I remember Harry coming across from Heidelberg around about 1970-71, give or take a year or so. He was a young man then, of course, with a reputation as a pretty good player. We were in B grade and people at the club were talking with respect about this guy who could bowl a bit and was a useful batsman. As I recall, Ian Henry went from us to Heidelberg and we secured Harry’s clearance in the same deal.

Harry went straight into our first side - B grade. We also had a D grade side. Within a year or so Harry had proved his worth and had been elevated to vice-captain (Merv Anderson was captain, I think).

I didn’t know Harry that well at the time, as I was just out of under 16’s and he was part of the group slightly older than me - Johnno, Dave & Pete Sutherland, Ian Burriss, Maurice Oldis, etc. But I do remember him being exceptionally friendly and everybody liking him. As a matter of fact, in the 30-odd years I’ve known him, I don’t think I can ever recall anyone saying one bad thing about Harry.

Then tragedy struck. He had a horrific car crash and was very badly injured. If I’m remembering well, he had a tiny little car - a Mini, I think. I guess he was lucky to even be alive. He spent months in hospital and had some pretty major surgery done to at least one of his legs. It was awful. I remember being down at the club just after it happened. Everyone was so upset because we all liked him so much, and the initial picture was pretty gloomy.

I only went to see Harry in hospital once. My mum gave me a packet of Tim-Tams to take him. I couldn’t believe the crowd in his hospital room. There were stacks of blokes from the club all gathered around Harry. His leg was in traction. I recall being impressed by his spirit and by the manner in which his friends were sticking by him. Every week at the games the guys would be talking about Harry and how he was going. I never expected to see him in a pair of whites again.

It was around this time that I first heard people calling him Harry. There was some old joke about Harry the cripple. Johnno told lots of us that joke.

But Harry was pretty exceptional. After months in hospital, he was out and walking again - with a very pronounced limp and some pretty ugly scars. He was back at the club and soon declared that he was available to play again. This was miraculous news, and Don Richmond soon fitted him into our 1972-73 F grade lineup. This team also featured myself, Yogi, Ninna, Bluey Oxnam, Rowdy, the Ace and Gavin Renwick. In that year’s team photo, Harry is sporting a good mop of dark brown hair, as was yours truly! The years haven’t been kind to either of us in that respect.

The plan was for Harry to stand in slips, bat with a runner and bowl from a runup that began near the stumps and ended before the popping crease. Naturally, we were to also benefit from his experience, as the majority of us were either still playing or fresh out of the juniors.

Very early in the season we were playing Olympic over near Northland. Don threw Harry the ball and told him to roll his arm over. Harry was shocked, but being a true bowler, he didn’t have to be asked twice. The batsman was a guy also named Smith. He was a family friend of mine as he delivered our orange juice weekly from his van, and he was also an old friend of Harry’s. Harry marked out his now trademark runup, turned, limped up to the crease and bowled. Being his first ball since his accident, Harry’s accuracy was a little off-beam. The ball bounced about a metre to the side of the pitch, hit a tuft of grass and came back at right angles to the batsman. Everyone was laughing - it was probably the worst ball ever bowled at our club. The batsman was laughing too. He swatted it back as it came into him, knowing full well that the ump would call ‘wide’ any moment. As the swatted ball came back at head height Harry reached out a hand and grabbed it.

Harry laughed as well, and, as it was his first ball in a long time, he jokingly said "Howzat?"

"Out," said the umpire.

"What?" exclaimed incredulous Smiths at both ends of the pitch.

"Out," he repeated.

All laughter stopped. "It was a wide," claimed the Smiths.

"It came back onto the pitch and he hit it. He’s out - caught and bowled."

Everyone was struck dumb. The batsman was spluttering and Harry was even protesting, but the ump was the boss and his decision stood. It was one of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen but it was significant as it announced to the world that Harry had returned as a bowler of note! The batsman cursed all the way off. He still cursed Harry for it years and years afterwards.

So, from that successful comeback, Harry became a bowler of note once more, although he went into the Shame File for awhile over that appeal. Since then, Harry has claimed hundreds of victims from that legendary runup. He has won our club bowling averages many times and has even managed to win the HDCA bowling averages. I wonder if we’d have ever bothered to give him another bowl if that umpire hadn’t done him a big favour and given that poor bloke out.

Anyhow, Harry got better and better that season. Opposition teams were generally pretty good about his disability. All agreed to Don’s request to allow Harry to bat with a runner. He got quite a few good scores, and we won a few games, but he could do little more than hobble throughout the season. He got a few wickets as well.

Come the grand final against Heidelberg Colts and they refused a runner for Harry. We were all pretty cheesed off about it, but I guess it was common sense and we’d probably do the same thing these days. Harry did his best, but running between the wickets was very tough for him and I don’t think he made a very big score in that game. We went on to win the flag that year after Colts’ opening bowler was arrested on the first Saturday night of the game for stabbing someone in a blue at the Colisseum and Andrew Petersen ripped through them to take 6 for 3 in the second innings. It was great to win that flag - they were great guys and enjoyed learning the game under Don and Freddy Scott. Harry was a big part of that team. It was that year that I really got to know Harry well, and I’ve always considered him a good friend ever since.

Over the next few years, Harry’s fitness got better and his cricketing prowess improved as well. I might be wrong here, but I recall hearing stories that he even returned to playing footy and may have even won an award or two. He was pretty determined to get on with his life again, so I guess it’s probably the truth.

Naturally, Harry didn’t stay in our thirds for long. He was promoted to our seconds the following season. He did pretty well too. He no longer batted with a runner, but he still walked with a pronounced limp and he still bowled off that runup. It was about that time that he played a few seasons in lace-up pants as well - very stylish!

In the next season or two he made a lot of runs and took a lot of wickets. He made a couple of centuries over the next few seasons, before his bowling prowess earned him a place in the firsts again and a demotion to the tail end of the batting order.

I remember playing for our thirds at Seddon Reserve in Ivanhoe. Our seconds were playing nearby - Chelsworth, I think. It was customary for a carload of our blokes to visit our other side at the tea break and find out a score. Harry arrived at Seddon with a few others. We swapped pleasantries and scores. Just as he was getting back into the car, I asked "Have you batted yet, Harry?"

"Not yet. There’s a couple more, then me," he replied as he departed.

When we got together that night I found out he’d gone in about 4.30 and made a century by stumps. That’s the sort of batsman Harry was. It’s a pity he never had many more opportunities following that to show how well he could bat, but on occasions his batting still saved the side or won games.

A few years later the Heidelberg High School oval was the venue for Harry’s famous successful appeal against the sun. The pitch faced east-west, and late one day Ron Emery was charging in and sending a few down around the vicinity of Harry’s ears. Harry was looking straight into the sun.

"Hey, ump," Harry inquired, "can I appeal against the sun?"

"The what??!!"

"The sun. It’s in my eyes."

"I suppose so."

The umpire turned and looked into the sun. "Fair enough," he said. "You can’t play in these conditions. That’s stumps, fellas!"

The howls of protest from Viewbank could be heard as far away as the bar at the O.E. as we headed for the carpark in broad daylight and went back to watch a bit of A Grade.

Over the next decade or so, Harry was involved with the club in a number of capacities. He served as treasurer, junior manager, and captain of D grade. He remained a good clubman over many years. He’s a life member of Banyule, and that’s something I know he’ll treasure for the rest of his life. Harry retired as a Banyule player at the end of the 1993-94 season.