Page 224 - Gonzaga at 60
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GONZAGA AT SIXTY: A WORK IN PROGRESS
Gonzaga Cricket 1960 -1966: A Retro View
For most of the school’s young sportsmen, ater the rugby posts had been dug up tennis, athleics
or Joe Veale’s Recommended Reading list were the likeliest recreaional subsitutes. Some,
however gazed wide eyed at the front lawn and dreamed one day of making the walk from
under the Cricket Tree to the wicket. What then would have illed the vision of such aspiraionists
might have been the elegant baing of Simon O’Leary, the steady bowling of Arthur Plunket,
the tradiionalist (he once took ive Blackrock wickets in ive successive balls), or perhaps the
Raymond O’Kelly tweakers served up with a mischievous smile and oten followed by hysterical
appealing. Soon ater that one could delight at the clinical hiing of Brian Walsh (reputedly the
irst boy to clear the Copper Beech) which was in contrast to the more disciplined approach by
Tony Spollen and David Fassbender, all of which were played out to the echo of Leslie Webb’s
loud musings as to how the shots of the day might be compared to those of Trumper Woolley or
the Bradman of ’48.
Our gurus came and went. Father Keane came alive when the sun came out and the front
ield was his iniial playground unil he was seduced by G&T’s at Tennis Finals Day in Fitzwilliam.
Father Kavanagh might not have been blessed with the temperament for long aternoons and
Above: David Ensor
frequent thrashings but adjusted philosophically to the role for the duraion of his oice, and
Facing page, top for the Junior and Senior cup years 1963 and 1966, our mentor was Fr John Redmond who
umpired with meiculous honesty (i.e. actually gave decisions against his own team) when no
Cricket, 1960
Back Row (L to R): Desmond such favours were granted by opposiion sportsmasters. Father Barber (then a young scholasic
Fleming, Terence Liston, John and no mean player himself) came up with the exciing idea of having a Masters v Boys game in
O’Leary, Colm Barrington,
David Fassbender, Tony one of our inal years. Casing of their clerical garb to become lannelled fools for the day, the
Spollen. Front Row (L to R):
Richard Rice, Leslie Webb, game was very compeiive, the boys’ team secretly admiring the pluck of these ancient servants
Brian Kirby, Denis Quilligan, of Jesus (late twenies to early thiries?) and of course the biggest audience of the season giggled
Finbarr Lloyd.
and rejoiced in the travails and triumphs of their beloved masters.
Facing page, bottom Finally the day of my irst game arrived in the under 14 League v St Andrews. I sill remember
Cricket, c1960 waiing shaking with nerves for what seemed the bowler’s interminable run up and the relief
Let to Right: Owen Delaney, when the ball made some sort of contact with some part of the bat. And do I remember the
Brian Kirby, Patrick Riordan,
Gerard Strahan, John O’Leary, name of the bowler? - I do – Ian Elliot (now perhaps surprisingly from his school) the ...
Donnacha O’Buachalla, Tim When iniially conined to schools of similar standard results were above average. The cup
Lloyd, Finbarr Lloyd, Esmonde
Smyth, Tom Lenehan, was however diferent and to have to play Belvedere was always catharic. The O’Hanlon brothers
Desmond Fleming
opened and Gerry (later to become provincial of the Jesuit Order) was almost undismissable.
Ater they were eventually forced to declare we then had to face terrible Tighe, the Bret Lee
of his day. In one such encounter our opening bat Ben O Connor caused Belvedere’s Father Ger
Brangan to explode apoplecically when half way through Tighe’s irst over which he was having
GONZAGA AT SIXTY: A WORK IN PROGRESS
Gonzaga Cricket 1960 -1966: A Retro View
For most of the school’s young sportsmen, ater the rugby posts had been dug up tennis, athleics
or Joe Veale’s Recommended Reading list were the likeliest recreaional subsitutes. Some,
however gazed wide eyed at the front lawn and dreamed one day of making the walk from
under the Cricket Tree to the wicket. What then would have illed the vision of such aspiraionists
might have been the elegant baing of Simon O’Leary, the steady bowling of Arthur Plunket,
the tradiionalist (he once took ive Blackrock wickets in ive successive balls), or perhaps the
Raymond O’Kelly tweakers served up with a mischievous smile and oten followed by hysterical
appealing. Soon ater that one could delight at the clinical hiing of Brian Walsh (reputedly the
irst boy to clear the Copper Beech) which was in contrast to the more disciplined approach by
Tony Spollen and David Fassbender, all of which were played out to the echo of Leslie Webb’s
loud musings as to how the shots of the day might be compared to those of Trumper Woolley or
the Bradman of ’48.
Our gurus came and went. Father Keane came alive when the sun came out and the front
ield was his iniial playground unil he was seduced by G&T’s at Tennis Finals Day in Fitzwilliam.
Father Kavanagh might not have been blessed with the temperament for long aternoons and
Above: David Ensor
frequent thrashings but adjusted philosophically to the role for the duraion of his oice, and
Facing page, top for the Junior and Senior cup years 1963 and 1966, our mentor was Fr John Redmond who
umpired with meiculous honesty (i.e. actually gave decisions against his own team) when no
Cricket, 1960
Back Row (L to R): Desmond such favours were granted by opposiion sportsmasters. Father Barber (then a young scholasic
Fleming, Terence Liston, John and no mean player himself) came up with the exciing idea of having a Masters v Boys game in
O’Leary, Colm Barrington,
David Fassbender, Tony one of our inal years. Casing of their clerical garb to become lannelled fools for the day, the
Spollen. Front Row (L to R):
Richard Rice, Leslie Webb, game was very compeiive, the boys’ team secretly admiring the pluck of these ancient servants
Brian Kirby, Denis Quilligan, of Jesus (late twenies to early thiries?) and of course the biggest audience of the season giggled
Finbarr Lloyd.
and rejoiced in the travails and triumphs of their beloved masters.
Facing page, bottom Finally the day of my irst game arrived in the under 14 League v St Andrews. I sill remember
Cricket, c1960 waiing shaking with nerves for what seemed the bowler’s interminable run up and the relief
Let to Right: Owen Delaney, when the ball made some sort of contact with some part of the bat. And do I remember the
Brian Kirby, Patrick Riordan,
Gerard Strahan, John O’Leary, name of the bowler? - I do – Ian Elliot (now perhaps surprisingly from his school) the ...
Donnacha O’Buachalla, Tim When iniially conined to schools of similar standard results were above average. The cup
Lloyd, Finbarr Lloyd, Esmonde
Smyth, Tom Lenehan, was however diferent and to have to play Belvedere was always catharic. The O’Hanlon brothers
Desmond Fleming
opened and Gerry (later to become provincial of the Jesuit Order) was almost undismissable.
Ater they were eventually forced to declare we then had to face terrible Tighe, the Bret Lee
of his day. In one such encounter our opening bat Ben O Connor caused Belvedere’s Father Ger
Brangan to explode apoplecically when half way through Tighe’s irst over which he was having
