Fruitful Kiwis

An editorial in the Indian Express takes the case of former New Zealand fast bowler Ewen Chatfield, who now drives a taxi in Wellington, and makes the point that cricket needs more IPLs and ICLs, free of boundaries of nationality and monopoly, as forms of employment.

International cricket has lost for ever the sight of Shane Bond steaming in, getting unsuspected pace and bounce from dying wickets by bending his fragile back, of Craig McMillan’s extraordinary, effortless, steely-eyed hitting. That McMillan and Bond should have made this choice isn’t surprising; like cab-driving Chatfield, McMillan had tried being a car salesman and Bond a policeman — while they were still playing. McMillan, the one year he wasn’t given a central contract, felt that without quitting, he couldn’t feed his young family.