His first four seasons with Nestles as a teenager were spent chasing balls in the outfield, rarely getting a chance to bat or bowl.

He rose to captain the club in his early 20s, but was sacked before the season was out.

He can recall making a pair — two ducks — on debut at Melbourne Country Week on a “shocking” wicket at Footscray.

They are the little-known aberrations that “Lefty” can these days chuckle about.

The reason: The boy from Wangoom who became an icon of bush cricket owns one of the most decorated resumés the game has seen.

His record — 15 A grade flags, Victorian Country selection, Melbourne Country Week success — speaks volumes of his ability.

But what the handful of shortcomings underline is his irrepressible want to improve, to better himself. The rewards came from hard work.

“Being sacked as captain didn’t mean anything to me,” Wright said, acknowledging he was too young to take on the job in the first place.

“But I went away and thought if I’m going to be captain again, I’m going to be the fittest, the hardest trainer and the best fieldsman.

“You can bat and bowl, but you can inspire by being good at other things. That’s what drove me.”

His insistence on making the most of his talent is reflected in his attitude growing up on a dairy farm.

“When we were on the farm, my brothers were with me. They’d milk the cows and I’d be waiting when they finished to start cricket practice,” he said.

“You had to learn pretty quick then. The ball didn’t bounce true. That’s where I started.”

Nestles will celebrate its 70th anniversary this weekend, an occasion which starts with an afternoon tea today and is highlighted by a gala function at Reid Oval tonight.

About 150 former and current players will relive tales tall and true about a club which is arguably the most successful in Australia.

The statistics make that claim easy to argue. Its first 60 years yielded 28 top-grade flags, although the past decade has been comparatively lean.

Wright, 79, played in more than half of them. He remains the club’s games record holder, leading run-maker and wicket-taker.

“I was a cricket fanatic. I knocked off footy at 27 or 28 so I could play cricket,” he said.

His career started as a 14 year old in 1950, when the club — made up of workers at the Nestle factory in Dennington — was known as Nest-Anglo.

His early years were inconspicuous. The Isles brothers, Ken and Stuart, dominated with the bat while Wright didn’t bowl until later in his career.

“If a young bloke (today) had to do what I did, they probably wouldn’t play. All I did was field.”

But Wright persevered. His teammates seemed like decent blokes, while the lifts to and from training were appreciated.

He gradually progressed, briefly taking on the captaincy in 1958-59 and again permanently two seasons later.

Nestles would win consecutive flags from 1961-62 to 1964-65 and Wright stayed at the helm for 10 seasons. The triumphs remain his cricket highlights.

Leading Warrnambool and District Cricket Association to its maiden Melbourne Country Week title in 1965 also stands out.

“I was determined we’d get a side together that would take us all the way. We set out three years and I think we got it in two,” he said.

But there are other more unique aspects to his career which make his story worth telling. Take his three centuries in eight days in 1963, for instance.

Knocks of 131 versus Koroit and 114 versus South Footballers preceded 101 against a travelling University XI. “I’d come alive as a bit of a cricketer by then.”

He was also a three-time Victoria Country representative, taking on England twice and South Africa in tour matches.

In 1964, the Proteas came to Warrnambool. The crowd — estimated at 7500 — was such that traders were concerned their business would suffer.

“I remember (Peter) Pollock bowling to me. I took four twos off him in a row and he bowled a yorker 25km/h quicker. Good night,” Wright said. “You didn’t make runs against those blokes, or they let you make a few. The same with the Englishmen.”

BUT if Wright is the most identifiable player in Nestles history, others were instrumental in establishing the club in the first place, in 1944.

Jack Granter was the president and Alf Fish was the captain. Jack Snellback, the secretary, is the only surviving team member and lives on the Gold Coast.

The first matches were at Harris Street Reserve, a sloping oval with overhanging trees at Albert Park and Jetty Flat, which was little more than a paddock.

Cricket was played at Reid Oval, its current home, for the first time in 1952. Football followed four years later.

Strangely enough, post-match celebrations in the early days were back at the factory. And there were many — Nestles won five flags in its first seven seasons.

“The factory used to be called Nest-Anglo. We thought it was some church thing at the time,” Nestles president Gary MacLean said.

“We did a bit of research at the factory, they’ve got a big museum out there. It started because of the factory, almost all of them were factory workers.”

The ties to the factory — now Fonterra — remain today but have less relevance than they used to. But the unique history is something MacLean is keen to preserve.

“We’re unique in that we sit at the top of the hill, at Albert Park. Merrivale has Merrivale, West has West Warrnambool, Brierly is in the Brierly area,” he said.

“We don’t really have an area. We’re the most central of everyone but we’ve relied over the years on recruitment because it’s Reid Oval and all those factors.”

And 70 years on from its establishment, MacLean and the committee are doing what they can to ensure Nestles will be around in another 70 years’ time.

The club fielded an under 11 side for the first time this season, to go with 13s, 15s, 17s and seniors. All up, eight sides wore Factory colours.

“I always say to the boys, people don’t realise but that’s history for us today that we’ve created an under 11s,” MacLean said.