Club History

Foundation of D.B.C.C.

Deepdene is the oldest continuously playing Club in the Eastern Cricket Association. Each year we play Canterbury (another ancient club) for the Boroondara Cup (currently in our clubrooms). This award was instituted during the centenary year of the ECA when we played for the honour on the Camberwell sports ground.

The Deepdene Cricket Club is fast approaching its "Century Season". Fortunately a considerable effort over many seasons has seen the documentation of many individual, grade, team & club records. In addition, the clubs foundation in 1920 has been pieced together using local papers of the time (Hawthorn & Camberwell Citizen) and where possible pictures and memorabilia from descendants of one or two past players.

We have been very fortunate to have a copy of the 1924/25 premiership photo donated to the club which now forms part of our historical collection in the clubrooms at Deepdene Park.

By way of background, the Deepdene Cricket Club was very strongly linked to the Deepdene Congregational Church, which was once located on the N/E comer of Whitehorse Road and Leonard Street where the Winning Edge now stands. The club began as a social team before forming in August 1921 and played in a paddock in Norbett Street, Balwyn in 1921 and then at Deepdene Park from 1923 on land donated by Mr Alexander MacNiel. Deepdene Park officially opened in August 1924. The area was still developing in the 1920's with many new estates being built in Deepdene/Balwyn yet much of the area north of Gordon Street still existed as open spaces, paddocks, chicken runs and dairies. Today the suburb and surrounding areas are well established, as is the cricket club with four senior and seven junior teams, with the club also running a "Milo Aus-Hit" program for the little "tackers".

One of the great milestones occurred in 1996 when North Kew Bears merged with Deepdene bringing with them their own rich oral history. As exemplified by the statistical chronicle Wisdene, Deepdene maintains a strong written history. All the North Kew scorebooks were lost in a disaster (fire, flood or tempest depending on who you speak to) so we have to rely on history being passed on from generation to generation. In the same way that this is a valid tradition in indigenous society, it is fun to corner a North Kew elder so that he can evoke stories of the dream time when as Box Hill Districts they played in the Box Hill Reporter competition. In the ECA, North Kew first 11 hovered around the upper/middle grades and at one stage had the most feared attack in B grade. The strong junior program from North Kew was the basis for today's junior Bears activities.

Our Clubrooms & Museum

Take the time to peruse the display cabinets and photo memorabilia. Perhaps we should ask our historian to take people on tours of the museum. We are privileged to have one of the best clubrooms in the area, and it is decorated to bring the history of the club into our presence. The walls describe the efforts of true greats.