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The 1930s
Officials, players, members and /or supporters first noted in this decade
W.J. Barry, John Billings, F. Brady, Marcus Burke, Dick Buxton, S. Casey, J.A. Clarebrough, R. Connolly, Pat Costello, Kevin L. Crosbie, Jack Drake, J.F. “Jack” Dynon, Reg Foley, Frank Frewin (social “secretary” in 1935/36 & appointed Secretary to the OXFC in 1936), John Gooden, Jim Harbison, J.J. Haverty, Frank Higginbotham (B Grade VAFA Best & Fairest 1939, runner-up 1934), L. Holzer, Pat Hoppe (Captain of the OXFC 1936), Jim Horan, Tom Howard, John Hurley, Dr, J.G. Hurley, Dr. Allan Keane, Ray Kelly, Des Kennedy, Bill McCormack (wicket-keeper), Lal McLennan, Frank McLoughlin, Con McMahon, John “Jack” Molomby, Arthur Monks, Len Nicholson, Jack O’Shaughnessy, Dr. R. O’Sullivan, C. H. Rigg, T. Rowan, John M. Ryan (wicket-keeper), Vic Schneider, Allan.Shea, Des Sheahan, F. Clive. Sheahan, Vern Sheahan, who had been one of the Club’s star bowlers in his first season, left for medical studies at St. Andrews in early 1935. He finished second in the averages for 1934/35. H. Simpson, Joffre Smiley, Jack Tissot, Doug Williams, Dick Willis (wicket-keeper) & Bob Willis.

1930/31
Said to be the youngest team since 1926 “as practically every member is a former first XI player”.
A team called the Chemists entered the competition. An MCC “E” team also appeared. 14 games were scheduled until the end of March 1931 but the Club recorded 4 wins, 5 losses and 1 draw.

Highlights:
Dick Carroll: 108 runs (out of a total of 344) v. Chemists.
Harold Mortensen 64 runs & Leo Starr 59 (First innings), &, Maurice Collins, a breezy 67 runs of a score of 4/80 (Second innings) v. University.
Tom Howard: 77 runs v. Chemists.
Jack Ley: 62 not out v. Richmond.
Jim Madden 62 runs & Dick Carroll 59 v. MCC “E”.
Harold Mortensen: 59 runs v. Old Caulfield.
S. Jack Casey: 57 runs v. MCC “A”.
Second wicket record partnership: 167 runs - Dick Carroll & Tom Howard v. Chemists.
Seventh wicket record partnership: 105 runs - Harold Mortensen & Leo Starr v. University
Bowling partners: Frank Cleal (5/23) & Leo Starr (5/44) v. Richmond Club XI.

The Old Boys defeated the School 266 to 9/253. George Denton scored 67 runs in this game.

A Decade in the V.J.C.A. Turf Competition
1931/32
The Club switched to the VJCA Turf competition (allegedly an idea conceived by Dick Carroll) and was allotted to “B” Division of the First Grade. Attendances at the nets were reported as “very satisfactory”. The opposition included Fairfield, South Hawthorn, Fitzroy Footballers (reigning premiers) and Williamstown District. Only one win was recorded.

“The Xaverian” 1934 noted:
“It was soon realized that the turf wickets of most of the VJCA clubs were not those of Xavier, Scotch, Wesley or the other Public Schools, and our first year in the Association found us occupying a position which, to say the least of it, was not very flattering to a band of ex-Public School cricketers”.

Averages/aggregates (if known):
Bowling: George Denton (19 @ 11.7), Maurice Collins (19 @ 18.4) & Harold Mortensen (17 @ 19.1).

Highlights:
Brendan O”Halloran: 130 runs in the game against the School. George Denton: 95 runs v. South Hawthorn.

1932/33
The Club was placed eleventh out of the twenty teams engaged in “A” & “B” Divisions of the VJCA first grade. The Club won 6 games, lost 4 and drew 1.

A loss to the School was suffered due to the intervention of rain after the School had completed its innings.

1933/34
Results: Won 6, lost 4 and drew 1, placed eleventh again.

Highlights:
Fourth wicket record partnership: 127 runs - Jack Dynon & Frank Higginbotham v. Alphington.
Tenth wicket record partnership: 33 runs ­ Kevin Crosbie & J Drake v. Williamstown

1934/35
J.F. “Jack” Dynon appointed Captain.
Maurice Collins was unavailable until later in the season. His loss was also felt by the OXFC where he was captain in 1927, 1928 and 1929 and scored 27 goals in 1927 and was the top scorer in 1932 with 53 goals. The Club competed in “A” Division of the VJCA, finishing seventh (of 12) with 5 wins, 2 draws and 5 losses. The Club had led the competition with 2 games to play but lost those games by 5 and 7 runs respectively. Due to rain, play was possible on only 12 of 23 days and, in thanks to the School for managing to provide pitches in the circumstances, the Club presented a trophy to be awarded to a member of the First Eleven to be chosen by the Sportsmaster.

Averages/aggregates (if known):
Batting: Frank Higginbotham (301 runs @ 23.15).
Other batting: Jack Dynon (251 runs @ 17.93).
Bowling: Jim Harbison (39 @ 8.95).
Other bowling: Vern Sheahan (18 @ 9.72)
Kevin Crosbie (26 @ 10.92)
Maurice Collins (22 @ 12.64)
Higginbotham and Harbison were placed sixth in the VJCA competition.
The All-Round Player trophy was shared by Jim Horan (284 runs @ 21.85 & 29 wickets @ 12.41) and Jack Casey (197 runs @ 14.07 but bowling figures not reported).
Highlights:
Frank Higginbotham: 135 not out v. Lands Department. He was awarded a “Herald” bat. He had previously scored a century in this competition, the details of which are not available. However, it was reported that in 1938/39 had failed to score “his usual century”. It is likely that this previous century was in 1933/34. He was also the first Club member to exceed 1000 runs in the VJCA.
Maurice Collins passed 100 wickets in the VJCA.
Jim Horan (89 runs), Jack Dynon (87) and Casey (53) v. unnamed opponents.

Opening partnership:112 runs - Jack Dynon & Jim Horan as part of a 96 minutes’ chase for 188 runs, a chase which fell 5 runs short v. Clifton Hill.
Third wicket record partnership (in 100 minutes): 164 runs - Jack Dynon & Jim Horan v. St. Kilda.
Sixth wicket partnership: 120 runs - Jack Dynon & Jim Horan v. Lands Department.
Eighth wicket partnership: 48 runs - Frank Higginbotham & Jack Casey v. YMCA.

The School was played twice with honours shared.
A social match was played in Ballarat v. the St. Patrick’s XI and a trip was being arranged to play the Naval Depot at Flinders.

1935/36
Maurice Collins resumed the captaincy (for his ninth season).
Jack Dynon, last season’s captain, played the first game but went on to play at Melbourne University before heading to Oxford University.
The VJCA re-vamped itself into zones to cut down travel and different and, as expected, stronger opponents were faced. A significant fall in attendances at practice and drop in punctuality at some matches were reported in the 1936 “Xaverian”. The Club finished second last of 10 teams, with 3 wins from 12 games.

Averages/aggregates (if known):
Jim Harbison won both the batting and bowling averages although he might have conceded the batting award to John Gooden (206 runs @ 41.2) if Gooden had played sufficient games to qualify for that honour. Kevin Crosbie ran a narrow second in the bowling averages.

Highlights:
Jim Harbison: 89 runs v. Richmond City.
Maurice Collins: 7/31 (including 3 wickets in 4 balls) and 5/110 v. Carnegie (in an outright loss to the eventual premiers after leading on the first innings).
Dick Carroll passed 1000 runs for the Club (1032 runs @ 10.11)

Four social matches were played, including a one run win against a Korumburra side organized by Frank McLoughlin (a side which included a former interstate player, “Bert” Lansdowne ) and a game against the Naval Depot at Flinders, an event repeated in the 1970s.

At the end of its first decade, the Club recorded 127 matches for 52 wins, 62 losses. 12 draws and 1 tie.

Maurice Collins retired at the end of the season. He reached a total of 1717 runs @ 15.75, and, 193 wickets @ 14.9 over all seasons.

Jim Harbison did not return to the Club for the next season but, before leaving the Club, he took his wickets’ tally for his two seasons to 82 @ 10.00. Over the same period, he scored 350 runs @ 17.14.

1936/37
Captain: Dick Carroll.
Dick was elected to captain the side following the departure of Maurice Collins. As well as Collins and Harbison, Harold Mortensen and all-rounders, Bill McCormack and Con McMahon were missing from the previous season and John Gooden was also absent for most of the season.

The Club finished sixth on the VJCA ladder with 4 wins, 6 losses and a draw. A revival of club interest and fortunes were attributed largely to the Captain, whose services were to be lost for some time due to a work transfer. His Club statistics to 1037 was 1367 runs (with 3 centuries) @ 19.81 and 67 wickets @ 23.06.

Kevin Crosbie also passed 100 wickets for the Club (119 @ 13.4), joining Harold Mortensen, Jim Horan and Maurice Collins with their like achievements. Frank Higginbotham improved his run aggregate to 1797 runs @ 24.28.

Averages/aggregates (if known):
Batting: Bob Willis.
Bowling: Pat Costello.
Both were first year players. Other recruits to show promise were John Ryan and Lal McLennan.
The School defeated the Club by 13 runs.

By the end of the year, the Club record extended to 140 matches for 56 wins, 70 losses. 13 draws and 1 tie.

1937/38
Captain: Dr. Allan Keane, former Captain of Xavier.
Trophies were donated by Dr. Sam Marron (Batting) and Mr. Larkins (Bowling).

The Club finished lowly eleventh out of 14 teams after the loss of further players [e.g. Dick Carroll (last year’s captain was moved to Geelong), Bob Willis (to Brisbane) and retirees Jim Horan, Pat Hoppe, Jack Casey, John Ryan and Allan Shea]. It was hoped that the infusion of new blood would bring the Club closer to the Final Four.

Averages/aggregates (if known):
Batting: Frank Higginbotham (He increased his aggregate to 2109 runs @ 24.52). Joe Kelly (runner-up).
Bowling: Joe Kelly
Kevin Crosbie (the runner-up, for the fourth time, increased his wicket tally to 158.)
Joe Kelly was congratulated “on his success with the Footscray League Team as coach this season”. He had previously played on the wing for Carlton Joe would coach the amateur team in the display match of Australian Rules football at the 1956 Olympic Games. He was the first Old Xaverian to coach the VAFA and Australian Amateurs squads.
At Xavier, Joe was a member of the first Xavier XI to become the Public Schools’ champions.

Highlights:
Another century to Frank Higginbotham (“his usual century” and “the highest of the season”).
The Club defeated Kilmore (Dr. Keane’s old team) in a social match.

1938/39
Captain: Joe Kelly.
Under the new Captain, the Club rose to fifth. This was assisted by the return of a number of formerly retired players including Maurice Collins (whose Club tally exceeded 2000 runs), Dick Carroll, Brendan O’Halloran, Dick Willis and, when available, Bob Willis and Vern Sheahan. However, Arthur Monks, John Hurley and Des Sheahan started with the Club.

Averages/aggregates (if known):
Batting:Lal McLennan (566 runs @ 37.88)
Joe Kelly (a close runner-up for the second year in a row).
Dr, Keane (257 runs @ 25.70).
Bowling: Lal McLennan (66 wickets - average not available).
Joe Kelly (a close runner-up for the second year in a row)
Joe Kelly’s batting and bowling figures are not available).

Highlights:
Lal McLennan: 6/71 and 172 not out in the Club’s defeat of Box Hill in the opening round. This was reported as the highest OXCC score to that time and also the highest individual score in the VJCA Turf competition since its foundation in 1930.
Lal also took the last 2 wickets with successive balls in a one run victory over Spotswood.
Adding to his 198 wickets, Maurice Collins passed 2000 runs for the Club.

Seventh wicket partnership: 71 runs - Allan Keane & Pat Costello v. Alphington, Eighth wicket record partnership: 68 runs - Allan Keane & Arthur Monks v. Alphington.
Tenth wicket record partnership: 53 runs ­ Joe Kelly & Kevin Crosbie v. Melbourne District.

Frank Higginbotham failed to score a century but achieved the first OXCC hat-trick. His run tally rose to 2438.
A return match was played against a Kilmore team (Dr. Keane’s old team).

By the end of the year, the Club record extended to 153 matches for 64 wins, 75 losses, 13 draws and 1 tie.

1939/40
Military service: Arthur Monks (serving abroad with the A.I.F.).
Captain: Dr. Allan Keane.
John Dynon returned from Oxford University. Dr. John Gooden left to join Wagga Base Hospital.
Maurice Collins, Brendan O’Halloran and Joe Kelly also ceased to play for the Club.

The Club finished sixth of ten teams in the Southern Section VJCA Turf Competition, winning 4 and losing 6 matches.

Averages/aggregates (if known):
Batting: Lal McLennan (441 runs @ 25.9)
Other batting: Dick Buxton, twice not out (183 runs @ 26.1)
Dr. Allan Keane (15.2).
Bowling: Lal McLennan 48 wickets @ 12.5 (“one of the best slow bowlers in the VJCA and but for lack of support in the field, he would have finished with even better figurs”)
Other bowling: Dr. Keane (12 wickets @ 14.5) Keith Mustow (16 @ 17.6) John Molomby (32 @ 18.1).

Highlights:
Social games were played against the School and the Kilmore “town team”. The Club defeated the School by 2 runs, 158 to 156 (with Lal McLennan 58 runs & 5/57). It defeated the Kilmore team 196 runs to 104. Lal retired on 76 runs.