Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson paid a visit to Murwillumbah Cricket Club on Tuesday to film a segment for Channel 7 which will be shown during the upcoming Test series this summer.
Watson, who only retired from playing cricket in 2020, turned up at Murwillumbah's training session at Rabjones Oval.
He also had some good news for the club, which was impacted by the devastating floods in February.
Supermarket giant Woolworths, which sponsors junior cricket programs, Junior Blaster and Master Blaster, also came along with some fresh fruit and vegies and cricket gear.
It was a major shot in the arm for Murwillumbah at a time where they are recovering from the floods and trying to put their best foot forward on the cricket pitch.
"It is great they have come along and given us a little help to get us re-started," Murwillumbah club president Adam Housen said.
"Basically, our club is dual storey and the water came within four steps of going into the upstairs.
"We lost most of our cricket gear and lost most of the stuff in our canteen.
"We had a storm a couple of weeks later and lost our sightscreen."
The club had an amazing response with people coming from far and wide to help with the clean-up and donations of cricket gear.
"We even had an anonymous donation of a brand new bowling machine," he said.
Woolworths had shown an interest in the club prior to the flood and re-contacted Murwillumbah and said they'd like to visit in November and would bring a host.
To have someone of the calibre of Watson, regarded as one of the best all-rounders in the game, come and shine a light on the club was an added bonus.
He retired from all forms of cricket in 2020 and ahead of the 2022 IPL season joined the Delhi Capitals as an assistant coach.
"It is a massive boost for the community and for the Murwillumbah Cricket Club," Housen said.
"It is a great boost for our junior cricketers, a lot of whom probably didn't know who he was but Googled and found out."
I'm a media professional with over 34 years of experience in public relations and journalism, including a decade setting Lismore's news agenda as the editor of The Northern Star. I have proven track record in growing audiences and improving engagement by delivering quality local stories for and about the Lismore community.
I'm a media professional with over 34 years of experience in public relations and journalism, including a decade setting Lismore's news agenda as the editor of The Northern Star. I have proven track record in growing audiences and improving engagement by delivering quality local stories for and about the Lismore community.
