Vale Richard Andrew Ballam (1942-2018)

It is with great sadness that we advise of the passing of former player Richard Andrew (‘Dick’ or ‘Dicky’) Ballam on Sunday night after a long illness.

Dick was a notable player and character whose playing career spanned 20 years (1978-1998) and 241 games in all elevens. He arrived at Brighton in 1978 at the age of 36 after spending a number of seasons with the South Melbourne and Ferntree Gully clubs. A fine top-order batsman, with an excellent technique, he played most of his early cricket at Brighton for the 1^st XI, but later dropped down the grades to give younger players an opportunity.

He was a member of four premiership teams in total and was a prolific run-scorer, whose 6,157 career runs places him in the top ten all-time run-scorers for the club. Individual highlights include a match-winning 100 in a 4^th XI grand final in 1991-92 and a score of 202, made at the age of 52, in which he shared a club record partnership of 288 with David King in 1994-95.

His latter years in the lower elevens provided both Dick and his teammates with a great deal of fun and enjoyment, and many a story from those times has been shared at player reunions. Dick, with his quirky character and keen sense of humour, was very much part of that and will be greatly missed by his friends at Brighton.

Our condolences go out to his wife Si, brother Peter (another former Brighton cricketer) and sister-in-law Kay.

Note: A funeral service will be held this coming Friday, 14 December, starting at 9.45 am at the Blair Chapel, Springvale Cemetery.