BIPIN DANI
Australian Test captain Pat Cummins may be otherwise engaged at the moment, but we hear he is already polishing his lines for when he appears as special guest at The Chappell Foundation annual fundraising dinner at the SCG on August 10.
This was revealed by Darshak Mehtra, the chairman of the Foundation.
The 29-year-old captain will follow in the footsteps of Tim Paine, Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne and Jimmy Barnes, who have all previously appeared at cricket’s biggest charity event.
"We hear Cummins doesn’t mind an expensive wine having been introduced to the world of the fermented grape by no less than Dennis Lillee (a TCF patron). Cummins flew to Perth a few years back to work on fixing his bowling action with the former great. While that obviously worked a treat, the Australian captain says the wine habit he developed in the company of the great man has cost him a fortune since", Mehta says.
"It’s a night for the tragic and the talented. Cummins, along with Ian, Greg and Trevor Chappell and a host of former cricketers, will join guests for sundowner drinks on the sacred turf before heading upstairs for the evening, which concludes with the skipper and Tracey Holmes in conversation", adds Mehta.
Former PM John Howard is a great supporter of the charity night, which once saw John Singleton so moved by the occasion that he pledged a million dollars on the spot.
The foundation raises money for homeless youth and is almost entirely without overheads, which means all money raised gets to the right places. The guests will also get a chance to visit the Sydney Cricket Ground dressing rooms with Cummins and Chappell.
