Fate has a habit of playing strange tricks. During the
1930’s in Melbourne, there were a large number of cricketball manufacturers.
Dave Brown a young married man, with a family lost his job due to illness at
Nutting and Young P/L. ( a cricketball manufacturer that ceased operations in
1960). As this was during the depression, jobs were difficult to come by and
together with his wife they took the gamble and commenced to produce
cricketballs from their backyard.
After WWII Dave was joined by his son Eric and started to expand the business and moved from the backyard to premises in Preston, a suburb north of Melbourne. This period also saw the Platypus ball begin to appear in overseas markets. With Dave’s death in 1965, Eric continued the business and in 1970 was joined by his two sons Gary and Rodney.
In 1993 Eric passed away but the 1990’s also saw the introduction of the fourth generation of family with Rodney’s son David and Gary’s son Adrian enter the business.
From this small beginning the family business of Platypus Sporting Goods (Dave Brown ) P/L has grown into joining Kookaburra as market leaders in the Australian Cricketball market. The numerous other manufacturers have fallen by the wayside.
In 2003 Platypus launched a major innovation in the way cricket is played with the birth of the "Speed Sensor". This cricket ball is designed with an LED display that accurately records how fast the ball is bowled down the pitch. The ball was widely sold throughout the 2003/04 Australian cricket season and sales into the UK have been successful throughout their 2004 season.
In July 2004 Platypus Sporting Goods expanded again with the launch of the Softy and Seamer range for junior and practice cricket along with another innovative product - the Dozen Ball Bag. Up until 2004 cricket balls had always been sold in cardboard boxes. The Dozen Ball Bag is a black zip-able polybag that stores a dozen cricketballs and will last very much longer than a cardboard box. The bag is sold with Gem, Softy and Senior balls as well as a stand-alone item.
In addition Platypus launched their own Personal Cricketer's Bag. Large enough to store all the gear a cricketer needs to take to training or a match it is a product that confirms the further expansion and innovation that Platypus is looking to provide its customers in the years to come.