Last Wednesday’s Cricket Shepparton night of nights had a notable absentee.
Waaia Cricket Club’s Liam Evans, the winner of the Lightfoot Medal for the Haisman Shield A-grade player of the season, was not at the vote-counting venue.
Instead, Evans, a school teacher at Nathalia’s St Mary of the Angels Secondary College, was on school camp in Harrietville, helping a child who missed home.
“I actually didn’t get to watch most of the count, I had it on my phone and think I turned it on with one round to go,” Evans said.
“I was trying to watch the count and then a student, a Year 7, was feeling a bit homesick and borrowed my phone to ring home.
“I missed nearly the whole count.”
After arriving back from camp on Friday, Evans went home and had a couple of quiet drinks to celebrate the win.
He was surprised when he woke up on Saturday morning feeling unwell — before quickly realising the cause of the issue.
“I haven’t actually seen the medal yet, I got back Friday night and was pretty tired from camp and then woke up and I’d got COVID-19 from camp,” he said.
“I’ve been in isolation since Saturday morning and I haven’t seen anyone so I don’t even know what the medal looks like.”
Evans had intended to attend the Haisman Shield decider on Saturday between Mooroopna and Kyabram, but was forced to miss the contest due to his positive test.
His club, Waaia, failed to make the decider, exiting the finals in straight sets after an undefeated regular season.
“It would have been better to play in the grand final,” Evans said.
“It’s individual, so it’s probably something that when you finish your career you look back on and know that you had a good season, but I would have rather played in the grand final and won that.”
Evans had a standout season for Waaia, scoring 423 runs and collecting 13 wickets in the regular season.
He said one of the main reasons behind his good season was more mature batting, with the all-rounder thanking his girlfriend, Olivia, for her support.
While a Waaia premiership eluded Evans for another year, he is unsure what is in store next season.
“I’m unsure, it’s either between Waaia and Nathalia,” he said.
“Back to the home club to try and strengthen and maybe look towards a future of maybe leaving the Murray Valley and either going to the Goulburn Murray or Shepparton, or it’s maybe stay at Waaia.”
Whatever happens next season, Evans’ 2021-22 Haisman Shield form will be something to remember and he is sure to light up the pitch in whatever competition he decides to play in next season.