Mr Cricket (3 page)
Success means different things to different people, but I believe it's something that changes as you grow and experience new challenges.
Life is about setting small goals and reaching them one by one. If you can carry yourself with dignity and be loyal to your true nature throughout that process, you can hold your head high. I have a wife I love dearly and three beautiful children. That was a goal I set myself and have achieved. In that area of my life, I feel successful. But will I feel like a success when I'm 65 and my kids have grown up and got on with their lives? Where will I be then? How will I feel? The end result isn't the only thing that matters. The steps along the way matter too. If you can move through life, setting small goals and realising them, while maintaining a sense of satisfaction and integrity â I believe that, in most cases â life will be kind to you. Warney might not have been a pretty picture, standing there nearly starkers with a fag in hand that morning in Brisbane, but his advice was spot-on.
I
t's one thing to get your hands dirty from hard training. It's another thing to get your hands dirty as a rookie West Australian batsman â at least in the way Tom Moody had in mind. I used to love going to the WACA to watch my heroes play. Players like Geoff Marsh, Mike Veletta, Graeme Wood, Tom Moody and Justin Langer were my role models. Suddenly I was in the same dressing room as most of these guys. It was 1994/95. I made my debut in the first game of the season as a fill-in for Veletta, who'd been injured, and was 12th man for the following three games. In a short space of time, I'd gone from being a determined but self-doubting teenager to being part of this great team. I was pretty proud of myself.
I'd been left to observe and learn during those first few games, which was great. But when I was 12th man again, for the game against Victoria at the WACA, far from leaving me alone, the boys gave me an initiation that I will certainly never forget. It very nearly resulted in me having to give the role of 12th man a whole new job description.
I saw the duty of 12th man as an important one and a chance to be around these great cricketers and learn firsthand what it took to be the best. My job was to run and get their drinks, get their boots, do whatever I could do to help the team. I wanted to do it well and make a good impression on my new teammates.
However, the environment I'd dreamed about being a part of turned out to be quite different to what I'd imagined. The culture of the WA team back then was not as it is now. It was very much an old school mentality, where the senior guys would give the young blokes a really hard time as part of their initiation. I wasn't a fan of this practice and in that game against Victoria my view only hardened.
It started when Moody, a behemoth of a man, called me over.
âHuss,' he said. âI've been struggling with a back injury and I've got these two pills I need to take.'
âNo problem,' I responded. âI'll grab some water for you to wash them down with.'
âNo, no,' he replied, matter-of-factly, face completely straight. âThey're suppositories.'
I wasn't sure exactly what suppositories were at that stage. So Tom explained: âYou need to stick these pills up my bum.'
He had to be joking, right?
âCome on, Tom. You're just having a bit of a laugh,' I squirmed nervously.
When Justin Langer, who was sitting next to Tom, joined in, I became quite edgy.
âHuss, you're the 12th man. Get in there and help your bloody teammate out!' JL squawked.
Of course, there was no way I could do it. But there was no let-up from the guys. Now it was Daryl Foster's turn to get in on the act.
âHuss,' the coach said. âYou're the 12th man! You've got to do what you're told!'
My jaw dropped as big Tom grabbed me by the hand and started dragging me towards the toilets. I was beside myself by this stage. This could not be happening! Thankfully, everyone burst out laughing just as I was about to start screaming and that was the end of it.
It's a funny story to tell nowadays, I suppose. But it wasn't so funny at the time. In fact, for some years I wondered why some of the blokes in the WA team felt that that sort of initiation was the best way to welcome a young player to the team. It was an experience that spoke volumes about my first full season in first-class cricket. The older guys gave me hell and really made me earn my stripes. Even at training they would be very tough. If you dropped a catch they'd give you a big dressing down and let you know that you had a long way to go to become a valued part of the group. I wanted to cement my place in the team and, considering I already had a few issues with confidence, I wasn't so sure that that was the ideal way to bring out my best.
I became quite introverted during that season and, instead of employing the lessons in teamsmanship I'd learned during a great year at the Australian Cricket Academy, I started to concentrate only on my game. I had plenty on my plate trying to score runs for WA and decided to focus on that instead of trying to win over the guys in the team. I knew I had a long way to go in cricketing terms to make sure I remained in the squad and I became more dedicated than ever to achieving that before anything else.
I PLAY BEST WHEN I AM:
Focused, relaxed, not under pressure, feet moving, rehearsing, watching the ball, being positive, assessing the situation.
Just relax myself and re-focus on the job, take a few DEEP BREATHS.
There were some tricky times that season and it was very challenging to stay focused. Some days I'd come home, lie on my bed and wonder why I was bothering at all. I felt like I was getting blasted every time I did something even half wrong. I was working hard and doing the right things, but still kept copping it. These guys were my teammates and I respected them for their skills and what they had achieved in cricket. But the dynamic of the team left me a bit confused.
The following season I scored a few runs, which helped a little to break down a few walls. But what helped me most to integrate was the arrival of Ryan Campbell. In 1995â96 I was the only young guy in the WA team. But now I had a buddy. What's more, a buddy who wore an earring and exuded confidence. I knew the young, brash Cambo would be perfect prey for the old guys in the team and, soon enough, their attention shifted away from me and they started tearing into him. They gave him a torrid time.
RYAN CAMPBEL
I first laid eyes on this skinny and geeky looking kid when we got picked for a WA
colts team. Mike's reputation was pretty impressive and the talk was that he was going to be something special. If his attitude to the game was anything to go by, he was on the right track from an early age. He was one of the biggest cricket nerds you could ever meet. He would spend most of his time talking about cricket â and boring people senseless in the process. He lived cricket, breathed it and probably dreamt about it. In fact, young Mike loved the game so much that he made a name for himself at the Australian Cricket Academy the year after I left by becoming the only scholar to complain to Rod Marsh that they weren't being worked hard enough!
As he got older, little changed. He continued to analyse everything about every game he took part in. He knew what bowlers he would be coming up against and thought about how they would bowl to him. When we first batted together for WA, I was totally unprepared because our coach Wayne Clark hadn't told me that Huss and I would be batting together. But he had told Huss and on the morning of the match, Huss pulled me aside and presented me with two pieces of A4 paper on which were written detailed plans about how we should set about taking on our opponents. He wanted to go through all the things he believed we needed to do to be a success. I must be honest and say it all confused me a bit at the time and my final comment to him â âHow about we just get to 10 as quickly as possible' â raised his eyebrows a little. But to his credit, he quickly adapted to my style of going about things (slightly more laid-back!) and I adapted to his.
I guess we became pretty successful for WA. But he wasn't thought of all that highly around the country. There was talk among the other teams that Huss should be kept on strike as it would build frustration in whoever he was batting with. This was a time when he wasn't blessed with all the shots. In response, though, the âworker' clicked in again. Huss spent his off-season not only working in the gym, but working on his game. He stuck to that approach every off-season and pretty much added a new shot or two every break we had. Firstly it was the cut, then the pull, then this shot, then that shot, until he had them all.
Having all the shots has helped Mike greatly in one-day cricket. But it wasn't just his stroke play that was so good. One day in Melbourne when we had some big-name injuries Mike was called in to fill a âBevan' type role for the team. History will show that he made a ton in that match and, in my opinion, he out Bevan-ed Michael Bevan. His shots were great, but his running between the wickets was incredible. Next time you watch a game look at Huss run between wickets. There is never an easily run single â he's always scampering up the pitch to put pressure on the fielders.
Mike's success is a result of his willingness to work hard to get results. In fact this love of hard work was perfectly demonstrated when we were both given a weekend off club cricket. We had both been through a hectic schedule of WA and Australia-A games when Wayne Clark gave us time off. My idea of a break was spending it at the beach and having a soothing beer with some buddies. Huss spent his day in the Wanneroo indoor centre with his batting coach batting for six hours. âHow can I bat all day if I haven't done it before?' was his reasoning. Who could argue?
I'm not surprised in the least that Mr Cricket has been so successful so quickly at the top level. But there is one thing I still can't get my head around: Was this skinny little kid from Mullaloo Beach the smashing and dashing Australian batsman who hit the Telstra Dome roof in a one-day international match? Now that's just wrong!
Cambo and I have never spoken in depth about those early years, but not long ago I confronted Tom about it and it was only after discussing it with him that I was able to better understand why the guys had given me a hard time. I let Tom know that he and the others had made things quite difficult for me and that it probably didn't have the desired effect. I was never going to be lazy or slack in my approach to playing first-class cricket. I was always going to be a hard worker and felt that a more encouraging environment would have been better for my type of character. Tom agreed, but explained that he wanted me to know that I had an important role to play in the team. He said that the guys were very proud of representing their state and they wanted all young players coming into the team to understand what a privilege it was to play first-class cricket for WA.
Tom is back with the WA team as state coach and the way he runs the show centres a lot more positively on helping out the younger guys and building their confidence. Tom's approach now is to work hard to get the best out of them. He manages and understands each player's personality and new players are therefore able to settle into the team more. Things have changed quite a lot since I first joined the state squad.