Launceston - Over 60s Cricket Match

25 February 2014 - The North Tasmanian Cricket Association Ground was the site of two games of cricket between Victoria and Tasmania.

Each year the Victorian Over 60s team plays the Tasmanian Over 60s team but this year there was also competition between Over 70s teams from the two states.

Members of the Victorian teams and their supporters left the motel at 9 am by bus to travel to the cricket ground. The weather was perfect for cricket, fine with a projected temperature of 27 degrees.

The Over 60s match, a 50 over game, was due to start at 10 am however the ground was wet so the start of play was delayed until 10.30. The teams took advantage of the additional time for a warm-up session and, of course, team photos in front of the David Boon Stand.

The Victorian Over 60s team batted first and made 8 for 188 on a slow pitch. After lunch it was the Tasmanians turn to bat and they were all out for 135, a victory for the Victorian team by 53 runs.

In the Over 70s match Tasmania scored 9 for 137. Batting after lunch Victoria had made 145 runs for the loss of two wickets, winning the match by eight wickets.

History is everywhere in Launceston. A plaque on the wall of the David Boon Stand commemorates the first Inter-Colonial First Class Match which was played in Launceston between Port Phillip (Victoria) and Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in February 1851 - an important event in the history of Australian cricket.

The streetscape along Racecourse Road near the cricket ground provides interesting examples of older style housing that can be seen throughout many parts of Launceston.

Later in the evening at the motel a combined teams dinner was held where the shields were presented to the captains of the winning teams and the Man of the Match awards were made.  It had been a great day for Victoria despite the thick band of smoke from the Victorian bushfires that covered the ground for about five hours from around 12 o'clock - a reminder of another aspect of summer in Australia.

Launceston

24 February 2014 - We flew on Jeststar from Melbourne to Launceston with other members of the Victorian Over 60s and Over 70s cricket team all wearing their blue and white striped team shirts. The short flight landed at 1.30 and we were met at the airport by a bus to take us to the Village Family Motor Inn in Westbury Road, Prospect.

After checking in at the motel we were back on the bus for  visit to Boag's Brewery.

James Boag senior arrived in Launceston from Scotland in 1853 and was employed in one of the many breweries in the area. In 1881 the Esk Brewery was established and in 1883 the management of the brewery and the neighbouring Cornwall Brewery were merged into J Boag & Son. Over the years the brewery has grown and ownership has changed. The brewery is now part of the Lion Nathan Group however continues to trade under the James Boag label.

Part of Boag's Brewery site

After a tour of the brewery, while most of the group went across the road for a beer tasting session, I went for a short walk to look at some of the Colonial and Victorian buildings that abound in the area.

The first European settlement in Van Diemen's Land was at Hobart in 1803. The first settlement in the north was at George Town in 1804. The settlement moved to York Town a few weeks later. At the beginning of 1806 the site of Launceston was chosen for a permanent settlement. Originally named Patersonia the name was changed to Launceston, after the Launceston in Cornwall which was the birthplace of Governor King.

Many of the early buildings in Launceston were built by convicts and some were also designed by convict architects. Some of these buildings built in the 1840s still exist in Launceston today.

 

The population of Launceston reached 2,000 by 1827 and the town was now an export centre primarily for the pastoral industry.

In the 1870s and 1880s Launceston benefited from tin mining and gold mining in nearby areas and grew substantially. In 1889 Launceston was declared a city.

Tasmanian Flour Mill

Back at the beer tasting there was also opportunity taste a selection of local cheese and to visit the small museum upstairs covering some of the history of the brewery.