Australian Cricket Society

The Australian Cricket Society is a fraternity of cricket lovers with branches in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania. It was established in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1967.^[1] As of 2016^[update] Ricky Ponting serves as patron.^[1]

Activities

Guest speakers at its Annual Dinners come from the 'Who's Who' of the cricketing world. Down through the years, they've included Sir Donald Bradman, Lindsay Hassett, Bill Lawry and more recently, Ian Healy, Dean Jones, Damien Fleming, Justin Langer and Barry Richards.^[2] The Society supports youth and grassroots cricket through its Young Cricketer (male and female) and sponsorship of emerging talent through the Elite Cricket Academy.^[2]

Publications

Each summer the Society publishes its flagship magazine, Pavilion, edited by Ken Piesse - a 48-page production with articles by renowned cricket writers and a forum for members and friends. The Cricket Society Scoresheet quarterly news bulletin keeps members informed of upcoming events.

Jack Pollard Trophy

In order to encourage cricket writing in Australia, in 1984 Jack Pollard donated a trophy to be awarded by the Australian Cricket Society to the author of the best Australian cricket book published over the previous 12 months.^[3][2] It is sometimes called the Jack Pollard Literary Award.^[4]

Year	Winning author	Title
1984	Michael Page	Bradman: The Illustrated Biography
1985	Richard Cashman	'Ave a Go, Yer Mug!: Australian Cricket Crowds from Larrikin to Ocker
1986	Phil Derriman	True to the Blue: A History of the New South Wales Cricket Association
1987	Chris Harte	The History of the Sheffield Shield
1988	Jack McHarg	Stan McCabe: The Man and His Cricket
1989	Chris Harte	Two Tours and Pollock: The Australians in South Africa 1985–87
1990	Richard Cashman	The "Demon" Spofforth
1991	Mike Coward	Cricket Beyond the Bazaar
1994	Gideon Haigh	The Cricket War: The Inside Story of Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket
1995	Mike Coward	Australia vs the New South Africa: Cricket Contact Renewed
1998	Gideon Haigh	The Summer Game: Australian Test Cricket 1949–71
2000	Gideon Haigh	Mystery Spinner: The Story of Jack Iverson
2002	Gideon Haigh	The Big Ship: Warwick Armstrong and the Making of Modern Cricket
2003	Mike Colman and Ken Edwards	Eddie Gilbert: The True Story of an Aboriginal Cricketing Legend
2004	Max Bonnell	How Many More Are Coming?: The Short Life of Jack Marsh
2006	Alf Batchelder	Pavilions in the Park: A History of the Melbourne Cricket Club and its Ground
2008	Gideon Haigh and David Frith	Inside Story: Unlocking Australian Cricket's Archives
2009	Greg de Moore	Tom Wills
2010	Alf Batchelder	Hugh Trumble: A Cricketer's Life
2011	Rick Smith	Blighted Lives: The Story of Harry and Albert Trott
2012	Max Bonnell and Andrew Sproul	Tibby Cotter: Fast Bowler, Larrikin, Anzac
2013	Gideon Haigh	On Warne
2015	Daniel Brettig	Whitewash to Whitewash: Australian Cricket's Years of Struggle and Summer of Riches
2016	Elliot Cartledge and Tim Lane	Chasing Shadows: The Life and Death of Peter Roebuck
2017	Gideon Haigh	Stroke of Genius: Victor Trumper and the Shot That Changed Cricket[4]
2018	Denis Brien	All the Kings' Men: A History of the Hindmarsh Cricket Club[5]
2019	Richard Cashman and Ric Sissons	Billy Murdoch, Cricketing Colossus
2020	Greg Growden	Cricketers at War: Cricket Heroes Who Fought for Australia in Battle
2022	Peter Lloyd	Warren Bardsley: The First Mr Cricket
2023	Max Bonnell and Andrew Sproul	Black Swan Summer[6]

NB: The trophy is not awarded every year.

Veterans cricket

The ACS Melbourne Wandering XI plays up to 20 friendlies each season against like-minded players from the MCC XXIX Club, Lords Taverners and the Supreme Court of Victoria. The Society is a founding member of Veterans Cricket Victoria.^[7] fielding Over 60 and 70 year old teams in the Victoria state wide competition and end of season carnival at Echuca. Seventeen ACS players have been chosen to represent Victoria at upcoming Over 60s Australian Over 60s and Over 70s Championships to be held in November 2022.

The Society has been a regular participant in Golden Oldies, Vintage Cricket carnivals and Exotic Cricket Tours around the world and has hosted like-minded overseas touring teams visiting Australia since 1996.