The article that appeared on 22 December 2005 after a group of cricketers were attacked outside McDonald’s in Cranbourne.By Sarah Schwager
POLICE will appeal for the extradition of two people from New Zealand following the brutal bashing of a group of local cricketers who were attacked in Cranbourne last Christmas.
Cranbourne police said on 18 December a group of Merinda Park Cricket Club players wandered down to the 24-hour McDonald’s on the South Gippsland Highway – which had closed earlier on the advice of police – for a meal after leaving the club’s end-of-year break-up about 3am.
Five of eight Merinda Park Cricket Club players involved in the incident were taken to hospital suffering severe head injuries and broken bones after they were set upon by a group of up to 20 men and teenagers outside the restaurant.
Last week Cranbourne CIU interviewed two men in New Zealand who had left Australia some time after the incident occurred.
Merinda Park Cricket Club president Peter Shore said while the players involved had moved on in terms of their physical health, they still carried mental scars.
“If the offenders are arrested and charged and hopefully convicted then we will be absolutely ecstatic,” Mr Shore said.
He said the club had been an important support group for the players.
“There is the nothing the club didn’t want to do,” he said.
After the incident, the club organised a number of fundraising initiatives to help the players with their medical and plastic surgery costs, raising about $5000.
The West Gippsland Cricket Association (WGCA) Country Week team, which includes the best players from the league, played against the Merinda Park team with celebrity players, including former St Kilda footballer and current Narre Warren Football Club coach Austinn Jones.
“The entire league got behind the boys, which is fantastic,” Mr Shore said.
He said many people were shocked about the brutality of the bashing.
Four of the players were rushed to hospital by ambulance with their injuries, including three broken jaws, a broken nose, compressed cheekbone, eye-socket damage and bruising to the brain.
“To kick someone in the head when they’re unconscious is a pretty cruel act,” Mr Shore said.
He said the club wanted to thank all the people who rallied to the players’ support.
Police questioned a 15-year-old and a 19-year-old, now living in New Zealand, over the incident last week.
Police expect to charge the teenagers with affray and serious assault.
The teenagers are expected to be tried in the Melbourne County Court at a later date.
