In the Shadows of The Trumper Pavilion
Archie Mac |Published: 2024
Pages: 105
Author: Cardwell, Ronald (editor)
Publisher: The Cricket Publishing Company
Rating: 4 stars
The Gordon District Cricket Club (GDCC) has played on Chatswood Oval in the Sydney district grade competition since 1905. In 2024, GDCC celebrated the 100th year anniversary of the Victor Trumper pavilion. The stand was built almost ten years after the untimely death of Trumper from Bright’s disease in 1915.
Editor Ronald Cardwell explains that although his cricketing loyalties are with the Sydney based St. George cricket club, he knows some old GDCC players including authors James Cattlin and Paul Stephenson. You’d imagine this friendship and Cardwell’s fascination with all things Trumper sealed the deal for the production of this tribute book.
As always with this publisher, the final product is of high quality, with lovely photographs of some of Gordon’s finest cricketers and the pavilion itself. For the cricket tragic the old pics of the Gordon teams featuring Trumper, Frank Iredale and Charlie Macartney are indicative of the proud history of the GDCC.
I have to admit that apart from Trumper and Macartney, I was unaware of just how many great players the club has produced. Some of the early players were fine cricketers such as Johnny Taylor, Charles Kelleway, Bert Oldfield and Ginty Lush. Later Neil Harvey joined the club after his move from Melbourne. These and others are covered in a quality chapter by Cardwell and Cattlin. The story of journalist and cricketer Johnny Moyes by Paul Stephenson is also a first class read.
The book commences with a brief history of both GDCC and the Chatswood Oval, before a chapter on the building of the Trumper Pavilion. These early chapters are written by Cardwell and the last informs just how much effort went into raising the funds for the pavilion back in the early 1920s.
Many of Gordon’s favourite sons were contacted, and provide their cherished memories of both the club and the Trumper pavilion. Some of the stories will be unknown to most readers including stories of a couple of Trumper’s relatives who played for the club.
Apart from the GDCC, the oval and Trumper pavilion are also utilised by the Gordon Rugby Club and, appropriately, there are a few pics and reminiscences by the Rugger lads. Well known Rugby commentator Norm Tasker provides some context including the fact that the Rugby team has been at the oval for 90 years. Tasker is well known to cricket book readers for his collaborations with the Australian voice of cricket Alan McGilvray.
At just 100 pages, this is an engaging snap shot of the Trumper pavilion and its impact on the players of both the GDCC and the Gordon Rugby club. In the Shadows of the Trumper Pavilion captures what it’s like to be part of a cricket club, including all the camaraderie and sense of belonging. The fact that the GDCC has one of the most celebrated histories in Australian cricket lends itself to such quality reminisces.
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