TWO players who made huge contributions to the Wangaratta and District Cricket Association were last night inducted into its hall of fame.
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Peter Nicoll and the late Mac Holten were acknowledged for their on-field exploits.
Both represented Wangaratta many times, playing at Melbourne Country Week and against international teams.
Nicoll was part of a blue-blooded cricketing dynasty at Whorouly and his uncles were all champions.
His father Wils, also a Hall of Famer, scored more than 10,000 runs.
Peter was just 15 when he made 104 in a 240-run opening stand with his dad and became one of the youngest Country Week players that year.
A season later he representing Wangaratta against Victoria and later played against the West Indies, producing the second highest score.
He won three premierships with Whorouly and made 17 trips to Country Week.
Only Max Bussell, Clem Fisher and Barry Grant travelled down the highway more.
Holten was 26 when the newly married Collingwood forward decided to pursue a career as a football coach.
He chose Wangaratta and coached the Magpies to four successive premierships from 1949 to 1952.
In cricket, he captained the WDCA for many years, debuting at Country Week in 1951.
Holten turned to politics and in 1958 had a surprise victory in the Federal election for the Country Party in Indi, ousting Liberal member Bill Bostick.
The North East’s under-21 competition started in 1957 and awards the Mac Holten Shield.
