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Speaker 1: On the Front Foot with Brian Waddell and Jeremy Coney,
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Speaker 2: Hello on the Front foot once again. The hiatus in
Speaker 2: Test cricket, the World Test Championship having just a short
Speaker 2: break while we enjoyed the the lights of Rolder climbing
Speaker 2: on the Olympics and other fashionable sports that are being
Speaker 2: played at the present time. It's a month away from
Speaker 2: a test in India for the Black Chair versus Afghanistan.
Speaker 2: How close are they? Just settling the squad winter training
Speaker 2: at home. Teen twenties in America and Canada, they've got
Speaker 2: one hundred. In England. We're going to remember one of
Speaker 2: our greats from seventy five years ago, sadly a farewell
Speaker 2: to an English cricket rock, the death recently of for
Speaker 2: Graham Thorpe. We will talk about him as well. Some
Speaker 2: sad news too. As we look towards what is happening.
Speaker 2: Jeremy and Garth Galloway special guests once more with us
Speaker 2: that Nathan Smith, who must be coming into reckoning for
Speaker 2: the National selectors for international duty, is coming home from
Speaker 2: Worcestershire because of injury. Good thing to do, but it's
Speaker 2: not a good time to be doing it having an injury.
Speaker 2: I don't think Jeremy with so many games coming up.
Speaker 3: Good ay, Garth and Wadds. Look, Wor'stershare have really used
Speaker 3: him quite sensibly. I mean he's been opening the bowling
Speaker 3: I notice, certainly towards the beginning of the county Championship anyway,
Speaker 3: and that's when they were using I think was at
Speaker 3: the first two games they used the Kooko baro ball.
Speaker 3: But certainly he was getting wickets for Worcestershire. And as
Speaker 3: I mentioned last week, he can also handle a bat
Speaker 3: adequately as well, certainly in comparison to the rest of
Speaker 3: our bowling unit here in New Zealand with the red ball,
Speaker 3: O Rourke and Sears. No, they don't really offer a
Speaker 3: great deal with the bat. And then of course you
Speaker 3: know you're looking at Saudi or Duffy perhaps you know
Speaker 3: they don't offer much either at the moment. Maybe Shipley might.
Speaker 3: He's got some runs at first class level, but certainly
Speaker 3: not at the Test level yet. So you know, Nathan
Speaker 3: Smith could be an important character to be watching carefully.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's a tough time for him Garth because
Speaker 2: he really only just come off a year's absence for
Speaker 2: the game because of injury. That's the nature of the
Speaker 2: beast is that you do have injuries. But he's in
Speaker 2: New Zealand a consideration and he must be close to
Speaker 2: selection either Test or One Day level. I don't know
Speaker 2: about T twenty, but you know he's got to be
Speaker 2: there from what he's achieved so far.
Speaker 5: I agree, and I think he's done. You know, he's
Speaker 5: done very well for Worcestershire. He's taken twenty seven wickets
Speaker 5: and seven matches. I've left on the notes in the office,
Speaker 5: Watson Jerry. So if I'm slightly inaccurate, just you know,
Speaker 5: forgive me. But twenty seven wickets and seven matches at
Speaker 5: an average of twenty one, so you know, a really
Speaker 5: good return. Put some tent on the county averages in
Speaker 5: that Division One championship and he's got them at a
Speaker 5: good economical rate as well. I really like him. I
Speaker 5: see St Giles's, who's the general manager at Worcestershire and
Speaker 5: former English selector and English spinner, has published a statement
Speaker 5: saying that he's always welcome back at Worcestershire. It's a
Speaker 5: lovely place, of course, in a Jerry, I don't know
Speaker 5: if you played it New Road, but I was in
Speaker 5: Worcester coaching for years a year and it's of course
Speaker 5: got the association with Glenn Turner and of course Martin
Speaker 5: Horton who coached out here, the former England player. Lovely
Speaker 5: part of the world. So I'm sure Nathan Smith will
Speaker 5: have enjoyed it and benefited from it, but just not
Speaker 5: long enough for him. But I agree with you both.
Speaker 5: I think he definitely comes into contention. He's got a
Speaker 5: hamstring injury and judging by the fact that he's coming home,
Speaker 5: it must be serious. So again I wonder if that's
Speaker 5: because he really is genuinely in contention for these tests
Speaker 5: which are coming up in the not too distant future.
Speaker 2: Darth, can I just pick youre for a moment you
Speaker 2: said something slightly inaccurate. I can't believe that you're slightly
Speaker 2: inaccurate at any stage.
Speaker 5: Oh no, thank you, thank you, thank you very much. Well,
Speaker 5: Jerry picks me up occasionally.
Speaker 3: He was, he was inaccurate. It's twenty one point seventy
Speaker 3: five six, right, and you need to get that right. Okay,
Speaker 3: Now I do remember new Road Garth. I irritated all
Speaker 3: the rest of the bowlers, the whole bowling fraternity in
Speaker 3: one of the tours when I went there because it
Speaker 3: was it was a bit of it was a rough
Speaker 3: wicket and I managed to get seven wickets in the
Speaker 3: match and that put me right on top of the averages.
Speaker 3: So I was getting some horrible looks from all the
Speaker 3: ballers at the end of the series for the playing
Speaker 3: the off couldn't get the ball off me once. That's right,
Speaker 3: exactly interesting.
Speaker 2: Nathan Smith's got an injury there. We're talking about a
Speaker 2: World Test Championship. New Zealand have yet to pick aside.
Speaker 2: In fact, they've yet to confirm their contract list. Must
Speaker 2: be tough game for them. How tough is this year
Speaker 2: going to be? I see this as pretty important. We're
Speaker 2: fifty percent on the World Test Championship the moment. We've
Speaker 2: got three in India and three Tests in England Afghanistan
Speaker 2: don't appear in the World Test Championship. But it's a
Speaker 2: big year for this New Zealm, so doesn't it.
Speaker 5: Yeah, chores and I can't see them to be to
Speaker 5: be honest with you, and Jerry and I were lucky
Speaker 5: enough to sit in the studio in Eddington and do
Speaker 5: ball by ball and the last time that they were
Speaker 5: in India and and Wadd's you know it was it
Speaker 5: was pretty grim. Well they drew, didn't they They drew the
Speaker 5: That the what I'm just thinking Ptel picked.
Speaker 2: Up for you.
Speaker 3: They hang on. Yeah the first test, didn't they nine down?
Speaker 5: That's right? Yeah, but it was grim And I think
Speaker 5: these these three tests in India are going to be
Speaker 5: pretty tough for this side as well. Wads and Jerry
Speaker 5: and if you look at this silly competition, which you
Speaker 5: know relies on the winning percentage, I think our percentage
Speaker 5: will be dented after the India series in India and
Speaker 5: that makes those tests against England deposlutely vital. I mean,
Speaker 5: if they lose those three tests, you know their points
Speaker 5: will be down. They'll be at an average of thirty
Speaker 5: three that winning percentage or thirty three point three three
Speaker 5: three recurring Jerry, just to be accurate.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so you know, and I think it's going to
Speaker 5: be very interesting. Indeed, the attack that they choose, who
Speaker 5: will bowl at the at the start of the innings
Speaker 5: and are they going to play three spinners and they
Speaker 5: have to over there.
Speaker 3: Yeah. New Zealand have won three of the six Tests
Speaker 3: they have played. They now are confronted with against two
Speaker 3: of the stronger sides. England were at the bottom of
Speaker 3: the of the Test Championship becauds. They had played Australia
Speaker 3: in the Ashes and that was a tool wall draw
Speaker 3: and then they played India and India and they lost
Speaker 3: that four to one. So that's why are they were languishing.
Speaker 3: But now they've come up with the last two victories
Speaker 3: against West Indies. They are likely to do the same
Speaker 3: against Sri Lanka, so they will probably improve their percentage.
Speaker 3: New Zealand have got two hard ones, haven't they. It's
Speaker 3: not in conceivable that they might lose all six or
Speaker 3: they might not win one. In other words, it might
Speaker 3: be a drawer somewhere, if there's rain somewhere or something
Speaker 3: like that. If they can sneak through with a win somewhere.
Speaker 3: I think that would be pretty reasonable for a side
Speaker 3: actually in transition. I know they'll be at home. But England, look,
Speaker 3: you know, they could easily have won that Basin Reserve Test,
Speaker 3: even though lost by one run, but they I mean,
Speaker 3: that's how close it was, and they took a gamble.
Speaker 3: I could. I can see New Zealand, you know, not
Speaker 3: winning a Test. It is conceivable.
Speaker 5: I think England also the other thing, when you watch
Speaker 5: the way that they've played against the West Indies and
Speaker 5: some of the series against India where they were well beaten.
Speaker 5: In this series head after they won the first Test,
Speaker 5: you're seeing a side I think that it's changing a
Speaker 5: little bit in the way that they're playing the game.
Speaker 5: So we saw the helter skelter, you know, the stuff
Speaker 5: they call basball and all of that stuff, and it
Speaker 5: did seem at time, I mean, it was highly addictive
Speaker 5: but at times less effective, and I think that's you know,
Speaker 5: the Wellington Test is a really good example of a
Speaker 5: game that they threw away through through ego really and
Speaker 5: wanting to play in that way. And you'll remember Wagner
Speaker 5: took wickets in the second innings and he bowled short
Speaker 5: and he was. You know, they really wanted to take
Speaker 5: him on and had they not, I think they would
Speaker 5: have won the match. They're playing a bit differently now
Speaker 5: and if you look at the straight rates against the
Speaker 5: West Indies of their top order, they're quite different to
Speaker 5: what they were in the first you know, when McCullum
Speaker 5: first took over. That doesn't help New Zealand's chances in
Speaker 5: my view, and that's the point that I wanted to make.
Speaker 5: They're being a little bit more circumspect, but they're still
Speaker 5: scoring their runs at four point five five runs and over.
Speaker 2: We can't make our judgments against the West Indies, but
Speaker 2: they're going to be a better side with the changes
Speaker 2: that they've made in terms of personnel, and better side
Speaker 2: than what they had when they came out last time.
Speaker 2: They were surely Jerry.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you know they're batting lineup with Root
Speaker 3: just playing way that he normally plays. He holds and binds,
Speaker 3: if you like that whole order at number four together.
Speaker 3: Poper's not playing so aggressively. I think you'll find Crawley will,
Speaker 3: but I think you know, with Brooke playing aggressively as
Speaker 3: he does, having the bowling services of the captain really helps,
Speaker 3: doesn't it. The whole side looks a lot more balanced
Speaker 3: now they're not having to make up and find another bowler.
Speaker 3: You know, Ben Stokes is there and he's bowling quite well,
Speaker 3: and so now they've also changed some of their other
Speaker 3: bowlers and they're looking very likely. Yes, you've got to
Speaker 3: always put it into context of it was the West
Speaker 3: Indies who were an inexperienced side. But let's see how
Speaker 3: they go. They're changing their side again, aren't they. For
Speaker 3: the Sri Lankan series that is just upcoming. Jordan Cox
Speaker 3: is coming and as the keeper. Whether he plays or not,
Speaker 3: I don't know. I would have thought Jamie Smith would
Speaker 3: have carried on myself. Olie Stone is a fast bowler
Speaker 3: who played against New Zealand and used to play for
Speaker 3: Warwick Shoes at Edgeburston. He's in for Pennington who has
Speaker 3: a bit of an injury I believe, and then Dan Lawrence.
Speaker 3: The interesting even I mean Dan Lawrence is to sit
Speaker 3: to open. That's that's interesting. With Crawley's injury. So you
Speaker 3: know he's normally a middle order player. I'll be interested.
Speaker 3: He's probably desperate to play. Went to India and he's
Speaker 3: been sitting around for the West Indies series play anywhere.
Speaker 3: Probably so. But he's a middle order and a bowler,
Speaker 3: isn't he as well? Part time bowler? Really? Well?
Speaker 2: The interesting thing is that they've had an injury to
Speaker 2: an opening batsman and Zach Crawley. They've decided, how will
Speaker 2: we go about replacing him? Oh, we've got down?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Why are we bringing a look at keeper as well?
Speaker 2: Because we've we've dumped he bears though, and poor old
Speaker 2: Ben folks well, he can't keep to save himself, can he?
Speaker 2: He can bat, but he can't keep. Oh if I
Speaker 2: got that wrong or somebody has. But anyway, they've got
Speaker 2: a new keeper as well. But I mean that all
Speaker 2: adds to what they've got and we'll get a good
Speaker 2: idea about England from Sri Lanka, who probably won't be
Speaker 2: any better than West Indies at three home matches, will they.
Speaker 3: I don't know whether you saw. I don't know whether
Speaker 3: you saw the ode I scores. Sri Lanka have been
Speaker 3: playing India, haven't they? They needed I think in the
Speaker 3: in the last match I saw they needed nine runs
Speaker 3: with six wickets remaining. They brought on a guy called
Speaker 3: Ringkul and he's never bowled before he got a couple
Speaker 3: of wickets. They brought in someone else, Suria Kumar, he
Speaker 3: was the captain. He got a couple and they ended
Speaker 3: up tying the match and then only scoring two in
Speaker 3: the super over, so they lost the game. It's not
Speaker 3: a good look. They're batting is awful at the moment,
Speaker 3: so they are going to have to really play well.
Speaker 3: I think to Test England. England are looking guys. They're
Speaker 3: looking sharper. There's a much more steely kind of look
Speaker 3: about them. I think a with the batting, which Garth's
Speaker 3: pointed out, but be their bowling is better with players
Speaker 3: like Wood bowling at ninety now and looking you know,
Speaker 3: he had been bandaged up. He looked like an Egyptian mummy,
Speaker 3: but you know he and Wood and Atkinson. Atkinson looks
Speaker 3: very tidy indeed, and then Stokes to follow that up
Speaker 3: who swings the ball and then this gliber shier and
Speaker 3: I think that they're going to be a much more
Speaker 3: difficult proposition this time around.
Speaker 2: Yes, well, when the first Test comes up against the
Speaker 2: Sri Lankan side, England will be playing due respect to
Speaker 2: a man who's been seen as a rock of their game.
Speaker 2: Somebody who is reliable and dependable and has passed away
Speaker 2: at an early age. I think he must have had
Speaker 2: a terminal illness of some kind. Graham thought, fifty five
Speaker 2: years of age, one hundred Test matches for England. We know,
Speaker 2: I'm pretty well in. He only made a few trips here,
Speaker 2: Garth and a cricketer whoever is what? Nearly forty five
Speaker 2: in Test matches? Great performer and sad to have been
Speaker 2: passing away at such an early age.
Speaker 5: Oh, it's terrible, it's really sad news. And played a
Speaker 5: one hundred tests, of course for England. A left hander
Speaker 5: who was you know, I will well remember him and
Speaker 5: we were all lucky enough to be broadcasting when he
Speaker 5: scored two hundred at Lancaster Park and that magnificent Test
Speaker 5: where as still got two hundred and twenty two in
Speaker 5: two thousand and two, and it was a quite brilliant
Speaker 5: hint things. I think people sometimes think of Thorpe as
Speaker 5: being he was a stoic and a great competitor. But
Speaker 5: he wasn't a dowdy left hander. I thought he was.
Speaker 5: He was an attractive player. He was a player of
Speaker 5: courage and just looking at his statistics one hundred matches,
Speaker 5: sixteen Test centuries and just looking and reading about him
Speaker 5: since he died one of his innings, you know, a
Speaker 5: Test match and pack Kistan and Karachi in two thousand
Speaker 5: when when England won that match and won the series
Speaker 5: against Pakistan after they had been unbeaten for thirty four
Speaker 5: Tests at home and they'd been beaten England five series
Speaker 5: in a row. And it was as England chased down
Speaker 5: one hundred and sixty or so in the fourth innings,
Speaker 5: it was the best of the players was Thorpe who
Speaker 5: got sixty four not out, you know, and again just
Speaker 5: reflecting on some of his innings against against Sri Lanka
Speaker 5: in Colombo where he scored one hundred and thirteen not
Speaker 5: out of magnificent innings standing out against a very good
Speaker 5: Tri Lankan side. And we talked about Sri Lanka earlier.
Speaker 5: I mean this was a Shri Lankan side that's very
Speaker 5: different to what we're seeing now. You know that magnificent
Speaker 5: batting lineup that they had, and you think back so
Speaker 5: fondy out of party, Jayasurias Thinkakara to silver, Jale Wardner,
Speaker 5: hell ofving it, hell of a side and the bowling
Speaker 5: attack wasn't bad either, with Bura Leather and Jayasuria and co.
Speaker 5: And just looking and seeing that he was a great
Speaker 5: player of spin bowling. He did well in India as well,
Speaker 5: and I think people will remember him fondy but gone far,
Speaker 5: far too early.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you talk about that game in christ Church, the
Speaker 2: Astill game two hundred and twenty two. We will never
Speaker 2: ever forget that. But you look at Thorpe's stats. So
Speaker 2: he got a double hundred, as you say, off two
Speaker 2: hundred and thirty one balls. He was in that partnership
Speaker 2: with Andrew Flintoff and in fact he out played flint Off.
Speaker 2: He was Man of the match for his two hundred.
Speaker 2: He had a strike rate of eighty six. Flint Off
Speaker 2: one hundred and thirty seven from one hundred and sixty
Speaker 2: three balls at a strike rate of eighty four. So
Speaker 2: he certainly played an important part in giving England that
Speaker 2: advantage that they had, because you know, I remember back
Speaker 2: to the first day. Wasn't that Ken's had three wickets
Speaker 2: before that even opened the gates to Lancaster Park as
Speaker 2: it was known in those days. Goodness me, it's gone
Speaker 2: for a few changes. It's Lancaster Park Jerry, I was
Speaker 2: reading on the stats that it's Ami Stadium that he played.
Speaker 3: Yeah, is that right? Yeah? No, yeah, well it certainly
Speaker 3: wasn't was it. No? I mean we remember it for
Speaker 3: the Astel innings, don't we, But you're right there was.
Speaker 3: I think also was it one hundred by Hussein in
Speaker 3: the first innings again for England. I don't know. I
Speaker 3: get a bit mixed up now, but I think the
Speaker 3: points that you've made fifty five just so young. Second
Speaker 3: thing I agree with he had the reputation as a
Speaker 3: tough player in the sense that he was you called
Speaker 3: him the rock Quads and right through those nineties which
Speaker 3: were chaotic really for selection of different players game after
Speaker 3: game in England. But he could defend and he could attack.
Speaker 3: I remember an attacking in as he played at Barbados
Speaker 3: where he just smashed West Indies. A fast pitcher, rough pitch,
Speaker 3: and he was known for his hooking and his cutting,
Speaker 3: particularly against the quick bowlers. Wonderful player of spin. Morally,
Speaker 3: of course, that innings he got in Sri Lanka, he
Speaker 3: didn't hit. He got a hundred, didn't hit a boundary,
Speaker 3: didn't hit a boundary, and so he he used to
Speaker 3: play with quite a small backlift and very strong wrists.
Speaker 3: So he became a very effective nerdler around you know.
Speaker 3: So the ball wasn't getting through at all. His bat
Speaker 3: was down always he was. He wasn't really a conformist.
Speaker 3: I knew. I knew saw Pee quite well outspoken, you know.
Speaker 3: I remember he dressed codes annoyed him like hell. He
Speaker 3: never used to turn up with the right clothes on
Speaker 3: for for England. He he once he he was. He
Speaker 3: fough against two dressing rooms for Surrey, one for the
Speaker 3: capped players and one for the uncapped players. And he
Speaker 3: fought like hell against that and made himself quite unpopular.
Speaker 3: He was against touring Zimbabwe, a long serving Surrey man
Speaker 3: with Mark Butcher good made of his one hundred tests
Speaker 3: averaging forty four. And that was against players like Moore.
Speaker 3: He's played against South Africa, Donald Pollock in teenee Pallas,
Speaker 3: I would have thought would have been there as well.
Speaker 3: Gars mentioned Murley and vas of course, great player of
Speaker 3: spin and always the last man to leave at the bar.
Speaker 3: You know, loved a good story, was he. Macram called
Speaker 3: him the most difficult batsman he had to bowl to,
Speaker 3: you think against the team against Ozzie that he played
Speaker 3: against those strong two thousand years, you know that year
Speaker 3: two thousand McGrath, Warren Gillespie, haunting you know, Gilchrist that
Speaker 3: that side, and yet was still able to average forty
Speaker 3: four man, you know, he he was. He was a
Speaker 3: hell of a player, and so yeah, he would have
Speaker 3: troubled relationships off the field. Used to talk quite openly
Speaker 3: about those, but just to you know, and people sometimes
Speaker 3: see that a weakness. I thought that completed the whole man. Actually,
Speaker 3: so I really enjoyed Thorpe and very.
Speaker 5: Yeah, we don't like we don't like conversations that are confrontational.
Speaker 5: We avoid it and the conversations that we should have.
Speaker 3: That's why you became a lawyer.
Speaker 5: I get made to be confrontational. I mean, one of
Speaker 5: these these are good stories that you're talking about with Thorpe.
Speaker 5: You know, he was a character and for English players
Speaker 5: to not like dress codes, you know, he would have
Speaker 5: been rocking the.
Speaker 3: Boat well yeah, you know.
Speaker 5: And and also the player. You know when he got
Speaker 5: those runs in Pakistan it was against the Lakes of Unice,
Speaker 5: and again Clay Mushtack and so on. You know, one
Speaker 5: very fine quick one lovely off spinner, and then I
Speaker 5: look at that that time you got those runs you
Speaker 5: talked about in Sri Lanka, England scored two hundred and
Speaker 5: forty nine.
Speaker 4: He got one hundred and thirteen not out Sri Lanka
Speaker 4: out for eighty one, and then England it was seventy
Speaker 4: four for six in the second innings to win, and
Speaker 4: thought got thirty two not.
Speaker 5: Out of those as well, you know, just in terms
Speaker 5: of incredibly reliable but also capable of lifting his game
Speaker 5: and playing attacking shops. Lovely player, square of the worker
Speaker 5: on the off side, beautiful card of the ball.
Speaker 2: He loved Wimbledon as well because he wore one of
Speaker 2: John McEnroe's throwaway headbands quite often, didn't he.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's always the shot of him with taking his
Speaker 3: helmet off when he got one hundred and he got
Speaker 3: sixteen of them, and he lifted, he had his hands
Speaker 3: aloft and you'd taken the helmet and there was the old,
Speaker 3: ever present, ubiquitous sweatband that he had on underneath. And
Speaker 3: you're right, but was he mackriman and Wakai Eunice Atherton
Speaker 3: spoke about him in his book too. I remember reading
Speaker 3: that and said, if I ever had anyone to go
Speaker 3: out and bat when it was tough, you know, if
Speaker 3: it was two for two hundred sorphy didn't you know,
Speaker 3: you know, he was going to be heading back to
Speaker 3: the changing room fairly soon after. But if they were
Speaker 3: three for fifty on the first morning of a Test,
Speaker 3: he was your man out. He would go, you know,
Speaker 3: and he would he would really, you know, fight for
Speaker 3: the wicket. So hell of a good player, nice person
Speaker 3: off the field, and quite devastating for a lot of
Speaker 3: those players. He became, of course the batting coach after
Speaker 3: he played for England. He became the batting coach for England,
Speaker 3: and he was about to join Afghanistan as the main
Speaker 3: coach when he became ill, and when Trot went instead
Speaker 3: of him. So yeah, so very sad news. Brian Waddell,
Speaker 3: Jeremy Cooney on the front.
Speaker 2: While we're remembering players we've played in the past, let's
Speaker 2: go back in time and again. This is slightly accurate
Speaker 2: because it comes from Francis Payne, and I would never
Speaker 2: doubt Francis pain in terms of inaccuracy when it comes
Speaker 2: to faction figures. We are in the seventy fifth anniversary
Speaker 2: of Bert Suckcliffe's first ever Test one hundred in England
Speaker 2: at Old Trafford one hundred and one. New Zealand made
Speaker 2: three hundred and forty eight for seven and it was
Speaker 2: against England in nineteen forty nine three day Test matchism
Speaker 2: when we played in those days. But I know Jerry
Speaker 2: will remember and Garth you will remember Bert as well
Speaker 2: as your father would remember him from the days in Dunedin,
Speaker 2: wouldn't he.
Speaker 3: In terms of Bert.
Speaker 2: Suckliffe, to my mind, I believe he is one of
Speaker 2: the most elegant players I ever saw bat and that
Speaker 2: was just part of the skill that he had as
Speaker 2: a best player.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean a fantastic player. And Jerry can talk
Speaker 5: knowledgeably about him and of course interviewed him and in
Speaker 5: his wonderful programs on New Zealand Cricket. You know he
Speaker 5: was a stall to the Northeast Valley Club in Dunedin.
Speaker 5: Bert loved the club, came down to Dunedin a few
Speaker 5: times after he had left and would always go along
Speaker 5: to the club and watch Northeast Valley. Fantastic player, lovely man.
Speaker 5: Of course, everyone will know the story of the tang
Speaker 5: Away disaster from South Africa and New Zealand now play
Speaker 5: for the tang away A Trophy and Bert's eighty nine
Speaker 5: out in that match in nineteen fifty three was one
Speaker 5: of the you know, the great boy's own stories. But
Speaker 5: he scored five Test centuries, three of them against India,
Speaker 5: two of them against England. And I think, you know,
Speaker 5: a truly elegant player didn't play in a winning New
Speaker 5: Zealand Test side. You know, that's hard to believe when
Speaker 5: he played forty two tests, highest score of two hundred
Speaker 5: and thirty nine out against India. One of our very
Speaker 5: best players, one of our greats, never had the joy
Speaker 5: of winning a Test match. But yeah, a wonderful man,
Speaker 5: of course, Emphasma godem He worked for Rothmans over the
Speaker 5: years and of course they have supplied him with par
Speaker 5: too much product and unfortunately, at the age of seventy seven,
Speaker 5: Burts have come to emphysema. But a wonderful human being,
Speaker 5: a lovely man, and one of our very best.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well I can't really add too much to that, Garth.
Speaker 3: I really like Bert and I don't know a person
Speaker 3: who didn't like him. Actually, he used to you're talking
Speaker 3: about the product from Rothvens. He always used to bring
Speaker 3: the cigarettes. And at the start of the day and
Speaker 3: all the smokers and the team would suddenly cluster together.
Speaker 3: They ran to that table faster than they chased the
Speaker 3: ball to the boundary, and they would get in there
Speaker 3: and get their packs of twenty and their whole sort
Speaker 3: of things that he had take. But he was such
Speaker 3: a nice fellow, that golden hair that he used to have,
Speaker 3: curly hair, good looking man. And he would just look
Speaker 3: around and he'd smile and say, well, the best of
Speaker 3: luck to you guys today. Wouldn't sit never sit down
Speaker 3: and interrupt anybody, wouldn't, you know, just wish us all well.
Speaker 3: And I had a lot of time for Bert. And
Speaker 3: what a player. You know, there's a difference between cricket
Speaker 3: players and you know, some people like me, I was
Speaker 3: judged by the scoreboard. You could see how I was
Speaker 3: going on the day because of the schoolboard. It was,
Speaker 3: you know, it was collected one run at the time,
Speaker 3: and that's how I was judged by that scoreboard. But
Speaker 3: there are some players who would score sometimes less than me,
Speaker 3: but you would remember their earnings so much more because
Speaker 3: of the way that they had collected those runs, the
Speaker 3: strokes that they had played burned on your memory. Now,
Speaker 3: Bert was one of those. Off driving was absolutely fantastic
Speaker 3: to watch, you know, there's it should have been worth
Speaker 3: eight every time, you know, rather than a sort of
Speaker 3: a fine edge from Coney through the slips for four.
Speaker 3: There's nothing, you know, it's there are some of those player.
Speaker 3: That's why Crow is remembered for those sorts of those
Speaker 3: lovely balanced sort of positions he took and the way
Speaker 3: that the ball raced off the bat without any seeming
Speaker 3: you know, power put into the stroke. And Bert was
Speaker 3: one of those. So yeah, wadds I don't, I don't
Speaker 3: really was that the Third Test? Were they playing at
Speaker 3: Manchester Watts? Was that that was the Third Test? Yeah?
Speaker 2: That's interesting. Yeah, three days Test matches they played in
Speaker 2: New Zealand scored three hundred and forty eight for seven
Speaker 2: on the last day, batting for five hours. Now we
Speaker 2: don't know how many balls suckle faced, but that three
Speaker 2: days play they bowled three hundred and sixty six overs
Speaker 2: in that it was a batting game. New Zealand battered twice,
Speaker 2: England about it once. Three hundred and sixty six overs
Speaker 2: in three days. Where have those records gone? Where is
Speaker 2: that gone? Wouldn't we love to have that average forty
Speaker 2: though Gathy mentioned that he never played on a winning side,
Speaker 2: which was tragic. I still haven't been able to find
Speaker 2: out why didn't play against the West Indies and fifty six,
Speaker 2: because he played the first two tests there. He must
Speaker 2: have been injured or unavailable for some reason or another
Speaker 2: on that occasion because he would have been in the
Speaker 2: front row basically of selections.
Speaker 5: Absolutely. Your dad always tells a story about Suckcliffe scoring
Speaker 5: one hundred against England for the MCC and you will
Speaker 5: have heard this when he's playing for a targo and
Speaker 5: Dad went in at number eleven and got a duck,
Speaker 5: the golden duck actually, and the crowd was still applauding.
Speaker 5: Suckliff had been out the player before him and he
Speaker 5: always talked about it being the only person to get
Speaker 5: a golden duck and still being applauded off carols Brook.
Speaker 5: But he was very fond of it. And the thing
Speaker 5: that you've you've touched on both of you, you know,
Speaker 5: but Bert talked to everybody. He was he was a
Speaker 5: wonderful human being. And I remember he came down for
Speaker 5: a funeral in Dunedin and he came out to home
Speaker 5: afterwards and sat down and I was, you know, sort
Speaker 5: of even more naive than I am now. And I
Speaker 5: sat down and asked him about fifty three and the
Speaker 5: Tongue Away disaster and he took me throw it almost
Speaker 5: ball bay ball, you know, and to talk to a
Speaker 5: young fella in that way and so kindly, and he
Speaker 5: said to me, you know, when Bob Blair came out
Speaker 5: to bed, he said, I don't mind saying I had
Speaker 5: a tear in my eye. And you know, it was
Speaker 5: a lovely expression of a New Zealand, of a proud
Speaker 5: New Zealand male who you know, was was happy to
Speaker 5: say that he had tears in his eyes when Bob
Speaker 5: came out. And I think the whole ground had tears
Speaker 5: in their.
Speaker 3: Eyes as well. He absolutely was. He was right around
Speaker 3: his head, yeah, yeah. And and they went off at
Speaker 3: nine down, of course, because that was the day of
Speaker 3: the Tanguwaire disaster, wasn't it. And the manager had gone
Speaker 3: and to tell Bob, everyone thought he was back at
Speaker 3: the motel. None of his teammates knew. And suddenly, if
Speaker 3: you at Ellis Park you come up from under the ground.
Speaker 3: And so in fact, as they were all walking off
Speaker 3: at nine down. Suddenly Bob sort of came up almost
Speaker 3: out of the ground itself underneath and appeared. And Bert
Speaker 3: told me about that in that interview and said he
Speaker 3: went over and put his arm around and said, what
Speaker 3: did you do that for you? And that is so
Speaker 3: so Bert, what did you do that for Bob? And
Speaker 3: then they went out, of course, and that's when Bob Bob.
Speaker 3: And then he said, you could have heard a pin
Speaker 3: drop at the ground. When Bob Blair faced his first
Speaker 3: ball at then Huey Tayfield, they hit him for six.
Speaker 3: Bob hit him for six, Bob Blair and then of
Speaker 3: course Bert cut loose, and then then Bob lad was stumped,
Speaker 3: wasn't he? And so they walked off together. They didn't
Speaker 3: go out and field, they both of them. They sat
Speaker 3: on chairs in the shower, in the shower and they
Speaker 3: just drank whiskies. And so that's how Bob sorry, that's
Speaker 3: how Bert finished the stories.
Speaker 2: That should have been my approach back. Perhaps I should
Speaker 2: have drunk a few whiskies. I might have played cricket
Speaker 2: a little better. I don't know whether that's the case.
Speaker 2: Lovely memories, though, of a wonderful man Bert Suckliffe, and
Speaker 2: we could go on talking about some of the things
Speaker 2: he achieved on the cricket field, and a lot of
Speaker 2: other cricklers. Of course, one of the great things about
Speaker 2: crickelers there are those memories around and we can thrive
Speaker 2: and live on many of those memories. But one of
Speaker 2: the memories we're going to have to wait for is
Speaker 2: the memory of the New Zealand cricket team to go
Speaker 2: and play Afghanistan in Greater Neider, Jerry. It's been confirmed
Speaker 2: that Greater Neider is the venue, so we don't have
Speaker 2: that side for a while. But I'm sure they will
Speaker 2: get a team picked and hopefully they all have contracts
Speaker 2: by the time they head off to great Annoiter.
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, who knows what? Who knows? Look, I don't know.
Speaker 3: Williamson declared, you know, declined his contract on the nineteenth
Speaker 3: of June. I looked that up today, So that's seven
Speaker 3: weeks ago. Don't tell me the other players weren't talking
Speaker 3: about contracts as well at that time, because they will it,
Speaker 3: you know, on the tenth of July. We're now in August,
Speaker 3: aren't we Nearly the tenth That's when it was announced
Speaker 3: that Ravendra and sea Is and O'Rourke and Duffy, they're
Speaker 3: all offered it. You know, that's a month ago. Is
Speaker 3: that long enough to think an offer over?
Speaker 2: Well? I should think so. Sometimes in near future New
Speaker 2: Zealand Cricket may make an announcement about the contracts and
Speaker 2: the team they've selected to play against Afghanistan. It's a
Speaker 2: month away. Travel documents, I guess will be needed. Well.
Speaker 2: Test champion Ship back this week in the Caribbean and
Speaker 2: of course the England Sri Lanka Test. Thanks again to
Speaker 2: you got away for joining us and Jerry a bit
Speaker 2: of time to sit and enjoy the Olympics and celebrate
Speaker 2: the medals.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, what I do like that guy from Alexandra
Speaker 3: who plunges into that roaring water and that's it's kind
Speaker 3: of like a super smash down, you know, in the water,
Speaker 3: isn't it? Going through gates and hitting each other and
Speaker 3: that's extraordinary the whole thing. Anyway, I don't think I
Speaker 3: should have done that. Would you have? Would you have
Speaker 3: done it? No?
Speaker 2: It's a sort of knock him down as they come
Speaker 2: out in front of you, and the strongest man wins.
Speaker 3: It's right, it's exactly what it is anyway. Yeah, tests
Speaker 3: around the corner, tests around the corner, and you know
Speaker 3: that's great. I hope we get a chance to talk
Speaker 3: about the forty nine tour and a little bit more
Speaker 3: depth sometimes because it's not a tour that I think
Speaker 3: some of our listeners would know heaps about. And there
Speaker 3: was lots happening, some fantastic games there they had.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well it was the starting It was the starting
Speaker 2: point for well, pretty much the modern game, wasn't it
Speaker 2: That everything sort of went back to what happened in
Speaker 2: forty nine. Yes, we had some tough years where we
Speaker 2: didn't develop the players through fifty eight and that period
Speaker 2: of time, but it was the basic starting point for
Speaker 2: our modern game. So yeah, there's a lot of good
Speaker 2: stories come out of there because you know, there's some
Speaker 2: wonderful characters and so yeah, they've passed away.
Speaker 3: Yes they have, and I must pass on once myself
Speaker 3: because I've been to go and get some something to eat.
Speaker 2: And much a bit of the Olympics, you know, the
Speaker 2: beach volleyball, which is one of your favorites, or the.
Speaker 3: Knowall and throwing boulders, throwing boulders to each other. Yeah,
Speaker 3: got a lot of funds this. If I can't get
Speaker 3: your little bit around you on your bed, here's me. Yeah.
Speaker 5: Cheers my Tho for the wages of summacing.
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