‘Your length’s lousy but you bowl a good width!’
Stephen Harold Gascoigne 1878-1942. As a child he was nicknamed ‘Yabba’ because as he said ‘I was a bit of a talker’. He was employed first as a groom. He claimed to have fought in the South African War. But for the greater part of his life he was a ‘rabbito’, selling dressed rabbits door-to-door in Balmain and adjacent suburbs. He is immortalized in a statue in Bay 15 of the Trumper Stand at the Sydney Cricket Ground. There Yabba sits in a characteristic pose, one hand acting as a megaphone as he yells out, “Have a go ya mug!” to a batsman who hasn’t made a single run or moved from the crease in hours.
The Trumper Stand is built on the site of the general admissions area at the SCG which was known as the “Hill”. Yabba rarely missed a Sheffield Shield or Test Match at the SCG. He was a big man with closely cropped hair. He would turn up equipped with hat and pipe, two long necks of beer, wearing dark trousers and a white shirt. He arrived early and took his customary position on the ‘hill’ in front of the scoreboard. Watching a cricket match or rugby game intently, Australia’s most famous sports fan and heckler would cry out in his enormous voice (that could be heard outside the ground) various witticisms and colourful insults which have become legendary.
Sometimes in my life, I am tentative or indecisive. Sometimes I am unable to move forward. Sometimes I am suffering from analysis paralysis. Sometimes I am just frightened. Sometimes I am feeling tired or overwhelmed. Sometimes, I am just a bit lazy. A lot of the time I wish I had someone like Yabba to remind me to “have a go”. Perhaps then I would develop a bias for action and put some of my hopes thoughts and plans into action. Maybe then, I would get more done, perhaps I would achieve more and find some satisfaction in life. But maybe I need to take responsibility for myself, have a good look at my own performance and cry out to myself, “Have a go ya Mug!”
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Ephesians 5:15-17