Three legends added to Illawarra Cricket’s Hall of Fame

Who is the greatest cricketer ever to have played in the Illawarra?

Given the sound of bat on ball has been around in these parts for more than 150 years, that's an impossible question to answer.

Earlier this month, Cricket Illawarra inducted three more legends into the Hall of Fame; three all-rounders who could justifiably be added to the mix when considering who has been our greatest of all time.

An aggressive left-handed batsman and medium fast swing bowler, Bill Moffatt was a star in Sydney's grade cricket, winning a premiership with Petersham-Marrickville in 1974-75. During his Sydney years, he played against some of the game's greats; Bobby Simpson, Doug Walters, Jeff Thompson and Kerry O'Keefe.

Speaking during his induction at the Fraternity Club in Fairy Meadow, Bill recalled being floored by a short ball from speedster Len Pascoe and being "carted off the field".

In that premiership-winning year in Sydney, Bill headed the batting averages with 337 runs at 56.2, while taking 36 wickets at 16.9. He was selected in the state squad for one season and two seasons in the NSW under 21 squad.

In 1975-76, Bill moved to the Illawarra with his family to take on the paid captain-coach role at Dapto. There was instant success, as Dapto took out its first premiership in his first year. Playing Wollongong in the final, Bill starred with bat and ball, taking 4-33 and then anchoring the run chase with an unbeaten 102.

In his debut Illawarra season, Bill won the Ron Ring Trophy for Cricketer of the Year. He went on to win that same trophy on three more occasions, being the first player to win it more than once.

After seven successful seasons at Dapto, Bill played one year with Wests before joining Keira as captain-coach. Again, there was immediate success. In 1985-86, Keira won the Bill Reynolds One Day Knockout and were pipped at the post by Dapto in the first-grade final.

Two seasons later, with David Dobinson captaining the side in 1987-88, Bill played a big part in Keira breaking its 25-year premiership drought with a swag of runs and wickets when they were most needed.

At the end of his career, Bill Moffatt had won the Illawarra first-grade batting average on four occasions and he was always towards the top of the bowling averages. In 16 dominant seasons with three clubs, he accumulated 6,000 runs and took 350 wickets.

Bill also made his mark in representative cricket, captaining Illawarra for several seasons. Perhaps his most memorable rep game was for Southern NSW against the might of the West Indies at Canberra's Manuka Oval.

With the ball, Bill claimed the prized scalps of Viv Richards and Lawrence Rowe, then he made 28 not out batting against a strong Windies attack which included spinning star Lance Gibbs.

Amongst Bill's many accolades, he was named in Dapto Cricket Club's Team of the Century and Keira's Elite Team of the Past 50 Years.

Playing into his 70s

Bill played on for many more years, and in his 50s he moved south to join Berry-Shoalhaven Heads. In his first year, they won the first-grade premiership for the first time in 42 years, and Bill was named man of the match.

In an incredible stint with Berry-Shoalhaven Heads, Bill played in every grand final for 10 years, winning five first-grade premierships.

Aged in his 70s, Bill was selected in the Australian Over 70s team to tour England. Sadly, Bill wasn't able to join the tour due to a lack of finances.

While Bill always played to win, he told the Hall of Fame event, his greatest love of playing the game was for the many friends he made along the journey.

Bill was supported at the induction event by his proud daughter, Kristy, and grandchildren Amelia and Georgia who travelled from Queensland for the event.

Ron Ring honoured

Joining Bill Moffatt in the Cricket Illawarra Hall of Fame this year are two other great all-rounders, Ron Ring and Harold Stapleton.

Ron Ring, a leg spinning batsman, was a local product, who also made plenty of runs and took many wickets in Sydney grade cricket.

With the Wollongong club, he was a member of five premiership winning teams, and he won the district's batting and bowling averages on several occasions.

As a representative player, and captain, he helped Illawarra and Southern NSW to memorable wins. None more so than when Ron took 9-92 and 4-56 to steer Illawarra to an outright win against Newcastle in 1957.

Ron was also prominent in cricket administration, and he was president of Cricket Illawarra from 1959 to 1972. He was made a life member of Wollongong Cricket Club and the Illawarra Cricket Association.

The Ring Trophy was named in honour of his family's contribution to Illawarra Cricket in 1962, and he was particularly honoured to receive that award in 1968.

The late Ron Ring was represented at his Hall of Fame induction by his daughter, Judith, and Wollongong Cricket Club stalwart Ian Hogg.

Harold Stapleton inducted

The third inductee this year is the late Harold Stapleton. In 2015, Harold, aged 100, was the oldest surviving first class Australian cricketer. Sadly, he died that same year.

Immediately after World War Two, for nearly a decade, Harold was the most outstanding all-rounder in Illawarra cricket, where he was a member of four premiership winning teams with Keira, two of which he captained.

Prior to the war, Harold played first grade cricket in Sydney with St George, where he played alongside some of Australia's cricketing greats, including Bill O'Reilly, Arthur Morris and Ray Lindwall. He was considered unlucky to play just one match with NSW.

In 1947-48, representing Southern NSW against the touring Indian team, he took 2-39 and scored 15 with the bat at Manuka.

Harold was a dominant force when he returned to the Illawarra. In 1949-50 he won the district's batting and bowling averages, and in one memorable game for Keira against Thirroul at the Wollongong Showground he was unplayable, capturing 10-13 to become the first Illawarra first grader to capture all the wickets in an innings.

At Keira Cricket Club's 150th anniversary celebration, Harold was named in the Elite Team of the club's first century. He was represented at the Hall of Fame induction by his nephew, Kevin Everingham, and former Keira star Mark Johnston, a former Cricket Illawarra president.

Bill Moffatt, Ron Ring and Harold Stapleton's names join 13 others in the Cricket Illawarra Hall of Fame. They are: Dave Gregory, Tom Garrett Jr, Rubyh Monaghan, Brian Taber, Phil Jacques, Colin Pinch, Ivor Ewin OAM, Barry Bates, Mike Hendricks, Trent Johnston, Archie Beatson, Doug Barker and Steve Nikitaras.