The day began as most first days of the new, and what was to be a very eventful cricket season, the season of 1990-91. The initial smells of spring were lingering in the air, along with that of new whites, linseed oil and leather, with the one exception: the odour of freshly cut grass. The Heidelberg City Council as it was then known, were having trouble with their mowers and as a result the grass on the postage - stamp sized Winsor Park situated on the Watsonia/Macleod border had been not been properly cut. The council had used a slasher, which had the effect of bending the grass over without really cutting it. I won the toss and had no hesitation in batting. The old adage of 'runs on the board' hopefully would put the Macleod 3rd eleven under some pressure in this one day fixture.

It was soon evident after several overs that driving the ball along the ground was not going to be fruitful with the matted grass making it nigh on impossible to penetrate the ever - encroaching ring of Macleod fieldsmen. After the dismissal of the top four batsmen Garry Chapman strode to the crease to join our wicket keeper Chris (Borrie) Veal.

I was standing holding a bat, umpiring at square leg because I was one of those earlier batsmen who'd been dismissed and we had, the very Yorkshire, Vin Rowan as the solitary HDCA umpire. Chappie's first shot was his signature shot, the educated hoik to deep mid-wicket and over the ring of fielders. I remember watching in amazement as the closest fieldsman took off and began looking for the ball in the long grass some ten metres prior to where it had actually landed. He was shortly joined by the other fieldsmen, who also proceeded to look in the wrong area. Eventually the whole team, minus the hapless bowler and the wicket keeper were combing the surrounding area looking for the ball.

Whilst all this was occurring Garry and Borrie were running between the wickets, audibly counting the runs. As time progressed, they jogged and eventually power-walked the last couple of runs. It was at this time one of the Macleod fieldsmen stumbled across the ball and held the prize aloft. Garry and Borrie stopped at their respective ends and drew breath as the collective sounds of laughter died down from the pavilion. Umpire Rowan said to me "How many runs did you count laddy" I replied "17". He said in his Yorkshire brogue "and so did I".

The Macleod Captain protested loudly, " It's only six runs for a lost ball!!!", before he could say any more Umpire Rowan cut in with "the laws of cricket state that if anyone from the fielding team calls out lost ball on or before the sixth run a score of six will be awarded. If after that, the runs count until the ball is found or some body declares the ball to be lost." As the Macleod team stood there dumbfounded, the umpire walked up towards the pavilion and told the scorers to record the 17 runs. He then ambled back behind the stumps and explained to all and sundry " I had to do that, I haven't got a signal for seventeen"

The game continued without any further controversy until the final over. Macleod needed 2 runs to win and a single to tie. The ball hit the Macleod number 11 batsman "Chipper" Ciarlo on the pads directly in front of the stumps. As the Banyule team screamed their appeal in unison, and after what seemed an eternity, Umpire Rowan raised his index finger and signalled the batsman to be out LBW.

The win gave us six points and we finished the season in the fourth position on the ladder by a solitary point. This meant we had earned a final's berth. We narrowly beat Greensborough in the semi-final and had to play Clifton Hill in the Grand Final. I'd love to end the fairy tale by saying we won the Grand Final by a run, but instead, in a cruel twist of fate we actually lost the three-day Grand Final by a solitary run!