It’s here again, that languorous time of year when the backyard cricket pros come out of the woodwork to demonstrate their masterful batting and bowling skills, hoping to find themselves on the winning team, at one of our most anticipated annual sports events.

The Big Bash returns to Master Builders on Monday, 23 February at Fairlea Oval in Fairfield.

We select the Big Bash teams evenly from a motley mix of MBAV and MBAIS staff. Training for the event is rigorous, and consists of snappy patter and friendly jibes traded through emails. While the cause—support for people grappling with breast cancer—is a noble one, the game itself is organised primarily as a light-hearted charity match, with no one taking the competition particularly seriously. However, there has been the occasional six-hit that sends staff running wildly in pursuit.

This year, our two teams are headed by Ash Nicol, our Membership area manager, and Matt Loughlin, our Assist Manager and self-described cricket fanatic. Regardless of what may have transpired in the recent Australia v England match, for the Big Bash teams, ours is a clean playing field. Still, everyone likes to win.

Winning, of course, isn’t really the aim of the match; it’s raising much-needed funds for the McGrath Foundation’s important support work. This year, we have aligned the game with Pink Stumps Day, which takes place officially on 21^st February. Pink Stumps Day is organised by the McGrath Foundation to raise funds for the support of families who face the significant challenges of breast cancer.

Donations are welcome and can be made via the MBAV/MBAIS fundraising page here.

To highlight the cause, Big Bash participants will be playing with bright pink gear including stumps, bails, caps, umpire hats, batter pads and sunglasses. Our own pink kit arrived just this week.

Game on!