{"id":249323,"date":"2019-11-30T14:28:07","date_gmt":"2019-11-30T04:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=249323"},"modified":"2020-07-14T11:17:13","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T01:17:13","slug":"cop-that-gympie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/11\/30\/cop-that-gympie\/","title":{"rendered":"Cop That Gympie!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Many of the Gympie visitors wore loud floral shirts, but the side was quickly mown down by their more conservatively dressed South Burnett opponents<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

November 30, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Police from Gympie and the South Burnett swooped on the Kingaroy Cricket Club on Thursday night … but it was all for a good cause.<\/p>\n

They’d come to contest the annual Edwards Wendt Memorial Trophy cricket match and raise funds for the Queensland Cancer Council.<\/p>\n

The event has been played between the two sides since 2011, alternating between Gympie and the South Burnett from one year to the next.<\/p>\n

The local matches are normally played at the Murgon Sportsgrounds, but a recent lightning strike that fried some of the sportsground’s floodlights forced a last minute change of venue to Kingaroy this year.<\/p>\n

The match is held to honour the memories of former Nanango officer-in-charge Russell Wendt and former Gympie officer-in-charge Phil Edwards, both of whom died prematurely from cancer. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The winners get their side’s name recorded on a perpetual trophy, along with a year’s worth of bragging rights.<\/p>\n

This year, things were on a knife-edge because both teams had won the Trophy four times apiece.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, most of the Gympie side turned up at the cricket club dressed in loud floral shirts.<\/p>\n

But they soon proved no match for their more conservatively dressed South Burnett opponents, who won the toss and elected to bowl.<\/p>\n

The South Burnett’s demon bowlers and fielders quickly worked its way through Gympie’s batsmen like a hot knife through butter.<\/p>\n

Then they went on to rack up a big tally that saw the local top scorer (Nanango Senior Constable Marcus Cooper) walk away from the crease with 44 not out.<\/p>\n

In all, the evening raised $797 for the Cancer Council.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It also provided a lot of entertainment for the small group of spectators who came along to watch the action and chance their luck in the raffles.<\/p>\n

Next year’s match will be played in Gympie, where locals will no doubt be hoping for a home ground advantage.<\/p>\n