England: Lewis ready for return to grace (28 Mar 1998)

28 March 1998

Lewis ready for return to grace

By Martin Johnson

THE NEW-SEASON whiff of linseed oil, freshly mown grass, and Fred Trueman's pipe tobacco is almost upon us, and pub conversations are already beginning to turn from the abdication of Michael Atherton to more parochial matters. And every spring, the topics are identical. "I fancy Blankshire for the county championship", "It's about time they did something about the members' toilets", and "Anyone know who Chris Lewis is playing for this summer?"

The answer to the latter is Leicestershire, who, for the second occasion, along with Nottinghamshire, Surrey, and (several times recurring) England, now believe they will be the ones to harness English cricket's most unfulfilled talent. Dream on, say all those whose image of Lewis largely embraces the horizontal - either on the physio's table or Dr Anthony Clare's couch.

Lewis has moved so often it is surprising that his list of personal sponsors does not include Pickford's, but on the subject of the fourth coming, Lewis is bullishly forthcoming. "I don't care what people say - I've always given 100 per cent. When I started out, people had a programme that they set out for Chris Lewis, and in their eyes Chris Lewis hasn't fulfilled that programme. Well, that's not my problem. People have their favourites, and I can't do anything about that. I'd just like them to have watched me this winter, pounding the roads, never out of the gym, and working harder than ever on my game."

Charming, articulate, but occasionally harder to read than Shane Warne's googly, Lewis invariably talks about himself in the third person, as though there are actually two of him. And in most people's eyes, there are. The dynamic, hyper-talented all-rounder and the unfathomable enigma who, at least since he shaved his head, has contracted every conceivable ailment other than dandruff. "There's only one Chris Lewis" is not even on the Barmy Army's songsheet.

If Lewis is ever going to maximise his talents, however, it will be at Grace Road. When he first left Leicestershire, it was a reluctant move based on an impressionable young man being steered by agents towards the promise of greater wealth and career prospects with Nottinghamshire, a county he left after two years with a parting salvo describing his team-mates as a bunch of berks - albeit in slightly saltier language. For someone who never travels without his Bible, Lewis has not always embraced the concept of goodwill to all men.

Lewis had a couple more years at Surrey before deciding that his heart had never really left his original county, although this was not quite the touching, prodigal's return home, in that Leicestershire were obliged to woo him back with promises of early elevation to the captaincy. Even so, Lewis has a rapport with this team that was clearly in evidence when he reported for pre-season training this week.

"Morning, Lewie," said admin secretary Kevin Hill when Lewis pulled into the Grace Road car park on Monday: "I've cleared out the physio's room, and it's all yours whenever you need it."

Lewis, behind whom even such legendary visitors to the treatment table as Les Taylor and Jonathan Agnew had to form an orderly queue, burst into gales of laughter, as he did on Wednesday when playing in a charity golf tournament in Leicester.

The lights were on the clubhouse when Lewis finally came in to be greeted with: "Late again, Lewie, what's up? Had a puncture on the golf trolley?" This was a reference to his last appearance in an England dressing room in 1996, when he turned up 40 minutes late for the Oval Test claiming a flat tyre. Atherton, whose patience had been tried on many previous occasions, listened to Lewis's explanation in much the same way as a headmaster digesting one of those "sorry sir, the dog ate my homework" excuses and promptly dropped him. This time, the excommunication had an air of permanence.

Lewis said: "Being late was unacceptable, but I'd played six years for England and hadn't come close to doing anything like that before. I'm philosophical about it, although I still maintain that this whole thing about me being unreliable has been blown out of all proportion because of the kind of person I am. People form a picture of you and won't let it go. Shaving my head, for instance, and then getting sun stroke. It wasn't too sensible at the time but if that's still being held against me, then it's pretty petty in my opinion."

I offered the suggestion that many people took the view that his cricketing performances fluctuated according to what side of bed he got out of, or which way Venus was aligned to the planets than morning, to which he replied: "I just find that hurtful. I've always given my best effort but if I'm not bowling fast all the time, which I won't if the pitches are not right for that, then I get panned for being lazy.

"I've spent most of the winter watching South Africa and Sri Lanka [this summer's tourists] on TV, I've trained harder than ever, and my desire to play for England is stronger than ever. If there was no prospect of playing Test cricket again, I'd have to question how long I could continue in county cricket, but I don't see why that should be. I honestly don't believe that I've got to do twice as much as the next man to make up for any perceived blotting of the copybook. If I'm performing well, I'd hope, and expect, to be considered on that basis. I've never got downhearted about being dropped, I just get off to the gym, train my socks off, and adopt an 'I'll show you' attitude."

LEWIS certainly looked fit as he joined his team-mates in the indoor gymnasium this week, although he has never looked anything but fit until he straps on a pair of cricket boots, which occasionally has the same effect as Samson going for a haircut. However, Jack Birkenshaw, Leicestershire's cricket manager, remains confident that Lewis's return will be beneficial to both parties.

"It's a challenge, but his desire to get back into the England side will be motivation enough for him. He's a much more mature bloke nowadays, and there are far more positive things about him than negative. Besides which, he likes the lads here, and gets on well with all of them.

"There is something wrong somewhere if a bloke with his talent is not in the England team. Personally, I think he was put on a pedestal far too soon, with the new Botham tag and all that, and this creates all sorts of pressures. But he's happy and relaxed here, and we expect him to do the business for us this summer."

Leicestershire, in common with most other counties, will shortly be heading off for some serious outdoor practice in the sunshine - to Barbados in their case - and Birkenshaw reflected on how different it all was in 1975, when he was part of Leicestershire's first championship-winning team.

"We climbed into as many sweaters as we could find, no matter how cold it was, and got into the outdoor nets. When it was about minus five, and Ken Higgs thudded one into your inside leg, it wasn't that much fun. There are so many other things now, as well, like these bleep tests, fat measuring analyses, diet sheets. I go with the flow, hoping it will make them better players, but it makes you wonder how all these brilliant cricketers of the past ever performed.

"When I was playing here, you knew you were going to get the same sandwiches and scones day in and day out but nowadays they all have special menus they can pick from. Vanburn Holder spent an entire career having two pints of lager for his lunch, and he never ailed much. Bowled all day and every day, and never got injured.

"Then we have these psychoanalysts. We've actually got a couple of 'team builders', some kind of motivational people, coming over from America to see us while we're in Barbados, which should be interesting. I've listened to a few of them, and there's a fair amount of bull involved.

" 'Visualisation' is one of the techniques, but you can't tell a bowler to visualise pitching leg stump and hitting off if he can't do it. The message I like to get across is that much of this game is all about hanging in there. 'Visualisation' is all very well, but when you're walking out to bat with Ambrose steaming in at you, you need a different kind of visualisation. Hang around until they take the bugger off."

One other thing Birkenshaw would like to visualise this summer is a spectator or two. "It's sad we're not better supported here, especially as this side must be among the favourites for all the trophies. I'd love to see more young people here," he added with a chuckle. "We've got such an old membership, someone asked me the other day why we couldn't sell any advertising boards to the Co-Op Funeral Directors."

Crowds at Grace Road? Lewis - alarm clock and hamstrings in perfect working order - to lift England to Test match glory? What do you think, doctor? Hmm, yes, well, just take one of these three times a day, and you'll soon be feeling your old self again.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)