Portrait of Australian cricketer, Ian Chappell (1943-). This publicity photo was most likely presented to the Arthritis Foundation of Victoria for inclusion in one of our newsletters or for other promotional activities. Chappell was named the 1976 Wisden Cricketer of the Year. He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1986, the FICA Cricket Hall of Fame in 2000, the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2003, and the International Cricket Council Hall of Fame in 2009. He is also a prolific author and speaker.B&W portrait of a man wearing a checked shirt with a plain collar, a checked suit jacket, and a dark coloured tie.[On a yellow sticky note, handwritten in black ink] Ian Chappellarthritis foundation of victoria, afv, ian chappell, chapelli, australian cricketer, captain, world series cricket, batsman, spin bowler, sledging, sports journalist, cricket commentator, sports media, author, sport australia hall of fame, australian cricket hall of fame, fica cricket hall of fame, icc cricket hall of fame

On 24 December 2010 Sam Montgomery was one of the Blackburn Milo in2 Cricket kids fortunate enough to meet Michael Beer. Michael is a Victorian spin bowler who went on to play his first test match for Australia in Perth during the 2010-11 series.

Ironmonger and Blackie BERT “DAINTY” IRONMONGER (1882-1971) and DON “ROCK” BLACKIE (1882-1955), the legendary off-spin bowlers, were “spin twins” in real life, born just two days apart. Dainty and Rock had an “average” age of 51 years and 273 days when photographed outside the Melbourne Cricket Club on the eve of their joint Testimonial Match on 16 November 1933. Blackie, a PMG linesman by trade, was nicknamed “Rock” because that’s what he’d call people when he inevitably forgot their names. Ironmonger, employed for over 30 years by St Kilda Council as a gardener, was nicknamed “Dainty” because he wasn’t! These men were famous for making their Test Cricket debuts when they were 46 years, 237 days old (Dainty) and 46 years, 252 days old (Rock). Whilst they only played one Test together, they were selected 24 times in the same Victorian team. It is no coincidence that the golden era of Victorian cricket coincided with their tenure. They played with St Kilda Cricket Club for nine seasons and the grandstand at Junction Oval bears the “Blackie-Ironmonger” name to this day. When on interstate tours, they shared a hotel room, where they plotted the downfall of their batting opponents. Their joint Testimonial Match was played over four days and featured all-star line-ups from three states. The opposing teams were captained by Bill “Wormkiller” Woodfull (memorial statue at Melbourne High School) and Vic “The Guardsman” Richardson (memorial gates at Adelaide Oval). The serious first class game attracted over 40,000 spectators and raised £908 for each man, around $45,000 in today’s money. In a game featuring la crème de la crème of contemporary batsmen – Bill “Ponny” Ponsford, Don “The Don” Bradman, Stan “Napper” McCabe et al – and all time doyens of the art of spin bowling – Clarrie “The Gnome” Grimmett, Bill “Tiger” O’Reilly and “Chuck” Fleetwood Smith – “Rock” topped his side of the bowling scorecard, picking up the best bowling figures of 3 for 69! Unhappily, Dainty’s old knee injury reoccurred and he had to sit out the last two days of play. Featured in "Newsworthy: Melbourne in photographs 1933-1936" exhibition at East Melbourne Library, October to December 2023. Exhibition caption by project volunteer, Ernie Ward. Photographer notations on slide: "Testimonial Cricket at MCC 1933 Blackie Ironmonger B9".cricket