FUNCTION NEWS 18 MCC NEWS March 2013
FUNCTION NEWS Fine fare for all in MCC social calendar Matthew Hayden roamed far and wide in his address at the Members’ Dinner on December 14 but his central theme of time and fellowship stayed close. He spoke of time in the middle, time in the rooms and time travelling as a means of developing relationships with his teammates and even the crowd. He enjoyed interaction with the fans and got to know some of them well. It wasn’t all about the “engine room” of Langer, Hayden and Ponting who did the hard yards for “interior decorators like the Waughs,” he noted. Rather, cricket for Matthew covered a broader spectrum. He told the story of young Bart Wilson asking for an autograph at the Gabba one day. Hayden obliged, one thing led to another and the boy’s parents, who lived at Coolum on the Sunshine Coast, invited him to drop in any time. They left a phone number. Not long after, Hayden, a keen surfer, heard reports of the tail-end of a cyclone whipping up some terrific surf off Coolum. He rang the Wilsons who were only too pleased to have Matthew as a house guest and they’ve been friends ever since. Bart was a page boy at his wedding. As he said, he had spent time with someone – in this case a fan – and a beautiful family relationship had developed. Hayden was relating this experience when he stumbled across what he’d meant to be talking about 20 minutes earlier – his glory days at the MCG. It didn’t start well, he recalled, getting knocked over by the best bowler he ever faced – Curtly Ambrose – first ball. Golden duck behind him, he shortly hit his straps and enjoyed remarkable success over a long career. He supports all forms of the game and is on a personal crusade to find some indigenous talent among the Tiwi Islanders. Earlier, Michael Sholly, the MCC’s chairman of Premier <strong>Cricket</strong>, proposed the toast to a game that has obsessed him since childhood. He told of his ruse to wag school aged 10, telling mum that he had a sore throat. This just happened to be the first day of the Gabba Test in 1970. Lo and behold, joining him on the couch in front of the TV that day as a workplace withdrawal was his dad! Stacky made most of his 207 against the Poms while they were watching and the youngster was thrilled. Michael went on to forge a distinguished career at District/Premier level with MCC and <strong>Melbourne</strong> University, winning premierships as captain-coach at both clubs, and his love affair with the game continues. Interestingly, while a traditionalist, he also supports T20 and called for “open-mindedness” in assessing the three forms of the game. This top-end function devoted to cricket was preceded by a number of luncheons honouring the 50-year member brigade. Almost 60 newcomers to 50-year ranks were welcomed by president Paul Sheahan at a Committee Room luncheon on December 11 but to cater for the 50-year “oldies” two sittings in the Members Dining Room were required at the end of November for their annual luncheon. MC Stephen Phillips mentioned a long list of distinguished attendees at both functions and had a readymade star in Sam Newman to interview at the second luncheon. After Stephen recounted some details of Newman’s remarkable athleticism as a young man, Sam told how he flaunted his MCC membership in his early <strong>years</strong> at Geelong. “I always used to come through the Reserve before making my way to the team bus,” he recalled. And then there was his smart-alec antic in the ruck against Carlton’s Maurie Sankey when he ran across his opponent at the critical moment at the bounce, allowing Polly Farmer to handball long and hard to his rover for a goal. After the first goal Sankey issued a warning but it went unheeded. After the second such goal, smarty pants Sam was nursing a jaw broken in two places! Two sittings were also required for the end-of-year luncheons for our volunteers in December. Olympian Ray Weinberg was a special guest at the first function, while next day leading The Age sportswriter Greg Baum spoke of his experiences at the London Games. Baum admitted to “blazer envy” and got a laugh with his opening observation that he “can’t think of anything better than showing people around here a couple of days a week.” He thought London was the best Games he had attended and noted that volunteerism had become the biggest feature of an Olympics since the success of Sydney. An Anglophile, Greg spoke warmly of “the new and likeable London” and the sportsmanship displayed there. He concluded, however, that “sport is an arms race. We’re a small country and we’ll lose an arms race. We should accept that.” The Christmas Day luncheon in the Members Dining Room was again well patronised and augured well for a flurry of activity over the next few days, starting with the Boxing Day Breakfast hosted by Damien Fleming. Doug Walters was an entertaining guest speaker as were the supporting cast including injured Australian paceman James Pattinson and head curator David Sandurski, who had an outstanding “Test debut”. Next came the Women in <strong>Cricket</strong> Test Breakfast on day two when mother-to-be Angela Pippos introduced Ian Healy to an enthusiastic audience. Attendees also enjoyed the offerings from Australian players Jess Cameron (later named player of the World Cup Final in Australia’s triumph) and Meg Lanning, as well as MCC First XI captain Anna O’Donnell. More recent functions were the very popular MCC/VRC Members’ Lounge evening at the T20 Big Bash League match on January 6 and the Women in Wine function in the Long Room on February 28. As we’re pleased to say, there’s something for everyone on the MCC social calendar. March 2013 MCC NEWS 19
Change language