LEIGH Holmes has finally made the Big Chop.
The fourth-grade captain of the Longford Cricket Club lost his locks on Saturday, November 5 during a charity event at Stephenson Park.
Members of the club, as well as Holmes’ friends and family, all gathered for the occasion.
The evening began with hairdresser and proprietor of Salon 6471, Tammy Neyland, plaiting Holmes’ hair in 11 different places.
The process took close to half an hour, with Longford’s younger cricketers assisting in the process.
Once that process was completed, attendees then took turns cutting all 11 plaits, with Neyland then fashioning Holmes’ hair into a shorter, neater style.
“We were going to do something a bit crazy, like a mullet or something a bit funny, but (Leigh’s partner) Sarah had booked family photos the next day,” Ms Neyland told the Gippsland Times.
“I think she did that on-purpose, which is a good idea – I’m not a fan of the mullet!”
The hairdresser noted that it was one of the longest heads of male hair she’d trimmed in a long time, a process she enjoyed.
Holmes’ 65-centimetre growth was given one last hurrah on the Saturday afternoon in his side’s 207-run victory over the Wurruk Toads, being worn down for much of the game.
He opened the batting for the Lizards, but lasted two balls before conceding that his hair was an imposition and had to tie it up.
He contributed 18 runs and nearly took a hat-trick, finishing with figures of 2/11 off three overs.
Photo: Contributed
So, how does it feel for Holmes having his hair cut short again?
“To be honest, it’s actually really not that much different overall, because it was tied up a lot of the time; but (I am) definitely feeling the wind a bit more and all that sort of stuff,” he said.
Holmes added that he was “really happy” with his new hairstyle.
“I probably was a little bit anxious about that, but I was happy with how it turned out in the end, which is good.”
In all, close to $1400 was raised by the club on the night, with another $2500 raised prior to the event.
Holmes will be donating the money raised to the Cancer Council, and his hair to the children’s charity Variety.
“I’ll send that off to them, and it’ll get made (into) wigs for kids that lose their hair through illness,” he said.
Holmes has pledged to keep his donation page open until the end of November, which can be found online at https://fundraising.cancervic.org.au/fundraisers/leighholmes
Photo: Contributed
