A protected masked lapwing has set up home mid-field at a Tasmanian club ground, and the groundsmen are mowing around her.
Meet "Faf Swoop Plessis," the unlikeliest star of weekend cricket in northern Tasmania. The nickname, a cheeky nod to former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis, belongs to a masked lapwing that has claimed a patch of the Windsor Park oval in Riverside, just outside Launceston, as her personal nursery.
The bird is warming a nest of eggs right in the middle of this community sports ground, and she is showing total indifference to the matches unfolding around her. Players run, fielders chase and the plover simply holds her ground. No sledging, no appeals, no problem.
Masked lapwings, commonly called plovers in Australia, have a fierce reputation. During nesting season they are known to dive-bomb anyone who strays too close, which makes a cricket oval a risky venue for both sides. This one, though, has been left to get on with the job, and ground staff have adapted by mowing carefully around the nest instead of disturbing it.
The birds are protected, so the club's approach is as much about respect for wildlife as it is about the laughs. Locals have embraced their new twelfth man, and the nickname has stuck. For now, the only innings that matter at Windsor Park belong to the one still sitting tight on her eggs, waiting for the hatch.
