By Marcus Uhe
A Turf 4 premiership, the Veterans flag, the first ever Women’s T20 title, and runner up in the Turf 1 Reserves grand final.
Most clubs would view that as a successful year in the Dandenong District Cricket Association.
For some, it may be their best ever year, and even cause for celebration.
Buckley Ridges did all that, and added the most elusive prize of all on Sunday in the form of a Turf 1 premiership.
Success like that doesn’t happen overnight, and is built on the backbone of committed volunteers and members from top to bottom.
It starts at the top, with the right leaders, and in at Buckley Ridges, you have Sonny De Silva.
De Silva is not only the President but a jack-of-all-trades, a chauffeur when called upon and often found in the canteen and behind the bar while ensuring everyone is welcomed and in a positive environment at Park Oval.
So how do you build a winning culture?
“I would hate to say that it’s from leadership but I think it starts with the committee; if you’re the head of the club I think you need to lead by example and I think, that culture grows within the club and to absolutely everyone within the club,” De Silva said.
“We do have a really good club culture and winning the is the by-product, I believe, of structure and the right conditions and everything else that goes along with it.
“The ultimate is a premiership but I think if you get the club right in terms of the structures and on the ground, organising of everything that goes on on the ground, starting with juniors, I think success is a by-product.”
A heritage-listed tree protrudes the surface at the cricket nets at Park Oval, which is synonymous for its funky playing dimensions and short boundaries, and borders the Dandenong Creek, with play often halted as to fish the Kookaburra out with a pool leaf-catcher.
They may not have the flashiest facilities, but the Greg Dickson Pavilion, aka ‘The Manor’, is like a home to so many that play their cricket for the Bucks, one of the better attended clubs at home or away games.
At Pultney Street, the shaded areas under the trees are dotted with the same spectators week-in, week-out.
Former players from differing eras, from Daniel Watson to John Robertson, Michael Frost and Bernie Olson, barely miss a minute, often in the navy blue playing shirt or supporter’s polo.
“Cricket is what we deliver on the field but it is a club,” De Silva said.
“At the end of the day, the club harbors a lot of people from different backgrounds, cultures, different ways of thinking, social dynamics, but as soon as someone walks through the doors, they’re absolutely welcome, they’re part of the family and we get around them.
“There are things that you can control in life and things that you can’t really control in life. We concentrate on what we can control and that’s in terms of running the club and the success of the club.
“There’s so many people that have become a part of the Buckley family because of the culture we have brought up.
“That goes beyond players, it’s ex-players and that culture doesn’t just evolve over a couple of years, it’s evolved over a long time.
“It is a club culture that we almost put ahead of success, but success follows that.
“I’m proud that I’m able to lead this club but I’ve got so much support and so many people (saying) that we’re doing the right thing.”
