He may be known as Australian cricket coach Andrew ‘Ronnie’ McDonald’s brother, but Brenton ’Les’ McDonald had a noteworthy cricket career that spanned three premierships, writes NICK SPEAK.
Brenton ‘Les’ McDonald is the younger brother of Australian men’s cricket coach Andrew ‘Ronnie’ McDonald, in case you didn’t know.
Or, as Les would prefer, Ronnie is the older brother of Les, retired cricketer and scratch golfer of considerable repute.
A golfer who, to Ronnie‘s chagrin, is unbeatable.
Ronnie is self-explanatory – it slots comfortably between Andrew and McDonald. Everyone knows Ronnie McDonald, especially now in his current role.
Les is a different story though, and I had to ask him why.
“It was a family thing. ‘Baz’ (Barry, their father) gave it to me. It’s to do with the musical Les Miserables. Baz thought I was a miserable tacker when I was young, a kid who complained all the time, so I became Les!
“If I hear someone call me Brenton, I just walk on by.’’
Before we start on his story, here’s the reason for writing it: It’s 10 years since Les McDonald won the last of his three consecutive premierships.
He did so at three different clubs in two different states.
In 2011-12, Les played with Richmond, which beat Dandenong to claim the Victorian premiership.
A year later he crossed to Melbourne and claimed a second premiership when the Demons beat Ringwood.
A year later, in 2013-14, after moving to South Australia and Port Adelaide Cricket Club, Les completed the trifecta when Port Adelaide defeated Tea Tree Gully.
Fortunately, being one of the coaches, I enjoy intimate knowledge of the Melbourne part of the treble.
I always believed I played a part in his recruitment. Andrew Kent, the then-captain-coach of Melbourne, and I met with Les at the Great Northern Hotel in Carlton.
Of course, the choice of venue was a two-minute walk for ‘Kenty’ and more like a two-hour commute for me.
Anyway, a few Carltons and a parmigiana later, we thought we had an agreement — and we did.
It turns out that boozy night had nothing to do with his recruitment.
Les explains: “I couldn’t get to training consistently.”
He worked in the western suburbs and Glen Waverley, where Richmond had relocated, was a nightmare cross-town drive. Some nights it was a two-hour trip.
So his reason for joining Melbourne was reduced travel, not beers and parmigiana.
“At that point in my career, I wanted to be the best I could be,’’ he says.
“Playing Shield cricket was something I wanted to do.’’
Some people thought he was the best leg-spinner in Australia not playing first-class cricket.
“Ahh, it’s hard to say; how can you judge that?’’ he says. “I don’t really know who else is doing what outside of Victoria.’’
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The McDonald brothers grew up in Albury, one of the twin towns that straddle the Murray River.
The drive to Melbourne from Albury is three hours. Sydney, on the other hand, is close to six hours.
Most of the boys growing up here would follow a similar sporting path: Football (Australian rules) in winter and cricket in summer. And there was schoolwork.
I ask Les if Ronnie was a decent footy player: “He thinks he should have played AFL!’’
Les left footy behind at age 16.
The brothers have an older sister, Lauren, who was an excellent swimmer.
Barry was an excellent local sportsman in his own right and doubled as the family coach in all codes.
I’ve played golf with Barry, a sweet-swinging southpaw who only ever sees the short grass. His drives are as straight as a suburban washing line.
Les followed suit as a southpaw, whereas Ronnie stood on the other side of the driver and his Gray Nicolls.
I don’t know too much about Mrs McDonald other than that her name is Melinda and she has the patience of a saint.
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I ask Les some curly questions about the pathways systems in Victoria and NSW. He can be pretty anti-Establishment.
“It’s difficult to break down the perceptions that if you’re not good enough to play under-age cricket, then your opportunities are going to be limited as you move into senior cricket,’’ he says.
Ronnie played most of his pathway cricket in NSW (Barry didn’t always enjoy the 12-hour round trip to Sydney).
Les flirted with the NSW pathways and played some Riverina junior cricket. But it wasn’t until Ronnie decided he would play in Melbourne that the family focused on Victoria over NSW.
If Ronnie was a bolter in cricket, Les was more a slow burn, a late bloomer.
He spent a year at the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS). His time there ended prematurely, in the main due to over-governance and travel. It eventually saw him taking a year off cricket altogether.
His passion returned after a season playing club cricket in the UK.
Heaton Mersey Cricket Club plays in the Cheshire League and its ground was a three-wood and seven-iron from a house I lived in previously while playing with Lancashire.
“I learned to bowl at Heaton Mersey,’’ he says.
Sounds paradoxical? An Australian goes to England to learn how to bowl leg-spin!
I have no doubt Les cultivated some of his winning habits while playing at Heaton Mersey; it proved pivotal in his overall development as a genuine matchwinner.
With a hard-turning leg-spinner, a wrong ‘un, a top spinner and a flipper in development, when he returned from England Les was ready to take the next step. He needed regular first XI cricket, somewhere he could impact games with ball and bat.
Brett Skinner contacted Les after seeing him take five wickets in a seconds game the previous season. Les was playing at Footscray and Skinner at Richmond.
It was a timely call and just what Les needed at the time. Opportunities to bowl at Footscray were limited. Richmond wanted him as the frontline spinner.
His arrival at Richmond coincided with the Tigers appointing a new coach – Jarrad ‘Joffa’ Loughman.
Joffa’s coaching style bucked the norm; most District coaches then tended to be old and gnarly, relying more on a reputation than their message. Joffa was young and energetic and he saw gaps in an old, out-of-date system.
Eventually, Les, Joffa and Richmond reaped their rewards, a premiership flag in 2011–12.
In the grand final, Les was unbeaten on 77 in a first-innings total of 8-357 dec, and then took 3-49 from 21 overs. Job done. The Tigers’ celebrations were mighty.
From here, Les found his way to Melbourne – you know the reasons why!
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He rated the 2012–13 finals series as the most stressful he played in. He was animated, as he explains.
“We finish above Frankston on the ladder and have to go and play them at their place knowing they are a home-track specialist,” he says.
“Kenty bats a million balls for 14, we play like crap, and we scrape a draw.
“Then Dandenong in the semi-final which could have gone either way if it wasn‘t for some umpiring decisions.”
Ronnie, who was playing in the game, benefited from those decisions, making 89 not out from 66 balls, and almost succeeded in knocking down the Park View hotel.
Les continues: “Then the grand final against Ringwood, where Ronnie was prevented from playing because he was going to the IPL.”
Truth be known, Ronnie was cleared to play by Cricket Victoria, but he was unable to play day three as he was leaving for India. So he missed the game.
Premiership No. 2 two was in the bag. And the Demons celebrated equally well. It was an extraordinary season – the club won seven of the 13 flags available across the four grades. And Les won the Jack Ryder Medal.
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That winter, Les decided on a transfer to South Australia (SACA), more on a promise than a whim.
With no SACA contract, he understood the risk involved in the move; there were discussions, though, and he knew he would get state second XI opportunities.
What he didn’t know at the time was that Adam Zampa was about to sign a SACA contract.
Darren Berry was coaching SA and known to both Les and Ronnie. At this point, Victorians were defecting in decent numbers to the SACA. Ronnie had already signed a contract.
Les’ stocks were riding high, and the developing flipper had graduated to an absolute threat. He felt like he could have been at the peak of his bowling powers.
But opportunities didn’t present.
“I knew the writing was on the wall; I think I had just taken five wickets in a second XI game, Johan Botha was suspended, and Zampa was injured and not available for the next Shield game. I didn’t get a look-in, not a mention, and from memory they (SA) went in without a spinner.“
Anyway, there was still Port Adelaide Cricket Club and the trifecta of premierships to be signed off.
Les enjoyed his season in Adelaide; he talked up coach Luke Williams (himself a legend of SACA club cricket) and thought the competition‘s top four sides at full-strength were comparable to Melbourne clubs.
Port Adelaide made it through to the semi-finals, where it comfortably accounted for Kensington. Which left the perennial powerhouse Tea Tree Gully standing between Port Adelaide and a premiership 46 years in the making.
Again there was a starring role for him: 3-46 from 23 overs as Tea Tree Gully posted 166 and a timely 29 from 77 balls batting at No. 7 as the Pies passed their target eight-down.
He remembers the reaction well.
“Yeah, it was crazy, people crying, well pretty much everyone was crying,’’ he says.
“It was special for the club, I was so happy for them.”
When the eyes ran dry, Les knew it would be it for him in Adelaide.
Going there was the right decision, he believes, but the cards didn’t fall his way.
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The road to Victoria directed Les back to Melbourne Cricket Club.
His first season back, 2014-15, could easily have finished with a fourth-consecutive premiership if it wasn‘t for a botched coin toss and spot of retribution at the hands of the Tigers in a semi-final.
He played one more year at the Demons, then made his way down the highway to Geelong.
Les had previously moved to Geelong, and at the end of the 2015-16, he committed to playing out his time with the Cats.
On reflection he sees this time as the most enjoyable period of his career.
“I probably bowled as well and as consistently as I had done throughout the journey,’’ he says. In the end he stopped because, “I just didn’t want to play any more!”
He’d played his part in three consecutive premierships.
Geelong Cricket club coach and former Lancashire and Durham batter Nick Speak writes about cricket and sport at: https://njspeak.substack.com/