The second edition of the NWTCA/CNW teams of the decade focuses on the 1960s.
It was an era that saw more growth for the league, with 10 clubs lining up for the start of the 1960-61 A Grade season including the reintroduction of Latrobe and a Burnie Colts team added.
However, that number reduced to eight and even six teams at some stages as the league and clubs struggled to find the competitive balance.
Yeoman were the dominant team of the era, claiming four flags from five grand final appearances, while South Burnie (who later became Burnie) and Devonport won two deciders apiece, and Wynyard and Ulverstone each tasted glory on one occasion.
Turf wickets in the 1960s still favoured the bowlers, with the likes of Devonport’s Harold Allen, Yeoman’s Kerry Hooper and Ulverstone’s Len Pearce all regularly wreaking havoc, while Wynyard’s Tom Rocher backed up his stellar work from the 1950s with one of the finest individual seasons ever seen, taking over 100 wickets across all competitions.
But run tallies started to rise as the depth of quality batsmen grew, led by Kevin Brown (Shef/Dev/Yeo), Lloyd Murphy (Circular Head), Ray Stokes (Sth Burnie/Burnie) and Barry Stewart (Wynyard/Yeoman).
The 1960s team of the decade features nine players who would go on to be inducted into the NWTCA/CNW Hall of Fame, while run machine Stokes was selected for his second team of the decade.
TEAM OF THE DECADE – 1961-62 to 1969-70
KEVIN BROWN (Sheffield/Devonport/Yeoman): 10 full seasons, 3367 runs @ 31.76; RAY STOKES (South Burnie/Burnie): 5 full seasons, 2764 runs @ 60.09; LLOYD MURPHY (Circular Head): 9 full seasons, 2937 runs @ 25.54; ALAN CAREY (Devonport): 7 full seasons, 2384 runs @ 22.28; BARRY STEWART (Wynyard/Yeoman) - WK: 9 full seasons, 2718 runs @ 28.31, 117 catches, 9 stumpings; BADEN SHARMAN (Sheffield): 8 full seasons, 2209 runs @ 25.69, 219 wickets @ 12.24; KERRY HOOPER (Yeoman): 10 full seasons, 2086 runs @ 19.50, 442 wickets @ 8.94; HAROLD ALLEN (Devonport): 10 full seasons, 449 wickets @ 9.94; LEN PEARCE (Ulverstone): 8 full seasons, 294 wickets @ 10.38; DON PEARCE (Ulverstone): 8 full seasons, 200 wickets @ 12.54; DAVID FRANKS (Yeoman): 9 full seasons, 286 wickets @ 9.66. 12th Man - REX NEIL (Sheffield/Latrobe) – 12th Man: 8 full seasons, 270 wickets @ 10.82.
