By Melissa Grant
BRAVE Bunyip boy Riley Harris proudly flew the Australian flag as players for the green and gold ran onto the MCG for Friday’s one-day clash against New Zealand.
Aussie cricket captain Ricky Ponting gave the nine-year-old cancer survivor the call-up when visiting him at the Monash Medical Centre last Wednesday.
Riley, who is now in remission, got little sleep on Thursday night as he geared up for the task. “I was very excited,” he said.
The youngster got up close with his favourite player Michael Clarke moments before the game began – an encounter which was a bit of a blur for star-struck Riley. “I can’t remember much,” he told the Gazette.
It was the second time Riley has stepped onto the MCG turf. He has previously run out onto the ground with his beloved Richmond Tigers.
And although Riley enjoyed that experience, his mother Sharon Harris said he was a bit more excited about Friday’s feat. “He’s probably a bigger cricket fan,” she said. “His dad played when he was younger so he’s very much into it.”
Mrs Harris said Riley was back on the road to recovery after a relapse last year. He has been in and out of hospital for the past four years, battling facial rhabdomyosarcoma (tumour), a rare form of childhood cancer.
Ponting was touring the Monash Medical Centre’s cancer ward with wife Rianna when he met Riley.
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