Lighter side of Captain Grumpy

ALMOST six years after retiring from the helm of the Australian Test team, Allan Border, aka AB, is back in the international limelight. The man famously labelled by the tabloids as 'Captain Grumpy' was anything but that as he played the role of cricketing ambassador to perfection yesterday afternoon at the Kowloon Cricket Club. World record run-getter Border is one of 24 legendary figures of world cricket chosen by the International Cricket Council to promote the game this week - dubbed Cricket Week. It is his lot to visit Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and China in the space of a week as the ICC's emissary. He will attend coaching clinics and seminars, and also speak at dinner engagements (last night he was at the Hong Kong Cricket Club) in his role to promote the awareness of cricket worldwide. The former Sydney beach bum who changed the image of Australian cricket in the early '80s and set it on the road to its present success, still enjoys his involvement in cricket. More so now as an ICC potentate. 'I am still heavily involved in cricket. I'm a national selector and I do some work for television. Almost 80 per cent of what I do is cricket related,' said Border yesterday as he watched the two Hong Kong teams in the Tuanku Ja'afar Under-13 Championship play each other at the KCC. He admits that the ICC's goal of making cricket a global game is a forbidding target. 'It won't happen overnight. But you have to start somewhere,' says Border. Historians in the future might one day say that it all began in Hong Kong when a five-foot-nine left-hander came to town. Border believes that for Hong Kong to get cracking the game must be spread amongst the locals. 'That is the biggest hurdle facing the game . . . getting the locals involved. It is not enough for just the expat population to play cricket here. It is only fair dinkum that you have the locals playing.' The Hong Kong Cricket Association, who are doing an admirable job trying to spread the game to the Chinese, will agree wholeheartedly with Border. They would wish that their task was as easy as what their counterparts in Australia face. 'Back home there is a strong sports culture. I remember cricket being played from a very early age. We were bombarded with it. We played in our backyards and on the streets.' According to Border, this strong cricketing heritage is what has made Australia the number-one team (both Test and one-day) in the world today. 'Our system is very good. There is a good structure which nurtures the game right from school to the highest level. We also have all the support systems in place, like coaching and administration. 'It is no surprise that we have got a very competitive side now for this is a result of all these little things,' said Border. Border was the first of a line of captains in recent times who have taken Australia to great heights. When he first came on to the scene - in the late '70s - Australian cricket was riven by the actions of Kerry Packer and World Series Cricket. When he retired in May 1994, he left behind a team of world beaters. First Mark Taylor and now Steve Waugh is continuing what the little left-hander started. Australia are the one-day champions (in 1987 Border led Australia to victory at the World Cup) and their Test team are currently on a run of 10 consecutive Test wins. Border feels the run will continue. 'There are only two things that will stop them. The weather or Brian Lara.' West Indies hold the record of 11 consecutive Test wins (from the days of Clive Lloyd and Co) and the Aussies play the West Indies Down Under in the autumn. 'The habit of losing dead rubbers is a thing of the past. Steve Waugh has got the side into a habit of winning everything. The ethos of this team is to win right from the first ball. 'For any side to beat Australia, they will have to play consistently over five days and a number of players will have to perform. No side can beat Australia by playing well for just one or two sessions,' Border said. And what about his own record of 11,174 runs? Will that ever be broken? 'It will be difficult. At the moment the only player who is threatening is Steve Waugh and he has got some 8,000 runs. If anyone can do it, it will be him. But he has to play a lot of cricket. I would be happy to pass it on to an Australian,' smiles Border. Sunil Gavaskar, the man whose record Border broke, doubts this record will ever be broken. The AB of cricket smiles: 'It will be a very fit man who breaks my record.' Alvin Sallay