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The Rediff Cricket Interview/ Jeff Crowe

'We are here not just to play hard cricket, but to understand the country and enjoy it'

Jeffrey John Crowe is the manager of the New Zealand team currently touring India. Heading a resurgent side after a series victory in England and a semi-final berth at the World Cup, Jeff seems optimistic about his team's chances in India.

Returning to the arena after seven years, Jeff is pretty upbeat about managing the 'Black Caps'. Elder brother of the more celebrated Martin, Jeff played Test cricket after his younger brother did, partly because he had launched his career in Western Australia, playing from 1977 to 1982, with considerable success.

In a freewheeling chat with Faisal Shariff, Jeff explains the need for a support mechanism for cricketing teams in the world. Besides revealing his plans to defeat India on home soil for the first time in 40 years, he assesses the Indian team and also voices his opinion on the domestic scene in New Zealand.

The New Zealand team is here with a six-member support team. As manager, what are the functions that are expected of you?

As manager, you have responsibility to look after your administrative type of activities, like the logistical arrangements for the tour. Your flights and hotels, the ground bowlers have to be arranged, you have to see that the practices are arranged for the next day. Any communication for invitations and replies to those, and to keep a general handle on the team's requirements from the perspective point of view of where you are touring and who you want to be associated with the team and be around them.

So, from that point of view of administration, and then you've got in my role a matter of keeping the players in the right frame of mind and that's obviously the job that you coordinate with the coach and the captain and the other people within the management structure.

So, as a manager we've got a management team, which needs to be managed, and I've got to help, coordinate that scenario as well. So, as a supporting mechanism to the players, and where they assist the players. And we're there to give them the best possible environment for them to perform well.

So, you are not part of the core team with respect to strategising the game plan? So you don't talk to the players about their technique and other cricketing problems?

I am not a selector. My role is the management of the team. A group of six of us with the coach, the captain and the other non-playing members of the team, the supporting mechanism.

So what exactly are the functions of the support team?

As I said earlier, the support team is here to provide the best possible environment for the players to perform to the best of their abilities.

Do you think a team of 15 individuals need a support team of six members to manage them?

If you look at it that way, we have five extra players apart from the 15 players. These five players are here to prepare the 15 properly.

Don't you think this would be a case of too many cooks spoil the broth?

No, not at all. Only historically do you say that because in the past there has only been a coach and a manager. In fact, earlier there wasn't even a coach. Was there?

There was a manager and a captain and they used to do it all. But in today's professional environment that's the whole thing. We have to understand now that cricket teams now are a business not just a sporting team. And that they all need to have all the opportunities to perform better. So what we have within our structure are people who are available to assist them, not just as cricketers but as people.

Has New Zealand team taken a leaf out of the South African style of functioning?

Absolutely! I'm not saying that a six-member team is what we'll do over the two years' time. At the moment it's been good because it gives a chance to the players to work on a lot of things. And whether or not they may need certain people in two years time. That may not be the case because they might be self-sufficient by then. We, as the New Zealand team management, want the players to be self-sufficient, so in the end they look after them in a more structured manner and go out and do the things that they need to do.

You led the New Zealand team to India in the 1987 World Cup and now you are here as the manager of the team. How do you see your role change from a captain to a manager?

Oh, chalk and cheese! We are talking about two different roles really. As a captain you are on the field, you're playing. So you've got a responsibility immediately as a tactician, as a leader by example. You've got to get runs or take catches or make tactical moves. For me now I don't have that responsibility; I don't have that enjoyment actually. That's probably one of the things that gets to me in a while.

You know, I'm getting involved in all this and suddenly I realise I can't go out there and play. No, I don't really miss it. I had my time. 15, 20 years of my life were enough. I am enjoying really because I have been away from the game for about seven years. I haven't exactly been involved with the game for that entire period. So I have refreshed my body and my mind.

So what was the reason for keeping away from the sport for so long?

Just needed time to get away from it, give myself a break, do something else. To recharge my batteries, refresh my mind. And I felt good about it and I didn't know if I was going to get back into cricket in any way. And this year the opportunity arose and I just warmed to the thought of it and people encouraged me and so here I am.

New Zealand got into the semi-finals of the World Cup on three occasions, yet failed to make it to the finals. What do you attribute that to? What's missing in New Zealand cricket?

I think in '92 they had a great chance to make it to the final; also this year when they made it to the final. I suppose it really comes down to that competitive edge, where you have a couple of players who are world-beaters and can just create that extra victory to get you in one place up into the final and probably win it.

I mean there have been cricket sides, like India in '83 that have won the World Cup against the odds. So it's not impossible. These cricketers here are very talented and they have a lot of ability and we just need to nurture that a bit more to the next stage, where they can go out to the World Cup in four years time, and most of them will be here, and win it.

It's more difficult when you've got a change of personnel in and out of a side. When you have a group like this, which is of the same age group, they are going through the ups together as a unit and exploring and learning. They become stronger as a unit and then they want to play for each other, so that's one of the key advantages of this side. They will all be around for the next three, four years. We haven't quite got the mix of experience and youth. The Australians do that very well. They blood some guys early and that's why they are such a consistent side.

Ever since Martin Crowe left the scene, there hasn't really been a player of his calibre to fill in his shoes. Do you see that as one of the pitfalls when the Kiwis take on stronger sides?

No. I don't think so. Stephen Fleming is a man of that calibre. He has been acknowledged as a world class, promising player. He's probably had the responsibility of captaincy earlier than expected in his career. So that may have affected him.

Maybe, he could have had more time and a bit of energy spent on his batting and become more of an established world class player, with more records at this stage. However, we have full confidence that, now that he pretty much has the captaincy under his belt, he can refocus on his batting and show us what he is capable of doing out there in the middle as a batsman.

But Martin was a special player. He was a great technician of the game; he worked very hard as a youngster. I watched him as a youngster, being his brother, and he played shots, which were much better than I played. He was four years younger than me but was leagues ahead as a batsman. It was annoying but it was also fun and exciting to watch. It was always a special thing for me to play with him and be at the other end when he took on some of the great bowlers in the world.

Your experiences with Martin Crowe, the brother and batsman...

A great competitor. The sibling rivalry that we always had was a part of our life and growing up. Now we are mellower. We play golf together. We talk a lot about cricket. Because Martin is still involved with the game -- his stint with Sky network for New Zealand.

The tragedy with him is that he was undone by his injury prematurely. He is a man who should have made another 7, 8 Test hundreds, should have scored another couple of thousand runs in Tests. In fact, now is when he should be retiring from the game and handing the gloves of captaincy to Stephen Fleming. He is someone who really knew his game well. A batsman of extreme class. A very mature and thoughtful man on the cricketing front.

The Jeff Crowe interview, continued

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