Bob Crockett

Crockett was inspired to take up cricket umpiring at the age of 25 by the brave deeds of "Dimboola Jim" Phillips who waged war on the chuckers of the 1890s, bowlers who threw the ball instead of bowling it.

Known as the "Chief Justice" he was, in Jack Pollard's view, "a softly-spoken, imperturbable character … precise, unemotional, lacking in sentiment … He was a stickler for decorum … [and] highly regarded by all players for his accuracy and impartiality."

In 1907/08 Crockett refused to signal a boundary after a fieldsman deliberately kicked the ball into the fence to prevent the striker taking a single and retaining the strike at the end of the over, thus protecting a batsman of lesser ability.

After his retirement at the age of 63 due to failing eyesight, he began making cricket bats at Shepherds Flat, near his birthplace, from willow cuttings sent in 1903 by English Test captain Archie MacLaren who had recently toured Australia.

The family who bought the Crockett farm continues the tradition, both as tree growers and bat shapers, and have developed a cricket ground and tourist facility on the site.