VSDCA 2020-21: Glenn McGrath marks Pink Stumps Day at Bayswater

Bayswater turned pink on Saturday in its annual fundraiser for breast cancer – and it was joined by Australian cricket royalty.

Glenn McGrath with Bayswater’s Second XI. Picture: Bayswater CC

It’s not every day you receive news one of Australia’s greatest-ever bowlers is on his way to your club.

But as Bayswater Cricket Club turned pink on Saturday in support of the McGrath Foundation’s Pink Stumps Day, the event was topped off with just that.

None other than the great Glenn McGrath was in attendance at Marie Wallace Oval as the Waters’ Second XI contested a semi-final, while the club rallied together to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer.

McGrath addresses the luncheon. Picture: Bayswater CC

The former Australian paceman founded the McGrath Foundation with late wife Jane in 2002, with its Pink Stumps Day initiative embraced by thousands of community sporting clubs each year.

Bayswater is among those thousands but has been a leader in the space, having marked the occasion for around a decade where it’s raised about $85,000 for the foundation in that time according to club president Darryl Stranger.

But this year’s event had been up in the air due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That is, until an email arrived.

“We actually weren’t going to have a Pink Stumps Day this year because of COVID, and then we got an email from the McGrath Foundation to say that Glenn was coming down,” Stranger said.

“We had about three weeks to pull it together and it came off really well … (Glenn) was sensational – he gave up his time and was great.

“Brighton who we played were fantastic, they wore the pink caps as well.”

Brighton joined forces with the Waters in going pink for the occasion. Picture: Bayswater CC

Through the work of late club legend Paul Creed and the committee of the day – some of whom still serve – the Waters’ annual Pink Stumps Day event was born around a decade ago.

The club’s fundraiser for the cause is aptly named in his honour – ‘Creedy’s Bayswater Cricket Club’s Pink Stumps Day’.

Glenn McGrath works the room at the luncheon. Picture: Bayswater CC

And while the Second XI fell 21 runs short in its chase of Brighton marking the club’s end to an unprecedented campaign under COVID-19 conditions, Stranger said the luncheon also featuring political dignitaries was a fitting way to close the season.

“We had individual lunch packs and everything was by the rules … it (COVID-19 conditions) got easier as the year went on … and it became part of your general practice,” he said.