Catering for cricket

A nice cut: Pte Anthony Lihou, 1 Fd Regt, slices a piece of humble pie for the South East Queensland’s AACC Seniors while Sgt Jody Goss, 6RAR, keeping stumps, looks on. Photo by WO2 Graham McBean, 7 Bde

By WO2 Graham McBean

CATERING Corps members of south-east Queensland have celebrated their 62nd birthday with a cricket game between the diggers and a combined officers and sergeants side.

The juniors served up humble pie to the seniors, dismissing them for 146 in the 19th over then taking the match with a total of 147 with three balls and four wickets still in hand.

Capt Peter McKenzie, 7 Bde’s catering officer, said the small band of chefs came from all over south-east Queensland to mark the AACC anniversary.

“The idea was to get all available cooks from around the brigade and outside units together in the same spot for some friendly competition and rivalry and a barbecue afterwards,” Capt McKenzie said.

“We usually have something small like a cricket match because we still have to staff kitchens and feed people with dinner.”

Batsmen were allowed four overs or a maximum of 30 runs and every player had two overs maximum to bowl.

Best with the bat were juniors Pte Anthony Lihou, 1 Fd Regt, who scored 26 not out and Cpl Ron Jones with 24 not out.

Juniors again featured prominently among the best bowlers with Pte Reg Muddle taking 2-12 and Pte Vol CabaCaba 2-16 from their two overs.

Though as proud to belong to their corps as any soldier, AACC personnel are first and foremost members of the unit they are posted to, and are now serving in all of 7 Bde deployments from Aceh and the Solomon Islands to Iraq with their posted units.

Sgt Peter Currie, 6RAR, knows only too well the challenge to bring a balanced and nutritional diet to soldiers on operations having served in Cambodia and East Timor and now training to deploy to Iraq.

He said that nutrition and dietary requirements of a physical vocation was an important part of training but a fresh, well-prepared meal was one of the few daily respites in the field.

“We deploy with the troops whether it is an overseas deployment or just on exercise and the professional cook knows the importance soldiers place on looking forward to a great meal.”