THE Henderson name will live on strong at the Merbein South Cricket Club with the introduction of the Laurie Henderson Scholarship.
The scholarship has been introduced by the family to help keep players in the game and as a way to honour the memory of Merbein cricket great Laurie Henderson.
“We’ve always wanted to do something to honour Dad’s memory, cricket was his life basically,” Laurie’s son, Ken, said.
“He had three sons and he encouraged them to play, which we all did, and then his two granddaughters came along and they played so this is just a way to continue that.
“Because he was always keen to get young people into cricket and keep them there this was an ideal thing to do.”
Laurie was a star cricketer in the days when the Merbein District had its own competition, playing for the Methodist side and then later Merbein Cricket Club.
Elder sons Ross and Peter, who played district cricket in Melbourne, then played senior cricket for Merbein in his footsteps.
Ken, being younger, was a junior at that time and played senior cricket for Merbein South after the merger between Merbein and South Merbein.
His daughters, Elisa and Elly, have suited up for the club’s women’s team, with Elisa still playing.
As well as playing, Ken is a former committee member who still helps the club’s sponsorship department.
He said seeing the likes of Campbell Griffiths and current First Division captain Ethan Gray come through the ranks solidified the value of the scholarship.
“That’s why it’s so good to be encouraging young people to get into cricket and stay in cricket, they are our future,” Ken said.
“It’s really rewarding to see.”
The family has committed to the scholarship for the next decade.
“I’ve committed to 10 years and we’ll see how it goes after that, if it’s still valuable we’ll continue on.”
