CRICKET legend Merv Hughes predicted Australia will dominate the Ashes series against England when he was the special guest speaker at a lunch for men’s health at Cherry Street Sports Club.<\/p>\n
It was a fundraiser for the Ballina Seagulls rugby league club and Rotary on Richmond, promoting mental health and prostate cancer awareness.<\/p>\n
It was a coup to get Hughes at the event; it coincided with the first Test match in the Ashes series.<\/p>\n
“The English have been talking up a storm, it’s up to them whether they can back it up or not now,” Hughes said.<\/p>\n
“I think Australia will win comfortably; England play a very high-risk game, bordering on reckless.<\/p>\n
“That might bring them undone playing on harder wickets with a bit more bounce and pace in them.<\/p>\n
“The positive for the Australian selectors is they’re not worrying about who to pick, it’s more who to leave out now.”<\/p>\n
Hughes represented Australia in 53 test matches between 1985 and 1994, taking 212 wickets.<\/p>\n
He was part of three national teams that won Ashes series, including two in England.<\/p>\n
The 63-year-old was joined at Ballina by rugby league legend Paul Sironen, who now lives locally.<\/p>\n
Sironen is a Balmain Tigers legend who also represented NSW in State of Origin and the Australian Kangaroos.<\/p>\n
A big crowd turned up for the event, which was organised by Mark Turner with support of the Cherry Street club.<\/p>\n
It had prizes for best moustache as well as football passing and bowling competitions on boards that featured giant images of Hughes and Sironen.<\/p>\n
Hughes still has his iconic moustache and enjoys being an ambassador for men’s health.<\/p>\n
“Men’s health is 12 months of the year, that’s why I don’t shave mine off,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I’ve done a bit of work with Siro in this space, and he asked me to come up for this one.<\/p>\n
“Its great people get behind the cause, we want to make sure men over 40 are getting down to the doctor for a prostate check.<\/p>\n
“It’s a lot easier now with the blood test and it’s something we should keep talking about.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CRICKET legend Merv Hughes predicted Australia will dominate the Ashes series against England when he was the special guest speaker at a lunch for men’s health at Cherry Street Sports Club. It was a fundraiser for the Ballina Seagulls rugby league club and Rotary on Richmond, promoting mental health and prostate cancer awareness. It was […]<\/p>\n