AUSTRALIAN cricket greats Ian Healy and Nathan Lyon paid a visit to the Batemans Bay Cricket Club on Thursday, March 12, to teach junior members some tricks and celebrate the club after a tough summer of bushfires.
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Healy, a former wicketkeeper, and Lyon, an off-spin bowler, are both celebrities on the cricket pitch.
Sascha Peard, a school counsellor and mother of junior player, Sean, nominated the club as the national Specsavers Community Champion Program, and won it for the club this year.
Ms Peard was grateful to Cricket Australia and Specsavers for extending the program to the whole club for the whole day.
Read more: Greg Harris honoured for service to cricket
Batemans Bay Cricket Club junior coordinator Andrew Malcolm said it was a "special" day because the club wouldn't usually get access to international players.
Mr Malcolm thanked Sean and Ms Peard for winning the prize.
He said it was uplifting for the junior members to have cricket greats playing with them and giving them tips, and it would hopefully encourage more kids to join or rejoin next season.
He also thanked Alyssa Healy and Cricket Australia for inviting 30 of their members to the Australia-Bangladesh T20 world cup at Manuka Oval, ACT, in February, where the kids escorted the cricketers on to the ground.
He said all the events capped off another great year of cricket for the club.
Healy said the workshop was a highlight of his role as a Specsavers ambassador.
"As soon as you get here, you know it's going to be great, and the kids are so keen," he said.
"You try not to think about what the people here have gone through: the trauma and unreal atmosphere that was at the time. It was terrible enough watching it on TV.
"To be here and to feel that atmosphere, it looked like a horror movie."
He said it was no coincidence they were nominated and had been a good club.
"Have a look at how many volunteers are here today, how well they have banded together to get this day done," he said.
"Probably the only good thing about those fires was the volunteers and assistance everyone gave each other and the sense of community.
"It's certainly here.
"Let's hope they can have a great community without the traumatic experiences in the future."