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Toombul District Cricket Club is an Australian cricket club based in Nundah, Queensland, in the city of Brisbane.

Overview
The Toombul District Cricket Club (Toombul DCC or simply TDCC) is a Queensland Cricket Association cricket club which competes in the pinnacle cricket league in Queensland, the Brisbane Grade Cricket competition.

The Brisbane Grade Cricket competition has multiple grade levels, with Toombul fielding teams across 6 grades, an under 18's side, as well as a comprehensive junior club, which fields age-group sides from under 6's to under 16's.

Toombul is second only to Souths (20) as the most successful cricket club in Queensland, having secured 19 First Grade premierships in its history, the most recent coming in the 2012/13 season.

History
Toombul can trace its history back to 1882, and has had a fantastic and colourful history since its inception. The club's representatives over the years form a who's who of famous cricketing names, including: Ron Oxenham, Ken Mackay, Jeff Thomson, Colin McCool, Don Tallon, Wally Grout, Harry Frei, Peter Clifford, and Bill Brown (cricketer).

Toombul's current 1st Grade squad (2014/15 season) includes: Chris Lynn, Ryan Harris, Cameron Boyce, Luke Pomersbach, Glen Batticciotto, and Ronan McDonald.

Ground
The Toombul playing ground is named Oxenham Park, after Toombul club legend Ron Oxenham. The facility incorporates two fields, the main field Ken Mackay Oval, and the second field La Frantz Oval , named after two more clubs legends, Ken Mackay and Errol La Frantz respectively.

For much of the late 20th century, Nundah was a low socio-economic area, with public housing and vagrants abundant. Due to the difficulty Toombul Cricket Club faced in maintaining the facilities in the face of vandalism, and the homeless setting up camp at the groundsman's shed, Toombul became affectionately known as The Junkyard. Around the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, gentrification began to take hold in Nundah, as the wealth from the suburbs directly to its south began to flow northwards. This resulted in a much improved suburb, and Toombul was able to improve the club facilities significantly. While the moniker "Junkyard" is no longer applicable, the players and supporters have retained part of the old label, referring to Toombul simply as The Yard.

The record attendance for a match at Oxenham Park was on 4th November in the 1931/32 season, when 26,438 people attended to watch Toombul's Second Grade side attempt to bat out a draw and retain 7th spot on the ladder, which they did, much to the delight of the masses of spectators. Unfortunately the fantastic result caused ecstatic jubilation, and eventually utter chaos in the large crowd, which began looting the local shops, and in amongst the mayhem the grandstand, pavilion, and an orphanage near the ground were set alight and burnt down. There was also an unconfirmed report of a fist-fight between several members of the Country Women's Association and the Sisters of Mercy outside the nearby Royal English Hotel.

Song
The club song was written by Liam Morris, and refers to the glorious history of the club, which was extremely successful over a long period of time, up to the early 1990's. However, it also refers to the period in the mid-2000's when Toombul was one of the worst performing clubs in the Brisbane Grade Cricket competition. During this period, all grade sides at Toombul were regularly being beaten convincingly, and TDCC was well and truly the underdog in any match they were playing. More recent times have proven extremely prosperous in terms of results, however both Toombul Cricket Club, and the song, still retain the underdog mentality and theme.

As well as the club song, Toombul players, supporters, and friends also embrace the song Shimmer by Fuel (band) as their anthem. The Faithful will always loudly and provocatively encourage the live band/acoustic to play Shimmer, wherever they are.

Social
Toombul is widely regarded as one of the most social cricket clubs in Australia, with its group of supporters, The Toombul Faithful (or simply The Faithful) made up of friends and supporters of the club, turning out in numbers to support in semi-finals and finals. This adds to the club's reputation as a formidable opposition, both through the calibre of players that play for the club, and the ferocious support dealt out by The Faithful on unwary oppositions.

The Faithful's reputation is also advanced during the First Day of The Gabba Test when they join with Brothers Rugby Union Club to form the Pyjarmy Army. Through their chants, antics and sledges the Pyjarmy Army always attracts the maximum 'Gabba security presence.

The Toombul District Cricket Club and The Faithful have social ties with local businesses, mainly pubs, in particular The Hamilton Hotel, and The Victory Hotel.

Reference
reflist