HONOURING VIKAS: QUEENS’ TOUCHING TRIBUTE TO LATE CRICKETING MATE
Friends, family and teammates came together to honour late Queens cricketer Vikas Malhotra at the weekend, and his third-grade team made sure they paid tribute in the best way with a strong performance, as Brent O’Neill reports.
ON a day set aside to celebrate the life of long-serving player Vikas Malhotra, Queens could have been forgiven for putting on-field success at the bottom of the priority list.
But the result of Saturday’s third-grade battle with Palm Beach Currumbin took on greater significance for Malhotra’s teammates as they fought to honour his legacy in the best way they knew how.
Seven days on from Malhotra’s passing during Queens’ encounter with Surfers Paradise, the Centaurs returned to Labrador’s Dux Oval at the weekend to pay tribute to the 42-year-old.
Players from Queens and Palm Beach wore black armbands, observed a minute’s silence and stood for both the Australian and Indian national anthems before play, while Malhotra’s family and friends also gathered for the occasion.
Queens opener Peter Goodchap, who had played with Malhotra from the time he arrived at the club in 1997, said the Centaurs and Lions had enjoyed a long-running rivalry and it spurred his side to dominate day-one play.
The hosts piled on 245 before reducing Palm Beach to 5-69 at stumps – a situation Goodchap said would have brought a smile to Malhotra’s face.
“It was a good day. It was extremely tough to even think about going to the ground and playing cricket but we decided earlier in the week that what Vik would have wanted was for us to play and go out and play tough,” said Goodchap, who made 37 from 26 balls.
“Queens has had a long rivalry with Palm Beach and we (Vik and the team) actively spoke about always wanting to beat Palm Beach.
“We thought about what he would want and it made it an easy choice and go out and try to give Palm Beach a touch up.
“I’ve been speaking to Vik’s family and they were keen to come down as well so that’s why we organised a little ceremony before play to show respect. Vik’s wife (Debi) was really good.
“Before we started she said ‘go out and beat Palm Beach for Vik’. The first half-hour we had all of his friends and family there watching so that was really good.
“We also had couple of guys in the team this week, Blair Kite and Andy Lickiss, who hadn’t played for a while. They played a lot of cricket with Vik so it made it easier to get out there and play having all those guys there to support everyone.”
Goodchap also praised Palm Beach for their efforts in making Saturday an occasion to remember.
“Palm Beach were fantastic. While they were well aware of the rivalry with Vik and Queens – and they have seen Vik smash them apart a few times – they were very respectful and made the game quite enjoyable because it was played in the right spirit.
“We did pretty well as well so we’re in a good position to beat them.”