The bright sun gave the grey tips in Merv Hughes’ moustache a touch more venom as he stormed to the crease in the annual fundraiser for Asthma Foundation Victoria on Sunday 21 February.  ETU State Secretary Dean Mighell was joined by communications department ally Phil Cleary and Joel Bowden the recently retired Tiger, now AFL players’ union president representing the ‘Centurions’ against a Merv Hughes IX which included Crackers Keenan and a host of media and cricket notables.


As is so often the case when the ETU struts its stuff publicly, there was no shortage of controversy.   The third umpire would surely have confirmed that Dean had hit the ball that crashed into his protector before drawing the umpire’s finger. And how could the man in white not see that big Merv’s pad was in line with the off stump when a gentle Cleary off cutter slid past the bat? If that wasn’t enough, imagine the disquiet in ETU ranks when it was announced that the game had ended in a tie when all and sundry believed Hughes’ boys needed three, not two off the last ball, to tie the game. Let’s just say that the Asthma Foundation of Victoria – due to a generous donation from the ETU – was the winner.