IT IS always interesting to peruse through the DDCA’s annual report for little tidbits of information beyond the more obvious that are well known, and the 2012-13 report is a little gold mine.
For starters, Buckley Ridges is one of only two clubs mentioned by name in the President Mick Hawking’s opening address. Generously recognizing a huge achievement by our club by any standards, he says: “I specifically mention Buckley Ridges for their performance in capturing both the Turf 1 and Turf 3 pennants and Lyndale Cricket Club who are welcomed back to Turf 1 cricket after a long and sometimes agonizing absence.”
A happy campers photo of our victorious T1 side adorns page 5, with two of the seven-picture montage on the last page featuring Daniel Watson with Mick Hawking after DJ was presented with the Damien Fleming Medal as the best player in the 2012-13 Grand Final, and another of captain Marc Calkin receiving the premiership cup from Hawking.
The DDCA’s record of finalists provides some particularly interesting historic perspective. Starting in the 1931-32 season when “A Turf” was the highest grade, a team called Grassmere were premiers, with Dandenong ACC runners up, Dandenong A third, and Imperials fourth.
“A Turf” continued until the 1961-62 season, by which time Buckley Ridges had won five premierships – the first significantly in 1945-46, the year World War II ended, followed by further pennants in 1947-48, 1952-53 (when Buckley tied with High School-RSL, the only such result in all senior grades ever recorded*) and in successive years 1958-59 and 1959-60. BRCC were runners up in two seasons, finished third five times and fourth once – impressive results for a small club by any standards.
Significantly, of all the teams that won premierships during the “A Turf” era, only Buckley Ridges remains in the successor Turf 1 category. St Mary’s, who won an “A Turf” title once, in 1954-55, have been in Turf 2 for some years. Teams other than those already mentioned in that bygone comp included SEC (State Electricity Commission), Frankston Black, Chelsea, Frankston, Noble Park (now in the sub-district comp with only juniors in the DDCA), GMH, Methodist (in Turf ?), CYMS, Lyndhurst-H-Park, Traders, Bacon Factory, RSL and Springvale.
The restructured Turf 1 era began in the 1962-63 season, when Methodist beat Noble Park in the final, with BRCC finishing third.
As we are acutely aware, it was to be a 50-year wait until BRCC lifted another Turf 1 title, in 2009-10, followed by our third premier pennant last season.
Painfully, BRCC has finished second five times in Turf 1 (beaten by Dandenong in 1963-64; by Lyndale in 1976-77; by St. Mary’s in 1986-87; by Coomoora in 1995-96; and by Springvale South in 2010-11).
A “B Turf” grade ran from 1957-58 to 1962-63, before the current Turf 2 grade came into existence in 1978-79. BRCC won the title in 1984-85 and again in 1993-94, having finished second the previous year. Our teams in this grade finished third three times.
Turf 3 began in 1983-84, and BRCC has lifted the title four times since the turn of the century, in 2000-01, 2003-04, 2007-08 and against last season. We have finished second once.
Turf 4 was introduced in 1994-95, when BRCC finished second to Doveton, before we won it in 1995-96 and were promoted to Turf 3.
A-grade began in 1946-47 and it was a long wait for our first pennant – all the way to 2009-10. We showed we were coming by finishing second to Lynbrook the year before.
BRCC has won two premierships in B-grade, in 1977-78 and then in 2000-01, with three second and two third-place finishes.
C-grade has yielded only one premiership, in 1975-76, two runners-up finishes and a third placing.
We won the first of three D-grade premierships in the grade’s second season, 1973-74, and again in 1995-96 and 2001-02, with one second placing and one third.
E-grade has been barren in terms of premierships, with two finishes in second place, and three in third spot.
F-grade was introduced in 1977-78, and Buckley’s F-Troopers won the title in 1987-88 and 1997-98, and have been runners up twice.
G-grade began in 1979-80, and has been one of the club’s happy hunting grades. We won the premiership three times in a row between 1985-86 and 1987-88, and followed that up in 1992-93 and again in 1996-97 – HSD preventing a second three-peat by beating us in the 1994-95 GF.
The One Day Competition began in 2001-02 and we finished second to Coomoora in the second year before defying all the odds to turn the tables on them to grab the premiership in 2003-04. We again finished second, this time against Fountain Gate, in 2004-05, in a game marred by some opposition supporters. However, providence delivered their comeuppance swiftly.
The T20 competition was introduced in 2006-07, and BRCC has enjoyed such huge success in this format that it is hard to imagine it being equaled – winning the title four seasons in a row, from 2007-08 to 2010-11, only to finish fourth in 2011-12, before sweeping back in triumph for a fifth victory last season.

Interestingly, there are only two other ties recorded in the DDCA competition, both in juniors, and one of those involved BRCC, when our Under-12s tied with Endeavour Hills in the 1998-99 Grand Final. The side went on to win the GF in their own right the following year. The other junior tie was in the U-16s in 1992-93, between North Dandenong and Coomoora.