FORMER Australian Test cricketer Robert “Dutchy” Holland has recounted the horrifying moment he and his wife were allegedly assaulted by two dirt bike riders on Saturday at Awaba.
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It it alleged the 69-year-old was punched into the mouth and kicked repeatedly after he told a motorcyclist not to ride on Awaba Oval and the nearby Toronto Pony Club. His wife Carolyn, 68, was also injured when the male motorcyclist allegedly struck her legs with the back wheel of his bike. It is also alleged the female rider kicked her while she was on the ground.
“He just did his lolly and got furious,” Holland told the Newcastle Herald. “It wasn’t as though I particularly provoked him.”
Holland and his wife were both taken by ambulance to the John Hunter Hospital where they were treated for cuts and bruising and cleared of fractures. They were released on Sunday.
Lake Macquarie police arrested a 21-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man at a Heaton Street address in relation to the incident on Sunday. They were charged with two counts of aggravated robbery and inflicting actual bodily harm and one count of common assault. Both received conditional bail and will face Belmont Local Court on September 13.
On Monday Holland and his wife were recovering at their Toronto home.
“I have two loosened teeth on the bottom and the dentist has told me they won’t survive,” he said. “I’ll probably have to have two teeth out. I have a cut on my face where I have a stitch.”
Three weeks ago Holland had surgery on his right shoulder to repair tendons and he was wearing a sling.
“When I was on the ground I said, ‘Hey buddy just be careful of my shoulder,’ and he’s said, ‘Well, here’s one for your shoulder,’ and he gave me a kick in the shoulder.”
Holland said the most frightening moment of the ordeal was when the wheel of the bike knocked Carolyn over. Holland was 50 metres away and rushed to her aid.
“There were two aluminium spectator seats with concrete bases where Carolyn got hit,” he said. “When he knocked her she fell backwards and fell between the two seats. I looked up and thought ‘Oh my god she’s going to fall back on the seats’, but she missed them.”
Holland played 11 Tests for Australia between 1984 and 1986, after becoming the oldest debutante in half a century at 38. He is most famous for spinning the Aussies to victory over a powerful West Indies side in the fifth Test at the SCG in 1984-85. The leg-spinner claimed match figures of 10-144.
Following his retirement from the first-class arena, he has been heavily involved in Newcastle cricket as a coach, Toronto committee member and curator.
The Newcastle cricket community was in shock on Monday after news broke that the popular Holland and his wife had been injured.
Newcastle District Cricket Association chairman Paul Marjoribanks wished the couple a speedy recovery.
“Certainly the support of the entire cricket community goes out to Robert and his family,” Marjoribanks said. “Robert has achieved the greatest heights in playing cricket, but has given so much back when he finished playing as a groundsman, an official and a coach. It’s a terrible incident as he was doing something he loved as a volunteer.”