Is it only me or do we take sport way too seriously these days? Yes, we should strive to be competitive and for some to reach the dream of wearing the green and gold. But for most junior participants and social weekend warriors, sport is there to be enjoyed and celebrated. It is not a matter of life or death!
When I first moved clubs and landed in Mosman, I met a local Dad who had two wonderful sons, Hughy and Timmy. At this stage, the boys were circa eight and ten years of age and had been diagnosed with Autism and both had an extreme passion for the Mosman first grade team and were our number one and two supporters.
Each weekend their Dad would bring the boys down to the ground for six hours as the boys helped our team warm up, serve drinks and celebrate when we did well. They were truly part of our team and I know their Dad appreciated our acceptance of his son’s unbridled passion and enthusiasm for the game of cricket.
On this particular Saturday, Mosman was playing University of NSW at Allan Border Oval in Mosman. In their team was the dynamic Test opening batsmen Michael Slater. Slater at this stage had played 74 Tests for Australia and had recently been dropped from both the Test team and One Day team. Slater for the first time in his brilliant career had gone from childhood prodigy, scoring 152 in his second Test at the home of cricket Lords to now being potentially dropped from the NSW team if he didn’t score runs against Mosman that day.
Michael was clearly in the first downward spiral of his life and unfortunately was also going through a divorce. How could one of our greatest opening batsmen of all time be fighting for a position in the State team after scoring 14 Test Hundreds?
As a good mate of Slats, I wanted to get him out early as he could decimate any attack but I also didn’t want to see this Test legend get dropped from the NSW side either.
To add even more pressure to this crucial innings, Television crews from all the major networks had descended on Allan Border Oval to catch this career-defining innings.
Aware that Michael Slater was also playing on this particular day, Hughy and Timmy arrived extra early to secure their position right next to the entry gate to welcome players onto the playing arena.
“Good morning Mr Lee”
“Good morning Hughy. Good morning Timmy.”
“Where is Mr Slater, Mr Lee?”
“He will be here soon boys”.
“Get him out, Mr Lee."
“I’ll try Hughy”
I lost the toss on the day and UNSW chose to bat. The local first grade ground now had an air of excitement about it as locals and media alike took their positions to witness Slater's most important innings of his career.
Slater as always took the strike and was to face NSW fast bowler Trent Johnson from the southern end.
Trent bowled the first ball full and Slater in his traditional fashion went down on one knee and smashed the perfect cover drive into the pickets. Was this going to be the turning point for Slats? Would this be his comeback innings on his way back to the Baggy Green?
The next ball also full and saw Slats playing a similar shot only to drag the ball back onto leg stump! Slater out for 4.
The entire ground went silent as Slater's head dropped in defeat.
Waiting already with the gate open were our two greatest supporters Hughy and Timmy, clapping loudly with excitement. What happened next gave me the greatest perspective on life and sport.
Not knowing if Slats was going to explode at the TV crews who were waiting for him at the gate with their cameras rolling, or whether our two supporters would upset Slats with their over the top excitement. How would Slats handle this crucial moment in the public eye?
As Slats neared the gate of Allan Border Oval, Hughy yelled out with one arm up and finger pointing to the sky “THAT'S OUT MR SLATER…”
“Yes, I know Hughy.”
The way Slats responded at that moment was classier than any innings he ever played. It showed me we all have our challenges in life - some more than others. It also showed me that sport is only a game and no matter how bad things may seem at the time, tomorrow is another day. So enjoy it whilst you can.
Play sport, don’t let sport play you!
Recently on my "Lunch with Lee" podcast I caught up with Northern Ireland musician/song writer Ciaran Gribbin who performed over 50 shows as INXS' frontman and former NRL footy star Ben Elias.
Pour yourself a glass from the Gin Society or O’Brien Beer and click play, this was fun
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