman v St George.

Subsidised by Hurstville City Council, you get 264 pages, with 320 historic photographs, providing a unique visual record of an extraordinary sporting community.Available from good book stores, or from the publisher by faxing (02) 9369 4031, by email tom@haroldlarwood.com or by sending a cheque for $38 (includes postage anywhere in Australia) to:

Editions Tom Thompson
PO Box 1388
Bondi Junction NSW 2022.

	Victor Trumper's X1 v St George Juniors, Hurstville Oval 1913
	Don Bradman for St George against Gordon in 1928
	Bill O'Reilly, St George & Australia 1938
	Reg Gasnier, St George cricketer 1956
	The young Warren Saunders in 1949, Fourth Grade Premiers
	Shoaib Akthar, the world's fastest bowler, delivering the goods at Hurstville Oval, for Mosman v St George
	St George First grade Premiers 1940-41 - with Captain Bill O'Reilly, aided & abetted by Arthur Morris, Ray Lindwall, Bob Cristofani, Ron Moss, Harold Stapleton & Ernie Laidler
	Brian Booth & Warren Saunders at Hurstvile Oval 2001

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