Test of Will
Page 25
Mark Taylor
As captain, ‘Tubby’ brought a different attitude to the game—he was more aggressive in his outlook and he went for the win from the opening delivery of the match. That ‘don’t take a backwards step’ approach was one that I thrived on. Our association went back to the Tooheys Cup match at Parkes when he was one of the stars who played alongside the bush-bashers, and I’ve reminded him on more than one occasion that the first catch he could have ever taken off my bowling was dropped like a hot spud at first slip. However, I should add that he more than made up for it in the years that followed. Like Border, he was also a very strong character and that was reflected during the 1997 Ashes tour when, despite looking down the barrel after 21 innings where he hadn’t scored a 50 (adding to his misery was a stunt by the English tabloid press where they presented him with a metre-wide bat), he was still strong enough to boldly captain the team. Tubby struck back during that tour with a gutsy 129 at Edgbaston that silenced his critics. That innings not only changed his fortunes but I think it summed up Mark—he was a fighter.
Steve Waugh
Even more aggressive than Mark in his desire to win, Steve wanted us to crush the opposition. It didn’t matter who we played, Steve didn’t ever want the opposition to even get a sniff. I always got along well with Steve, he was one of the guys who I confided in within the team from the outset because I felt as though he could be trusted, and that faith was certainly justified. I value our relationship and I had no hesitation in asking him to be my best man when I married Jane. The fact he also travelled to Sicily when I married Sara shows he’s been a big part of my career and my life beyond the boundary. He’s yet another person who leads by example but he places an emphasis on the importance of respect. Steve is someone who treasures cricket’s values and the history not only of the sport but of Australia. He was instrumental in the team visiting Gallipoli to pay our respects to the Anzacs on our way to England for the 2001 Ashes series. In 2005 we went to Villers-Bretonneux in France to see where the Diggers had fought and died during the push that was said to have helped bring World War I to an end. They were unexpected experiences, and I’m sure I can speak on behalf of the rest of the boys when I say they enriched all of our lives. I also gained a lot by hanging out with Steve when I went on tour, because while most of the boys wanted to play golf on their days off, we traipsed around bazaars, markets and ancient holy sites to get a better sense of the community, culture and beliefs of the places we visited. These days we only live across the water from each other; I can actually see his house from my place, and it’s always good to catch up.
Ricky Ponting
We spent two years together in the Academy in Adelaide and even way back then when he was only a teenager, Rick was earmarked by respected judges as a future Test captain. However, something I noticed about Rick was that he didn’t really care too much about the hype; he never allowed it to affect him because he worked like someone who didn’t take anything for granted. What stood out most about Rick in those early days was he was such an aggressive batsman, he’d take on anything. In my opinion he played the short ball better than anyone else I’ve seen and it seemed incredible to me that he never tried to duck it. When Rick took over the Australian captaincy, something that really impressed me was the level of maturity in which he handled the role. He spoke with authority and he held himself well, and the reason I guess that made such an impression on me was because I knew him when he was a young bloke, so I had seen him grow up. He developed into a true captain and his knowledge of the game, and the respect he held for it, was outstanding. I think it also says a great deal about Rick’s leadership qualities that despite losing seven senior players in a two-year period, he was able to rebuild the national team. That was extraordinary. Some teams never recover when two or three players retire. I’m pleased to see that Rick is using his knowledge and insights as a coach and it doesn’t surprise me that he enjoyed immediate success in his role with the Mumbai Indians in the IPL.
Shane Warne
He wasn’t a captain of Australia but I have no doubt he would have done a great job if he had received the chance. Shane is just different—I’ve never met anyone like him and I doubt I ever will. There were some BIG personalities in the Australian dressing room during our playing days, but I think Warney was bigger than all of them combined. By being bigger than anyone else in the team, I actually think Shane’s off-field antics probably saved many of us from too much scrutiny because whatever it was we may have done, it simply paled in comparison to him. Shane and I are very different people, and the truth is I wouldn’t want to live his life because it’d be too full-on for my liking. Indeed, I’ve actually seen people try to do half of what Shane does and it destroys them. However, despite our differences in character I’m extremely proud to be able to call Shane my mate. He was someone who welcomed me into the Australian team with open arms and he was a constant source of support throughout my years in the Baggy Green. I think those of us who played alongside him realised how special a player Warney was—believe it when people say he was a once-in-a-generation player. I think the undisputed rating of his impact on the game as a ‘wonder’ is that people all over the world were happy to pay to watch him bowl. As a cricketer I was blessed to have Shane bowling at the other end, and I have no doubt many of the wickets I took were the combined result of the pressure he and I applied to batsmen. We enjoyed a good partnership and while we were poles apart in our styles, we both built up pressure by bowling with good control and setting aggressive fields. We gave nothing away and the end result of that was that we took over 1000 Test wickets.
It might be unfair to have restricted my mentors to just a few of the many people who have helped me over the years.
I have benefited from the advice of so many people throughout my life and I’ve also benefited from the opinions of those people who offered me a view I didn’t agree with. I am grateful to them because they made me think a bit deeper about everything from how to dismiss a particular batsman to how to handle a situation in everyday life.
This book was never intended to be a ‘how to live your life’ or ‘self-help’ book, but I do hope the message comes through that I feel blessed to have been able to fulfil the dream I had as a young kid who bowled a scuffed ball at a battered 44-gallon drum all those years ago because (despite the opinions of others) I believed I had it in me to one day play for Australia. You will often hear people say ‘If I can do it, so can you’ but, in my case it really is so very true.
I also hope anyone who might be going through a tough time will take from my story the importance of inner strength and belief. I hope they realise that even though there are those days when they might not want the sun to come up to give them a bit more time to rally their strength, the sun will rise.
Like me, I hope they appreciate through life’s many experiences that it is important to make the most of each day and to realise that the love of those around them is a blessing.
I played with no fear when I made my Test debut against New Zealand in 1993 after only a handful of first-class games for NSW because I believed I belonged there. (GETTY IMAGES)
Lord’s was never more beautiful a place than the Second Ashes Test in 1997 when I snared 8–38. (PATRICK EAGAR/PATRICK EAGAR COLLECTION VIA GETTY IMAGES)
The Australian team always shared in each player’s success and I was proud of the response my eight wickets at Lord’s received from the boys. (LAURENCE GRIFFITHS/ ALLSPORT)
Mike Atherton dancing to what the West Indies fast bowlers called ‘chin music’. (DAVID MUNDEN/POPPERFOTO/GETTY IMAGES)
Brian Lara, a brilliant foe, was always a great challenge to bowl to but you never knew what kind of mood he would take strike with. (BEN RADFORD /ALLSPORT)
I know many Indian supporters still haven’t forgiven me for the day Sachin Tendulkar was given out lbw for a duck when he ducked into my bouncer at Adelaide Oval in 1999. (HAMISH BLAIR/ALLSPORT)
James has asked what
I know about bowling when I’ve offered to show him a few tricks of the trade. He was too young to remember that we celebrated my being named Man of the Match against the Windies in 2000 after I finished with match figures of 10–27. (DARREN ENGLAND/ALLSPORT)
Dismissing Brian Lara was always a special occasion but the reason I was ecstatic when Stuart MacGill caught him at the WACA in 2000 was because he helped deliver my 300th Test wicket. (HAMISH BLAIR/ALLSPORT)
When Australia won its record-breaking 12th straight Test victory in 2000, Michael Slater, Justin Langer, Stephen Waugh, me and Mark Waugh had special reason to celebrate because we’d played in each of them. (HAMISH BLAIR/ALLSPORT)
I was far from the best player to wield the willow but I gave it my all … sadly it wasn’t enough to keep Windies bowler Mervyn Dillon from uprooting the stumps at Adelaide Oval in December 2000. (TONY LEWIS/ ALLSPORT)
James pretending to be Superman with a bit of help from his father during the 2001 Ashes series. (HAMISH BLAIR/ ALLSPORT)
I never lost the sense of accomplishment whenever I took a wicket, hence the celebration when Mike Atherton fell lbw to me at Lord’s during the 2001 Ashes campaign. (WILLIAM WEST/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
A leap of faith, catching England’s Michael Vaughan in what many considered to be a miracle catch in Adelaide in 2002. (NICK WILSON/ GETTY IMAGES)
Opening the shoulder blades on my way to 50 against the New Zealanders in 2004, it felt like I was back having a crack in the Far West competition. (HAMISH BLAIR/GETTY IMAGES)
I had dreamt of this moment for so long, raising the bat to acknowledge the applause of the Gabba crowd for reaching 50 against the New Zealanders in 2004. (JONATHAN WOOD/ GETTY IMAGES)
One day when I really was walking on air, being congratulated by the boys after smashing my first (and only) Test half-century against the Kiwis. (HAMISH BLAIR/ GETTY IMAGES)
Having a bit of fun at the risk of outraging New Zealand during the 2005 Twenty20 international in Auckland by impersonating Trevor Chappell’s infamous underarm bowl. (HAMISH BLAIR/GETTY IMAGES)
Dad was happy to tell everyone my sister Donna was the best fast bowler of his children. We share a laugh after I took my 500th Test wicket during the Lord’s Test of the 2005 Ashes series. (HAMISH BLAIR/GETTY IMAGES)
Who says my wicket wasn’t worth anything? England’s Simon Jones shows his disappointment in not dismissing me after Geraint Jones dropped a chance at Lord’s. (PATRICK EAGAR/PATRICK EAGAR COLLECTION VIA GETTY IMAGES)
Holly and James enjoy the applause of the Lord’s members with me after taking my 500th Test wicket. (HAMISH BLAIR/GETTY IMAGES)
After I injured my ankle while warming up for the Birmingham Test of the 2005 Ashes series our physiotherapist Errol Alcott worked a miracle to get me back on the field for the next Test. (TOM SHAW/GETTY IMAGES)
Mike Hussey and I congratulate each other after our record last wicket stand of 107 runs against South Africa at the MCG in December 2005. I was pleased ‘Huss’ was prepared to trust me with the strike. (WILLIAM WEST/AFP/ GETTY IMAGES)
Holly watches as I cook up a storm at a sausage sizzle for the McGrath Foundation at Sydney’s Hyde Park in 2006. (GREG WOOD/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
The end of an era: Shane Warne, Justin Langer and I playing our farewell Test at the SCG against England in 2007. It is a great memory. (JACK ATLEY/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES)
Shane Warne (R), me and Justin Langer (3rd) walk on to the pitch ahead of the Australian team on day one of the Fifth Ashes Test Match between Australia and England at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 2 January 2007 in Sydney, Australia. (HAMISH BLAIR/ GETTY IMAGES)
Sri Lanka’s Russel Arnold became my final international wicket when I dismissed him during our 2007 World Cup Final triumph in Barbados. (HAMISH BLAIR/GETTY IMAGES)
La vita e bella or life is beautiful. Sara and I on our wedding day … the most passionate and caring person I know.
Holly, me, Sara and James on a family holiday at Table Mountain in 2011.
Sara is an adventurous person who would love for the kids to experience the colour and adventure of living in India. It was at the Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, the Sikh Temple in New Delhi, where Sara, James, Holly and I volunteered for ‘Langar’.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My ghostwriter Daniel Lane would like to thank his beautiful wife Camille, his mum Carol for (apart from everything else) introducing him to the world of books as a child and friends Ian Heads, Christian Marchegiani, Bernie McCarthy and Dino Bilinghurst. He offers a big thanks to Danny Green for the late-night prank calls and jokes. Daniel also thanks Ian Fuge from Fairfax Media for his great support when it mattered.
Daniel and I sincerely thank the team from Allen and Unwin including Tom Gilliatt, Angela Handley, Siobhan Cantrill, Meaghan Amor and Katie Evans. Apart from their faith and patience we appreciate the efforts of a great line-up who kept us on our toes!