Brindle sees red

In 1984, Australia toured India for a five-match one-day international series. I was the manager of the side on that visit.

I remember Terry Brindle of the Australian, who was accompanying the team on tour, had just received a state-of-the-art electronic device that enabled him to dictate his copy and have it transmitted immediately via phone back to Australia. It should have made things easy for him but Terry had a tough time with the device right through the tour.

One evening he was really up against it as he tried to get his copy through, with the device not working as it should have, the phone connection breaking down repeatedly, and the time difference on top of it all to add to the stress and frustration. When the story wasn't transferred successfully, a red light would appear on the machine. This kept happening, and each time it did, he would need to start all over again. Ultimately, in frustration, Terry sought out the hotel manager and demanded that he be given an uninterrupted phone line.

He got his line, and things began to go well. The story had almost been filed when suddenly he got another red light. The voice of the hotel switchboard operator came through the headset, asking: "Are you happy with your uninterrupted line, sir?"