Since 1965
Since 1965
It is with regret that we advise we were recently made aware of the sad passing on 12 April of Wayne Wishart, 1st Grade player #90, after a sudden heart attack in Western Australia. After dominating junior cricket with Engadine Dragons, enigmatic Wayne flashed across the SDCC horizon like a meteor when he decided to join his brother Steve in grade cricket at the age of 18. In the 1979-80 season, he started in 4th Grade and moved through the ranks to make his 1st Grade debut on 2.2.80. He had played one match in 4ths, three in 3rds and five in 2nds (where he took 14 wickets at 20.9) before the selectors decided to put his pace bowling to the test in the top grade. His debut came against Gordon at Chatswood Oval, where then-NSW top order batsman Trevor Chappell took a liking to his short balls and despatched a few deliveries over the short square boundary. Undaunted, he came back to finish the day with 3-76.
In 1980-81, after one match in 2nds in which he took 6-72, he formed a very useful new ball partnership with Bob Buckland, who had joined the club from South Perth. Bob took 35 wickets at 17.1 in 11 matches before he succumbed to a bad back injury. Wayne took 27 wickets at 20.5 in 13 matches. His best figures were 6-45 against Wests, including the prized scalp of Dirk Wellham. Bob had returned to the West and Wayne decided to follow him over there to try his luck in a new environment – and so, as quickly as he had arrived and shown considerable promise, he was gone! Respected journalist Warwick Hadfield wrote in the local Pictorial News “Wayne’s run to the wicket is the shortest of any bowler of comparable pace I have seen. Letting the ball go high up in his delivery, he surprises batsmen with extra bounce off the pitch.”
Wayne played 29 matches in all grades for Sutherland, taking 66 wickets at 22.2. He lived the rest of his life in the Fremantle area until he was taken too soon at the age of 64. To his brother Steve and sister Lindsay, we extend our sincere condolences.
