NEVER mind the late swing, reverse swing, leg breaks, off breaks or Yorkers you might get when you turn up at Newhaven on Phillip Island to play cricket.
And it’s not the glare off the windscreens, the backdrop of nearby houses or cars raising dust as they inch their way towards the carpark, while you’re facing up to the next delivery, that’s going to distract your focus.
No there’s a much more difficult problem to deal with than an opposition bowler hitting a good length or a batsman getting well on top of the attack.
It’s a pesky local with a penchant for the noble game whose raising the ire of batsmen, bowlers and umpires alike.
But as one bemused onlooker pointed out on Saturday, while Nerrena was battling to match Phillip Island’s 252 total of the week before in A Grade Division 1: “This is his home. He lives here all week. The cricketers only turn up on Saturday.”
And don’t imagine it’s some sort of fiendish plan by the locals to gain an advantage.
‘Sammy the Seagull’ doesn’t play favourites.
If anything, he was even more annoying the week before, often taking up a position in the middle of the pitch while Phillip Island was batting or flying in at the last moment to get a better look.
“We were shooing him away all afternoon last week,” said one Phillip Island team member, put on the defensive by accusations of bias.
“No way. He’s not a Phillip Island supporter.”
And when it came time for Nerrena to bat last Saturday, ‘Sammy’ was back again, flying into his favourite position at cover, then moving in with the bowler, as you do.
Driven off by umpire Ozzie Williams, at the request of Darcy Berryman or Tim Wightman, when they were setting up to face the next delivery, Sammy would retreat to long off momentarily only to take flight and land at mid-wicket, before waddling in closer for a better look.
There’s little doubt he was taking an interest in the play.
When the bowler was walking back to his mark, he’d daydream for a while, gaze skywards, or swivel the unfused vertebrae in his neck round to see whether afternoon tea was ready back in the pavilion before turning back to catch the outcome of the next delivery.
And he wasn’t at all put off by the shooing or threats from the batsmen or fielders, and when Ozzie Williams tossed the hat he was holding for the bowler in his direction, Sammy treated it as some sort of game.
“This is fun,” he seemed to say as he flew easily into the space out at deep extra cover.
And who won the day?
Phillip Island’s Zac Brown turned the game the Sharks’ way when he came on to bowl, taking wickets in consecutive overs to reduce Nerrena from a promising position of 2/96 to 4/101, the breakthrough coming with a sharp catch, coming forward, by Brodie Johnston at mid-wicket to dismiss Jack Curtis who had just raised his bat for a half century and was playing superbly on the fast Newhaven outfield.
His off-spin produced the wicket of Mitch Clark, out for 10, in the next over and he went on to take a match-winning 4/50 off 13.4 overs, well supported in the field.
It must be said that ‘Sammy’ played no obvious part in the key wickets of Curtis and Clark. Their dismissals appeared to be the result of poor shots but then again, cricket is very much a mental game and the mere thought that a seagull might flap in at the last second might have altered the thought process just enough.
Good luck to those teams turning out next at Newhaven!
