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The Cricket Interview/ Allan Border

'One day cricket is where the big money is'

Allan Robert Border's teak-hard toughness -- an epitome of the Australian spirit -- is best epitomised by an innings early in his career, when he made 123 not out at Old Trafford, batting throughout with a broken finger.

That, in a nutshell, was Allan Border. Or AB, as he was known through the cricketing world. That he has the most Test runs in the annals of the game -- 11,174 at a phenomenal average of 50.56 with 29 centuries -- is the stuff of legend. As is the story of his gritty cricketing career, taking over the captaincy at a time of trouble and strife in Australian cricket, moulding a raw young side into a ruthlessly professional outfit that won far more than it lost.

AB lost the captaincy against his will, after a record 93 Tests as captain (32 won, 22 lost, 38 drawn), after the back to back, home and away series against South Africa in 1993/1994. And since then, he has been actively involved in the administration of Australian cricket.

Anant Gaundalkar caught up with Border in Sharjah.

You are here in place of regular coach Geoff Marsh, how come?

This is just a one-off assignment, it came about because Geoff Marsh wanted to skip the Sharjah tournament. Geoff is asthma-prone and the weather in this part of the world has given him trouble the last three times he toured here. So I am filling in, and will hand over to Geoff again at the end of this tournament.

Is being a coach a turn on? Is that how you would like to serve the game from here on?

The game of cricket has given me a lot, I am in debt to the game for whatever I am, and have become. I enjoyed my playing days, I am grateful to my fellow players for their support, their unstinted co-operation. And now that I am no longer actively playing, I would like to give back to the game a measure at least of what I got out of it.

Right now, I am on the Australian panel of selectors. I've also enjoyed my stint here as coach of the Aussie side in Sharjah -- I was pleasantly surprised by the readiness with which the boys responded to ideas, and came up with suggestions on their own. So yes, if the Australian board wants my services as coach some time in the future, I guess I'll accept with gratitude and pleasure.

When you look back over your cricketing days, which moments come to mind as your most cherished?

There were many. Perhaps two above all -- the first being when I led Australia to the 1987 World Cup win in India. When we arrived in the sub-continent, we were not among the favourites, the experts thought we were a young, inexperienced side. But as the tournament progressed the side rose to the task in the most professional way, and we pulled off a sensational triumph -- very similar to the way India won the previous edition of the Cup. And like India on that occasion, we in 1987 silenced our critics, and gave our cricket the needed impetus.

The other moment, a more personal one, was going past Sunny Gavaskar's world record. It was very tough to overhaul Sunny's mountain of runs, but I enjoyed every step, every run I scored to get there. Cricket at the international level is very demanding, runs are not given away easily. So, to know that I had scored more than any other cricketer in history was a big thing for me.

If you were to choose the best batsman, and bowler, of the modern era, who would they be?

Two names come immediately to mind -- India's Sachin Tendulkar with the bat, and Australia's Shane Warne with the ball. Both are outstanding players of immense abilities, they have the capacity to win games, whether Tests or one dayers, on their own, and above all, both are classically perfect cricketers who have gone beyond the boundaries to define their own playing style. And in the process, they have made cricket look easy.

Care to elaborate? Like, could you name one outstanding display each, by those two players?

As far as Sachin is concerned -- and remember I am speaking only of those innings I have personally seen, either live or on television -- I would say his innings in the last league game here in Sharjah, against Australia, was a classic. The way he single-handedly carried India to the qualifying mark was an education for any young student of the game. Especially after the dust storm swept the ground mid-way through the game and increased India's required run-rate, he displayed his talent in an amazing professional way. Batting at that point was doubly difficult, because the lingering dust made sighting the ball all the more difficult, and the asking rate had also gone up. And yet he made it look so easy, and in fact, after first ensuring that India had qualified for the final, he almost pulled off an incredible win against the odds, all off his own bat.

Warne I've seen more closely, and more often, I have seen him mesmerise the top batsmen in the world with his incredible turn and variety. But the most striking moment I recall is the way he clean bowled, on different occasions, England's Mike Gatting and Pakistan's Basit Ali. Both deliveries were pure magic, they raised cricket to new heights and will be cherished by ardent followers of the game, through the years.

Your views on the overdose of cricket in recent times? Is there, in fact, such an overdose?

Yes, there is. This is not because of Test cricket, but due to the introduction of limited-overs cricket. But then, everyone enjoys the one day game. Of course, it is incredibly taxing for players, but they are being paid very good money for it and the majority of players have no complaints. One day cricket is the real money-spinner, it is what attracts the bit sponsorships. I think that some care however must be taken, the scheduling should be done with care by all concerned. Other than that, I wouldn't want to comment.