CS Team of the Century | ‘I just loved the game’: Numurkah’s Fred Brown reflects on standout innings

In the lead-up to the ceremony, The News will run special feature pieces on all 30 players, before the release of a commemorative magazine on November 25.

The game of cricket has always been in the blood of Numurkah stalwart Fred Brown.

For more than 40 years, Brown graced cricket fields across Victoria, enjoying the camaraderie of a Saturday afternoon with his best mates — and scoring a run or two in the process.

But for the talented batter it was never about making the highest score or winning the most premierships, rather ingraining himself in the community and simply playing cricket for the enjoyment of the game.

So when asked of his reaction to finding out about his selection to the Team of the Century shortlist, Brown said it was an honour and a shock.

“It is a massive honour to be one of the players shortlisted in the Team of the Century,” Brown said.

“I think there are a lot more deserving people as cricketers to be there, but anyway, to be thought of in that company it is very special.

“I was just a guy that loved the game.”

The beginning of Brown’s love affair with cricket is similar to many young boys growing up in Australia, as he recalled how the game helped him through his childhood.

“For me the journey began way back in 1958 in Robinvale following my dad to the local cricket,” he said.

“Being around the game so frequently at that age I fell in love with it very quickly, we moved around a bit growing up and eventually found our way to Barooga where I played a lot of my juniors.

“From there we shifted to Melbourne where I kept up playing cricket at school before eventually moving up to Numurkah in my late teens.

“All through that time I just loved playing cricket, it was a massive part of my childhood.”

Settling at Numurkah as he embarked on a career in the pub game, Brown made his way out to one of the town’s two cricket clubs at the time.

Plying his trade in the Murray Valley Cricket Association, he would play a part in four consecutive flags in the late 1960s and early ’70s, quickly making a name for himself as one of the region’s premier batters.

This dominance in the MVCA would result in Numurkah Cricket Club merging with Numurkah Youth Club in 1971, marking the beginning of Brown’s tenure in what was then the Shepparton Cricket Association.

“Joining with the other Numurkah side we were a bit unsure how it was going to go at first,” Brown said.

“But we just had so much talent and it worked perfectly from the get-go, we played some great cricket in the early ’70s and in 1973-74 were lucky enough to win the flag as an amalgamated club.

“I don’t remember too much of the game despite the fact it was very close, but I remember the celebrations were incredible, the whole town got right around us and we kicked on for a few days.”

While the early part of his career was littered with premiership success, 1973-74 would be his final taste of A-grade glory, with the people of Numurkah having to wait 45 years to grasp the Haisman Shield again.

Still heavily involved with the club after retiring from the game in 2000, Brown fondly recalled the day the Blues finally broke the drought.

“Success came pretty quick when we amalgamated by jolly, there was one hell of a draft after it and we had a lot of good sides over those years too, but lost a lot of grand finals,” he said.

“So watching on in 2018-19 when the guys finally won again it was a very special day, there aren’t a lot of us left from that first flag still around Numurkah, so to be there and that link between the two winning teams I really enjoyed it.”