By Parker McKenzie
Greg Hardy, author of 125 Not Out: A History of the Monbulk Cricket Club 1897-2022, will be giving a free author’s talk at Belgrave Library on Thursday 27 April at 2pm.
Mr Hardy said when he first started researching the book, he “didn’t have the foggiest of ideas that the club was formed in 1897.”
“I started there in 1978 and had no real understanding of when the club had started, it came as a complete surprise,” he said.
“I had no idea of any of the history of cricket in the hills; I knew that Monbulk played in a different competition from the one it plays in now.”
The book was launched ahead of the club’s 125th anniversary last year after being organized by the Monbulk Cricket Club committee.
Mr Hardy said he spent time researching the book in old newspapers that had records of scores.
“There were no local newspapers until 1919. Funnily enough, there were far more scores through the 1920s and 30s in the local papers than there were in the later years,” he said.
“It was a fun thing to do during Covid, it certainly took up a lot of time and luckily enough, I was able to do it at home on Trove and go through the newspaper.”
He said it is the most substantial thing he has ever written and was a fun project to be a part of.
“Monbulk is a small town cricket club and there are dozens, even hundreds of them around the state but not all of them go back that far,” he said.
“Monbulk is up there with the oldest clubs going around in the outer-eastern metropolitan area.”
More information about the event and booking a ticket can be found at events.yourlibrary.com.au/event?id=37230
