Dennis Baker: raising the bar

0:03Welcome to the Bear Essential Podcast where I will chat to the people who have contributed to the rich history of the Bayswater Morley Cricket Club, formerly known as the Bassendean Bayswater Cricket Club, established in 1946. My name is David Baird and my association with the club began in 1983, and over the years I've been a player, lower grade captain, president, secretary and club coach. Today I will be chatting to Dennis Baker. Dennis, or Bernie as he's also known, played 23 first class games for Western Australia and Tasmania between 1972 and 1982. 63 games for Bayswater Morley and a lot more for various grade clubs. Dennis's sporting talents also saw him play 34 league games for Claremont Football Club and being their leading goal kicker in 1969. Dennis had five seasons at Bayswater Morley from 1981-82 to 1985-86. He retired after the 1985-86 premiership but was coaxed out of retirement for another two years at North Perth.

1:04Dennis's commitment to the sport is still alive and well. He's been a great player for the Bayswater Morley team for more than a decade. His commitment to the game has seen him serve as a state selector and he is a most respected pace bowling coach. Welcome Dennis, thanks for your time. Nice to be here Dave. In Diesel's book, Evolution of the Bears, in 1981 the title of the chapter was Dark Days at Hillcrest. You arrived for the 1981-82 season. Was it a hard sell to get you on board? Who did the deal and yeah, maybe the background? Not really, no. I had a meeting with Ray Robbie after he had a phone call from him to come and have a chat. And that was it really. I just thought this bloke's a man on a mission and the club I think the previous year had won one game. The list looked all right. So yeah, I was more than happy to join.

1:51And your initial impressions as you hit Hillcrest, come down the hill? I guess it got back to Ray Robbie. I just saw the club as being organised and ambitious out of the desire to become a force in a competition. And yeah, it was a first impression and also very social. Yeah. Led by Henry. Indeed. Indeed. Now, on reading through that book, it says you're spoken about as bringing a level of professionalism to the club and winning ways and you'd won in places you'd been before. Did you feel there was any need to be anything other than yourself or set standards that maybe, did you have to drag people along or was it just Dennis Baker as is? I think as is. I mean, when I first joined the state squad as a 19-year-old, you know, the Lillees and the Ross Edwards and these blokes, they trained and then had a drink and went back on the field for another half hour on the train. And it always stuck in my head that, you know, they were the senior guys and I was trying to set examples. So, I guess I was a senior player back when I joined Basie. And so, I just thought my part was to do the right thing by the club and put in a training and also on the social side of things. And if guys followed me in that path, that's terrific, yeah. So, you were renowned for your practical jokes.

3:09Just to remember. Yeah. Camel bites and other random behaviour. Are there any favourites you could maybe share with us? Well, I never did any of these. I was just in the room. So, I know these happen.

3:22Deep eating the blokes' jocks and sunscreen and their bedding gloves. I once, at the WAC, a tiny man, because the old WAC had changed and he had a wooden floor, and I nailed his cricket bag to the floor with about a dozen gnomes. Things like that. And the company I used to work for, I don't know if you've heard of it, I don't know if you've heard of it, I don't know if you've heard of it, I don't know if you've heard of it, I don't know if you've heard of it, I don't know if you've heard of it, I don't know if you've heard of it, I don't know if you've heard of it, I don't know if you've heard of it. I worked for, sold shampoo, both for humans and dogs. So, I used to supply all the boys with the shampoo, but actually what I did, I tipped out the proper shampoo and put all the dog shampoo in it. So, every time I went in the shower, I used to piss myself laughing, and I washed my hair with dog shampoo. Yeah, things like that. Just a bit of fun. No, for sure. Look, you were a quick bowler, a tough earer in getting a game for WA. Who were some of the quicks you had to compete with, and how did the mood to Tassie come about?

4:10When I joined the state squad, I think I was about nine, 19, and there were guys, Laurie Main, Graham McKenzie, Dennis Lillee, Bob Massie, Sam Gannon, Jimmy Hubbell, Mick Malone, Terry Alderman, and of course, Wayne Clark. That was just a few. Yeah. And I think I had five years before I had my actually first game of state cricket. So, certainly an apprenticeship. Well, yeah, I mean, it was, in those days, it was only a one-night training, Wednesday night, and sometimes on a Sunday. Very rarely got a bat, and if it was, it was in the dark. We were net bowlers, really, but I loved it. Loved it, yeah.

4:51And the mood for Tassie, I wasn't aware at the time, but World Series was starting to fester, and Max Walker had decided to go to Tasmania in their first year of shield cricket, and then he pulled out because of the World Series. And so, it got down to three players, I understand. I'm not sure who it was. It was someone in Victoria. It was Terry Alderman and myself, and they came over and interviewed, and I think it was Terry Alderman. I think it was Terry Alderman. I got the gig, and they missed out on Terry Alderman. Big mistake.

5:27So, I went to Tassie for a year, and I had a couple of young kids, and the wife wasn't that keen, but we had a great time in Tassie. For the second year, I doubled my fee, and they sent me packing, which was fair enough. So, that was it, yeah. So, I loved it. I always wanted to go to England, but it never happened, so. Over your career, are there any particular games that are special to you? Obviously, Grand Finals, but any others that come to mind? Yeah, I mean, there's feats. You know, the first game you play for the state, I think, is pretty special when you walk on the WACA and you see your name up on that old scoreboard. So, that was pretty special. And again, with Tasmania, I'm being part of the first shield ever team for Tassie, and we actually played against WA. That was 48 years ago, so. And as you said, winning finals, they always hold, you know, great.

6:24memories and the individual stuff where, you know, when I got a couple of players out, like Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Doug Walters, these sort of blokes. Yeah, so, you know, you just really appreciate that you're part of those little things, yeah. Even though in a small way. The 85-86 flag at Bayswater was obviously 40 years this year to celebrate, and it was a pretty special place to be. The side that year, Bruce Reid was on international duties for a fair bit of it, and the attack was a very seasoned one with Seamers and then a couple of spinners. How did you find working with, you know, just the dynamics of that side that year and being a senior guy? Well, our two spinners were dominant, weren't they? If you recall, Bret Mulder and Steve Milo. And we did lose a few games throughout the year, but for the whole season, I was just thinking, you know, we're going to be there. We've got to be there. And we all trained as a group. We socialised, had a lot together, and we went on and we beat Midland, which even made it better. Yeah. And I think that year, well, I know that year was actually a more difficult task because the club didn't have any turf wickers at Hillcrest to train on, and we were down at St Mark's. Correct. Yeah, that's true.

7:41And training on hard wicks. And I think from memory, the ones got to go down to the WACA on certain occasions and train down there. Yeah, well, that was organised by the club and we used the WACA when we were able to. Which was good. Yeah. And again, a memory of mine, I think it was probably only that year and probably because it was the hard wickets, but I was only sort of young and watching around and Dennis Baker would arrive. It was almost like a little doctor's bag. Put the bag down and then about an hour and a half later, you'd come back, you'd gone on a massive run. Yeah. So you were a very fit man. What was the routine and what was the preparation maybe in that year that was... Well, yeah, again, I'll get back to that when I join the state squad. And Darryl Foster was, when he took over, when I first joined the state squad, there was no coach. So all the players did their own thing. And we used to do runs and I used to just join in. And when Darryl Foster came in, I think it was the 72 season, it just changed dramatically. We were running the bridges for something to do. Things like that. Yeah. And the physical and fitness side of it just took off all around Australia after that. Yeah. So I guess going down to almost more, a political type view at the minute, fast bowling and you still do a lot of fast bowling coaching. I do. And the injury management and the whole, what's your take on how fast bowlers are managed in today's world and what do you think they need to do?

9:14Well, the guys that I'm with are usually, you know, the 17, 18 year olds and a couple younger and so many of them have stress fractures at that age. And it's usually because of their action. And so I just try and sort those actions out. I'll film them and go through a process and eventually it gets up to them what they do and how they do it. But I enjoy it. I'm at Christchurch Grammar School at the moment, just on the coaching side of the situation there. And I just enjoy working with those young kids and hopefully trying to fix some of their actions. And with the outcome is that they, when they do finish school, they go on and play cricket somewhere. So again, as you get into the more elite levels, back if we're talking 84, 85, you mentioned that on a Wednesday night you get state training.

10:01Yep. Club training Tuesday and Thursday and in most cases bowled on those nights for a period of time. Yep, absolutely. If you're involved at a grade club now, which I currently am, and you have a battery of fast bowlers that are at the WACA, literally they will not train with your club. And they manage to the point where they almost don't bowl enough balls to be on the park. I throw that out as a bit of a controversial statement, but interested in your thoughts. Well, all us old buggers, I don't understand it. I really don't. It's all science. And I can tell you for sure that when I was playing and the guys like Lillees and McKenzie's and these blokes and the Masseys, we bowled at least 50 or 60 overs a week, training and games. And I understand they don't do that these days. And they get managed where they can bowl 15 balls of training. And I wonder why they break down when they go out and bowl 15 overs in a match.

10:57Okay. Well, let's get back to Baseline. Yeah. There was a lot of interesting people through there. Socially, the club was great. It was a treat. It was a fantastic time. Any special friendships or memories or moments that come to mind? You know, I just, you look back and there were guys at the club like Ray Robbie, Bill and Betty Lawrence, Eddie on the scoreboard, Frank Clark, John Moore, Diesel yourself, and just a whole lot of people behind just doing things for the club. You've just got to respect those people and acknowledge what they did. And of course, you know, and led by, you know, a lot of people.

11:38Wayne Clark. So it was just a great time to be around. It was. You mentioned Eddie Metherall. And we were both fortunate enough to be in attendance at Eddie's funeral in November of last year. And it was almost like it was such a thing as Bayswater Royalty. Everybody was there. It was nobody more loved than Eddie. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. He was a fantastic guy, a great scorer, and brought a lot to the club. He absolutely did. I just wondered this little story about your... your jacket when you left and... Yeah, yeah. Yeah, if you could relate that to us. Yeah, when I left, we had these jackets made with Bays. You and I, I gave to Eddie and I don't think he ever got one, but I gave it to him. And I mean, how fitting it was at two of that funeral where they, you know, drove the cask around the, around the outskirts of the oval. And yeah, I think that brought a tear to a few people's eyes.

12:31Yeah, it was certainly a great day of celebration of life. And he loved his footy. He did. And that takes a little bit, again, to the track. You weren't a bad footballer in your day, footballer? No, I enjoyed it all. Well, again, I was a late starter. I never had my first game until I was 20 when Dennis Marshall took over at Glenwood. And it was about the third game into the season and they put five of us up. You know, Graham Moss, Bruce Peppers, Johnny Bridgewood, and the Reynolds brothers and myself. They all went on to great careers and long careers, whereas mine wasn't quite that long. But I guess when we had a new coach come in when Marshall left and I was playing cricket.

13:12And it got to a point, I didn't know the pre-season games because I was playing cricket. And Verdon Howe just sat me down and said, you're behind the eight ball. And yeah, I made up my mind then it was probably just worry about the cricket. And to finish up on cricket, the fondest memories from the journey, and it's been a long one and a good one overall, what stands out? Well, the one I love talking about the most, and there's a reason for it, I won the batting averages at Melville at 42.6. And the reason I really like it, because every time I see those teammates, I do mention about that, because I know it pisses them off greatly and I love it. So that was one. But I've always thought a great place after a game is the change rooms, and what goes on in there, whether you win or lose or whatever. It's always good fun. And of course, being part of winning shield teams, a small part, very small part in three of those, and a couple of the one-day games, and also in the one-day games.

14:19Yeah, it's always good fun. It's great fun to be in the green scene with four premierships and a few one-days as well. So there's always, you know, and the good thing about it is a lot of those blokes you don't see for a long while, and then when you do, it's just like you saw him yesterday. Yeah. So it's all the friendships and the mateships and all those little things that make a sport such a great avenue. Dennis, it's been great to catch up. Thank you for your time. Appreciate it, mate. Excellent. Thank you.