Way back in 1977, Test cricket fanatics were hooked on a beer-drinking competition between wicketkeeper Rod Marsh and batsman Doug Walters on a plane flight to London.
In 1977 it was all part of the culture that shaped the hard-drinking macho culture that defined Australian sport.
However the way Australian sport – and Australian society in general – is in 2014, is very different.
Buchanan hopes to give a better reflection of his true self through his new lifestyle. Photo: Michelle SmithIt is a world of internet sponsorships, social media campaigns and using mobile phones in an era of social responsibility, despite the embarrassing awkwardness of massive alcohol and gambling advertising.
Yoga loving Brisbane Heat fast-bowler Nick Buchanan is a new-age sportsman and the first Queensland ambassador for the fast-growing, anti-binge drinking campaign, Hello Sunday Morning.
HSM allows people trying to give up drinking to write little stories – “their own blog” – to encourage others off the binge-drink bandwagon.
Alcohol and team sport have long since been bound together.It has 30,000 followers now, wants 50,000 by Christmas and aims for 100,000 by mid-2015.
The 23-year-old quick bowler played in Australia’s under 19 World Cup team in 2010 and is now part of the Brisbane Heat Big Bash cricket team.
For almost 12 months he has been enthusiastic about yoga, both as relaxation and to strengthen his back and core stomach muscles, essential for fast bowling.
Feeling healthier in all aspects…Nick Buchanan. Photo: Michelle SmithNick Buchanan said he first heard of Hello Sunday Morning about 12 months ago.
“I had been through that ‘bad night – waking up the next morning – and reassess life’ type of situation,” he said.
About 18 months ago, Nick Buchanan was using binge drinking to cover his frustration with back injuries and cricket setbacks.
“For me, I was hiding all my problems, all my thoughts behind alcohol,” he said.
“It was my escape to get away and feel happy.”
“And so I began that change of life.”
He said he began to improve his eating, cut back his drinking and building his interest in yoga and surfing.
A friend noticed he wasn’t drinking alcohol at a series of social events and asked why.
“She got me in contact with one of the board members of Hello Sunday Morning and I just knew it was the perfect fit,” he said.
“For me it was the perfect fit because I’ve seen the value that no alcohol – for me – has made,” he said.
“I’ve grown as a person. I’ve become so much better, physically and mentally.”
Nick Buchanan, the son of former Australian cricket coach John Buchanan, said he wanted to be an ambassador for Hello Sunday Morning because it set a good example for young people.
“To me, that is what Hello Sunday Morning entails,” he said.
Nick Buchanan said HSM was more than simply improving his cricket, or for other young people, more than doing better at sport.
“The Hello Sunday Morning program is about challenging the drinking culture in Australia one Sunday at time,” he said.
Hello Sunday Morning does not say cut drinking completely.
It asks people to stop drinking for a minimum of three months, then judge the benefits and make adjustments to your lifestyle.
“It’s more about what sort of person can I be when I am not drinking and what sort of things can I go out and do when I have stopped drinking.”
Nick Buchanan’s decision to join Hello Sunday Morning – which will launch a Vodafone smartphone app in the new year – was praised by HSM founder Chris Raine.
“With such overwhelming societal expectations on Australians to drink, we founded HSM to provide an alternative form of support to help Australians realise that drinking is a choice – not an expectation,” he said.
“Having Nick on board as an ambassador to share his experience and spread that message among Queenslanders, particularly young men who are going through a rough patch, is incredibly valuable,” said Mr Raine.
Top 5 tips
1 – Set yourself a series of ambitious targets to achieve something new within a set period of time.
2 – Track and share your progress
3 – Stay strong: don’t bow to peer pressure
4 – Do everything you would normally do drunk, sober.
5 – Balance your life in several dimensions.