A regular feature charting the lives of some of the game’s stars, this week the run machine-turned-commentator on a life spent lugging the nickname of ‘Mr Cricket’ around on his back.
BREAKING INTO THE WESTERN AUSTRALIA TEAM
It was very daunting. There was that old-school mentality and they certainly made sure the young guys were put in their place and had to earn the respect of the senior players. You were almost playing with a bit of fear, fear of not wanting to let them down, and fear of getting crucified. I’m not sure that was 100 per cent healthy at the time, it probably inhibited us a little bit.
We also had quite a lot of guys trying to get themselves into the Australian team, so the criticism was that we were individuals. Wayne Clark, our coach, was very influential in bringing all those players together. A lot of team and individual success followed. I learned a hell of a lot.
THE COUNTY SCENE
I absolutely loved county cricket. It was instrumental in my development as a player, batting just about every single day, I felt like my game improved out of sight. I went from a decent first-class player to a player ready to move up to the next level. Particularly learning how to play spin.
Coming from the WACA where it was always pace and bounce, to go to Northants to train and play on pitches that turned a lot, with guys like Monty Panesar, Graeme Swann and a guy called Jason Brown, who was a fantastic bowler as well, it was a great education.
The players just get the game. If you are in the dressing room with them day in, day out you learn so much as a player and a person. I recommend it to any young player.
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
It was tough going! The Australian team was so strong. I was an opener at that stage and it was Mark Taylor with Michael Slater playing so well and then Justin Langer joined up with Matthew Hayden and I don’t think they missed a Test, and didn’t deserve to, for about five years.
I remember after scoring a triple hundred for Northants during an Ashes year, I had to pull over when my phone rang and it was Steve Waugh who was captain of the Australian team and he just told me to keep doing it and an opportunity would come. It certainly meant a lot. I always wanted to play for Australia so badly, ever since I was a little boy. I put so much pressure on myself, I just wanted it so much. I was just going way over the top and putting too much pressure on myself, it had a detrimental effect and I actually got dropped from the WA team. At that stage, I thought that my dream of playing for Australia was over, and so I went back to just enjoying the game. As soon as I took all that pressure off myself, that was when my consistency returned and I got my opportunity.
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