Bundaberg Festival 2008

Benign weather favoured the IFCR Festival at Bundaberg between October 12 and October 16, 2008. This festival was different from all preceding Australian festivals in that we were joined by five Rotarians from the Chennai area and eleven Rotarians from the Hyderabad region.

As an innovation, Ian and Alison Petherick opened their home to all on the night before the official opening for a barbeque – 60 attended and enjoyed their hospitality.

The Bundaberg Civic Centre was the site for the official opening of the festival on Sunday, October 12. Rotary cricketers plus wives/partners from all mainland states of Australia together with our Indian guests and the 25 strong New Zealand party were in attendance to hear from the local mayor, D9570 governor Terry Daley and organiser Ian Petherick whilst renewing previous acquaintances and making new IFCR friends.

Our cricket venue, Salter Oval, had the benefit of a main oval with three secondary grounds adjacent. This meant that 10 teams could take part in 5 matches on both Monday and Tuesday. Two games of 33 overs were played each day on the main oval, one starting at 8.30am and the second at 12.50pm while the outer grounds each hosted a 40 over game.

Each day, following the conclusion of play, all adjourned to the pavilion at the Salter Oval for an hour of fellowship prior to the presentation of match reports by the captains of the day. Many amusing incidents were related of happenings in the various games with the highlight being the award of Man of the Match by each captain to the best player on the opposing team.

Wednesday morning early (6.45am to be precise) was the time when a large contingent of Rotarians journeyed to the Police and Citizens Youth Club for a meeting of RC of Bundaberg Sunrise where Stan Gilchrist (father of Adam) gave a thoughtful talk (with anecdotes) on Adam’s background, early years and playing career.

Cricket action on Wednesday was the inaugural Twenty20 game between and Australian selection and a combined New Zealand/India team. This new idea produced a competitive game with the locals prevailing - 6/134 against the visitors 8/121. Patrick O’Shea retired on 30 and Ross Williams scored 22 not out for the winning side with John Hannah taking 2/21. Best batsman for the visitors was V Srivistani with the bowling honours going to Bruce Pooley 3/29.

The final day’s cricket was reduced to 4 games by departures and injuries. All teams had a mixture of Aussies, Indians and New Zealanders. The plan was to play 33 overs in each game but rain intervened causing three of the 4 games not to go the full distance.

The final dinner was, as always, a dressy affair held this time at the Bundaberg RSL Club. A highlight was the drawing of the raffle, conducted throughout the week, for a bat signed by Adam Gilchrist and mounted suitably. The proceeds must have been substantial as the AMP Foundation gave a cheque for $20,000 (based on their 1 for 2 formula) for the funds raised. The Australian Rotary Health Research Foundation was the beneficiary of this excellent fundraising. Outgoing Aus IFCR president, Ian Petherick, and his replacement, David Horsley, spoke briefly.

Associated activities for partners included half day bus trips on the first three cricket days, a river cruise combined with a restaurant dinner, a curry night at Robert Ephraims’ place and a casual barbeque at Salter Oval in conjunction with the Twenty20 game.

No report on this very successful festival would be complete without mentioning the main organisers, Alison and Ian Petherick. Every day brought new challenges whether it was transport, personnel or whatever but all these challenges were resolved with good humour. Committee members, Bob Gallagher, Geoff Campbell, Robert Ephraims and Robert Edgar all added to the success of the festival.