Channelling greats in pursuit of glory
THE spirit of Don Bradman and Ian Healy is being kept alive in quiet corners of multistorey car parks in the United Arab Emirates.
In the first Test in Dubai, Tim Paine produced one of the most impressive performances by an Australian wicketkeeper in decades, and now the new captain has given a fascinating insight into the secret behind his flawless glovework.
Test greats like Allan Border still worry about the enormous burden of being both captain and custodian, yet in oppress- USAIN Bolt isn’t sponsored by Nike, but he’s certainly got Sam Kerr’s tick of approval.
The first woman to claim marquee status in Australia believes the Jamaican sprint king is worth similar money after his historic two- goal brace on Friday.
Kerr and Japanese star Keisuke Honda will headline the respective W- League and A- League launches in Sydney on Monday.
But missing will be the league’s most famous trialist in Bolt who has made an audacious code switch with Central Coast.
“If I wasn’t a Nike athlete, I definitely would be rocking a Central Coast jersey with ( number) 95 on it,” Kerr said.
“I turned on the Central Coast game the other day just to watch him.
“So if it’s appealing to people like me, I’m sure it is to other people.”
Bolt, 32, declared Friday’s trial against a select Macarthur South West United team could make or break his professional soccer career. He scored two goals, instantly raising hope of turning his trial into a full- time contract.
But while the A- League ive conditions against Pakistan, Paine took every half chance and underlined his leadership with the subtle but powerful gesture of imploring teammates to keep a lid on emotions after their great escape.
“A draw is a draw,” says Paine. “And we’re here to win.”
Paine admits he “tried too hard” on his failed first assignment as national captain/ keeper in England earlier this year, where Australia was whitewashed in one- dayers, and that struggle has likely cost him his ODI career.
So now Paine has simply gone back to what he’s always has recognised its need for more marquee players, it is believed Bolt wouldn’t come close to meeting the criteria.
Instead, A- League officials insist they could assist the Mariners by way of a marketing arrangement, as well as enabling third party sponsorships. Bolt also has a number of personal sponsorships that could count against him.
Kerr said Bolt had brought done on the back- buildings and carparks of Hobart: throwing a golf ball up against a wall and catching for hours on end.
Bradman famously did a similar trick off a water tank and hit with a stump, and perhaps more relevantly, Healy often retreated alone with inners on like Paine does now to throw a golf ball and catch.
Paine says the confidence he takes from the solitude and rhythm of that constant ping on concrete will sustain him through one of the toughest assignments ever taken on in Test match cricket.
“I watched Ian Healy years great attention to the league.
“I’ve seen the Central Coast badge all over the world over the last few days, and that was never going to happen ( without him),” she said. “He brings star power.”
“He’s an amazing athlete, so hopefully he can make it.
“It’d be so good for the rest of the world to be talking about the A- League and Australian football.” ago doing it, so I do that. I can do it standing up, I can do it standing back,” he said.
“A lot of the time at Bellerive I just go up the back of the grandstand by myself for an hour or two just banging the golf ball up against the wall.
“It’s pretty boring but in some weird way I really enjoy it. I find it relaxes me and allows me to go into a Test knowing I’m in a good place.
“( Today) I’ll just find a carpark or something like that.”
Paine said the reasoning behind telling excited Australian teammates to cool it after he secured the great save in Dubai was a documentary he watched where former England captain Michael Vaughan said he knew he had Australia beat in the 2005 Ashes when they celebrated a draw.
“I just saw a little bit of it ( the celebrations) spilling out the door,” Paine said. “Vaughan said after one of those Tests that he felt as an opposition captain that they had them, when he saw them celebrating a draw.
“I’ve seen that myself before. We were clearly pretty excited by what we’d been able to achieve because it doesn’t happen too much, but you’ve got to keep a bit of perspective.”