History and First XI finishes

The Club

The history of the South Yarra Cricket Club (The Yarras) is a little vague. The Stonnington archives have the South Yarra Cricket Club playing way back to 1863 but it’s not until 1973 when SYCC and the Windsor Cricket Club merge that the historical evidence is picked up.

 

Post that merger the club fielded two teams in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association (known then as the VJCA). Then in the late 1980's numbers were strong enough to warrant a third XI which allowed the club to put a team into the Mercantile Cricket Association (MCA). We now only play within the MCA as it allows our players to play more 'locally' and we tend field five to six sides each season.

 

The club has over 500 past and present members that have a diverse social and cultural background. Not just creating a better community through understanding but also keeps the club dynamic and fun.

 

The club has an Australian representative, Don Blackie who was a right arm off spinner who debuted for Australia in 1928/29 at the impressive age 46. 

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Como Park

In 1847 Sir Edward Williams, a lawyer, politician and later Judge of the first Supreme Court of Victoria, purchased land extending from the Yarra River to Toorak Road. Its lake and water vistas inspired Williams to name it after Lake Como in Italy, where he had proposed to his wife, Jessie.

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Over time, the lake became a swamp when the level of the Yarra River became lower. Then in 1921, Prahran Council purchased 35 acres from the owners and spent many years draining the swamp and re-grading the land. The site was then transformed into a public park and recreation ground and opened to the public in 1934. This former swamp is where the beautiful Como Park now resides, a far cry from what it once was.

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