The Border-Gavaskar series may have finished early, but the SCG could have been filled 10 times over as more than 400,000 virtual tickets were sold in support of the McGrath Foundation for the Pink Test.
As fans backing India and Australia flocked to the stadium dressed head-to-toe in all shades of pink, the charity raised more than $8 million from virtual tickets alone, with plenty more coming from volunteers manning old-fashioned collection buckets around the stadium.
Matthew Knapman and Richard Collins in their pink suits. Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
Matthew Knapman and Richard Collins found the strength to don pink suits and ties, flowered cowboy hats and pink beards, despite the scorching weather.
Speaking in the Members Stand, Collins said it took him 40 years to grow his beard and 15 minutes to spray it pink this morning.
Knapman said everyone knows someone who has experienced some form of cancer. “It hits close to home, so it’s always good to support such an event,” he said.
Not far away, Sarah Hobson, who came because she loves cricket and wanted to support the cause, took off her wide-brimmed hat to reveal a shaved head.
“I’ve got a lot of friends doing it tough with all sorts of cancers. My mum had breast cancer,” Hobson said. “I shaved my head for charity about two weeks ago, and raised about $1600 for Australian Breast Cancer Network.”
India supporters Daman Singh and Ajay Sindha among friends at the SCG. Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
It wasn’t just Australia’s supporters that got involved – Daman Singh and Ajay Sindha, who stood alongside drums and saxophones in the front row, wore pink shirts under their Indian flags.
“I think it brings a lot of excitement, a lot of colour into the game,” said Singh. “It’s for a great cause so it brings in all the communities together … it doesn’t soften the rivalry, but it brings all the people together, all the communities together – but the game is played with fierce competition.”
Next door to the SCG, in the less rowdy Allianz Stadium, the McGrath Foundation held its Jane McGrath High Tea, where fairy bread T-shirts and plastic cups of beer were traded for high fashion and cocktails.
At the high tea were three friends from Warrandyte, Victoria – Katie Taubert, Nicole Huseby and Sandra Mills – who between them have raised more than $120,000 for the foundation. They travelled to Sydney to celebrate their successes after spending a year planning their outfits.
Katie Taubert, Nicole Huseby and Sandra Mills attended the Jane McGrath High Tea.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
“I made the earrings, the necklaces to match, everything,” said Mills. “It’s like a reward for us for raising money for the McGrath Foundation. We raise a lot of money just the three of us – no committees, we just jump in when we can.”
The cause is personal for Huseby, who said she didn’t know about the charity before she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Now she “spruiks it like a butcher”.
The trio run sausage sizzles, collect cans for recycling deposits, organise pub meat raffles and talk to locals about how different cancers affect their lives.
“We make people smile – and smiling is the best thing.”
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