 Missy's Mail No. 21 - Coming of Age
My greatest memory at Gordon does not involve any on-field incident, in which I have had many. It does not resinate from a Tuesday or a Thursday afternoon at Chatswood Oval either. My greatest memory from my 4 years at the Stags begins on one barmy evening at a pub in Killara. The GreenGate Hotel, The GGate, The GG, The Local, call it what you like, has seen many an interesting occasion. Forinstance I can recall Mitchell Kleem creating a dance floor in front of the old bar one time, without the presence of music. It was quite something. He was quickly escorted from the premises.
Andrew Plummer everyone! - And would you believe it, his greatest fan in the background!
However this one particular evening brings a smile to my face every single time I reminisce. It must have been around the 2005/2006 season. The GDCC was remarkably different to the one it is today. The likes of Richie Paul, Dave Parfett, Jimmy Hosking, Dave Storey, Matthew Todd, Richie Brown, Sam Hinton, Jeremy Cashman, John O’Neil-Fuller and most notably Andrew Plummer graced the club with their presence. Those were the days.
There were quite a few patrons at the GG that night, I can not recollect why such a number was there, but it was certainly doing a roaring trade; or as Pic would say “It was (adjective) heavin’”. Most of the Stags had already made their way to the pub, and most were tucking into their medium rare’s or microwave schnitzels.
Enter Andrew Plummer.
A large portion of those reading this article will not know who Andrew Plummer is. He will be most disappointed that that is the case. I’m sure Andrew is reading this, as I understand he googles his own name bi-weekly. Sorry Plums, that was harsh. Plummer created his own aura, never one to shy away from telling you the facts (about himself) and was always willing to tell a story, even if it was not funny, nor poignant.
The incident is hazy, mostly because this was at a time when you could light up a smoke and be quick with a joke indoors. Thank-you Billy Joel.
Satan, unbeknown to me at the time was taking a short vacation from Hell. He had taken human form, and seemed to be on some sort of mission to meet, and befriend as many people as possible. Usually from the opposite sex and never one at a time. He had changed his name to John O’Neill-Fuller. Everyone called him JOF and his closest associates (of which there was many) referred to him as 2-pumps. I never understood it, something about his ‘bowling action.’
Anyway, “JOF” had seen young Plummer make his entrance. He jumped up from his seat and announced “Andrew Plummer everybody” and began to clap. The others at the table that ‘666’ was sitting with also joined in. Soon 15, 20, 30 people were standing and clapping Plummer. Before long it was as if the whole pub were standing and cheering. I remember looking over behind my shoulder and seeing maybe 4 or 5 elderly people clapping along. They didn’t even know who Andrew Plummer was. But they liked him. Everyone did.
Plums pretended to be embarrassed. But Andrew Plummer never got embarrassed.
Closely behind that event, running in 2nd place was yet another evening at the GreenGate. 4th grade had won the Grand Final comprehensively. They won it early on the Sunday morning. By the time I rendezvoused with my club mates at around 6ish, they had already been drinking for at least 7 hours. The club song was going off. It was as if the government had banned singing of club songs, so in protest, we sang the club song over and over. Like a broken record. Except the record would play the whole song, and then restart. I remember there was entertainment on that evening. A young man playing his acoustic 6-string, just trying to make a buck. 4th Grade Co-Captain of the premiership winning side, Marty Reynolds, told the musician to stop playing so we could sing the song. Security was involved and eventually, security told the guitarist to stop playing. I think that was also the night I met Andrew Johns and Brett Finch in The Empire in Sydney’s Kings Cross. Good times.
That was such a long time ago now, Will Sweeney had only had 6 knee surgeries at that point.
But enough of this trip down memory lane with Missy Higgins, surely there are other more pressing matters in Sydney Grade Crickets off-season! Surely, one would think that Missy would name his good mate Beau Casson before he drifted on about his life at the GreenGate. Touché noble reader. Touché.
 For those who know Beau Casson, you would not be surprised to read this week that he is on the verge of his first Baggy Green cap. Beau Casson is probably the only person who knows Beau Casson who is surprised. I’ll embarrass him now by saying that he is one of the most genuinely good people to grace this earth, and he deserves everything that comes his way. Hard worker, strong character, great with developing players, nice eyes, defined jaw line. He’s got it all.
Beau in the early days for WA
He would be the first person to say he is lucky, and to suggest that he will be a test player through circumstance, but anyone who has seen Stuart MacGill bowl recently and watched Beau this year will tell you who is the best Australian spin bowler and international player.
Ironically, I once had a drink with Beau at the GreenGate. In fact, that’s not really irony at all. Disregard. For some reason the first graders were talking to me, so I decided to make the most of it. We decided to start sculling beers. Why? I do not know. Only a handful of people can say they have had a beer with an international cricketer. At last count it was a meagre 3 billion. Juli“Hahn-Premium” Stephenson was also there, and so was Craig Simmons. Obviously no one had told ‘Simmo’ that there was a drought on, because he completely disregarded the water restrictions that night. I think I saw him have 3 waters. Prick.
From everyone at the GDCC, the players, the committee, the fans, the sponsors, we wish Beau all the best and pray for him that his dream comes true in the 3rd test match in the West Indies.
Missy
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