A Wollongong cop who was filmed getting stuck into a game of Australia Day cricket – thigh holster and all – has become an internet sensation.
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Highway patrolman Adam Tregonning and his partner were completing one last drive around the buzzing Blue Mile precinct about 4pm on Monday when they stopped their police car and Senior Constable Tregonning got out.
Cliff Road resident Joshua Tootell saw the uniformed officer approach his friends, who were playing a game of cricket down the middle of cordoned-off Cliff Road, and at first feared the worst.
‘‘We thought the game was going to be shut down. But he came up to us and said, ‘‘Mind if I have a bat?’’.
‘‘He got really into it, got someone out [bowling] then started batting.’’
Video of the batting boy in blue has since been viewed more than 3 million times and drawn scores of supportive comments.
Back at work on Tuesday, Snr Const Tregonning told the Mercury he was surprised at the attention, but happy for the positive publicity it had brought the force.
‘‘At the end of the day we’re all human. I’ve always loved my sport and any chance to have a hit or kick a footy around, or just engage with the community I jump at it,’’ he said.
‘‘I’m normally working on Australia Day and don’t get a chance to [play backyard cricket].’’
A former Wollongong Vikings rugby forward, Snr Const Tregonning said the Cliff Road cricket players were ‘‘very respectful’’ and offered to pack up when he approached them.
He said his superiors and colleagues had reacted positively to the viral-like spread of the footage, though he had copped some ribbing back at the station for his batting stance.
‘‘I think it was to do with how I was dressed, and my thigh holster,’’ he said.
Southern Region Command Inspector Greg Lynch, Snr Const Tregonning’s superior, said the game had aided the ‘‘important relationship between the police and young people’’.
‘‘The five minutes Adam spent yesterday does us a wealth of good in terms of community engagement.’’
Footage of Snr Const Tregonning’s batting was shot on at least three phone cameras.
The version filmed by public health student Rhett Thomas-Lee, 26, was uploaded to the Facebook page of online content aggregator The Lad Bible, and by late Tuesday afternoon had amassed more than three million views.
Mr Thomas-Lee declined to comment on the footage when contacted by the Mercury on Tuesday, referring inquiries to a ‘‘news service’’, with which he is understood to have entered into a paid deal.