"NSW Cricket and the Baby Blues, Rest In Peace” was the headline in the Australian newspaper December 1993 following a humiliating Sheffield Shield defeat in Perth in only two days. To make matters worse, the article was illustrated with individual tombstones of each player who participated in the match. Ouch!
If a team ever needed motivation, this was it!
NSW had to win the last seven Sheffield Shield games in a row to make the final. Almost an impossible task based on current form.
Before our next match at the SCG, a young fan gave Adam Gilchrist, our then number 5 batsmen a tiny figurine of Scooby Doo for good luck. When asked why Adam had a small dog on top of his locker he replied “Boys he is good luck. Everyone rub Scooby’s head before we take the field today.” That we did, and we won the match convincingly.
