Pens down for Pascoe

by JOSH HUNTLY
6th May 2019

AFTER 43 YEARS of faithful service to the Warrandyte Cricket Club, long-time 1st XI scorer and club volunteer Ann Pascoe has decided to pack away her signature coloured pens and step away from official club duties.
One of the Warrandyte community’s longest serving sports volunteers, Ann’s combined years of service between Norwood and Warrandyte tallies up to five decades.
For 43 years, Warrandyte’s 1st XI enjoyed immaculate scorebooks thanks to Pascoe’s signature coloured pens and impeccably neat handwriting, along with the use of her own symbols for ducks, wides, leg byes, et cetera.
Her involvement with the club began in 1977, when husband, Steve Pascoe crossed from Norwood to take up the club’s first coaching position.
Ann took up the scoring for the 1st XI, and has been doing it ever since.
Renowned league-wide for her well-kept books, Pascoe also held the positions of Treasurer and Secretary.
With such a unique approach to scoring, Ann admits the idea of using multi-coloured markers came from overseas.
“Coloured pens came into it around the 90’s — I scored over in Windsor, England and they had an elderly gentleman score for them.
“He scored in coloured pencils and I thought that’s a good idea, so I came home and started doing it here,” she said.
Ann achieved life membership at both Warrandyte and the Ringwood District Cricket Association in 1993, and holds the distinction of being the first and only female on the league’s life member honour board.
After approximately 550 games, 95,000 runs, 4,600 wickets and three 1st XI premierships, Ann has seen just about all there is to see on the cricket field including almost 200 players come through the ranks of the club’s top-tier.
“The club’s part of my life.
“I’ve seen a lot of those kids grow up — a lot of them weren’t even born when I first started there — it’s been good, but it’s time to give it up.”
However, the end of an era doesn’t necessarily mean the end of Ann’s involvement with the club, stating that she still intends to watch her beloved firsts on a Saturday afternoon, taking a deserved break
“It’s not like I’m not going to be around the club, I just don’t want to sit for six hours and score and concentrate for however many overs.
I still want to be involved — I just want to sit there and watch them play.”
An extract from the RDCA Annual Report of 2001/2002 remarked that: “It is unlikely there would be many scorers throughout the cricket world with greater longevity.”
This statement stood the test of time as it would be a further 18 years before Pascoe only recently announced that she was vacating the scorer’s chair.
With the thanks of an eternally grateful 1st XI side, and the club overall, Ann fittingly scored her last game against Norwood in the last round of the season and brought to a close one of the more remarkable careers in Warrandyte sport.