Scotch College

Gus’ Guzlars clean sweep

Strath Creek Victoria, 30 January 2005

In the annual Australia Day eights tournament, Gus McQueen’s ‘Guzlars’ narrowly defeated the three other teams for a clean sweep. The other teams were the Silver Foxes, the Edinburgh Eccentrics, and Tubby’s men. The games consisted of a seven-over innings (14-over match) where each player bowls one over, excluding the wicket keeper. Several of the games saw the run rate at over 14 an over. Liam McDonnell (’91) top scored with a match-winning 54 off 20 balls including five sixes! He hit 26 off one over. Match Umpire Michael Knox from the Riverina, father of John (’90) and Richard (’95), said it was one of the most entertaining games of cricket he had ever seen. The event, now in its 10th year, has seen many Scotch boys play at Don McQueen’s private cricket ground at Strath Creek.

GUS MCQUEEN (’91)

The triumphant team: Gus Elliott (’92), Dugald McWilliams (’90), Liam McDonnell (’91), Mark Costa, Kingsley Oldfield (’91), Gus McQueen (’91), Andrew Croxford (’92) and Don McQueen.

The flood in 1934

The recent story and photograph of the flood reminded me of the major flood which swamped the school on Saturday, 1 December 1934. Six inches of rain had fallen on the Thursday and Friday and, without the buffer of the Upper Yarra Dam, which was not built till the late 1950s, or the protection of a levee bank, the school was soon awash. Two prefects of 1934, Geoff Collie and Henry Marshall, had come to school to see the extent of the flood.

They decided to have a wider look, so managed to get a tub pair from the boatshed – neither had rowed before – and headed across the Meares oval and the horse paddock (where the Hockey ground is now), across the Melville (Lower) oval and out into Glenferrie Road. Glenferrie Road was not fenced at the time. They headed down to Kooyong where they rowed over the outside courts and decided that, as the flood was still rising, they had better get their boat back into the boatshed. They managed this despite the rising water, and just in time too. Ten minutes later the boatshed, boats and all went tumbling down the river. Most of it snagged under the MacRobertson bridge. Only one boat survived relatively unscathed: the tub pair! At its peak the flood lapped on the top step of the Memorial Hall facing the oval.

Geoff returned to Scotch in 1935 as Vice-Captain of School. He was outstanding at sport, like his grandson, Tim Downing, our 1999 School Captain.

Geoff spent WW2 in the Navy, attached to the Royal Navy. His first appointment was to the Russian conveys. He now loathes baked beans, which they ate cold for months on these convoys. He transferred to Motor Torpedo Boats and was soon to skipper his boat, working mainly in the North Sea and the Channel. By a strange coincidence his 2IC , Philip Dale, was later to become my brother-in-law. Geoff was very busy on D-Day. His last game of cricket was at Lord’s representing the Royal Navy v. the Army.

DICK BRIGGS
Archivist