It was a day of sadness before the joy of cricket at the Gabba on Saturday, with Nathan Lyon later paying a heartfelt tribute to the fallen police and neighbour who were killed at Wieambilla, three hours west of Brisbane, last Monday.
The Australian players were close by when a delegation of six police officers arrived to be part of a minute’s silence to honour Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow before the usual welcome to country and national anthems before each Test.
The Australian players offer their support to grieving police officers before the start of play on Saturday.Credit:Getty
One policeman was clearly distraught at the loss of their colleagues, crying heavily on a fellow officer’s shoulder before gathering himself for the solemn silence in front of almost 30,000 fans, the largest crowd for the first day of a non-Ashes Test at the Gabba. This was followed by a generous round of applause from the crowd.
“It was massive, to be honest with you,” Lyon said after play. “I actually said to Mitch Starc, ‘I don’t know whether I should go out and put my arm around him or not’. I don’t know what the protocols are or anything like that, but it hit everyone pretty hard.
“I wasn’t aware that the police were coming out for that, but I’m very grateful that they did and they were able to see the support of the not just us cricketers, but the Australian public and everyone.
“I thought it was absolutely fantastic and words can’t describe what they’re going through. It puts what we do in a pretty small basket. I’m pretty speechless, to be honest. I don’t know how to answer it and I’ll never do the two cops justice, or the gentleman who passed away. I don’t have much, more to be honest.”
There were only a few minutes between the minute’s silence and when the match started, with both teams wearing black arm-bands in solidarity.
Nathan Lyon.Credit:Getty
Lyon claimed the players had no choice but to compose themselves and get on with the match after every Australian player went over and embraced the police to pay their respect.
“That’s our job,” Lyon said. “It was a pretty amazing moment, and maybe it’s probably not the right word, but to go and say thank you to the cops or the police force after. I think that was a really nice moment.
“I know we all had a little moment there and we all said how tough that was. But come cricket time we’ve got to do our job.”
