Tour Diary

I wish Michael Atherton was there to see it

25-Feb-2013

I wish Michael Atherton was there to see it. It’s past midnight and Curtly Ambrose is singing, dancing and creating quite a joyous ruckus in an Antigua casino. Atherton would have seen a deathly cold stare, pride-drenched sweat, and a windmill-wave of arms after he had fallen to yet another screamer; 17 times he succumbed to Ambrose in Tests. It’s a different Ambrose these days. Genial. Friendly. And someone who laughs a lot. “Atherton was not a bad player and he has scored hundreds against me,” Ambrose said. “But people only remember the number of times I got him out.”

Finally, after all these years, Ambrose is doing the things he wanted to do all his life. He never liked cricket but was pushed by his mother’s fanatic love for the game to take up the sport. “My mother basically forced me to play cricket. And then to try and please her, I did. And like they say, the rest is history. So I guess she knew I had a talent.”

He was a reluctant cricketer. “I never liked cricket. It was just a job.” Then how can someone who didn’t like the game go on to achieve greatness? “I am a proud man.” That’s it. No follow-ups. Nothing. It says everything that’s to say about him. When you probe further he adds, “My pride basically was my motivation. I want to be the best at whatever I do. I strive for excellence. I don’t like to lose. Once I decided cricket was going to be my job, I just wanted to be the best. It’s a lot of hard work.”

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Anthony Martin's 'other life'

If you call the fire station in Antigua to report a fire, chances are, it might be a West Indian cricketer who answers the phone

Sriram Veera

25-Feb-2013

If you call the fire station in Antigua to report a fire, chances are, it might be a West Indian cricketer who answers the phone. Anthony Martin bowls legbreaks for West Indies. He also fights fires.

“Martin is a character. He is excitable even off the field,” Ramnaresh Sarwan said with a laugh. The truth of that statement lies in a small fire station in the All Saints neighbourhood. It’s late in the evening when we reach there. A bright, shiny, red fire truck blocks the entrance. Behind it, two broad-chested men are having a chat. Martin, when he is not on national duty, would be sitting with them, talking animatedly about cricket. Until a phone rings in the front room. Sometimes, he drives the van and, at times, is with the men fighting the fire. At other times he is the man who answers the call. The firemen operate on three shifts: red, green and blue.

Martin is listed on the red shift. “It’s of course better for us if there are extra hands but we are proud that he is playing for West Indies,” says Sergeant Harry as he gives a tour of the small place. There is a large room with lots of beds and a wall-mounted TV. The shifts are 24 hours. If Martin isn’t there by the phone, he will be here, in this room, with his mates, resting and waiting for the distress call. Cricket fills the time. The Sergeant points out Martin’s bed. Two bats lie beside a bag, with some balls inside. “He is constantly flicking the balls,” says Daley, a colleague, who rates Martin’s bowling as “fair”. “He can get better and become a good bowler. He is constantly talking about the game and is very proud to represent West Indies. If he is given chances he will become a good bowler. He prides himself on his economy rate. Even in the games we play here, he doesn’t like to be hit.”

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A sexist society or harmless fun?

As you walk up the alcohol-washed up stairs up into the Trini Posse stand, you can smell it, breathe it, hear it and finally see it as you reach the landing

Sriram Veera

25-Feb-2013

As you walk up the alcohol-washed stairs to the Trini Posse stand, you can smell it, breathe it, hear it and finally see it as you reach the landing. Dance. Music. Sun. Rum. Beer. Sweaty swaying bodies. A fat DJ is expertly controlling the crowd and ramping up the music. Alcohol is on the house. Everywhere you see drunken eyes, screening themselves from the harsh sun, but almost possessed by the party spirit. Soca music. Hip hop. Topped up with that special shake of the posterior, Trini style.

No use beating around the bush here; you can definitely feel a definite sense of raw lust in the air. It’s everywhere. It’s in the eyes of the fans surrounding the scantily-clad cheer girls, it’s in the eyes and hands of intoxicated couples swaying away elsewhere. And yet it’s not seedy. At least it didn’t strike me that way. Perhaps I tell myself that to explain my presence there. It feels like a vibrant open atmosphere.

The rain has stopped play in the second ODI and the covers are on but the sun is beating down hard. It threatens to peel off my skin. I take refuge in iced rum. In West Indies, the drink is light and it’s loaded with ice-cubes. You feel you are licking ice with a bit of alcohol thrown in. I had asked for a double.

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Charlie Davis' anecdotes on the rocks

I couldn’t remember – leave alone identify – Charlie Davis when he walked into the bar at the Queen’s Park Oval

Sriram Veera

25-Feb-2013

I couldn’t remember – leave alone identify – Charlie Davis when he walked into the bar at the Queen’s Park Oval. He looked older than 67. There was a slight limp in his walk, a lisp in his voice, and he wore spectacles. The face was still boyish in some ways. The laughter was definitely boyish, a chuckle that was filled with innocence. There is no better way to describe that lovely laugh.

And he still remembers nearly everything. He averaged 54.20 in Tests but got caught in the raw end of the transition period in West Indies cricket and drifted out of the international stage. He remembered his average but rarely spoke about himself. It was always about his team-mates. Joyous, fun, happy memories. A man you could spend hours chatting with. He doesn’t drink. He never drank. Always just a glass of Coke, he says. He had one Coke; some of us downed ten drinks, and he kept reeling out the stories till we were stumbling drunk. It was an intoxicating evening. We had the great Lance Gibbs for company too, and he had held the stage for a couple of hours before Charlie entered, but that story is for another night. This is about Charlie. Sorry, my bad. With Charlie, it’s never about him. It’s always about the others.

“Touring with the West Indies team was a psychological experience,” Charlie says. “There were men totally illiterate, men who had Masters degrees. One fella had five O-Levels but never made a decision in his life!” You immediately felt the evening was going to be fun. One more dark rum please. Thank you.

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Waters recede, but the floods have left their mark

Andrew McGlashan

25-Feb-2013

McDonald's signs are two-a-penny in most towns and cities around the world, but the one reaching high above the restaurant in Goodna, a suburb west of Brisbane, is a symbol of much more than fast food. It was the only thing left pointing out of the floodwaters after they swept through the town earlier this month.

The TV pictures were stark enough, but it’s difficult to comprehend the volume of water involved, especially now that it has disappeared to leave behind the massive clean-up operation. In Brisbane itself there aren’t too many obvious signs of what went on. The recovery work has been impressive. The river is still a menacing site, and the boat services remain suspended, but life in the CBD appears something near normal.

That, though, is far from the case in places like Goodna, which was in the same flood path as Ipswich where so much devastation was wreaked. The Australian cricketers spent a few hours at Goodna State School on Friday, which is on the brow of a hill, and as you descend the road a sign reads: “Prone to flooding, indicators show depth.” Those signs were totally submerged a few weeks ago.

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The flare(s) of one-day cricket

Headbands were cool again in Melbourne

Andrew McGlashan

25-Feb-2013

Headbands were cool again in Melbourne. At least for a day. The opening one-day international between Australia and England was used to mark the 40th anniversary of ODI cricket which began on January 5, 1971 by accident after the MCG Test was washed out. Nobody knew at the time the monster that had been created.

As part of the commemorations all the Australia team from that match, minus Rod Marsh, gathered at Government House in Melbourne and John Edrich, Man of the Match in 1971, flew in from England. “We didn’t want to play,” Edrich said, “We were there to win the Ashes and Ray Illingworth [the captain] didn’t want to risk his quick bowlers in damp conditions.”

Bill Lawry was the Australia skipper and said that Geoff Boycott’s response to playing the match was a succinct “p**s off” as the England cricketers took some persuading from Don Bradman. Lawry and Keith Stackpole had actually been sat with their pads on for three days watching the rain because the toss had taken place for the Test and Australia sent in.

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Shah Rukh Khan saves the day

Many will understand my irritation when I saw Shah Rukh Khan had found his way into international cricket too, blowing kisses even as the cricket game was being played

Sidharth Monga

25-Feb-2013

Many will understand my irritation when I saw Shah Rukh Khan had found his way into international cricket too, blowing kisses even as the cricket game was being played. He was here for a “concert” later in the night to commemorate 150 years of Indians in South Africa. As that show failed to match up to the good start provided by a percussion group – there is only so many seconds of tribal dance and saree-clad women you can show for India - South Africa unity without causing nausea - to my horror I found that Khan rescued it.

It was no mean feat, for he had to begin by getting rid of the after effects of a cringe-worthy speech from Anil Kapoor. It didn’t look good when Khan called Rusty Theron on to the stage. It didn’t look good when Khan challenged Theron to a rap-fest, and did a mock rap himself. Obviously he knew better. Theron was soon on fire, rapping the crowd into delirium. And when he was done, he dropped the mike down on the floor, with full rapper attitude.

And then Khan called JP Duminy up. And as good comic acts should, Khan picked up the most recent thorny issue, sledging between the two teams in the Test series. Here Khan asked Duminy who bothered them the most from the Indian team. “Harbhajan [Singh],” Duminy said. So Kahn started teaching Duminy what to say when Harbhajan sledges him. “Teri main phaad ke rakh doonga [I’ll rip your … (those dots are always left unfilled)]”. Going by direct translation, it should not be published on a family website, but it is so common a usage it obviously doesn’t hold its literal meaning now.

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Moses Mabhida Stadium ready for cricketing spectacle

The Moses Mabhida Stadium is fast becoming as synonymous with Durban as the city's beaches and the Golden Mile

Sidharth Monga

25-Feb-2013

The Moses Mabhida Stadium is fast becoming as synonymous with Durban as the city's beaches and the Golden Mile. It is the one defining piece of architecture that usually stands out for cities. Think the Opera House in Sydney, the Sky Tower in Auckland. It is very similar in a way to the Sky Tower. Moses Mabhida’s spectacular overhead arch, the Arch of Triumph, is visible from most of the places in the city. From the top of the arch, in turn, most of the city is visible. At the top, you can go for the skywalk or for the swing, wherein you fall towards the pitch (it’s the football pitch we are talking about) before swinging out in an arc over it, in a bungee-jumping sort of way.

If you have been to the top without binoculars, you wouldn’t have noticed the men hard at work to convert this primarily football and athletics stadium to a cricket ground that will host the biggest crowd for a cricket match in the country. A couple of stands have been taken up by the stage for a Bollywood concert that will follow the Twenty20 international between South Africa and India on Sunday night, bringing down the capacity to 50,000, but Cricket South Africa says the match was sold out days in advance. No other cricket stadium in the country has as big a capacity.