Totally honest Tim highlights our Annual Dinner

Test captain Tim Paine, The Chappell Foundation’s Fourth Annual Dinner special guest,

breathes life into the cliché “refreshing honesty”.

Tim’s straight-back-down-the-pitch approach to cricket and life was captivating.

The 450 dinner guests, who raised around $300,000 for homeless young people, learned that

“totally honest” is Tim’s byword.

“If I’m totally honest, I sh*t myself,” he said of being hustled into the Australian captaincy in

the dark days after the March 2018 Cape Town ball-tampering scandal.

Tim revealed he wasn’t asked – he was told – by the Cricket Australia board to replace Steve

Smith, becoming Australia’s 46th Test captain.

“It’s probably lucky I wasn’t asked because I’m not sure I was that keen on it, at the time.”

At that point, Tim was just a handful of Tests back into the national team after seven years

sidelined by competition for the wicketkeeping spot, a finger that kept on breaking, loss of

batting form and finally an inclination to quit first-class cricket.

His previous captaincy experience, with Tasmania in 2010-14, wasn’t much comfort either.

“Totally honest, looking back I was a horrible captain, I was punchy, sort of aggressive

…everything was everyone else’s fault, it wasn’t my fault.”

Tim shared with guests a behind-the-scenes-glimpse of what it was like at the time; how he’d

gone back to an empty hotel room and was staring out the window when his mother walked

in.

They’ve made me Australian captain, he’d told her. Surely it was only for one Test, she

queried.

Neither of them could quite believe it.

Three years later Tim stands, as an Ashes-wining captain, in the company of the Chappell

brothers – TCF co-founder Greg and Ian, both at the dinner – and previous Tasmanian Test

captain Ricky Ponting, our 2020 guest speaker.

He explained a plain-spoken, meticulous role in rebuilding a shattered national team and its

relations with the rest of the cricketing community, while learning his way as Test leader.

The captain reads widely on sports leadership and carefully notes what will resonate with his

players but, as to a philosophy of leadership, “I have no idea, if I’m totally honest”.

What Tim does know is that at 36 he’s closer to the end than the beginning but he wants at

least another Ashes series as captain.

“If I feel like the time is right and we’ve beaten the Poms 5-0, what a way to go out.”

He did, however, float the idea of being 110no at the SCG, having chased down a big last

innings total to win the game and seal the Ashes …

If that was the case, he said, he’d probably be feeling good enough to keep going.

Another straight-shooter, Foundation Chairman Darshak Mehta, reminded dinner guests of

the drastic circumstances facing frontline charities supported by TCF.

“The Covid pandemic has seen one of our partners, Taldumande report a 17 per cent increase

in young homeless people requiring help, 51 per cent increase in young people who are

victims of domestic violence and a 101 per cent increase in young people with mental health

issues.

“Sadly, Taldumande had to turn away 25 per cent of the young people who requested help,

due to no available beds.”

Guests heard from “CJ”, a young man whose life was a harrowing sequence of neglect, abuse

and homelessness until he was taken in by Burdekin Association.

Burdekin is among seven youth homelessness-focused charities for which TCF has raised a

total $3.5 million in the past four years.

Among the Burdekin people at the dinner was CEO Justene Gordon and president Gill

Lawrence; BackTrack Youth Works founder Bernie Shakeshaft came with chair Greg

Paramor; as did Taldumande Youth Services chair Virginia Howard and CEO Lisa Graham;

Stepping Stone House CEO Jason Juretic and chair Simon Bird; and WAYS Youth and

Family CEO Terri Said and president Leo Wassercug.

Our other frontline charity partners are Raw Potential Canberra and Brisbane’s Ecumenical

Coffee Brigade.

Those are the real heroes in the struggle against youth homelessness, said Darshak.

“We merely raise money. They transform lives”.

TCF fundraising partners Sue and Peter Maloney from Canberra and Matt Brannelly from

Brisbane were also welcomed to the dinner.

Foundation patron and former prime minister John Howard, accompanied by wife Janette,

was a highly popular guest. Former NSW premier Mike Baird came as a Cricket Australia

director.

Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings attended, as did Cricket NSW chair John Knox.

Venues NSW chair Tony Shepherd and CEO Kerri Mather, who have strongly supported the

Foundation dinner through the SCG Trust, were also welcomed.

Past and present cricket champions were in abundance alongside Greg, Ian and Trevor

Chappell.

Current Test fast bowler Josh Hazlewood was backed by former quicks Geoff Lawson and

Brendon Julian. Former keepers Greg Dyer and Phil Emery were also in the room.

Loyal Foundation supporters Louise Sauvage, the Paralympics great, and Peter FitzSimons,

author and former Wallaby lock forward, were there, as was Michael Cheika, former

Wallabies coach and former Socceroo goal-keeper Mark Bosnich.

Darshak said the 2021 dinner had been a remarkable success, given the social distancing

limits on guests and the short preparation time available.

“We badly needed this success because youth homelessness is on the rise, our frontline

partners are under unprecedented stress and our funds to assist were running low.

“We are always grateful to the SCG Trust and Sydney Cricket Ground staff for their

unstinting support.

“Above all we thank our donors and supporters who have stuck tight with us through this

challenging time.”