Back in January of 2005, then-Orange City president Adam Hornby had two things to say after watching former Warriors ace Stuart Milne bludgeon a ridiculous 250 not out in a Royal Hotel Cup game against Waratahs.
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He labelled it “a once-in-a-lifetime knock” and said we’d “never seen anything like that around here again”.
Turns out he was wrong, because Milne’s done it again and then some.
Last Saturday afternoon in the seventh round of Parkes District Cricket Association’s senior competition, Milne didn’t just replicate that record-breaking double ton from 13 years ago, almost unbelievably he’s gone and eclipsed it.
Playing for Reedy Creek, Milne absolutely feasted on the Parkes Hotel Pythons’ attack at Keast Park to hammer a staggering 271 not out, swashbuckling his way past that already-astonishing highest score from 13 years ago.
But wait, this one gets even better.
Milne’s unbeaten double ton in 2005 came when the Royal Hotel Cup – then known as the Bonnor Cup – was 40-overs-a-side rather than Twenty20 tournament it’s become.
Incredibly, his knock last weekend came in just 30 overs, and led Reedy Creek to an all but unbeatable total of 1-386 – that one wicket was Grant Dunn, who’s 94 was completely overshadowed by Milne’s heroics.
Unofficially his effort is believed to be the highest score recorded in the history of the PDCA and catapults him to fourth on MyCricket’s list of highest individual scores so far this summer – by the way, that’s across all formats and grades in Australia.
He’s in pretty esteemed company on that list too, considering former Test opening bat Matt Renshaw tops the leaderboard after making 345 for club side Toombul in Queensland Premier Cricket last weekend.
Marcus Harris, Renshaw’s replacement in the Test side, and one of Australia’s most explosive bats in D’Arcy Short also feature toward the top of that list as well.
But Milne can lay claim to being slightly better than both.
Short blasted 257 for Western Australia in the JLT One-Day Cup earlier this summer while Harris smashed 250 for Victoria in a JLT Sheffield Shield game, but those innings’ were only good enough to rank fifth and eighth, respectively.
Although innings’ of this magnitude are few and far between, clearly, anyone who’s seen Milne with willow in hand knows of his prowess.
He remains Orange City’s second-leading run-scorer of all-time in first grade with 4370 despite the fact he hasn’t played for the Warriors in years. He also belted 444 runs including two tons in just seven digs last summer, averaging a whopping 148.
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