Middlesex and Ramprakash - Breakfast of champions? (11 May 1998)

May 11 1998

Breakfast of champions?

By Mark Nicholas

IT was riveting stuff for a time at Cardiff on Saturday, much as it must have been at Edgbaston and Old Trafford, as the group stage of the Benson and Hedges Cup reached an unusual climax. Limited overs cricket took on exaggerated meaning for Glamorgan because their target of 254 against Middlesex had to be achieved in 39.5 overs if they were to sneak into the quarter-finals past Essex on net run rate. After a sparkling start things were pear-shaped in the second half of the innings and they bowed out rather tamely.

Middlesex had already won the group but any idea that they might ease off was squashed with the startling information that their bowlers had been up at 7.15 and, over tea and toast, studying videos of Glamorgan's batsmen. We know where the focus of the previous Middlesex captain would have been - the toast - but it's a high-tech game at headquarters these days as the new management team of captain Mark Ramprakash and Australian coach John Buchanan embrace the 21st century. Rest assured, this was a serious breakfast. . . and it raises some interesting questions.

Buchanan is a thoughtful and thorough man whose appointment as coach of Queensland four years ago raised eyebrows. He had played only a handful of first-class games, which fuelled the critics, and his analytical/scientific approach rubbed a few up the wrong way. Within a year, however, the critics had slid underground and the employers were lauded for their choice. Under Buchanan, Queensland won the Sheffield Shield for the first time and repeated the triumph two years later. He must have made a difference, must have done an outstanding job, in fact, and earned respect and reward for his methods.

In contrast, Middlesex have been a roaring success for more than 20 years. Their cricket had been run on a daily basis by the two captains, Mike Brearley and Mike Gatting, and the coach, Don Bennett, had been a shrewd background figure of the old school. It was belt and braces stuff in the Middlesex dressing room, which has housed a succession of terrific cricketers and strong characters. Often at each other's throat, their respect for one another has been based on the certainty that whatever the warts, the job got done. It has never been a place for faint hearts nor for the fancy Dan approach or the niceties of the game. Egg and chips for Gatt, corduroys and cardigan for Brearley but what for Ramprakash - and with fascination we will watch - now that Buchanan has arrived?

Who is the boss and where does that buck stop? Ramprakash did a marvellous job when he took over last summer relaxing the players, encouraging youth and its expression and coping with the tricky business of having Gatting in his team. What's more he played out of his skin himself and catalysed that recall to England colours at the Oval against Australia. What he wanted in a coach was someone different, someone modern, a good organiser, a deep thinker - which he has got. But he did not want a policy maker or a force which dominates his leadership, which he just might have got.

The point is this: Change is fine with specific direction, and Australians, and the interesting and committed Buchanan most definitely, have a lot to teach the county game. Middlesex had not beaten a county in the Benson and Hedges Cup for two years; this year they have won four out of four with fresher, eager-looking players. Ramprakash and Buchanan have all played their part in that. It is the detail that will be difficult for Buchanan because there is so little time for reflection and it is the attitude, planning and mental organisation on which he may most need to focus. Tom Moody and David Boon, two captains, and David Gilbert and John Wright, two coaches - all from Australasia and all greatly respected at their county - have demanded absolute honesty from their players, with each other and themselves, and insisted on greater intensity and concentration in practice and play.

Too many English cricketers are fickle and lazy, and are too easily distracted, which sends Aussies up the wall. It is attitude and the technical aspect of coaching that Buchanan can most immediately influence while in no way coming across the leadership of Ramprakash. Ramprakash is more than just a potential captain of England, he is a must if he succeeds in the role at Middlesex and is able at the same time to produce his best batting.

He is one of the nuggets of gold in English cricket, a supreme talent who has previously been insular and tense and is managing to free himself in personality and play. Hopefully, the county captaincy will be exclusively his and Buchanan will be the man behind the scenes who guides Middlesex back to glory and Ramprakash to the helm of the England team. If the buck stops with the Middlesex captain we shall discover quickly whether he can one day be captain of England too.

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