Brett Ramsbotham Wests Cricket Club 1974 – Current Serving Treasurer ​My recollection of playing days at our beloved Wests Cricket Club , many years ago , brings back many great memories .​ Firstly they are full of joy , happiness of friendships made , that to this day, are as strong as ever , but secondly revives memories on how much hard work went into playing for such a strong , successful club and how privileged I was to play for it and still to be a part of it. I grew up on Henry Street , so Wests was always going to be my club . I remember riding my bike down at a very young age to sit down under the trees that’s still stand today and watch players like Mic Downey , Dumpty Roberts were playing , the Oval is now named after Mic , and Dumpty was our most successful A grade captain in our clubs history, I believe 10 premierships. I started playing when I was 8 years old in 1974. Tough first few years, always got put in the B side , but I had the aim of getting in the A side, so I just trained harder , throwing balls against an old wooden table and hitting them for hours , bowling at imaginary batsmen in the backyard, for years , my parents thought I was nuts. I finally got picked for the U12A side and thought I had made it, but things didn’t go so well so I had to keep working at it. By the time I turned 16 Wests had won something like 7 premierships in a row and 9 of our A Grade Players all retired at once. It was then that I was plucked from U16 to play A Grade for Wests. This was a complete eye opener, facing guys like Andrew Tickle, Hugh Simmons, Alan Barrett, just something I wasn’t ready for – it was a completely different level. But Wests showed faith in me, and I continued to work hard training 3 to 4 times a week – no lights back then, so getting every hour of sunlight I could possibly get. Eventually I improved to a level where I could play successfully. At Wests it not just about playing A Grade, it's about playing well and bring success to our Club first, then yourself as a player. In 1987 I was made A Grade Captain – one of the greatest honors I have had in cricket. Whilst it started well, the season ended badly and I knew I wasn’t ready to be Captain, I just wasn’t experienced enough. Arthur Keen took over in 1988 and I remained as Vice-Captain. Again, I had to go back to working hard in training but also listening and learning from Arthur in game situations. We won the 1988 premiership, and my confidence had grown as a player and a leader of the side, thanks to Arthur and his advice. In 1990 I was handed back the Captaincy and this time I was ready. I was lucky to have an extremely talented playing group, all who were willing to work and thanks to Larry Seri, we were extremely fit, and it led us to great success – winning 4 premierships in 5 years! The feeling of winning these premierships and the celebrations around them is something that brings a smile ot my face every time I think about those days. Something that will live with me forever. Looking back, they are easily some of the happiest years of my life. Even though there were setbacks, we proved time and time again, that working hard, training hard together always brought success back to our club, making us the most successful in the Townsville region.​ My advice for all our club players today is to work hard and listen and reward will come to you if you persist and work hard enough. It's what our Club has been based on the last 75 years and hopefully many more to come. ​#westisbest