A LOOK back to Glenn Franzi’s debut first XI game in the Bendigo District Cricket Association quickly makes it clear just how long he has been playing for.
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The club he was playing for was California Gully and the match was on the QEO when the ground still featured two games being played simultaneously.
While Franzi is still playing, the California Gully Cricket Club is long gone, and so two are the days when two games were played on the QEO alongside each other on a Saturday afternoon.
Almost 30 years after playing his maiden first XI game in the BDCA as a teenager, Bendigo batsman Franzi will pad up for game 300 starting this Saturday.
Franzi’s journey to 300 games started in round four of the 1985-86 season when he made three on debut against Bendigo.
His career takes in three clubs - California Gully (1985-96, 3372 runs); Eaglehawk (1996-2002, 1418 runs); and Bendigo (2002-, 3072 runs).
“I started when I was 17 and I’m 46, so it has nearly been 30 years of playing,” Franzi recalled this week.
“I remember that first game for Cal Gully on the QEO when it still had the two wickets.
“I batted down the order and remember being very nervous. I didn’t make many that game, but I got a bit of a taste for it.”
From humble beginnings with three on debut, Franzi went on to become the only California Gully player to reach 100 first XI games.
And his 3372 runs were 2000 more than any other California Gully player, before the club folded following the 1995-96 season.
“California Gully was one of the oldest cricket clubs in Australia, but I think the demographics of being so close to Eaglehawk made it hard to recruit,” said Franzi, who made five centuries for California Gully during his 10 years with the club.
“I was devastated when the club folded and it was very sad to see... I’d still be there if I could.”
With California Gully no more, Franzi found a new home at neighbouring Eaglehawk after a persistent recruiting campaign by Hawks coach Max Taylor.
“He was Cal Gully’s best player by a mile at the time and we needed another batsman, so I thought he fitted the bill perfectly,” Taylor said.
“He was in the top handful of batsmen in the league back then and I drove him mad trying to get him across.
“Once he got his eye in, he could destroy you with the bat.”
Franzi spent six seasons at Eaglehawk - the club he will play his 300th game against - which included a pair of grand final defeats to Golden Square in 1997 and 1999, while making one ton.
Following the 2001-02 season, Franzi crossed to the other club that he had previously considered joining after the demise of California Gully - Bendigo.
“I just felt like I needed a change from Eaglehawk; I was probably the oldest player there and needed a bit of a freshen up,” Franzi said.
“I thought I was good for another five years when I went to Bendigo, but 12 years later I’m still going.”
Franzi has five centuries for the Goers, including a career-high 189 n.o. made against Kangaroo Flat in the 2006-07 season.
Of Franzi’s 11 centuries, three have been 150-plus.
He’s back in the Goers’ first XI this year after spending last season in the second XI, where he cleaned up in the league awards.
“When I look back after I finish, to be able to say you played cricket for so long at this level will be an achievement I’ll be proud of,” Franzi said.
