Brian Mollet
Nick Shand started The Echo as a protest against the heavy-handed policing methods used locally in the so-called war on drugs.
At some point he must have realised that the scope of the little pamphlet scrapped together by him and his compatriots went far beyond its original intentions, and thus publishing history and a livelihood for many was made.
It is no secret, however, that he fantasised relentlessly about being a cricket champ, despite what time and red-eyed deadlines had done to his level of skill. With his untimely passing, various of his friends decided that a social cricket competition would be a good way to remember the articulate larrikin who did so much for the Shire.
The Sunday hit-around that still bears his name is now in its 19th year and still caters to the many who, faced with a week of drudgery in support of themselves and their families, can get through it all so long as they know they can still have a hit on the weekend.
Game one for 2016 kicked off on Sunday with Lomath Oval dank and greasy as a discarded kebab and the drizzle swirling in from the southeast dampening everything but the enthusiasm of the hardy sons of the soil from Left Bank and the go-getting sophisticates of Byron, the Full-Tossers.
Jamie from Byron won the toss and gamely led his charges into the murk of the field, trusting the new ball to John, whose inner fires are more than sufficient to overcome anything local conditions might serve up. In the first over, Gaz clipped a stinging off-drive and called an automatic ‘yes’, only to see the ball plug hopelessly in the grass six feet from the bowler’s wicket, leaving opening partner Russell stranded hopelessly, run out for a diamond duck.
Wickets fell to Jebez, Kyle and Jamie as the Bankers struggled to pierce the slushy outfield, the only exception being Rob (17 n/o) who made light of the heavy conditions.
The invisible committee in the persons of Merlin the mysterious and the unseen adjudicator called stumps when Blake’s bat slipped from his hands and nearly decapitated Russell umpiring at square leg, but some of the cobwebs of a long off-season were worked off and, if enthusiasm is a measure of the state of the Shand series, then our sporting legacy is in good hands.
If the rain lets up next week the grizzled veterans of the Main Arm autonomous cricket collective take on the sand-encrusted surf dudes the Suffolk Swingers, a prospect that has local sports aficionados twitching with anticipation.
