Dubai: Some of cricket’s finest former stars have decried the slowly eroding stock of on-field ‘characters’ as the sport becomes increasingly professional.
Speaking at an ‘Evening with Cricket Legends’ hosted by television network OSN, former stars Waqar Younis, Adam Gilchrist, Michael Vaughan and V.V.S. Laxman were all unanimous in their opinion about cricket missing out on players with character.
“The biggest character I have played with was Shane Warne,” former Australia wicketkeeper Gilchrist said. “He was always a level above us. He was like Hollywood and Bollywood put together. But what made us function well is that we got to know each other very well. He led an interesting life and he always loved to exaggerate on anything and everything.”
The 42-year-old then told a story from an overseas tour, when Warne complained of 38 pairs of socks missing from his baggage. “I don’t know anyone who travels with 50 pairs of socks. But then this was Warne and he loved to exaggerate. That was his personality and he needed a man like John Buchannan [then-Australian coach] to understand and manage him because he knew this guy could win him matches,” Gilchrist said.
Elegant batsman Vaughan, who captained England as they regained the Ashes after an 18-year wait in 2005, spoke about handling colourful characters such as Adrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen. Known for his shrewd captaincy and man-management skills, Vaughan led England in 51 Tests between 2003 and 2008, winning 26 — a national record — and losing 11.
“There aren’t many like KP [Pietersen] as he plays the game the way it has to be played. I feel he could have been around with the national team for another three years perhaps, provided there was a good man-manager in the side,” he said.
“To be the best team in the world doesn’t come easy. You’ve got to manage difficult individuals and, from my experience, the England team was full of clowns but they could deliver when needed.”
Ex-India batsman Laxman agreed, saying: “Poor management has led to KP going out of the national team. [Sourav] Ganguly was successful as he could manage the various personalities within the team.”
One of Pakistan’s most successful bowlers, Waqar added: “Handling various personalities is not an easy job. We had lot of trouble in our time with the likes of Shoaib Akhtar and Inzamam-ul-Haq. One was over-active and the other was plain lazy and it was left up to the coach to bring the best out of them and win matches.
“It is very difficult for coaches to handle various personalities. Shoaib was hard and difficult to handle, but we needed a character like him to win.
“Cricket does need characters or there will come a time when they will be missed. We need more characters despite the game getting financially lucrative and professional.”
