Mr Cricket (12 page)

BOB CARTER

I first came across Mike in November 1998 when I saw him practising in the nets at the WACA before a game between Western Australia and Victoria. I'd been working as coach of Wellington in New Zealand and was on my way to England, where I was about to sign on as director of cricket for Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. My travels had taken me to Brisbane where I met and signed Matthew Hayden to be the Northants overseas professional for the 1999 and 2000 seasons.

When Matthew made his way back into the Australian team I began looking for another top-quality cricketer to fill his position. There were a couple of things about Mike that impressed me: his figures were exceptional and he had the experience of playing first-class cricket for WA. I felt that, in addition to his natural ability and batting skills, Mike might be able to bring a similar culture to Northants that Matthew had.

I had been holidaying in New Zealand with my family and thought I better get this overseas player business sorted, so I went to watch the Adelaide Test match between Australia and the West Indies. While there, I had a pleasant dinner with Messrs Hayden, Langer and Justin's father, Colin. I quizzed Justin about Mike as they were teammates in Perth. Justin said some good things about Mike and I decided when I got back to New Zealand that it was time to talk to him about joining Northants.

Northamptonshire had had a good season in 2000 and, therefore, talking the committee into signing Mike was not too much of an issue, although a couple of the playing staff expressed surprise that I wanted him as he was still a virtual unknown. But when Mike breezed into Northampton in April 2001 he settled in very well and his friendly easygoing manner and exemplary attitude was an instant success with the other players.

The more I watched Mike in those early days the more impressed I became with his technique and how well he timed the ball. But it was to be a little while before he translated those skills into scores. He had a scratchy start and it culminated in us having a chat on the balcony at Bristol during a one-day match against Gloucestershire. Mike had been bowled off his pads for four, adding to his other underwhelming scores of 18, 21, 3 and 5 – not the best start. He said: ‘Bob, I'm sorry mate, but I promise you I am trying as hard as I can.' My reply was something like ‘Huss, you are a good player. Next time you go out to bat I want you to trust your game and dominate the bowlers.'

I kept telling Mike, much to his embarrassment, that he had the best technique I'd ever seen (and he still does). But, like many other players Mike had fears and lacked confidence at certain times, particularly early on. Nevertheless, he took my advice at Gloucestershire and ended up scoring a fantastic 2958 runs in all competitions, which included scores of 329 not out and 70 not out in a four-day win against Essex. I remember saying to Mike that he could have made 400 in that match. He quickly reminded me that during his 329 Toby Bailey had run one short. He was serious too! During that season we also had a one-day game against Australia at Northampton in which Mike scored a very good 73. It had started as a difficult season, but he persisted and ended up gaining a lot of confidence through this great comeback.

In his second season with us he scored 2128 runs in all competitions, despite having missed a quarter of the season because of an Australia-A call up. In one game he took Gloucestershire for 310 not out at Bristol and broke many longstanding records, including the highest score at Bristol, eclipsing WG Grace's age-old record. Another innings, 110 against Middlesex at Lords in a one-day match, really stuck out. His determination to score a hundred at Lords, as well as ensuring Northamptonshire won the game was, in my view, a truly outstanding piece of batsmanship and captaincy.

Mike's work ethic at Northants was outstanding. His preparation and build up to a match centred on facing net bowlers, improving his game with good-quality throwdowns and then putting extra effort into his fielding. Mike always wanted to do extra training and we often spent time together working on his game. He also spent hours and hours facing Monty Panesar's left-arm spin bowling when everybody else had gone home. I believe there is a lesson in this: these were two players willing to go beyond the average and their reward has been that they now both play and perform well at the very top level. It is no shock to me that Mike is where he is today. His balance, rhythm and timing at the crease are as good as anybody I have seen or coached and that includes such players as Matthew Hayden and Allan Lamb. His quick footwork and ability to play off both front and back feet with equal ease is something very rare.

Our friendship was confirmed to me when I hit some hard times. Mike left three-quarters of the way through the 2002 season to return to Australia for the A-team tour and I knew those next six weeks were going to be a huge test as the team had lost its captain and we needed his on-field direction to keep us on track for promotion in the one-day competition. We narrowly missed out on promotion and the club decided to terminate my contract. At the time this was a huge psychological blow to me as a coach and a person. When things like this happen, you question your abilities and for a while it was hard to see the way forward. I was worried about my coaching career and unsure what direction our lives as a family would take.

Shortly after my termination from Northants I received a letter from Mike expressing his disappointment. In it he explained how I had supported him during his two seasons and given him the one important key ingredient that he believed was lacking
in his game: self belief. He followed this by saying that I must continue to stick to my principles and values as a coach. He wrote, ‘You would be brilliant for elite-level players, you must believe that.' He reminded me that John Buchanan had been coach of Middlesex for just one season before leaving and he was now coaching the best team in the world. It was the inspiration I needed and so my family took the decision to move back to New Zealand.

Much of my time with the Blackcaps has coincided with Mike's elevation to the Australian Test and one-day teams. I loved watching him play his first one-day international against Sri Lanka and his first Test match at the Gabba, though I was a little bleary-eyed watching from my hotel room in Durban where we were playing against South Africa in a one-day series. I was back home in Christchurch when he played his second Test and to hear those shouts of delight when he made that maiden Test century was wonderful. Ironically, Matthew Hayden was at the other end to share the moment with him and, for me, having coached both players, it was a pretty special moment.

Mike and I stay in contact quite a lot these days. Our wives, Julie and Amy, became good friends and we've all shared many laughs over the past few years. Mike and Amy are both caring people and are always prepared to give you their time. When we were living in Northampton, Mike would play football and cricket for hours with my son Leo in our back garden. The ball would be kicked or hit over into the next yard and without even thinking Mike would jump the eight foot-high fence with ease to retrieve the ball from the next door neighbour's house.

It's been a pleasure working with Mike and I look forward to enjoying the rest of his career. He is a brilliant batsman. In three seasons of county cricket for Northamptonshire he scored just under 8000 runs, not a bad return at all, especially given he was also captain through some difficult team issues and managed to lead the club to a double promotion in 2003. All of these different experiences have steeled him for the rigours of international cricket and the fact that he has had leadership experience can only help him in his quest to become one of the world's best cricketers.

On December 10, 2005, coincidentally my son Leo's 10th birthday, we played against Australia at Jade Stadium in Christchurch in the Chappell-Hadlee one-day series. Mike had come over for dinner the night before and as usual we were having a few laughs and talking about the game the next day. Leo told Mike to hit him a catch up in the stands. Well, Mike hit quite a few sixes on his way to an amazing 88 runs from not many balls. His innings was only to be matched by a great win for the Blackcaps. Later that evening I took Leo into the Australian team press conference where Mike was sitting with Ricky Ponting being interviewed about the game. As we entered, Mike waved to Leo and later when leaving the room he gave Leo his tour cap. My son walked out of that room feeling 10-feet tall. Thank you, Mike.

MOST FIRST-CLASS TRIPLE CENTURIES SCORED BY AN AUSTRALIAN