 Stobo Salute 4 - Gordon v Fairfield
Fairfield this round. They’ve become one of the strongest 1st Grade teams in the competition in recent times, but it took them a while to get going. They entered the competition along with Hawkesbury and Campbelltown back in about 1984, and while they did have some notable players – the Aitkens, and Billy York, for example – Gordon always seemed to have the wood on them.
(Steve Smith in his playing days for Fairfield)
Steve Smith played for Fairfield for a bit. Having scored a bazillion runs for Bankstown, and played a handful of Tests before nipping over to South Africa in the mid-1980s with Kim Hughes’s mob. Smithy was recruited to Fairfield to give them his experience and, in all likelihood, a poultice of runs. For all of those who have had dealings with him at Gordon in recent years, you can well imagine that he would have been a great asset to Fairfield at the time, both on and off the field.
 Smith was responsible for finest innings of 7 that I have ever seen, and am ever likely to see. It was at Fairfield Oval, and lasted just three balls.
Having played Smithy a few times, we knew that he liked to cut early, and we’d got him out a few years before, at Bankstown, cutting at the first ball of the day.
(Steve Smith today)
So we set a cunning trap.
Two of our best fieldsmen – Jon Davison and Kevin Roberts – were placed at backward point and cover point respectively. We also had six gullies, five slips, two fly slips, and probably four third men as well. The only Gordon fieldsmen in front of the bat were playing in 2nd Grade at Killara Park.
There were two deliveries left in the over.
Stobo delivered the perfect first up delivery: just short of a length, a fraction wide of off stump. So far, so good.
Come on, Smithy, see what you can do with that.
Smith obliged. Happily.
The ball scorched off the middle of his bat, searing between Davison and Roberts, and ripped its way to the point boundary. A very slow, lush outfield, but the path of the ball was evident in the smouldering track that it left behind. My memory is of all seventeen fieldsman behind point on the off side diving left, right and centre, to make sure that they weren’t killed.
Bugger. Never mind. On the up side, it was probably best the cut shot I’ve ever seen.
Right. To plan B. Last ball of the over. Field adjusted; orthodox off side, and a line and length dot ball to finish.
Ball delivered perfectly. Seam up, just a hint outside off stump, terrific length.
That’ll keep the bugger quiet for a bit.
Smithy leant forward sedately, and pushed it gently into the covers.
For three.
He hardly bloody hit it. The aforementioned lush outfield and the terrific speed of Davison was the only thing that stopped it reaching the boundary, and Fairfield Oval is certainly no postage stamp. It was a glorious stroke.
End of the over. Smith on strike to face Adlam.
 First ball of the new over was a beauty. Pitched middle and leg, clipped the top of off stump. Nothing that Smithy could do about it, really. Would’ve knocked over just about anybody.
(The famous photo of Roberts, Gilchrist, Adlam and Emery)
Thank god for that. But for that delivery, I thought Smithy was going to score 1000.
I’ve seen a lot of pretty good 7s in my time, but none have ever come close to the one Steve Smith played that day at Fairfield Oval.
Another game against Fairfield that comes to mind was a curious affair, again at Fairfield Oval. Gordon batted first, and the innings of about 160 was wrapped up by a Ronnie Davis hat trick. Stobo was the last of the three; the ball was past him and smashing into middle stump before he had moved a muscle. In fact, the glory of the delivery was in the fact that Ronnie managed to get the ball to the stumps without hitting me on the way through.
My lasting memory is of the entire Fairfield team screaming and yelling in delight all around me, in what seemed like a fraction of a second after the ball had ripped the stumps out of the ground.
Not a good place to be. And then I had to trudge off with all of them doing high fives, and so on.
But the day wasn’t over. We had about eight overs to bowl that evening.
Fairfield went to stumps at 4-9.
Stobo did have a touch of revenge when Ronnie Davis was castled first ball after he’d come out as night watchman. Hayne and McLean caught everything that was nicked behind the wicket, closing Kelly (at second slip) out in the process.
Fairfield fought back the next week, and a young Aitken, on debut I think, eked out 50, but with Smith holing out to Steve Day at mid on, of a full toss, when he looked like rescuing the game, Gordon took first innings points.
The only sour note came in Gordon’s second innings – there were still a couple of hours left in the day after Fairfield were dismissed – when a Fairfield fast bowler took aim with a nasty, well-directed beamer at Steve Liggins, all 6’5’’ of him, who had volunteered to go in at No 4. Has a more likeable and remarkable individual ever played for Gordon? It was a cheap, ugly act, and earned the wrath of the entire Gordon side. Thankfully Liggo managed to get out of the way, and wasn’t hurt.
 Finally, it was against Fairfield that Mark O’Neill and Phil Emery set the Club partnership record for any wicket – an unbroken stand of 326, at Chatswood Oval, in 1986-87. That day probably marked the turning point in Gordon’s fortunes in the mid-1980s. The pair came together at 2-27, and when we declared late in the day, Steve Day, batting at 5, had had the pads on for over five hours.
Sparky was simply magnificent, scoring 200*, and his innings included a number of cover drives over the western boundary for six.
(Mark O'Neill in action)
And it was the innings that marked Emery as a formidable 1st Grade batsman in his own right. I dare say that, by spending so long in the middle with Sparky, Phil learned more about the art of batting that day than any amount of practice could ever have given him. He was to score another hundred a fortnight later, and was on his way.
The Fairfield bowling attack has been formidable in recent years, and they will present a good challenge. And I see that David Kelley is still playing and, if the past is any guide, his wicket will not be given away without a fight.
Remember, in the words of Eisenhower, “There are no victories at bargain prices.”
Good luck, men.
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