Test legend to live on at Fields

By Callan Date
AN Australian cricket legend will soon be etched in the memory of everyone who uses the sporting facilities at Casey Fields.
The pavilion at the new sports complex will be named after Arthur Lindsay, Keith Miller or Ian Johnson as part of the relocation of Casey-South Melbourne Cricket Club (CSMCC) to Cranbourne.
The three men played for several years with South Melbourne Cricket Club before moving on to represent Victoria and then Australia during their illustrious careers.
Their connection to Casey Fields emanates from the recent relocation of the CSMCC to Casey Fields.
The club originally hoped to individually name two ovals and the pavilion after the cricketers, but was told by Casey Council to choose one player for the pavilion naming only.
The CSMCC committee is expected to soon make a decision as to which name the pavilion will carry.
Club president Graham Yallop said the CSMCC and Casey Council had been working closely together to make sure the move went as smooth as possible.
“After 144 years in the one place there will always be some minor problems with the transition,” Yallop said.
However, on the whole the move was going well, he said.
“The facilities and ground at Casey Fields will be the equal of any other cricket club in Victoria,” he said.
Yallop said the only criteria Casey Council set for the pavilion’s name was that the players nominated had to have passed away.
Arthur Lindsay played 43 test matches for Australia, 24 of which as captain, and scored 3073 runs at an average of 46.56.
He also served in the Middle East during World War II and was a cricket writer and commentator.
Keith Miller was a gifted sportsman and competed in the Victorian Football League as well as being a Test cricket player. He represented Australia 55 times as a solid all-rounder, scoring 2958 runs and taking 170 wickets.
Ian Johnson is also in line to have the pavilion named after him. He played 45 matches for Australia, scoring 1000 runs at an average of 18.51, and took 109 wickets in his Test career.
Casey Council voted to allow the sports pavilion to be named in honour of one of the three champion players at Tuesday night’s council meeting.
However, the council decided that the two cricket ovals, Casey Fields Ovals 4 and 5, should not be named in honour of past players in order to keep consistency at the multimillion-dollar sports complex.
Councillor Paul Richardson tried to move that the pavilion instead be named after a local community cricket member, however this failed to attract support.
Councillor Lorraine Wreford said plans were already under way to build a Wall of Acclaim at the Cranbourne sports complex to honour living and deceased local sporting legends.
Casey deputy mayor Rob Wilson said the Wall of Acclaim would provide ample opportunity to recognise and honour local sports players.
Cr Wilson said many Casey residents were now training with the CSMCC.