ICC World Cup: 11 years after Hookes' death, pall of gloom still hangs around Melbourne street

Melbourne The first impressions of the Italianate faccedilade at 341 Beaconsfield Parade St Kilda is that of dull gloom thanks to its darkgrey paint The fact that this pall of gloom at the erstwhile Beaconsfield Hotel amp Pub stretches over 10 years is even more eerieThe erstwhile Beaconsfield Hotel amp Pub in St Kilda MelbourneOn January 19 2004 former Australian cricketer David Hookes 48 then coach of the Victorian team died following an altercation the previous night with a bouncer here while he was celebrating a limited overs victory over South Australia with his teamThe bouncer Zdravko Micevic stood trial but went scotfree as he said that he had punched the former batsman in self defence However cricket fans and Melbourne citizens couldnt put behind their painful memories of the venue and the place shut a year laterRight next door to the infamous venue is Franks Milk Bar and General Store run by Anthony Cuzzuppe and Drew Stevenson two Melbourne residents who know quite a bit about what happened on January 18 11 summers back Unfortunately this place is known just for that incident said Anthony with a smile as he continued The story was huge mdash all over the newspapers and televisionThis restaurant was being run by someone else then but being locals we knew what had happened next door This cricketer was punched in the face and hit his head on the road below while being ejected from the pub next door recalled Anthony as though it happened just yesterdayBearing the bruntBy midSeptember 2005 Micevic was found not guilty of manslaughter but the pub bore the brunt of public ire Every now and then we would hear stories of guests arguing with and abusing the staff and even stoning the Beaconsfield PubThe locked gate and tall grey sheets lining the exterior of the infamous pub PicsAshwin FerroPeople were upset that a sportsmans life was taken just like that After all Melbourne takes pride in being called the sporting capital of the world There was complete outrage protests too explained Anthony who lives just down the roadHis colleague Drew reasoned Sportsmen are known to cause trouble in these parts because firstly they have all the money and secondly they train so hard for eight to nine months of the year that they tend to enjoy their breaks a bit too much But mostly its the rich AFL Australian Football League players and not cricketers who are troublemakersNegative publicityAnthony said that the story gave the tourist spot so much of negative publicity that the government was only too happy to let the place close down The owners of the pub are from Perth and they tried everything mdash from planning to renovate and refurbish the place to even name a part of it after Hookes mdash but nothing workedWe heard that the government was adamant that the place should shut and did not renew its license said Anthony who hoped such an incident never happened anywhere in the world and more so never at his placeI hope I never get any trouble like that We Australians are very friendly people otherwise he said with a wink as he offered me some freshly brewed hot coffee to go with a perfectly toasted ham cheese and tomato sandwichOn the way out of Franks Milk Bar its still tough to digest the fact an inspirational sporting life was lost due to one cruel moment of rage right next doorThe Beaconsfield Hotel amp Pub is locked and covered all around by tall dark grey sheets to block any inside view It is now inhabited by an old man and his wife who work as caretaking cleaners at the property As hard as they may try though they will never be able to clean the blood off the illfated venue