At the peak of his career, Lloyd “Bing” Bilney was chosen to play against Clive Lloyd’s West Indian side in October 1984 after having impressed for the SACA Country XI against a City XI team in March 1984. Playing as an opening bowler, Lloyd dismissed opener Gordon Greenidge for 14, taking 1/52 from his 10 overs.
Few would have thought in 1970 when Lloyd Bilney first played for WCC Colts at approximately 13 years of age that this enthusiastic “midget” would become in just seven (7) years a permanent ‘A’ Grade player who would develop into a very quick opening bowler. A top allround cricketer who was always in the game, his catching was a treat. When not dominating the bowling crease he would be dominating the middle & lower order batting with his free scoring style so not surprisingly, he rarely missed collecting the club’s Best Allrounder trophy.
“Bing” was elected Club Captain for the 1980/81 season and was selected in the Meyer Shield team for eleven (11) consecutive seasons from 1977 to 1988. Lloyd took an ‘A’ Grade hat-trick on two (2) occasions (together with another in Colts) and won the Association Bowling Aggregate once (with at least five (5) other top three finishes), together with the WCC ‘A’ Grade Aggregate for an incredible thirteen (13) consecutive seasons from 1976/77 to 1988/89, including six (6) seasons in which he took more than 30 wickets. He also won the club Bowling Average on seven (7) occasions.
His batting was just as impressive; he was generally known to bat at either No. 6 or 7, making the tail “wag” with numerous runs always scored in an attacking manner. All told, he scored nine (9) centuries, including a double century (the first Wistow ‘A’ Grade player to have done so) which incredibly, came in a “one day” game where he was elevated to open the innings and occured after he had been dropped whilst still on naught. He won the Association Batting Aggregate in 1984/85 (with at least two (2) other top three finishes) together with six (6) club Batting Trophies.
When Lloyd left for Goolwa after the 1988/89 season whilst still in his early 30’s (after acquiring ownership of the Goolwa Newsagency) it left a gaping hole in Wistow’s team as he had “done it all”; the most memorable being his 16 overs of express pace bowling taking 5/44 in the 1982/83 ‘A’ Grade Premiership. Bing would have further success down at Goolwa, playing for a further five (5) or so seasons in ‘A’ Grade whilst scoring another 1,000 runs with a further ‘A’ Grade century & taking a further 200 wickets with at least four (4) 5FA’s whilst also winning the Great Southern Cricket Association Cricketer of the Year in 1989/90.
HONOUR BOARD
154 Senior matches played (141 in ‘A’ Grade)
4,546 runs (7th most in WCC history) @ 33.18 including 19 half-centuries and 9 centuries (5th most)
361 wickets (6th most in WCC history) @ 15.30 including 21 5FAs (2nd most) and two (2) hat-tricks
64 catches, 2 stumpings and 3 run outs
2 x ‘A’ Grade Premiership Player (1973/74 & 82/83 (scored 31 and took 5/44 from 16 overs))
1 x ‘A’ Grade Captain (1980/81)
2 x WCC Secretary (1980/81 & 83/84)
1 x AEHCA Association ‘A’ Grade Batting Aggregate (1984/85 – 591 runs)
1980/81 A Grade Batting – Aggregate – 442 runs
1982/83 A Grade Batting – Aggregate & Average – 474 runs @ 59.25
1984/85 A Grade Batting – Aggregate & Average – 591 runs @ 49.25 **stats are incomplete for this season**
1985/86 A Grade Batting – Aggregate – 350 runs
1986/87 A Grade Batting – Aggregate & Average – 604 runs @ 46.46
1987/88 A Grade Batting – Aggregate & Average – 454 runs @ 41.27
1976/77 A Grade Bowling – Aggregate – 18 wickets
1977/78 A Grade Bowling – Aggregate & Average – 32 wickets @ 15.25
1978/79 A Grade Bowling – Aggregate & Average – 35 wickets @ 12.17
1979/80 A Grade Bowling – Aggregate – 19 wickets
1980/81 A Grade Bowling – Aggregate – 18 wickets
1981/82 A Grade Bowling – Aggregate & Average – 22 wickets @ 14.23
1982/83 A Grade Bowling – Aggregate – 28 wickets **stats are incomplete for this season**
1983/84 A Grade Bowling – Aggregate & Average – 28 wickets @ 15.07
1984/85 A Grade Bowling – Aggregate & Average – 31 wickets @ 16.48 **stats are incomplete for this season**
1985/86 A Grade Bowling – Aggregate – 16 wickets
1986/87 A Grade Bowling – Aggregate & Average – 39 wickets @ 10.64
1987/88 A Grade Bowling – Aggregate & Average – 33 wickets @ 9.97
1988/89 A Grade Bowling – Aggregate – 35 wickets
