By IANS
Melbourne : Around 1,000 workers, from security staff to cooks, would be at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for the Boxing Day Test match, the Australian media reported here Wednesday.
According to The Age, while most workers would be inside the concourse or in the car park, a select few like sightscreen operator Albie Loughnan would get to watch the match as they work.
Perched on a chair on the sacred turf, Loughnan gets paid to push a button to move the three-metre screen this way and that, as the batsmen want. But mostly, he sits there and watches the cricket.
He simply has to hold an oversized remote control and push buttons for “left”, “right”, “fast” or “slow”.
If the players are all right-hand bowlers and right-hand batsmen, the screen can be left in the same position for hours. But he can’t afford to nod off, because if a batsman makes a hand signal, or a bowler is going to bowl around the wicket rather than over the wicket, it’s time to move the screen.
Loughnan’s view of the game is unsurpassed and he says: “Right behind the bowler’s arm, so you can see the movement of the ball”.
He couldn’t think of a downside to the job. “I really love it. My wife said to me if I won Tatts-lotto I’d still go and work there – and I probably would.”
Kevin Wanstall, a St. John Ambulance volunteer, isn’t much of a cricket fan but enjoys the atmosphere. He’s an automotive instructor by trade, so treating the ill gives him a chance to do something different with his skills.
In 11 years volunteering at the MCG, he has saved the lives of 14 heart attack victims. On all the days of the Test match, he will be patrolling the MCG in a motorised buggy fitted with a stretcher and first aid gear.
Another worker patrolling the stands on foot was Mathew Donnelly, 18. This is his third year selling pies, snack bars and soft drinks. For the cricket-mad teenager, who plays for Sacred Heart cricket club in South Yarra, it’s a dream job.
“You have to work hard. It’s very physical work, and you have to be mentally awake,” he said, “but you get to interact with different types of people.”