1st Ashes Test: Butcher conquers his fear of failure (23 November 1998)

23 November 1998

1st Ashes Test: Butcher conquers his fear of failure

By Mark Nicholas

FOR just a moment drift back a week and step into the shoes of Mark Butcher. Seven days ago England had squeezed home against Queensland and were euphoric. Butcher, though, had failed again in both innings and was at a crossroads with a paltry nine runs from five innings in Australia.

To celebrate the team success he would have sipped champagne with the lads and perhaps, because he is a good 'un, he might have smiled occasionally, but inwardly his stomach would have churned and his mind would have been playing tricks.

Almost certainly he would have feared for his place in the team, a place that seemed secure a month ago, and worse still, had he then been assured of it, he would have begun to panic over whether or not he could justify such support.

As the night before closed on the occasion that is every English player's glossiest dream - the first Test of an Ashes series in Australia - the cramps in his stomach and the confusion in his brain will have increased. In short, worry would have dominated his life, whatever the comfort given by captain and coach.

This is the fear of failure. It is the definitive mental torture for a sportsman and beating it, winning the fight with yourself, is the ultimate personal victory.

The innings played by Butcher yesterday, the confident continuation of a heady start on Saturday evening, was one of English cricket's more significant performances.

It came on the back of ridicule from the Australian public who did not reckon England would live with the locals; on the back of faux pas after faux pas in the field which gifted Australia their usual 400-plus in the first innings; and on the back of the immediate dismissal of the great defender, Michael Atherton, who fell to his nemesis, Glenn McGrath.

His response to such an unpromising situation was remarkable. He batted quite beautifully. In fact, neither the style, substance nor pace of his play had a jot to do with a bloke out of nick and everything to do with a classy player in the form of his life. You'd have thought he would have gone into the game with a hundred or two behind him, not blobs on the card and stitches upon his forehead.

From the off, even in the face of McGrath, his feet were working - back and forward, across the crease and into line. Instantly his bat was straight and his body still and perfectly balanced to set the foundation for his adventurous stroke play. With only one exception, his judgement of what to leave alone around about off-stump was exemplary.

Most gratifyingly his timing was on song, which meant that any remotely lose bowling got the treatment. Indeed, the tally fairly rattled along as Butcher cut powerfully, drove elegantly and manoeuvred the ball either side of mid-wicket with precise skill.

Australia, who had thought Butcher might be an easy picking, were caught off guard and by the time they plugged a few gaps and tried bowling around the wicket it was too late. The lad was up and running, and in charge. Imagine the self-confidence to play like this. Imagine the character involved and the conviction of the mind.

It was an insecure Butcher you may remember, batting at No 6, who saw England to the tape in the second of the Trinidad Tests earlier this year, so we knew that he had something about him. It was an improving Butcher who often blunted Allan Donald and Sean Pollock last summer. And it is an immensely impressive Butcher who is here in Brisbane and has given England the sort of start they crave.

Make no mistake, this was a thunderously good effort - to conquer the fear of failure and at the same time be so easy on the eye. Roll out the red carpet, for England have an opener of real quality, a man who deserves the greatest credit for the achievement, thus far, of his career.

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