Historical information
Information provided to the Bendigo Historical Society by Rohan Moresi: Rohan 'grew up on a farm near Buckrabanyule. The bat belonged to Rohan and his brothers, Grant and Alistair. At the age of twelve in early December of 1977, my father took my brothers and myself to the Queen Elizabeth Oval in Bendigo to watch a match of the newly created World Series Cricket being played. West Indies versus World XI.
OI took the one cricket bat we owned and a market pen, along with me. During the course of the match I gathered all the signatures I could from players as they left the field after batting, as they sat in the stands waiting for their turn to bat, and when they were fielding close to the boundary.
I remember Clive Lloyd, who was sitting in the stands when I approached him, expressing some good natured scepticism that the signatures would remain permanently on the bat as he was signing it, due to the tyupe of marker pen used. I also recall Tony Greig not stopping to sign it as he left the field after batting. I'm sure he had other more pressing issues on his mind at the time.
When we returned home my father painted a type of a lacquer over each of the signatures in an attempt to ensure some sort of permanency. As it was the only cricket bat my brothers and I had, we continued to use it in our backyard games. Which goes a long way in explaining its current state. My brothers and I all left the farm in the early 1980's and I took the cricket bat with me. Since then it has remained in my possession up until now.
I'm very happy to see it returned to the place of its origin, and for it to be kept in perpetuity at the Bendigo Hisgtorical Society, as it is part of the twentieth century history of Bendigo. I hope it brings some small pleasure to all who are interested in such things'.
Rohan Moresi
Physical description
Cricket bat, blue material on handle grip of bat. Bat has signatures on the blade section. The bat was taken by Rohan Morosi, then 12, at the Queen Elizabeth Oval in December 1977, where he attended a game of the newly created World Series Cricket competition between West Indies versus World XI. Rohan gathered many signatures from players as they left after batting.
Inscriptions & markings
The signature of Clive Lloyd, Ajif Labal, Mushtag Mohammed, Dennis Amiss, Eddie Barlow, Andy Roberts, Bob Woolmer, Barry Richards, Imran Khan and Joel Garner were on the bat.
