Vale Peter Ferguson - 1st Grade Player #92 - Tue 1 Oct

It is with great regret that we advise of the sad passing on Friday morning of Peter Ferguson, SDCC 1st Grade player #92 and 1st Grade captain #10, after a long battle with multiple system atrophy. He was 74 years old. Peter joined Sutherland at the start of the 1980-81 season, after a distinguished career with Western Suburbs DCC where he was a teammate with future Sutherland players Brian O’Dowd, Kerry Richards and Steve Rixon – all of whom played first grade with Peter during his two seasons with us. He played 31 matches for SDCC (23 in 1sts), scoring 452 runs at 14.6 and taking 49 wickets at 28.3. He captained 15 matches in 1sts and 6 matches in 2nds.

At Wests, Peter played first grade between 1967-68 and 1975-76. He scored 1880 runs at 17.90 and took 274 wickets at 19.84. He was a very talented left-arm wrist spinner and was a member of the state squad during that time, but was unable to force his way into the NSW team which had John Gleeson, Kerry O’Keeffe and David Hourn among its spin bowlers at the time.

He played a handful of minor representative matches that featured many well-known cricketers:

• In 1966-67, he played for Sydney Metropolitan Colts against Tasmanian Colts. Among his teammates were future Test players Bruce Francis & David Colley, future NSW players Ross Collins & John Wilson and current or future SDCC players Colin Dodd, Brian O’Dowd & Gordon Shrubsole. He didn’t take any wickets in the 1st innings (due to Colley taking 10-59), but he took 4-25 in the 2nd innings.
• In 1970-71, he played for NSW Present vs NSW Past. The Present team was Tony Steele, Alan Turner, Ross Collins, John Benaud, Doug Walters, David Colley, Stuart Webster, Brian Taber, Peter Ferguson, Ron Crippen & David Hourn, while the Past team was Ian Craig, Bob Simpson, Jim Burke, Warren Saunders, Bill Watson, Neil Marks, Alan Davidson, Richie Benaud, Peter Philpott, Frank Misson & Gordon Rorke (past, current or future Test players’ names in bold). Quite a cavalcade of cricket names!
• In 1972-73, he played for NSW Colts (including former SDCC player Bob Thomas and future Test players Ian Davis, Steve Rixon & Jeff Thomson) vs Queensland Colts (including former SDCC player Kel Symons and future Test players Trevor Hohns & David Ogilvie).
• In 1973-74, he played for Sydney Metropolitan (including former SDCC player Alan Manzie & future SDCC players Kerry Richards & Steve Rixon) vs ACT-Illawarra (captained by former SDCC player Kerry Owen), scoring 83 not out.
• In 1974-75, he again played for Sydney Metropolitan (including current SDCC players John Dyson & Andrew Hilditch and future player Paul Bourke) vs ACT-Illawarra (including former SDCC player Paul McCann), taking 6-87.

Between 1976-77 & 1979-80 and again after his two seasons with Sutherland, Peter played in the Illawarra competition for Corrimal, Balgownie and University of Wollongong – captaining and/or coaching all three clubs to first grade premierships.

Peter had a distinguished grade cricket career with Western Suburbs & Sutherland and in the Illawarra competition. He made a significant contribution to all clubs he was connected with during his career. To his wife Barbara and family, we extend our sincere condolences.