The AB SHIELD - 'Sile at Philosophus Esto’

The AB Shield is named after one of our Yarra brethren of past, namely Anthony Burnell.  The AB Shield is played between Sacred Heart and the Yarras when our MCA Grade teams (normally MCA C Grade) lock horns with leather and bat each season.

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AB stumbled into the Yarra fold by firstly competing via Ryano (Ryan McNaught) Greats of '98 (indoor cricket side) but then appeared on the Yarra ledgers from Saturday 17 October 1998 until his tragic car accident in May 2001. He was 31.

AB’s three year tenure at the Yarras left an indelible mark in such a short time. Winner of 1999/2000 chewy on ya boot award (8 innings, 5 not outs) and the inaugural captain of the 4ths 2000/2001 (MCA C Grade) and committee member, he was a stalwart of the club in no time at all.

It was actually when AB was captaining the illustrious fourths that the connection with Sacred Heart began. Let's just say a good game of cricket and a few drinks after the game began a mutual respect and hence the AB Shield is now played in his honour.

To give a better description of AB  I’d like to relay some words his friend and Yarras perennial Vice President Gideon Haigh once said about AB.‘Anthony Burnell was the inaugural captain of our Fourth XI, and a better bloke at a cricket club there can seldom have been. No one stayed later, sank more beers or rolled a bigger spliff; no one obtained more hilarity from committee and selection meetings, this being what they were mainly good for....’ . AB was the quintessential Club Man.

His laconic wit and laid back nature (refer Latin quote) seemed to galvanise the spirit of the Yarras of 2000/2001 (or perhaps it may have just been his uncanny resemblance to Jesus), as it was also this season in which we won our last trophy. But AB is keenly remembered by all those whom played with him and the fact that the AB Shield is still strongly contested and played in the spirit that was AB – we should (thus) always look forward to holding this Shield amongst our treasured trophies. AB has also been honoured by the Mercantile Cricket Association, their C Grade Best and Fairest award has been named the Anthony Burnell Award.

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At the start of the 2013/14 season, South Yarra and Sacred Heart agreed that with our sides playing one day competitions in C Grade, the AB Shield would be won by the side winning the majority of matches played against each other through the course of the regular season.