Tour Diary
KP between Boom and Kaplonk
Kevin Pietersen steps up to talk on Monday and he can't finish a sentence without being interrupted
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
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Kevin Pietersen steps up to talk on Monday and he can't finish a sentence without being interrupted. The Australians are in the indoor nets and Pietersen is speaking from cover, although he’s protected by a net and some black paper curtains. “I’m just as important as anyone else,” he says in between Australian drives. “I don’t [BANG] intend to [CRASH] have a bad series ... We’re going to come out [KAPLONK] fighting, not scared [BASH].” It’s more like an old-style episode of Batman and Robin.
On the way to Cardiff from Worcester the train stops in a few special places. The first is Malvern, where the tops of the hills hug any nearby crowds, and then it’s on to Abergavenny, another town which has a mountain as a grandstand to its cricket ground. It was here that Andrew Symonds hit a world-record 20 sixes in a match for Gloucestershire. Back then he might have played for England, but he finally represented Australia. In this series he won’t play for anyone. Australia missed him in the World Twenty20 but will cope without him over the next two months.
Full postTime to get serious
So everyone now moves to Cardiff and it’s goodbye to the delightful Worcester experience
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
So everyone now moves to Cardiff and it’s goodbye to the delightful Worcester experience. The small town, small time warm-ups are over for Australia and on Wednesday everything becomes brutally serious.
The shift means no more wandering along the Severn River looking at swans or the Cathedral; no more strolls through the city centre admiring the Tudor houses from the 1500s in Friar Street, or looking at the public clocks that all show different times.
Before leaving the New Road ground one day I saw David Leatherdale, the county’s former batting allrounder, walking through the stands and was reminded of one of Steve Waugh’s sledges. While outlining the weakness of county cricket in his 1997 tour diary, Waugh wrote that someone with the skills of Leatherdale couldn’t get a bowl in a Chinese restaurant, even though he had taken 5 for 10 in a one-dayer against the tourists.
Five years later and Waugh, playing for Kent, runs into Leatherdale and is bowled for 3. The Australians aren’t talking so tough on this tour and for a good reason. Unlike Waugh and his men, this group isn’t sure how good it is.
Full postThe sweetest thing ... for some
At the start of each day the Australians have been standing in a circle in the outfield inspiring each other with short speeches on their favourite Ashes memories
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
At the start of each day the Australians have been standing in a circle in the outfield inspiring each other with short speeches on their favourite Ashes memories. On the third morning in Worcester it was Shane Watson’s turn and, as he held a sheet of A4 to address the group, it looked like he might have been reading from his flight itinerary back home. Not so. He’s staying and his thigh injury is improving, but probably not in time to be serious contender for the first Test.
The coach Tim Nielsen, who led the talk on the final day, has had a busy match correcting some basic technical flaws in a couple of his first-choice players. Marcus North admitted he wasn’t watching the ball in his first three innings of the trip, but after some sessions with Nielsen he regained his focus. On Friday he started with a calming century and today he finished with a brutal blast against some declaration bowling to finish with 191 not out.
Brad Haddin chipped in with a bright 25, but his keeping is the discipline needing the greater lift. He lunged to miss two catches in the first innings and at the end of the third day was working with Nielsen on staying low and keeping his weight on his toes to help his footwork in both directions. At crucial moments on the field he had been on his heels and the remedial session continued on the final morning. It’s strange that even full-time professionals forget the basics.
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Full postSiddle axes chopping
Peter Siddle is being painted as the next Merv Hughes in some sections of England and there is a thirst like Big Merv’s in his playing days for details on the latest Victorian fast bowler
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Peter Siddle is being painted as the next Merv Hughes in some sections of England and there is a thirst like Big Merv’s in his playing days for details on the latest Victorian fast bowler. Siddle isn’t playing in Worcester and is resting before the first Test, so he was on Sky at tea speaking about his childhood hobby of woodchopping.
“There’s not much to it,” he said. “It’s a little sport in country Australia. With an axe, you stand on top of a bit of wood and the first one through wins.”
He was a good axeman as a child but did it only for a couple of years, thinking more of his safety than the prize ribbons. “It was part of the reason I wanted to get rid of it,” he said. “If I wanted to play sport in the future I thought I should probably give it up. I’d need all my body parts.”
Since then his main problem has been a series of serious shoulder injuries, but they haven’t stopped him from growing into one of the side’s main men. Expect him to cut through a few batsmen in Cardiff.
Full postAn absence of edginess
Kumar Sangakkara comes to a press conference, sits, chats, laughs as if we are his friends
Sidharth Monga
25-Feb-2013
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Perhaps Sri Lankans are too laid back, but that intangible edginess that exists a day before a Test is not there. This state of affairs makes one feel edgy, as if something is not right. There is no banter between journalists from the two countries. Actually there is nobody from the Pakistan media here yet. There are no nosy law enforcers frisking bags at various points on the way to the ground. There is no haughty curator to stop one from taking a look at the pitch, or to watch from up close Kaushal Silva and Tillakaratne Dilshan practise wicketkeeping.
There is no media frenzy either. Kumar Sangakkara comes to a press conference, sits, chats, laughs as if we are his friends. Apart from the sponsors’ board in the background, there is Nothing Official About It. Younis Khan (does he ever get grim?) is his giggly self. Says he will miss Murali’s company, because when is he under pressure, he starts talking to you and you have a good laugh with him. “At least I will miss his company.” These press conferences are reminiscent of a picture from just before the Old Trafford Test of 1987: Imran Khan is sitting on a window pane, addressing journalists barely a few feet away, no mics, media managers or sponsor boards. Where is the edginess that a Test brings?
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Full postMore toil for Hauritz
Nathan Hauritz must have thought his luck had changed when he was batting on the first day and the ball hit the stumps without removing the bail
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Nathan Hauritz must have thought his luck had changed when he was batting on the first day and the ball hit the stumps without removing the bail. It hasn’t. Poor guy. After being taken to at Hove in the first game, he suffered similarly tough treatment in Worcester today. It was nothing like Bryce McGain’s pummelling in Cape Town earlier in the year, but Hauritz was unable to contain, the trait he is picked for.
In 1993 Shane Warne was smashed around Worcester by Graeme Hick and then nobody took much notice of him until his first ball at Old Trafford. That day Warne restricted himself to legspinners, not wanting to show any of his other tricks. Hauritz doesn’t have that luxury and is doing his best already, even though he has had some trouble gripping the Duke ball.
So first to the good news for Hauritz. Stephen Moore, who top scored with 120 for the England Lions, said Hauritz spun it and bowls with nice shape.
Now for the not so good news. “We went out there to make sure we made life difficult for him,” Moore said. And they did. “Without that X-factor Shane Warne has, you’ve got that area you can attack. There was a lot of pressure on him if he didn’t hold up an end.” In 18 overs he gave away 80 runs, including two sixes down the ground, and unless there’s a big haul in the second innings, Australia will have to go for four fast men in Cardiff.
Full postDisagreeing with Jack Fingleton
“The beauty of the Worcester ground, I think, is slightly exaggerated,” Jack Fingleton wrote in Brightly Fades the Don
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
“The beauty of the Worcester ground, I think, is slightly exaggerated,” Jack Fingleton wrote in Brightly Fades the Don. “When you look at the ground with the Cathedral at your back, the Worcester ground is no prettier or uglier than most English county grounds though it has a pleasant pavilion.” Sadly, the old pavilion is no longer here, replaced by a modern block tower carrying the name of Graeme Hick, and as much flair.
Sixty-one years on from Fingleton’s tour and the trees have grown on the banks of the River Severn, leaving the top of the Cathedral to peek over them towards the ground. At the New Road end there is a restricted view and the best place to sit is in the ladies stand, a quaint, tiled-roof building with a small collection of reserved seats for women. When watching from there the cricket is what interrupts the scenery.
Apparently there have been requests to the local council to trim the trees, allowing all the spectators to idle between the game and the church, but they have been rejected. Twenty years ago there were fears the tower would collapse, but the restoration was completed last year, costing around £10m.
As a budding greenie, there’s no desire to call for the chainsaw, and the foliage encourages spectators to shift their seats for the variety of views. I don’t think the beauty of the ground is exaggerated and it was enjoyed by a strong crowd on the opening day of the tour game, from the moment Graham Onions ran in to Phillip Hughes with the bells chiming to 11.
Full postThe importance of Worcester
Worcester used to be the opening stop on Australia’s Ashes tour, but times changed itineraries and on this trip it is the second venue for the team, and my first
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Worcester used to be the opening stop on Australia’s Ashes tour, but times changed itineraries and on this trip it is the second venue for the team, and my first. Whenever the town is mentioned to England supporters there is talk of the flooding Severn River, which spills over Worcestershire’s New Road ground, usually in winter. To Australian fans with a lust for Ashes trips, this field is where Bradman scored three double-centuries and a century in his four visits, and where the magical cathedral seems to field at third man. The teas from the ladies’ pavilion are supposed to be equally special and will be trialled by those players being tested this week.
Tipping the destination of the urn is difficult, with both sides rebuilding and hoping for good results rather than knowing they will arrive. Over the next four days the Australians face the England Lions in a match that matters, a rarity for a modern tour game. In Bradman’s days he was able to reach 1000 runs before June, but those sorts of numbers are unlikely for any of the batsmen in the squad for the entire trip. If someone does get that far the Ashes will be retained.
Back then it was tradition in Worcester to play what was expected to be the Test XI. The current team would love to know the first-choice side, but there are too many bowling variables for any certainty until the match is over. Peter Siddle, who should start in Cardiff, has been rested while Mitchell Johnson plays his first match in whites in England since an Under-19 trip when he ran into Ian Bell, the England Lions captain. The real battle is not between the Australians and England’s 2nd XI, but between Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Nathan Hauritz, who are basically pushing for two spots.
A visit to England ensures many companions and two of my non-breathing travellers are Brightly Fades the Don by Jack Fingleton and Christian Ryan’s Golden Boy. Fingleton’s is the story of the unbeaten 1948 tour and the departure of Bradman while Ryan’s work, a biography of Hughes, contains long passages about 1981, a series of wonder for England and one of horror for Australia’s dysfunctional squad. Hughes led the team but was constantly under-mined by his senior players, something which won’t happen to Ricky Ponting (At 34 he’s the oldest and nine of the 15 players are under 30). Ponting’s men will do well to fall somewhere in between those polarised visits of an Australian cricketer’s most envied destination.
Full postFifty years of fighting for justice
Sriram Veera
25-Feb-2013
I meet him in the middle of the road in Durban city centre. You first notice the grizzly flowing white beard, the long hair blowing in the wind, the sharp eyes and a lovely smile that light up his 85-year old face. Dennis Brutus is protesting. It’s the story of his life. An activist against the apartheid regime in the 1960s, he played a key role in getting South Africa suspended from Olympics. For his efforts he was arrested, shot in the back while trying to jump bail, arrested again and jailed in Robben Island. Along with a certain Nelson Mandela. He was also banned from teaching, writing and publishing in South Africa and, on his release, settled in the US as a political refugee. He was finally “officially unbanned” in 1990 and currently lives in Durban.
It’s safe to say the fire hasn’t dimmed. In 2007, Brutus was nominated for induction in the South African Sports Hall of Fame. The other recipient was Ali Bacher; Brutus says he was ambivalent about accepting the award but Bacher’s presence nailed it. After Bacher’s acceptance speech was Brutus’ turn. He walked to the stage and said: “It is incompatible to have those who championed racist sport alongside its genuine victims. It’s time - indeed long past time - for sports truth, apologies and reconciliation.” And then turned down the award. That’s the part, he says, the broadcasters didn’t show. “And I believe Bacher walked out in protest,” he says with a chuckle, a throaty infectious laugh.
Full postStrangers in the Durban night
Unsafe
Sriram Veera
25-Feb-2013
Unsafe? “I was shot at in Ghana and guys with Kalashinikovs jumped out of a bush in Nigeria. Now, that’s unsafe.” Flashes of Keith Miller and his famous quote on pressure come to mind. It’s a hefty German, Gerald, who dismisses my question. We are sitting in a lovely open-air pub, with a dance floor in the centre, overlooking the lovely north beach. It’s late in the evening - party time in Durban.
You ask how I got there in spite of my safety worries? Blame it on the four-channel television in my apartment. The first thing any traveller does on checking in is checking out the toilet and switching on the TV. Mine was all ghostly image and spluttering audio. Through it all I could make out a movie was being shown – Blade: Trinity, replete with screams, vampires and more gore. Stuff the safety advice that I got from my landlady, I was out of there.
So to the pub, which is slowly filling up with beautiful women and gelled metrosexual men. Then there are the dishevelled tourists like Gerald, who is here working in the port, and myself. He’s been around for a few weeks so I thought fit to ask him about the mugging stories that every new arrival is fed. That’s when I got slam-dunked.
Another thing you notice here, as you would in any big city, is how the nightlife is a celebration of er… night life. Gerald entertains me with stories of his conquests, occasionally converting Rand into Euro to emphasise the difference and the economic benefits. In response, I offer my typically Indian middle-class inhibitions.
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