Vic Marks
Even those of us who groan about the proliferation of so-called one-day specialists in England’s World Cup squad do not quibble about the selection of Neil Fairbrother.
He may be 35 years old, stuck with a Test average of 15 and and the owner of two disobedient hamstrings that often seem to twang at the thought of a 50m dash, but in those diarrhoea finishes that are bound to adorn the World Cup the presence of Fairbrother at the crease is about the most reassuring sight that English supporters can hope for.
He’s been in those situations so often now in a career that has seen him play in ten Lord’s finals (a record he shares with Derek Underwood), two World Cup campaigns and 70 one-day internationals. Ninety needed, 13 overs to go and still – as Mike Atherton once observed – his eyes are popping out of his head. But he is still excited rather than terrified by those challenges. In front of a packed house with the match in the balance, the senses are heightened. These are the moments you play the game for. There’s a fair chance that Fairbrother will get his side home. He’s done it often enough for Lancashire and England.
Which is why David Graveney and David Lloyd called by in the middle of last season, when most of us assumed that Fairbrother’s international commitments were over. “They said that I was in their thoughts for the World Cup. They urged me to stay fit and get some runs. Straight after their visit my son and I were bouncing around and he landed on my groin. Out for three weeks. When I came back I turned my ankle on a ball in the nets. Out for four-and-a-half weeks. But Lancashire finished the season strongly, winning the NatWest, second in the championship and they picked me for Bangladesh. I was unusually nervous.” But he did enough there and in Australia to confirm selection for the World Cup.
This is his third campaign. He just missed selection in 1987. “I joined that tour party after the World Cup for the Test series in Pakistan and New Zealand. It must have been the only time in my career when I was considered a Test player and not a one- day cricketer. I suppose I should have been flattered.” He was, however, a key figure in the 1992 World Cup side, which reached the final in Melbourne.
“Those were the best six or seven weeks of my international career and that was the best international team I’ve played in. It was a great feeling. Maybe we peaked too early. Just one game too many. By the final our physio was working overtime. Even then I was so confident that we would win it. At the halfway stage in their innings Pakistan only had 70 on the board.”
But the stranglehold was eventually broken and despite Fairbrother top scoring with 62 England fell 22 runs short. “I remember afterwards walking around the ground on my own, devastated.”
By contrast the 1996 campaign was a shambles. “There was no planning; we had no idea what our best side was and team spirit was not good.” He came home early after the Pakistan game. The hamstring had rebelled again, which is a constant worry. “Of course I think about that problem. I’m careful in practice, but once a match starts and the adrenalin starts to flow, I automatically forget about the hamstrings and hope for the best.”
He’s a different player now than in 1992. “I was more explosive then; I hit more boundaries. Now I try to manoeuvre the ball more. There are two or three areas where I’ll hit boundaries. Otherwise I try to find a single or a two from every ball. Maybe as I get older I value my wicket more. I know what can happen, how the game can be transformed, if you stay in.”
So there are not so many pyrotechnics now in the middle, but plenty of conversation. “Communication and instilling confidence in your partner is vital,” he says. “This might mean reminding my partner that the bloke with the ball in his hand is on tenterhooks as well.” England’s first five are not short of experience, but Fairbrother hopes that his presence will be a boon for his fellow Lancastrian, the novice Andrew Flintoff.
When the squad was selected Flintoff probably was not in the first XI, but we agree that’s all changed now. “I’m glad I’m here to help him out,” he says. “I’ve been looking after him for the last couple of years and I intend to do the same over the next five or six weeks. All the recent hype must be difficult for him, but he’s a level-headed lad, a true Lancastrian and he knows that he’s got his mates around him. And he hits it a long way.”
As he’s bound to do, Fairbrother shrugs off England’s recent lamentable record. “In Australia in the triangular series there were echoes of 1992,” he says. “We peaked early, winning four of the first five games; then injuries intruded and we never got it back together again. Sharjah was a difficult tournament. We had a side picked for May and June in England playing in alien conditions.”
Moreover the players were still in dispute over World Cup payments and Fairbrother does not deny that this had a considerable impact on their performances. “But it’s all sorted and we’re very relaxed about the tournament now.” Just as well.
“I think in this World Cup we will see a reversion to the old way of playing one-day cricket,” he says. “With the white ball darting around we won’t see sides 100-1 after 15 overs like last time.
“Instead there will be the same approach – at least from us – that has served Lancashire well over the years: steady start, wickets in hand and the momentum can come in the final overs.”
He knows that this is positively his last chance at international level and is keen to impress upon the likes of Flintoff, who has suddenly been catapulted into the international scene with scarcely time to blink, what an enormous opportunity this World Cup represents.
“England have a great record at home in one-day cricket; it’s nice and early in the season when conditions should help us and we have an experienced bunch of players. Everyone is really excited by the prospect.”
So they should be. Let’s see if they can excite us.