Port Kembla Cricket Club is not Illawarra's oldest club but the members will celebrate its centenary next month as the region's most successful, with 19 first grade premierships.
Founded in 1912 as the Electrolytic Company Club after the refining and smelting business most of the players worked for, the club's first match was against premiers Wollongong in March 1912 at Wollongong Showground.
In September 1912, at a meeting at Great Eastern Hotel (now Steelworks Hotel), the team's first captain Jack Petfield proposed the club be renamed Port Kembla District Cricket Club.
The club is now inviting former players, supporters and the wider cricket community to help celebrate the club's jubilee at a commemorative dinner on February 11 at The Portofino in Wollongong.
Port won their first top grade premiership in 1914-15, before World War I resulted in the competition being suspended.
Port then won three straight titles between 1921-22 and 1923-24.
In the club's formative years three players stood out.
Albert Bennett opened the batting for Port at age 13 in the 1923-24 season and went on to play for NSW against the West Indies in 1930-31 scoring 96. He also played English county cricket for Lancashire before finishing his career with Port in 1946-47.
Gordon Rodwell captained Port Kembla from 1939-1947 and is still regarded as the club's greatest skipper.
He was also the Illawarra rep team's skipper for seven straight seasons and upon retirement was president of the Illawarra District Cricket Association.
Morgan Simon was known as Port Kembla's "Mr Cricket" and after debuting for Port in 1932 went on to captain the first grade side and played more than 30 seasons consecutively.
Other players such as Max Hanna, Frank Jones, Stan Small, Reg Grayson and Herb Mills left an indelible mark at the club.
In more recent times, some of the great names for Port Kembla CC have included Doug and Keith Barker, Barry Bates, John Hunter, Gary Boyall, Len Brown, Keith Hughes, Andrew Koutsoufis, Anthony, Lindsay and Julian Le Bas, Ian Leishman, Philip Murray, Peter Van Geest, Peter Wilson, Neil Garrett, Gordon Grivas, Bruce Weissel, Garry Masters, Steve Nikitaras and Greg Harvey.
Many of these players represented Illawarra, Sydney Grade, NSW Country, Combined Country, NSW Colts, and NSW at various levels including Sheffield Shield.
Port's 1984-85 side, like their 1943-44 team, went through the Illawarra season undefeated.
So dominant were the 1984-85 side that Illawarra Cricket officials changed the competition rules following their legendary batting effort in the final against Corrimal.
As minor premiers, Port needed only a draw and after being sent into bat at Stuart Park - a decision Corrimal would regret - Port batted until almost tea on day two, making 567.
Mercifully for Corrimal who were 2-30 at tea, the last session was called off, but now over restrictions apply to the team batting first in a final, forever saving a side taking the punishment the Port batsmen inflicted on Corrimal in late March 1985.
Recent seasons have been tough on Port senior teams but the club is improving and with the likes of Daniel Lee, Matt Skora and Daniel Beretov, they have the makings of a solid first grade team for years to come.
For enquiries about the anniversary dinner, call Joe Habak on 0410 421 334 or Evan Hunter on 0409 397 127.
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