MONDAY, February 24 of this year is a date that will be forever etched into the history of the Midland Guildford Cricket Club, as the day on which the club’s greatest legend, Keith Slater, ended his long innings on this earth, just a few days short of his 90th birthday.

When delivering the eulogy at a memorial service for Mr Slater on Friday, March 28 Brian Rakich had a special message for his family.

“Our hearts go out to Val, Kaye, Scott, Ruth and the Slater family,’’ Mr Rakich said.

“We share in your loss of a great man, a loving husband, a father, a grandfather and a good friend to us all.

“For all of us, “Big Spud” as he was affectionately known, was the embodiment of Midland Guildford.

“He showed all of us that with a bit of talent, abundant enthusiasm, a lot of hard work and dedication, it was possible to be successful and we took great pride in his success.

“He became our captain, our coach, our teammate, our mentor – above all, he was our true friend – always there with a kind word of encouragement.

“Someone who was always available when called upon.

“That was the ethos we were brought up on – you need to always be there for your teammates and the club.

“Keith and his great friend Kevin Gartrell were the senior players when a new era began for Midland in the 1960s.

“They instilled in us the belief that we would take the club to great heights.

“But they were also about family and Val Slater and June Gartrell were always welcoming when we brought our girlfriends and later wives and children into the Midland Guildford family.’’

He said Keith Slater took many fine catches during his sporting career.

“But the greatest catch he ever made, was when he caught the wonderful Valmae Lorraine Slater.

“Val you have always been as much loved as Keith through all that time.

“The new era that began, was in fact, a very successful one, bringing Midland back-to-back first grade premierships in 1968-69 and 69-70.

“It laid the groundwork for the emergence of a host of outstanding players who forged state and international careers.

“Later on, came the unbelievable success of the Lilac Hill Festival matches against the touring international teams that saw Lilac Hill drawing crowds of up to10,000 people.

“For nigh on 20 years, it was an important date on the corporate calendar, not to be missed and it set the club up financially.

“After Barry Shepherd came up with the idea, the first person he discussed it with was Keith, who readily embraced it for Lilac Hill.’’

Mr Rakich said when lifelong friend Kevin Gartrell rang him on February 24 he felt a great personal sadness with the news but also felt a great concern for “Gardy”, because he knew how much it would mean to him personally.

“All of us at Midland and indeed within the sporting community of Western Australia, we all know that when you talk of Keith, you also talk of Kevin, because it was so difficult to separate them.

“Western Australia has had several outstanding and champion sportsmen who excelled in both cricket and football.

“Most of them played in Keith’s era before it became virtually impossible to play both sports at the elite level.

“It is fair to say that Keith’s achievements in playing both test cricket for Australia and state cricket for WA, his state football
representation, including captaining WA to an historic win against the mighty VFL at Subiaco Oval, his triple premiership wins with Swan
Districts and his award of the Simpson medal in the 1961 premiership win against the great Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer, rank Keith at the top of the tree.

“In looking at Keith’s career at Midland Guildford, he was selected to represent the club in first grade at the age of 15 in 1950.

“He holds the club record for the number of games played at 259.

“He made 5875 runs with six centuries and took 463 wickets.

“He took five wickets or more in an innings 29 times.

“He completed three hat tricks and took 169 catches and was the club champion on two occasions.

“He has been the captain and coach, both
playing and non-playing, of the club and was the 11th person to be awarded life membership of Midland Guildford in 1966-67.

“Keith represented Western Australia in first class cricket on 67 occasions and has the distinction of being the first WA player to make more than 2000 runs and take more than 100 wickets for the state.

“The highlight of Keith’s cricket career was undoubtedly being picked to represent Australia in an Ashes Test Series against England, in 1959-60.

“In 2020, Keith was made a Member of the Order of Australia, with a citation that reads: “For significant service to Cricket, Australian Rules football and Baseball, in Western Australia.”

“By any measure Keith Slater is a true legend of the Midland Guildford Cricket Club and Western Australian cricket and  indeed, of Western Australian sport.

“He came to the Midland Guildford stage in 1950 as a tall, skinny, 15-year-old boy.

“He left the stage 75 years later, as a giant of sport in Western Australia.

“Vale “Big Spud” – a true champion.’’