CS Team of the Century | ‘I loved my cricket’: Des Campbell remembers a remarkable innings

By Daniel Webb

Nov 3, 2022

At the crease: Des Campbell poses in front of the stumps.

To celebrate its centenary, Cricket Shepparton will be immortalising its greats by selecting a Team of the Century at an event in November.

The shortlist — consisting of 30 members — recognises those past and present that have had a large impact on the game of cricket both in the region and beyond.

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.

A legend of the Shepparton sporting arena, Des Campbell was not only a gun footballer ― but a quality cricketer.

The talented all-rounder plied his trade at Shepparton Youth Club and Shepparton, with his love for cricket always on show.

Initially unsure whether he deserved to be named in the 30-person Team of the Century squad, Campbell said he missed a lot of cricket due to football commitments.

“I was blown away actually, it gave me a bit of a buzz,” Campbell said.

“My main thing was I wondered whether I had played enough cricket in Shepparton.

“I was coaching footy at 22, so cricket probably took a back seat.”

A gifted footballer, Campbell played VFL football for Melbourne, along with being appointed the youngest coach of Shepparton United Football Club in 1973 and being named in the Goulburn Valley League’s Hall of Fame.

He said despite training with cricket clubs in Melbourne, there was little point playing when he could not play finals due to football.

“I loved my cricket with the Shepparton Youth Club, for a while there I travelled back from Melbourne just to play when I lived in Melbourne for four years,” he said.

“I was always passionate about playing cricket.

“I couldn’t wait to get back home on the weekends.”

Captaining SYC to the 1972-73 Haisman Shield title, Campbell was acknowledged with the association’s batting average award in 1978-79 and 1980-81 along with producing a man-of-the-match performance against Queensland for Victoria Country in 1982.

Making 74 runs against the Sunshine State, Campbell was compared to West Indies captain Clive Lloyd by Australian Test international Geoff Dymock, with Campbell still annoyed a run out prevented him from scoring a century.

“That was a massive thrill,” he said.

“I loved it, without getting too carried away I did all right.”

Multi-sport: Des Campbell was also a gifted footballer (pictured here during his time at Tongala). Photo by Contributed

Starting his career at SYC, Campbell moved to Shepparton, developing his bowling skills at the club.

“They (football clubs) wouldn’t let you plays finals, so I thought I’d go and play at Shepparton, Shepparton’s home ground was Deakin Reserve and whether it was footy or cricket I just loved Deakin Reserve,” he said.

“I went and had three fantastic seasons there, I really enjoyed it, but lo and behold we made the finals one year and I couldn’t play.

“After those few seasons at Shepparton I went back to SYC just to finish, Peter Whitelock was captain, they had a strong side and he pretty much told me ‘you won’t be doing a lot of bowling, really concentrate on your batting’.”

Winning a premiership on his return to SYC, Campbell also had a successful spell at Tongala, however, there was only one cricket competition for him.

“The Shepparton Cricket Association was always where my heart was really,” he said.