THE Warrnambool and District Cricket Association (WDCA) has used its annual general meeting to honour two of its most respected figures.
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Gary MacLean, from Nestles, and Bill Fary, from Merrivale, were announced as life members of the WDCA on Monday night.
MacLean and Fary have been contributors to their clubs in playing and administration roles.
“It’s a big honour. It’s something I will be able to look back on once I’ve finished playing,” Fary said.
“I love playing cricket and the club is heading in the right direction with some good young players coming through.” Fary has been an outstanding all-rounder and is regarded as one of the best leg-spinners the WDCA has seen.
He has claimed more than 800 wickets, made more than 7500 runs and played in four premierships for his beloved Tigers across divisions one, two and three.
Fary has taken part in 18 Country Week campaigns and won 13 club division one and seven division two cricketer of the year awards.
Off the field he has put in countless hours as curator of the Merrivale turf wicket, has been on the club committee for 27 years, seven as president.
Since joining Nestles in the late 1980s, MacLean established himself as one of the premier WDCA fast bowlers of his generation.
In his 266 games for Nestles, MacLean claimed 634 wickets at division one level, placing him third on the club list of wicket-takers.
He has also been a member of six division one premierships.
He represented the WDCA at Country Week on five occasions and in 1994 played for the Victoria Country representative team.
MacLean has won four division one cricketer of the year awards at Nestles, has been a long-time committee member and served as club president for the last three years.
“It was a bit of a shock. I didn’t realise the club had nominated me,” MacLean said.
“It probably hasn’t sunk in yet but it is a fantastic honour and great to share it with Bill Fary, who has done so much for the association and for Merrivale.”
Other business at the WDCA annual general meeting included naming of an unchanged executive for 2015/16.
The executive is Nick Frampton (chairman), Gordon McLeod (senior vice-chairman), Bruce Membrey (junior vice-president), Michael Harrison (general manager), Georgia Harrison (treasurer), Antony Brown and Andrew Sloane (committee).
