By Colin MacGillivray

Family, friends and team-mates celebrated a living cricket legend in Brim on Sunday, with Wavell McPherson receiving life membership of the Vic Country Veterans Cricket Club at a special celebration.

McPherson, 83, has played with the team for nearly two decades after becoming eligible for the Veterans Cricket Victoria, VCV, over-60 competition.

A long-time figurehead of the Brim-Kellalac-Sheep Hills Cricket Club, McPherson has made a sizeable impact in the veteran cricket ranks, representing Victoria and Australia in his 70s and taking part in a tour of England in 2018.

McPherson said the life membership was one of his most cherished veteran cricket honours, alongside the baggy green cap he received for representing Australia.

“It’s a prestigious award to think that the other chaps are acknowledging my contribution. To get a life membership is probably the highest recognition that you can receive,” he said.

“They gave me a great opportunity to be able to play on. When a fella gets to 60, he tends to have to stop playing with the younger fellas.”

But McPherson has not entirely given up on playing with ‘the younger fellas’.

He remains involved with Brim-Kellalac-Sheep Hills as a committee member and occasionally fills in for the club’s B Grade team – and even opposing clubs.

“I still play locally if the teams are short. I’ll get a game at Brim every now and then and I’ve been lucky enough to play with my sons and grandsons,” he said.

“I played with Quantong this past season  because they were short one day when they came to Brim. They were going to have to forfeit and they said ‘would you play for us?’

“I kept for them and I stumped one of our own blokes.”

McPherson said the Eagles’ move to Horsham Cricket Association from the Wimmera Mallee Cricket Association this season had been a success.

“We’re very pleased because our blokes wanted to play two-day cricket,” he said.

“All the Horsham boys who have come to Brim have been delighted – they get to play on a lovely wicket and a beautiful ground.

“Some people thought the Horsham competition might’ve been too strong for us, but we held our own.

“We beat Homers and then we played them in a final and they beat us, so you can’t complain about that. It was a good success.”

And while opportunities to play for his hometown club are now sporadic, McPherson said he still relished his time in the veterans competition.

“I still love having an opportunity to play with the younger blokes because they can throw the ball so fast. It’s a very fast game, which I love,” he said.

“But when you’re playing in the veterans, everything is exactly the same, it just happens a lot slower.”

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