"Michele & Cricket" by Mike

As I'm sure all Michele's friends would know, Michele was sports-mad, especially when it came to AFL. However, her "one true love" when it came to sports would have to have been CRICKET. Right from her early years, Shelley was passionate about the West Indian cricket team ... and especially Viv Richards (Sir Vivian as he is now known - the "Master Blaster"back when the West Indians were invincible). Michele had posters all over her bedroom walls, featuring Sherbet & Smokey, some favourite movie stars like Sydney Poitier, and lots of cricketers from the days of World Series Cricket ... but one wall was dedicated solely to the purpose of glorifying the "Master Blaster". In fact, she never really got over it - my oldest son is born the day after Viv's birthday, and that is how Michele always remembered it!

However, not only did Michele follow the cricket avidly, she made sure she knew all about the game she loved. Back in the mid-80's, when the church we were involved in had annual cricket competitions between the under-21's & the "oldies" (scarey to think that's who we used to call them!) she was the most sought-after umpire. She was respected by both teams for giving the best decisions - that's because she knew the rules better than any of the players!

I remember one year when I went out to bat wearing a cowboy hat with a cockatoo feather in it. Laurie, the fastest bowler in the "oldies" team was determined the knock the hat off my head! So he welcomed me to the crease with a fearsome bouncer that accomplished his goal. When I finally got up & faced the next ball, he delivered a beautiful inswinger that clipped my pads. As everyone appealed, even I thought I was a goner ... but Shelley said "not out"! Everyone thought it was a bit of favouritism, and even I thought "maybe"... but when I asked her after the game, she replied (as I should have expected) ... "Mike, if you were out, I would have given you out; but as I told Laurie, the ball pitched just outside the leg stump & you were very lucky".

And that was Michele. Always faithful & loyal to her friends, but never at the cost of her integrity. What an amazing woman - We will so miss her!