“Rubbing shoulders with cricket’s fast bowling royalty!”

Sep 25, 2011 Sports

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“Cricket has changed”, suggested Kapil Dev, former captain and bowling spearhead of India, one of the world’s best all-round cricketers ever.  In ICC’s recent “Greatest Cricketers of all time”, Kapil was selected by votes of the cricketing public instead of Sir Garfield Sobers.  Very, very interesting indeed!
Kapil, and another 21 former Test fast bowlers, including yours truly, a group that also included sterling all-rounders, were feted in an event last week, in London, to celebrate the phenomenon of fast bowling.
The Lords Taverners Club, an organization that shares, encourages and spreads the gospel of cricket world-wide, and especially Mr. Brian Downing, the former Chairman at Surrey CCC, at Kennington Oval, where West Indies played this week, held sterling events to celebrate fast bowling and to raise funds.
The main event was a magnificent dinner at London’s Hilton Hotel on Park Lane, one of the better hotels in the wonderful city that London is.  Already teeming, one can only wonder what the city would look like come Olympics in 2012.  Whatever happens, I sincerely hope that I am there then too!
1000 people attended that dinner, lured by the cricketing presence, and bringing heavy wallets.  At the close of play last Wednesday evening, over 100,000 Pounds Sterling had been realized that night alone, from auctions and other donations, which also augmented the additional 85,000 Pounds Sterling made the previous night!  Almost all players honoured never made either sum in their careers!
Accepting invitations to attend were Curtly Ambrose, Andrew Caddick, Colin Croft, Alan Davidson, Joel Garner, Darren Gough, Charlie Griffith, Sir Richard Hadlee, Reverend Wes Hall, Michael Holding, Kapil Dev, Glenn Mc Grath, Devon Malcolm, Makhaya Ntini, Mike Proctor, Clive Rice, Andy Roberts, John Snow, Sir Garfield Sobers, Jeff Thompson, Courtney Walsh and Bob Willis.  What a bowling attack that is!
This bowling line-up had 1437 Test appearances between them, and 5612 wickets to their credit.  Wow!
Additionally, either by video, print or audio, several others; Dennis Lillee, Brett Lee, Alan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Wasim Akran, Waqar Younis and Sir Ian Botham; lent their presence and support to the events.
These have an additional 619 Tests to their names, collectively, and 2586 wickets too.  Unbelievable!
It is no wonder that one of those present, the great Australian left-handed all-rounder, Alan Davidson, one who featured so prominently, “Man of the Match”, in the 1st Tied Test match ever; West Indies tour of Australia 1960/61, remarked succinctly; “We bowlers always made captains look good!”  How true!
The way things are organized in teams nowadays, I think that Kapil was both right and wrong.  The game itself has not changed that much, despite what many would suggest.  If anything, the fielding has improved and more tours are completed, but the basic fundamentals of the cricket game are the same.
However, there are several questions to ask of present day cricket.  How did a dressing room that had so very few people in the past evolve to being so full of non-playing personnel?  Is it that the modern cricketer does not know himself or herself well enough, and therefore needs more help to think their games through?  If that is true, then how did they get to the very top of their chosen professional sport?
Earlier this season, when Sri Lanka toured England, it was suggested that Sri Lanka had 28 people, players and associated personnel, in its dressing room while playing against England at Lords.  According to simple mathematics, that would mean that there were 17 people in that dressing room to attend to the playing XI.  Does that make sense to anyone at all?  It certainly does not to me.   It is plain crazy!!
What exactly are all of these people doing there?  When we played Tests eons ago, there were 15 players, a manager and assistant manager or operations person available.  That was it!
I shudder to think what actually happens in a dressing room that has 28 people in it.  That sounds more like a recipe for more confusion, more possibilities of accidents and certainly much more noise.  The dressing rooms these days must seem like a carnival fete!
For the West Indies squad which played last Friday; quite dismally, I might add; to play two T-20’s against England this weekend; the 2nd game is today (Sunday); there are 14 players, while there are 9 associated persons accompanying this squad.   In truth, does any team really need all of these?
West Indies has a Team Manager in Richie Richardson, a Head Coach in Ottis Gibson, Henderson Springer as Assistant Coach, Desmond Haynes as batting consultant, CJ Clarke as Physiotherapist, Hector Martinez Charles as Strength and Conditioning Coordinator, Richard Berridge as Video and Statistical, Philip Spooner as Media Manager, and finally Virgil Browne as massage therapist, all erstwhile people.
All international teams have these associated non-playing people around, so it is not only Sri Lanka and West Indies that have them.  But, what exactly do they all do to better the cricketer, especially one supposedly at the top of his or her game?  Can you imagine trying to listen to all of them during play?
Anyway, based on what I witnessed last Friday at the Oval, West Indies needs all of the help it can get!
I could understand one, even two coaches, and certainly a team manager.  Most top level coaches do more psychology than management anyway, while the team manager has probably the most difficult job of all, to keep his stable fully up and running and in general order.  But that is about it, I think.
Does any player need a Video Analyst to tell him or her that he or she has bowled badly, or batted likewise?  If any player worth his or her salt does not know that, and is playing at the highest level of any sport, then there should be serious questions about how that player got there in the very first place!
I could not help but think that Sir Garfield Sobers, who played 93 Tests, Curtly Ambrose, who played 98 Tests, and Courtney Walsh, who played 132 Tests, had no official coaches.  Yet, between them, they managed 1159 Test wickets.  I also wondered how they would have coped with today’s dressing rooms!
That gathering of fast bowling brought back so many memories for me.  Even though I was actually included, I was fully awestruck.   In my first visage of Test cricket, 1965, West Indies v Australia, at Bourda, Sir Gary Sobers, Wes Hall and the man I tried to pattern my bowling on, Charlie Griffith, played.
In 1968, also at Bourda, I remember John Snow bowling to my West Indian batting hero, Seymour Nurse, with the very first ball of that Test match being hooked for six.  Those were some heady days!
Being in the same gilded room with Curtly Ambrose (98 Tests, 405 wickets), Courtney Walsh (132 Tests, 519 wickets), Kapil Dev (131 Tests, 434 wickets), and Glen Mc Grath (124 Tests, 563 wickets), had me asking the same question posted by Darren Gough (58 Tests, 229 wickets).  How did I really get here?
Whatever the reasons for my presence, the events and appreciation were fully enjoyable!

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