By JESSE GRAHAM
FORMER Test cricketer and Tarrawarra bat maker Ian Callen was chosen as Australian of the Day late last year, honouring his contribution to the Australian cricket bat industry.
Callen was nominated and named as Australian of the Day on 26 November, 2015, as part of an initiative by the Commonwealth Bank to showcase hardworking Australians.
Making cricket bats and training bat makers from his Willow Blue workshop in Tarrawarra, Callen has trained more than 50 bat-makers, as well as supplied cricket bats to the Vatican’s cricket team for a match against the Church of England last year.
He said being named as Australian of the Day was “an honour”, and that the cricket team – St Peter’s XI – had won matches against the Archbishop of Canterbury’s team and the Mount Cricket Club, an all-Muslim cricket club from Yorkshire.
“I think the whole idea of it, it’s not really about the winning – really, it’s about bringing people together,” he said.
“We saw a fantastic example of how that could be done through the game with played against the Mount Cricket Club.”
“It was a really competitive game – they were really good cricketers – and it was a great opportunity for us to promote our program here in Australia with Willow Blue.”
For more information about the Australian of the Day initiative, or to nominate an extraordinary person, visit www.australianoftheday.com.au.
