Harris chat is variety show fun

WHO misses iconic television show Hey Hey It’s Saturday of a weekend when Grace Harris is playing for the Brisbane Heat women?

With a television microphone strapped to her chest, she has been a roaming entertainment show across the WBBL season.

Hey Hey It’s Saturday was a fixture on Saturday TV sets from 1971 to 1999, providing comedy and entertainment.

But this season, during Friday or Saturday evenings, Harris has provided more entertainment than anyone could wish to see on a variety TV show — and that’s before she batted, bowled or fielded. Her chat is entertainment. “I love a good chat out there,’’ Harris said. “Cricket would be pretty boring if you had to do everything in silence.

“You can snare a couple of wickets by just getting into the batters’ heads mentally, not even with any decent bowling.’’

Harris said some teammates liked her “chatty’’ style, some did not, but there was nothing she could do about it because Harris talking on the field was as natural as a waterfall running in the tropics.

“Some find me annoying, some find me funny so I just tell those who find me annoying to get used to it,’’ she said.

For all the fun she has, there is another side to Harris, who once scorched to a WBBL century in just 42 balls.

“There is a serious side,’’ said Harris. “You have to switch on and off. Switching off is the ability to have fun, switching on is the ability to be serious. “And there are times when you have to be serious. If you are simply having fun all of the time, people think you don’t really care about the game.’’

She will be deadly serious when the Heat aim to continue its defence of the WBBL title in tomorrow’s semi-final against Melbourne Renegades at Allan Border Field.