MELBOURNE , DEC 24,
Archie Schiller, the seven-year-old leg-spinner inducted into the Australian team earlier this month, is set to co-captain the side alongside Tim Paine in the in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The announcement was made by Paine at an event in Yarra Park on Saturday, the day the bubbly youngster turned seven. “It’s great to have him around and we look forward to his debut on Boxing Day,” said Paine.
Archie has faulty heart valves, which was discovered when he was three months old, leading to irregular beating of the heart and further life-threatening complications. He has already undergone 13 surgeries.
Extended Australian Test squad
Archie’s inclusion in an extended Australian Test squad was made public earlier this month and he learned the news via a phone call from coach Justin Langer.
The young leg-spinner also practised with the Australian team during a training session at the Adelaide Oval earlier this month. When Archie was just three months old, it came to light that he had faulty heart valves. Weeks after his birth he underwent an urgent surgery lasting more than seven hours in Melbourne.
And six months later, he underwent a second surgery before he went under the knife again in last December.
“We were told that it could go either way. We’ve learned to take nothing for granted, and to cherish every day we have with him,” Schiller’s mother Sarah recalled.
“Archie (Schiller) misses a lot of school which has a big impact on his friendships, because if you miss your turn at batting or being goal umpire (at football), there’s no second chances. “The other day he came home and said ‘I couldn’t find my friends and didn’t have the energy to run after them, so I just sat and read a book’ To me that was heartbreaking, even though it was a really responsible, grown-up decision to make,” she added.
Long-cherished dream
Paine said the decision to make Archie the co-captain was their way of fulfilling his long-cherished dream.
“Obviously Arch (Schiller) has been through a really tough period and his family, Paine said.
“When his dad asked him what he wanted to do, he said ‘I want to captain Australia’ I think it’s been picked up along the way and we’re rapt to have someone like that around. He adds a bit of perspective I think.
“Sometimes we live a life, it’s very good, but you can be consumed in your own life at times, so to have someone like that around is actually really inspiring for our group. It’s great to have him around and we look forward to his debut on Boxing Day,” he added.
