10 May 1999
When Viv was king and Old gave India a walloping
Tony Lewis
A few days ago Shane Warne was nursing his prize for the longest
drive at Celtic Manor Golf Club, a Taylor Made driver, when he
announced that this was as big as it gets. He was talking, however,
not about the oversized metal wood but about the World Cup. "Playing
in a World Cup and especially in a final at Lord's would be every
Australian kid's dream."
It was not like that at the start. Asked if he was taking the 1975
tournament seriously, Australia's captain, Ian Chappell, declared
that his team would be trying to win the first World Cup, but their
main reason for travel was to retain the Ashes in the four Tests
which followed. Sri Lanka were not a Test team; they had qualified
for the last eight along with East Africa and I remember them sipping
nervous champagne cocktails in the Long Room and asking if they
should bowl straight or to one side of the stumps. One-day cricket
was still a bash-around to pay for the longer game.
The sun shone as we left Lord's at that first gathering and I did
feel that a certain Olympic spirit had ignited. It was fun, but there
was no way that Brian Hastings of New Zealand and West Indian Lance
Gibbs would continue to laugh and joke over the runners and riders if
there was cricket to be played.
I felt excited at the prospect of seeing fine cricketers of the world
in serious opposition. But by Saturday, however, I found myself
writing a requiem for The Sunday Telegraph. Who would believe now, in
1999, that World Cup history began with a match in which the side
batting second made no attempt to score the runs needed to win?
On Saturday, June 7, in the middle of a prolonged heatwave, England
scored 334 for four from their 60 overs thanks to a long, battering
innings by Dennis Amiss, 137, and a walloping 51 not out by Chris
Old. In front of 16,274 spectators who had paid £19,000 to see
cricketing history made, Sunil Gavaskar, playing under Venkat's
captaincy, decided that the target was too high to chase. Gavaskar,
who opened the batting, was 36 not out at the end.
Quickly, however, the first tournament became an obvious success.
There were outstanding matches and one great game at Edgbaston, where
West Indies beat Pakistan by one wicket. The noise from the start was
deafening. It might have been Kensington Oval or Karachi. Edgbaston's
cold grey terraces had disappeared beneath 18,000 stamping feet.
Deryck Murray's 61 not out was a tense masterpiece which saw West
Indies home with two balls to go and nine West Indian wickets down.
And so the Prudential Cup was won by West Indies, who beat Australia,
and the exciting history was begun.
England had always appeared to be the natural venue for the World Cup
and hosted the first three, but the tournament belongs to the world
of cricket and rightly moved on.
A quick list of recollections would have to include the three
astonishing run-outs by Vivian Richards in that first final and then
in 1979 the hitting of Collis King as England tried to win their
first cup with an attack which was more knitted by hope and prayer
than by any planning. Boycott, Gooch and Larkins had to bowl one of
the 12-over stints. Viv Richards, 138, and King, 86, kept smashing
the paintwork on the top tier of the Lord's grandstand.
I guess that the two West Indian wins thrilled the Caribbean but
nothing ever ignited a nation like India's win over West Indies in
the final of 1983. I remember leaving Lord's and being clapped on the
back by a large Sikh who said in Bermondsey brogue: "We dunnit, mate."
Life on tour in Pakistan and India for the 1987 World Cup is
contained in my diary. Maybe a quote will set the scene as England
prepared for their first match of the tournament, against West
Indies. "5.30am - Lahore. Open curtains. A full moon glows to my
right and the darkness lightens from my left. Birds begin to caw and
wheel about the tall trees outside the Intercontinental. On the table
alongside me are the three empty Muree beer bottles which Tim Rice
and I were so sure were the perfect nightcap. The England team, down
the road, will be shaved, packed and ready for the 40-mile bus trip
to Gujranwala. Our small bus joins the convoy which the police are
escorting. The ground is new. The pavilion is high with many small
balconies. BBC TV are well-stationed."
I was about to commentate on a remarkable England win. Allan Lamb
batted with sheer brilliance, demolishing Courtney Walsh, who bowled
his first five overs for 11 runs with one wicket and the comeback 4.3
overs for 54. Walsh bowled four wides and a no-ball in the final over
when England wanted 13 with only Gladstone Small left to bat.
There is another note which says much about the business of relaying
the stories from the sub-continent: "For technical reasons our
effects to London had Urdu commentary on it. A bewildered engineer
told us solemnly, 'Land line is restricted to earth centre at
Islamabad'. It meant nothing to Ray Illingworth or to me. Got back to
hotel, took two bricks out of the wall to join my Tandy to a
telephone line by means of alligator clips."
This was the Calcutta final which was set up for India to play
Pakistan but Graham Gooch had swept India away, literally, on a
turner in Bombay and Australia had ended Pakistan's progress in
Lahore. I remember the final only for England's nervous opening
bowling and for Mike Gatting's disastrous reverse sweep of a ball
which had no pace on it and lobbed up to short third man. Australia's
cup.
No home side has ever won the big prize. In Australia in 1992
Pakistan beat England by putting a side of young attacking talent in
the field. It was a wonderful tournament for Imran Khan, who never
lost faith in the full length for fast bowlers and the wrist spin of
Mushtaq Ahmed. Australia, however, was not a success. It was played
in the rainy season with a lousy rain rule. Remember how South
Africa's target was reassessed to leave them 22 runs to win off one
ball from England?
And then Sri Lanka, once the novices, were a Test-playing country and
then the World Cup holders. They deserve a wonderful ovation at
Lord's when they walk out to face England on Friday because they won
the cup in some style. The innings played by Aravinda de Silva in the
final was a model of determination and talent. But who could forget
their semi-final when Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana were
both caught at third man in the first over? Then came Tendulkar's
superb 65 before an astonishing Indian collapse. I walked back to the
Grand Hotel after my last commentary stint and switched on the TV to
see police on the field, smoke and the sort of rioting Bengalis do
best. Sri Lanka beat India by default but were winning anyway. All I
hope is that they remembered the handed-down advice - if you have to
beat India in Calcutta, keep the team bus purring outside the
dressing room and pointing in the right direction.
Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)