My part in this strange scoreboard project began here. In Wickepin. On our many journeys through the WA countryside I’d keep my wife fascinated with stories of the great players associated with each town…. at Wickepin, while my wife dozed off, I decided I should record something of each place and the scoreboard was the obvious thing to me.

Wickepin is a WA wheatbelt town 214km south-east of Perth. It has always been known as a strong sporting town and was made a little more famous by being a key ingredient in Albert Facey’s A Fortunate Life.

Wickepin plays in the strong Upper Great Southern Football League. In the shortened 2020 season they lost just one game… the grand final to Williams.

Two of the greats of Wickepin football are Keith Doncon and Greg Astbury.

Doncon played only 75 games for East Perth but is remembered as one of the finest Royals. A rover during the time of Barry Cable and Bill Walker, he was an All-Australian in 1966. He was also a champion lawn bowler and a fine country cricketer. It’s said that when batting Doncon always knew his score (and he scored a lot of runs), the team score and his partner’s score… scoreboards are a rarity in country cricket.

Astbury was key defender in West Perth’s premiership teams in 1969 and 1971. He represented WA twice in 1971. Another Wickepin product, Keith Miller was a team mate of Astbury in those West Perth premiership teams. Triple West Perth fairest and best winner Dion Fleay is also a Falcon from Wickepin.

I promised some years ago to get back to Wickepin to catch the scoreboard live. Too late, they’ve gone digital though the somewhat uninspiring original remains.