HART’S 800 REASONS TO SMILE
IT was a typically modest celebration for a humble Meredith champion.
After St Joseph’s batter Andrew Robertson mistimed one of Terry Hart’s medium pacers into the hands of Rams fielder Samuel Vaartjes on Noble Street Oval, the Meredith seconds gathered to celebrate the breakthrough.
“I managed to wobble one up there and he slightly miscued it and it was caught on the fence,” Hart said.
“I was the only one that knew. I said to the vicecaptain, ‘Chuck me the ball, mate’ and I held it up and said, ‘That’s wicket No.800’.
“That was about the extent of the celebration on the day.”
Hart’s 800th scalp playing for Meredith was 46 years in the making after his debut against Elaine as an 11-year-old.
It was sheer chance that he even knew he was close to the monster milestone after Meredith president Shane Grinter discovered last month that Hart was on 799 wickets.
The 57-year-old had played 416 matches for his beloved club and was content to spend his Saturdays on the sidelines watching his sons – Aaron, Kane and Joel – play in the firsts and let younger players have their time.
But with the Rams short on numbers on Saturday, he put his hand up and burst past the 800 barrier, taking a handy 3-13.
“When they twisted my arm to play on Saturday, I thought I might be able to sneak a cheeky wicket to get it up to 800,” he said.
“They came out all right; I can still put them on the spot, which is nice.
“(I bowl) just little away dippers and they have got slower and slower.
“I used to think when I was younger that I could actually bowl a bit of heat.
“But I realised in my mid20s that that wasn’t what actually got you wickets, it was getting the ball off the straight that got wickets.”
Hart took about a decade off cricket while raising his sons before returning in the late 2000s.
While he completed a preseason in Geelong at one point, he could never truly consider playing anywhere but Meredith.
He has filled every role at the club across the decades – and has a handful of flags – while his mother was the first XI scorer, a job now filled by Hart’s daughter Ruby.
He said his proudest part of cricket was playing with and meeting quality opponents along the way.
But one day last year stands tall in the memory when his family legacy was laid bare on field.
“Both our sides were playing and my daughter filled in,” he said.
“There were seven Harts playing across the two sides. It was lucky enough that myself and all four of my kids (plus brother Chris and nephew Alex) played on the same day, which was pretty special.”