DENIS Stokes so loved cricket as a kid on the family farm at Yarroweyah that he'd hope the dairy farmers would have to rush away to milk their cows on a Saturday afternoon so he could have a field.

An A grade player in his own right from the age of 14, Stokes became a right-arm express bowler good enough to once represent Victorian Country against the touring New Zealand team at Echuca in 1970.

It was a green top.

"I felt sorry for our batsmen but it was good for the bowlers," he said.

"And I got three wickets, Bevan Congdon, Glenn Turner and Brian Hastings."

For years in the late 1960s and early '70s, Stokes and Ted Bott would open the bowling at club and association level, and they became two of the most noted destroyers of opposing batting line-ups in the Murray Valley region.

"One year, Ted got nine wickets in an innings and in the next I got nine," he said.

"We each took the other wicket, too."

Honoured in January with Murray Valley Cricket Hall of Fame status, Stokes is also a member of Strathmerton Football Club's Team of the Century, having played more than 130 games before injury halted his career.

A Collingwood six-footer, he played key defensive roles.

His cricketing days were even more successful, particularly at Yarroweyah, a tiny hamlet outside Cobram, playing in 10 grand finals in a golden 12-year period.

"We lost six grand finals in a row before getting on to a winning run," he said.

"The first one against Tocumwal was particularly satisfying, as we'd trailed.

"Given our history of losing grand finals, everyone was pretty demoralised, only for us to hit back and win the game outright (Stokes taking four wickets in the second innings)."

Now 63, Stokes last played competitively in 1986 and was touched to be honoured by the local association.

"We had a great night and I bumped into so many people I hadn't seen in years," Stokes said.

"Being cricketers we struck up our conversations where we'd last left off."

Among them were members of noted cricket families in the area, including the Gemmills, McDonalds and Milliers.

Asked the best player of his time, he opted for Rochester all-rounder John McMahon, now just as well known as being champion netballer Sherelle McMahon's father.

"John treated it very seriously out there and he was a good bat and could bowl too," he said.

"Once, he bowled me an unplayable ball, which somehow missed my off stump. " 'You're wasting your time bowling those to me,' I said to him."

Stokes loved coming to Melbourne for Country Week and testing himself against the best players.

Originally Yarroweyah played on malthoid before turf wickets were implemented.

The old ground isn't used any more after an amalgamation with Cobram United.

Stokes' elder brother, Terry, and father, Peter, also played.

He said it was easy for him to follow in their footsteps.

"I loved every minute of every day," Stokes said.

Ken Piesse's latest book is On Ya Richie, a celebration of Richie Benaud's first 80 years. It is available from the Cricket Books website.