Tour Diary
Scrumdog Millionaire
Brad Thorn, an All Black and Canterbury Crusaders rugby player, follows cricket enough to enjoy a drawn Test match more than the one-dayers
Sidharth Monga
25-Feb-2013
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Take Stone Cold Steve Austin’s rasp voice, add the Australian accent, and subtract the swear words. And you are talking to Brad Thorn, a New Zealander who played most of his rugby in Australia, but is now an All Black and plays for Canterbury Crusaders in the Super 14s. Not knowing much about rugby, you can't wait to get him started on the cricket v rugby banter, the old brain v brawn game.
But Brad follows cricket enough to enjoy a drawn Test match more than the one-dayers. Still, being a rugby player, risking injuries with every step he takes on the field, doesn’t he think cricket is a bit of a wimps’ game? “Maybe when you see the Ranatunga fellow,” he says. Good old Arjuna. What’s with him and the Australians?
“But seriously speaking, if you have faced pace bowling, you have a lot of respect for cricketers. One time, me and a few rugby players at high school had a session with the bowling machine. And we put the scales to 160kph. And we didn’t want to go near it. So we have a lot of respect like the timing a batsman has got. The few seconds they get to react. It is just amazing. I think everyone appreciates and respects that. It’s like you really appreciate Tiger Woods and what he can do.”
Full postOld-school charm meets new-age needs
The Queen’s Park Oval has struck me as a funny sort of ground
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
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The Queen’s Park Oval has struck me as a funny sort of ground. Not in a bad way, but in an interesting way. It is how I imagined Caribbean stadiums to be, a bit of a hotch-potch of stands but full of character.
In that way it is a little like the ARG as opposed to the manufactured monstrosity at North Sound. Redevelopment work was done prior to the 2007 World Cup, but the stands haven’t been replaced by concrete blocks. The main work was done on the pavilion, renamed earlier this match under Brian Lara’s name, and last year floodlights went in. So the ground has been brought up to modern levels yet still retains the older charm.
There is grass banking that runs around the boundary, but no beach this time. The pool that was in occupation at Kingston and the Kensington Oval would no doubt have been a welcome addition as the visiting fans sweated in the heat and humidity, although there are few complaints when they see the forecast from back home.
Full postVolcanic preparation
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
When you’ve had to run away from an erupting volcano, the challenges of bowling to international batsmen cannot seem quite as daunting. Lionel Baker was 10-years-old and at home on the tiny island of Montserrat when the Soufriere Hills volcano began to erupt on July 18, 1995.
He still talks about the moment when his island was devastated in a very matter-of-fact way. "The volcano erupted on the east side and I’m from the north side so I didn’t have to move or change houses so I was quite lucky,” he said. “It wasn’t anything to do with running away from the lava, it was more like a pyroclastic flow. It’s more terrifying than the lava and harder to deal with.”
Full postBuilding team spirit from odd jobs
Sidharth Monga
25-Feb-2013
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Ian Butler looks after the transport. He makes sure all the vans are ready in time for the team to leave.
Grant Elliott makes sure that when the team is done with the dressing rooms, with the nets, with the practice grounds, that they leave behind a clean place.
Jesse Ryder decides what music will be played; nobody can take the music player away from him.
Full post'Have you seen the news?'
Even thousands of miles away in Barbados the ripple effect of the terror attack on the Sri Lanka team was being felt
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
A text message landed at 1am – I never turn my phone off, it’s a bad habit – and it simply said. “Have you seen the news?” A couple more messages and quick flick onto CNN revealed what it was all about.
Even thousands of miles away in Barbados the ripple effect of the terror attack on the Sri Lanka team was being felt. One person had reason to feel very closely effected as Stuart Broad’s father, Chris, was in one of the mini-buses attacked.
Full postTwenty-four hour party people
Being an England fan on tour should be classed as an endurance sport and not just because the team often make it a tough experience
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
Being an England fan on tour should be classed as an endurance sport and not just because the team often make it a tough experience. It’s quite possible that some of the people watching the action on Sunday morning haven’t actually been to bed.
Saturday night in Barbados isn’t for sleeping – although I should add here that my evening ended around 11pm after a curry and a few beers [yeah right, Ed]. How boring, but I’m not a morning person at the best of times so a rough head isn’t a pleasant prospect when, apparently, I'm here to work.
Anyway, at breakfast a small group of lads were sat on the table opposite dressed in England tops, tucking into bacon and eggs. They looked a little worse for wear and indeed had got back to the hotel at 5.30am and woke at eight.
The efforts of the travelling contingent have certainly impressed the locals more than England’s bowling. “They have beer for breakfast, plenty through the day then top it up at night,” said Chris on the front desk. “But we rarely get any bother, they are just here for a good time.”
Full postA pocket full of cool
Sidharth Monga
25-Feb-2013
In the nineties, a man took “pocketing a catch” a bit too literally. While playing for New Zealand, Bryan Young would take a slip catch, put the ball in his pocket, and run towards the successful bowler to shake hands. Cricket is a game for various aspects of various characters, and this one stood out for Young. He is actually remembered for that, and not for a more incredible achievement. But that’s for later.
That celebration came about as a fluke, Young says. “We were playing Pakistan in a Test at Eden Park. It was the first Test of the series. In that game I happened to take six catches in the field. In those days you didn’t really have to give the ball to the umpire. I took the first one - and I didn’t even think about it - and put it in my pocket, went up and congratulated the bowler.
Full postBarbados, where the bottom line rules
The Brits are out in force again
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
The Brits are out in force again. The stands at the Kensington Oval are a sea of red, white and blue. Luton Town are in the house, as are Tom and Dan from Potter's Bar. It’s only a few typos away from being the Kennington Oval.
Barbados 2009 (and for all England tours since the mid-90s) is the reverse of what was seen in London during the 1970s and 1980s. As the all-conquering West Indies – the Harlem Globetrotters of world cricket – blasted away all before them, they were cheered on by crowds full of West Indian fans when they played at The Oval in south London.
Last time West Indies visited The Oval, however, there was barely a supporter in the crowd shouting for them, and while the locals are trying to make themselves heard in Bridgetown they are fighting against the tide.
Full postThe fans still matter at the Wanderers
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
A few days ago I wrote about the novelty of spectators wandering on the field during the lunch break in Potchefstroom. I assumed that was because it was a low-key tour game. What I wasn’t expecting was for fans to have the same freedom during the Test match at the Wanderers.
Coming from Melbourne, where if you so much as place a toe on the field you’ll be heavily tackled by security guards who resemble frustrated rugby players, it has been fascinating to watch the fans stream over the Wanderers on the opening two days. The centre-wicket square is fenced off but the public can walk right up to each end of the pitch and inspect it at their leisure.
Full postThe Best is yet to come?
He was wearing a basketball top, a baseball cap and a bit of bling
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
He was wearing a basketball top, a baseball cap and a bit of bling. The face looked familiar, but not instantly recognisable. Then someone shouted over “Tino.”
When England toured West Indies in 2004 they faced a quick bowler who was determined to make a name for himself. Tino Best didn’t do things by half and on removing Graham Thorpe, at Sabina Park, for his first Test wicket he sprinted towards the catcher a fine leg before lying, arms out-stretched, on the ground in celebration.
“Cricket should always be played that way, but also in the right spirit,” he said. “I remember some battles with Mr Flintoff and battles with Nasser [Hussain] and Thorpe. The best batsman I ever bowled at was Graham Thorpe. He’s a guy I rated really high from when I was a youngster so it was the best feeling ever to get him out.”
Full post