From Guyana to Nyora, Henry Dolphin is still smashing first-team tons at age 59 in South Gippsland cricket

“It was,’’ confirms Henry Dolphin.

When Dolphin reached his century for Nyora in a match in the Leongatha and District association, a streaker dashed on to the ground to extend her congratulations.

Urged on by pledges of $500, she had emerged from the ladies’ day function raising money for the McGrath Foundation.

Trouble was, she ventured to the wrong end, her compliments going to the nonstriker instead of the century-maker.

The nonstriker, of course, did not complain.

“I said, ‘I’ve just scored the hundred, why are you going to him?’ I’ve told her since to just get it right next time!’’ Dolphin says.

The most surprising element of the story is not that a female streaker appeared on a cricket ground in country Victoria last February.

It is that Henry Dolphin, at age 59, is still hitting centuries in first-team cricket.

Even as he closes in on qualification for Over 60s, his wicket is still coveted by players who – through that trusty news source, the bush telegraph – have come to know a little about him.

“He played a game for the West Indies!’’ an opponent said a few weeks ago.

No, he did not. But Dolphin did play at county level in his native Guyana and met opponents of the calibre of Courtney Walsh and Ian Bishop.

Of course, the pace of the bowling is appreciably slower in South Gippsland.

“It’s more of a batter’s competition,’’ Dolphin says generously.

He is in his third season at Nyora, which is a 50-minute drive from his home in Frankston.

Dolphin had played an Over 50s match at the ground, liked the look of it and got talking to club officials at the bar.

One asked if he would be interested in joining Nyora. He said they could have a chat.

A few weeks later, the club invited him to the end-of-season presentation and asked him to give a talk.

It also presented him with a club jumper.

“It was hard to resist when they did that,’’ he says. “So I went there the next season.’’

His appointment as captain-coach extended a happy journey in Victorian cricket that began when a cricketing friend encouraged him to come out from Guyana to play on the Mornington Peninsula 25 years ago.

He spoke with Sorrento Cricket Club but the deal fell through.

Crib Point jumped in and arranged for him to fly out for the 1998-99 season.

Dolphin liked it so much he decided to stay, bringing out his wife and daughter.

Internationals Graham Yallop, Shaun Graf and Crib product Simon Cook were his sponsors.

“Australia is a great place to live. I just wasn’t too fond of the Melbourne weather,’’ he says.

He made his dollars from playing cricket and driving cabs.

And he made his name in the Mornington Peninsula association as an aggressive opening batter and leg-spin bowler who liked to unwind after a game with a glass of rum.

“He basically came out and took the competition by storm,’’ says Steve Morone, who was behind Crib Point recruiting Dolphin.

*****

“It was every boy’s dream to play cricket for the West Indies,’’ Henry Dolphin says, recalling his childhood in Guyana.

His parents had five sons and they all played cricket.

“Cricket wasn’t really organised until you got to Under 16s, Under 19s level,’’ Dolphin says.

“We played a lot of backyard cricket with people in the villages.’’

He started out as a medium-pace bowler but turned to batting when his team needed an opener.

“I thought I’d give it a crack,’’ he says. “It all started from there.’’

He played two county games, being called up for a debut to replace an opener who had been struck in the face by a ball from West Indies quickie Colin Croft.

Dolphin was 17 and he remembers that people were anxious for him.

He was less worried.

“Fast bowling never really troubled me,’’ he says.

The leg-spin came in when he realised fast bowling at his height – 5’7” – was “too much hard work’’.

He taught himself to bowl leggies.

“No one ever coached me,’’ he says. “I picked it all up from reading cricket books and watching cricket and listening to guys talk about the game.

“I was reading this book one day and an Australian mystery spinner by the name of Johnny Gleeson was in it. I saw how he was holding the ball. I wanted to be a mystery spinner as well.’’

The first international matches he watched involved Ian Chappell’s 1973 team on its tour of the West Indies.

He can remember watching Greg Chappell score a century against Guyana – “he made it look so easy that I thought it was easy’’ – and his brother hit a hundred in the Test at Bourda.

Roy Fredericks played in that series. Dolphin adopted him as his idol, “for his attacking style’’.

“We all know what he did to ‘Thommo’ (Jeff Thomson) and (Dennis) Lillee,’’ he says.

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Henry Dolphin made a happy home at Crib Point, a town with a population of about 3,500 people on the Mornington Peninsula, where sport brings the locals together.

“Great cricket club. Great family club,’’ Dolphin says. “I got support from everyone. I could walk down the street and any man, woman or child from Crib Point would stop me and have a chat. I felt the respect and the love, you know.’’

Hitting hard like his hero Fredericks and twirling out his leg-spin, the smiling Dolphin became one of Crib’s greatest players, his name regularly going on the honour board in gold-leaf lettering.

He was captain-coach of Crib’s premiership team in 2004-05 and won two medals as the league’s best and fairest player.

Crib Point president and long-time teammate Ricky Thompson recalls Dolphin’s innings in the grand final, when a player known for his dash dug in to bat the whole day for 30-odd runs.

When Dolphin arrived at the club, he gave officials a 1988 bottle of rum and said it was only to be opened when the Magpies won a First XI premiership.

The top was twisted off after a tense grand final against Mt Eliza.

It was Crib Point’s first premiership in the District competition and its first flag since 1988-89.

The locals took to their Guyanese coach, enjoying the sight of him dipping into short bowling.

For many years, he did so without the protection of a helmet.

Near the end of his time at Crib Point, he put on a lid at the urging of his daughter, “just to be safe’’.

He also had to use one when he started playing Over 50s cricket. But he wears only a cap now. “It’s hard to see through the grilles,’’ he says.

Thompson says Dolphin was Crib’s “first real import, the first big recruit Crib Point ever got’’.

“I guess what they were expecting didn’t arrive,’’ Thompson says.

“I think they were expecting a big, tall fast bowler and they ended up with a short, stocky little leg-spinner. But his impact on the field … enormous.

“He’s probably the best batsmen Crib Point ever had, still to this day. He had that typical calypso style, played the hook shot and the pull shot very well. It really didn’t matter what the situation of the game was, if he wanted to go, he’d go. He also had that temperament to stay in when he needed to. But what he loved to do most was go pretty hard, back when there was fast bowlers in the league.’’

He says Dolphin played cricket with a “cheeky arrogance’’.

“He always talked to the opposition but in a friendly way, with no aggression,’’ Thompson recalls. “Really, on and off the field, he’s a pure gentleman. He’d say hello to everyone, whether you were in the fifths or the ones. He treated everybody the same.’’

Dolphin crossed to Moorooduc after a long run as Crib Point’s captain and coach, and also spent time at Frankston YCW and Devon Meadows.

At Moorooduc, he did exactly what he’d done at Crib: lift the club to the top grade of Mornington Peninsula cricket, Provincial.

His second-innings half-century in the grand final took the match out of the reach of the Ducs’ opponent, Boneo.

In between his stints at other clubs, he made two popular returns to Crib.

In the first, at the age of 51, he hit 75 off 201 balls in a Provincial grand final.

The Frankston Standard said he was “all class and determination’’.

*****

“Most of the guys I played cricket with retired 25 years ago,’’ Henry Dolphin says.

He’s continued on, he explains, because he still loves playing – Thompson calls him a “cricket tragic’’ – and because he’s kept himself fit.

Of course, time has staked its claim.

“I’ve had a bad Achilles for the past two or three years,’’ he says. “It’s always sore. If it wasn’t for that, I could play on until I’m 85 or something. I’m very lucky. I’ve never really had serious injuries.’’

How’s he seeing them?

“I’m still seeing the ball well,’’ he says.

Nyora is in the A2 section of the Leongatha and District association and Dolphin is among the division’s best players.

In his two completed seasons, he has finished runner-up in the league medal and gained selection in the team of the year.

Five weeks ago, he blitzed 117 not out to lead his team to a 40-over total of 2-226.

It was his fourth century for Nyora, which has two senior men’s teams, a women’s XI and juniors.

“Henry’s brought a level of professionalism to our club,’’ Nyora secretary Adam White says.

“He’s just got a demeanour that people respect. Everyone in our club loves him. There’s never a bad word said about him.’’

Dolphin became a grandfather three months ago.

“My daughter is telling me I’ll have to give up cricket soon and spend time with her (granddaughter),’’ he says.

“I didn’t really answer her back. I think she knows I’ll play for as long as I can, because I enjoy that competitiveness. I’m happy to know I can still mix it with the young guys.’’

HENRY DOLPHIN’S TOP 10 PLAYERS FROM 25 YEARS IN VIC LOCAL CRICKET

Terry Doyle: “The best fast bowler, very aggressive, smart and knew what he was doing.’’

Craig Symons: “The most uncomfortable to face. Being tall, he was always putting it above your chest at good pace.’’

Tim Bateman: “A very underrated fast bowler, relentless. I don’t think he got the respect he was owed.’’

Adrian Mack: “My nemesis. He used to get me out for fun.’’

Glenn Barclay: “Great longevity, and with a frail sort of frame. I don’t know how he does it. But he just keeps taking wickets year after year and he’s still going.’’

Nick Jewell: “Was a class above the rest.’’

Daniel Warwick: “One of the most prolific run- scorers in the MPCA. Even got a triple hundred one day.’’

Anthony Blackwell: “He played District cricket, and it showed. He was a class act as a batsman and bowler, and a great guy off the field.’’

Chris Brittain: “Another class act with the bat and he has been since a young age.’’

Bobby Wilson: “I coached Bobby when I went to Moorooduc. He became one of the players in the MPCA.’’