Dan Frogan has returned
The coming season of 2005/06 has been greeted with much enthusiasm amongst the Highland faithful. Not since the emergence of a young (and beardless) Matthew Nicholson, some 12 years ago, has the opportunity to see a potential world-beater strut his cricketing "stuff" down ol' Chatswood way presented itself.
However, an innocuous e-mail from the subcontinent to Tony "Tiddles" Wilson to enquire about the possibility of playing for the club sent the tanned retiree into a flap. Word quickly passed around that a 17 year old, who Tom Moody described as being the next "big" thing in world cricket, would help Gordon's quest to wrest the Belvidere Cup back to its rightful home.
Javier de Silva is clearly a player of rare talent and many think that he would have been a fantastic asset to the club. Surely there was no question that Gordon, still in its rebuilding phase, would have appreciated a world-class player. However, it appears that this rare talent will not be let loose on the Sydney first grade competition wearing green, maroon and silver, as the usually reliable Wilson was not convinced that de Silva was good enough to command a place in the impressive squad that the committee has assembled for the coming season.
Xavier Da Silva in action
The last time Gordon refused to believe the hype about a player of such talent, the renowned Dan Frogan quietly slipped away from Chatswood Oval without ever being given the opportunity to seriously challenge CG Macartney's single season aggregate record. Frogan turned his attention to rugby until he was apparently banned for life from the Dubbo competition.
Some say that Wilson is brave to have ignored de Silva and to have put such faith in the players to whom he had already committed. Others may say he is fool hardy (as usual, all of Wilson's questionable decisions should be blamed on the hours he spends on his custom-made sun bed) but we will see how the Stags progress without the talented Sri Lankan. The rumour is that Gordon's loss may be North Sydney's gain. It is hoped that what may be perceived as one man's short-sightedness does not assist our fierce rivals.
If Wilson had worked just that little bit harder, de Silva, an undergraduate enrolled in journalism at the Open University, may have been writing this electronic column throughout the season. Instead the seat will be filled by the aforementioned Dan Frogan an old friend of an unnamed yet cynical 31 year old opener, who managed a first grade batting average, over 9 seasons, only slightly better than Matt Todd.
 There are not many photos of Dan available, however his friend was able to dig up this shot of Dan sometime in the sixties.
As a cricketer and a writer he is not worthy even to be compared to Javier de Silva, however despite the lack of writing talent, Dan's column will seek to bring to this site the stories behind the stories during the course of what is sure to be a successful season for the Stags.
Best Regards
Dan Frogan | 
