Tim Paine and Mitchell Starc support Nic Macbean Cup charity game for men’s health
The tragic suicide of Brisbane Boys College graduate Nic Macbean hit his friends hard – but in the wake of his passing comes a charity cricket game that aims to help other young men struggling with mental health.
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When talented journalist and Brisbane Boys College graduate Nic Macbean took his own life in November 2015, his closest school friends and cricket mates were “stunned”, “confronted” and “deeply saddened”.
But, as so often happens following life’s darkest moments, Nic’s passing has inspired a generational change – this time in the form of young men tackling the stigma surrounding men’s mental health.
Josh Langdon, Nic’s childhood friend, is the driving force behind the Nic Macbean Cup, an annual charity T20 game that pits the BBC First XI squad against a “Nic MacBean All Stars” side to honour his mate and break down barriers around suicide and seeking help.
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Australian Test captain Tim Paine and paceman Mitchell Starc met with Langdon and BBC students and staff on Tuesday to help promote and further the cause with Starc praising the initiative, citing the struggles of his own national teammates.
“In cricket, it (mental health) is a pretty prevalent issue at the moment with three boys taking some time away but I think the most positive thing about that is having the courage to put their hand up and say that they’re not going OK, which is what we’re about.
“We need to be better as a male generation and around Australia and the world as well.
“It’s definitely not something that I was probably aware of at school and probably something not many of the guys that are older than me.
“So I think it’s going back to creating awareness through things like Movember.”
Langdon says the First XI v All Stars match is now entering its fourth instalment with the students holding a 2-1 lead after winning in 2017 and 2018 following the All-Stars’ inaugural win.
And while the match serves as a valuable warm-up for BBC’s summer of GPS cricket, the true message remains. “Immediately after his death we were all very stunned but we didn’t want to let his passing just become a memory, we wanted to honour it in some way
“We all graduated in 2002 and all played cricket together so cricket made sense and we were just going to do one big game as a tribute to Nic, but then it really just took off from there.
“We’ve had guys like Chris Hartley and Craig Philipson and quite a few first-graders come through and play for the All-Stars so it’s quite a good test for them.
“But they’ve demolished us in the past few years – they’ve had some pretty good players and we’re not getting any younger.”
Nic’s classmate Scott Wood is an All Stars regular sums it up best.
“I think from a sad story has come something really quite positive and it’s a really great way to honour Nic,” he said.
Originally published as Tim Paine and Mitchell Starc support Nic Macbean Cup charity game for men’s health