Numurkah Leader
MVCA Hall of Fame ... Stokes stoked
1 min read

LOCAL cricketing legend Denis Stokes has become just the Murray Valley Cricket Association’s second Hall of Fame Legend, being elevated to Legend status at the association’s fifth Hall of Fame dinner on Saturday evening.

Master of ceremonies Mick Butler and keynote speaker Les Hocking entertained the 165 guests with a reflection of their times in the association.

Denis was one of the first group inducted into the MVCA Hall of Fame in 2009, and now joins Mark Baldwin from Jerilderie as only the second Legend.

Denis played Murray Valley cricket from 1961 to 1986, all of it with Yarroweyah, and, in that time, won four first grade premierships and made two centuries.

His story is certainly one that legends are made of, noting that one of his centuries was made from just 43 balls at the end of a two-day game, and he took 50 wickets in a season, probably four or five times.

In 1969/70 Denis represented Vic Country against New Zealand, taking 3/39. He has been a league captain on several occasions, and was a selector for approximately 10 years.

Denis is revered as one of the great characters of the MVCA, and a fantastic ambassador for cricket.

“It is certainly an honour. At my age there are not many honours like this left,” he said.

New inductees into the Hall of Fame this year were Les Koopman, Graeme Ellis, Hubert Guthrie and Peter Stewart.