A TEAM of street kids joined cricket legends Merv Hughes and Rodney Hogg to come within a whisker of topping the police squad in the annual 20th Man Fund ‘Cops vs Kids’ 20/20 cricket match in Maribyrnong last week.
The Victorian Police 11, led by Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton, scored 85 and scraped to victory by four runs, taking a 2-1 lead across the three years of the bridge-building initiative.
20th Man Fund founder, youth advocate Les Twentyman, said the match — hosted by the Footscray Edgewater Cricket Club — was a unique chance for young people in the west to see the police in a different light. “It works to break down barriers, giving the police and the kids a greater respect for each other.”
Sunshine Senior Constable Kieran Atkin said the game helped form relationships “that might assist both the kids and police”. — Benjamin Millar
