ALEX HICKEY | Sport
GET YA KIT OFF YOUNG FELLA
The enthusiasm of a local club cricketer for junior teammates to shower fully nude in the communal showers is beginning to raise eyebrows around the team.
Jeff O’Shea prides himself on being a culture man for the Hamilton Old Boys 3rd division side. At 39 years old, he’s played for the club more than 300 times, and is a former secretary and club captain.
A larger than life character, in recent times O’Shea has grown frustrated by the increasing number of teammates showering in their underwear after a day’s play.
“It’s just come out of nowhere,” he commented. “I’m the only one who showers in the nude now. It’s like, you don’t shower in your undies at home, so why would you do it at the cricket club?”
Teammates say O’Shea has become fairly bullish in his efforts to encourage others to get naked in the changing rooms.
“He gets pretty keen,” says team captain Logan Carroll. “It can be a bit confronting for these new guys, because he’ll get nude and then hit them up to take their clothes off.
“I don’t really know why he cares that much.”
“It’s a culture thing,” O’Shea explains. “When I started playing with the club, everyone would be nude every chance they got. You’d be weird if you weren’t nude.
“The boys joke that I’m a creep and all that, but they miss the point. Getting all the lads in the showers together, having a beer in the nick, there’s nothing better.”
Investigations continue in an attempt to understand how exactly that scenario is impacted by individuals being clothed.
More to come.
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