A cricketing tribute to Sam Farrington, 18 years on

The match in Cape Town marks 18 years since the death of Sam Farrington in a tragic mishap, while on working holiday in Africa.

It will involve cricketers from Australia, England, South Africa and South America.

The playing line-up will include Sam’s Bendigo-based brother Luke Farrington and another sibling Andrew, who these days operates a hostel in Bogota, Colombia, and will represent the South American All-Stars.

The match only became a reality through a sequence of coincidences, originating from a sister club relationship between the Harcourt and Stanton Harcourt in the English county of Oxfordshire.

With friendships fortified following the English team’s tour of Australia last summer, which included a match against the Harcourt Lions, an offer to join the Brits on their 2018 trip to South Africa.

Three Lions – Farrington, Rob Fisher and former player Dean Clothier – took up the invite.

By sheer chance, their stay in South Africa corresponded with a separate cricketing trip by a troop calling themselves the South American All-Stars, among them Andrew Farrington.

It was then a plan was hatched for a cricket match to pay tribute to Sam.

“It’s just pure coincidence how it’s all come together – you probably couldn’t get a more unique set of circumstances with my brother also being over there playing for the South American All-Stars,” Luke said.

“We will have a couple of T20s against them on the 15th (of February), which will be one day before Sam’s 18th anniversary.”

Sam, who was the second youngest of seven siblings, ventured to South Africa while working on a cruiseliner.

Once her contract was complete she remained behind in Cape Town to explore the city and fulfil her wish of getting to swim with great white sharks.

On the morning of February 16, 2000, she headed out to sea on a boat, but was forced to return due to rough seas.

Back at her hostel, Sam opted to have a shower, but tragically fell victim to carbon monoxide poisoning from the combination of a faulty water heater and an air-vent which had become blocked by a nesting bird.

“It was just pure bad luck,” Luke said.

“It definitely hit us all pretty hard at the time and 18 years later it still hurts.”

He said the friendly encounter on foreign soil would give the brothers a chance to show their respects to their sister in the city where she died, but a country neither had visited before.

“I imagine it will be a pretty emotional day, trying to hold it all together,” he said.

“Andrew lives in Colombia, so I don’t get to see him that often, so to catch up with him, especially around the date will be moving and we will be able to say our goodbyes to Sam over there.

“As Fish (Rob Fisher) says, it was like it was meant to be.”

He believed Sam, a passionate cricket and AFL fan, who met several international cricketers in her lifetime, would have approved of the planned tribute.

“I believe she would love the knowledge that she is being remembered with a cricket match, especially with how this one has come to be,” Farrington said.

“Sam had travelled to several places overseas and had spent quite a long time in England, so the connections to her from all participating countries is a strong one in my belief.”

A trophy bearing Sam’s name will be presented to the winning team.

Chris Pascoe, who captained Stanton Harcourt in their 2017 T20 match against Harcourt, said his club was proud and honoured to be involved in such a fitting tribute.

He drew comparisons between the origins of relations between the clubs and their involvement in a memorial match by describing them both as mazing coincidences.

“In 2011, a Harcourt player Callum Wright came to Britain for a wedding, but before he came he and a few other Harcourt players decided to see if there was a cricket team with the same name and the nearest they could find was Stanton Harcourt,” Pascoe explained.

“So Callum made contact with us while he was in England. I’d like to think we made him welcome and even got him a game for us and shared a few beers.

“And so was born the remarkable relationship we have today.

“After the hugely successful tour last year in which Stanton Harcourt took a team to Australia, where the hospitality was fantastic, this year the tour organiser Oliver Pascoe is taking us to South Africa where we will be met by three of the Harcourt players.

“When the tour was organised, Oliver had no idea of the amazing coincidence with the two Farrington brothers meeting in the town where their sister Sam tragically died.

“It really will be wonderful for them to play a memorial match for her in Cape Town on the anniversary of her death and it is something our club is honoured and proud to be part of a such a fitting tribute.”