How a dead parrot put Bracewell’s career in jeopardy
Heard the one about the parrot, the dogs and the drunk New Zealand cricketer?
Of course, this one is no joke, and leaves Doug Bracewell’s international career under a cloud when he appears for sentencing on May 25 after his third drink-driving charge in nine years, when he was caught more than three times over the legal limit.
When cricket officials learned of the latest in Bracewell’s list of alcohol-related incidents, there was surprise amid the ‘‘how could he do that’’ head-shaking. Not because of the bizarre background to the incident on March 18, but the belief Bracewell had cleaned up his act in the three years since his infamous Auckland night out with Jesse Ryder. Both were jettisoned from the Black Caps but Bracewell returned 18 months later.
He shattered that illusion when he drove home after he’d been drinking, responding to a call from his partner about an emergency at their home near the Hawke’s Bay settlement of Haumoana. The experts will tell you top sportspeople act on impulse, which works well on the field but can cause major problems off it. Bracewell’s impulse was to get home.
It is understood what he described as a ‘‘personal and urgent’’ issue concerned their recently-acquired parrot which had been pounced on by their dogs and suffered a messy demise. When Bracewell eventually walked in the door he had even worse news, after being stopped by police on East Rd, a few minutes from home.
In a statement after his guilty plea at Hastings District Court on April 27, Bracewell said he ‘‘stuffed up and made an extremely bad call to drive home from a function because of a personal and urgent issue that arose at home’’.
‘‘I should have made a better call as to how to get home, and didn’t. I was just worried and drove. I accept that mistake. I also accept that I must account for this error of judgment. I am here to be openly accountable for that error.’’
Bracewell, 26, risks losing his Black Caps contract which runs till July 31 and provides an annual retainer of around $100,000 plus match payments. He hasn’t played cricket since December, when he tore knee ligaments and underwent surgery after falling awkwardly while fielding on slippery, sandbased turf at New Plymouth’s Yarrow Stadium.
Because it is his third drinkdriving offence, Bracewell could face up to two years’ jail, or a $6000 fine. His employer, New Zealand Cricket, is awaiting the judge’s decision before commenting on potential disciplinary action.
So, how did it come to this? How could Bracewell, the golden boy after his test-winning spell against
Australia in Hobart in 2011, risk it all again with another terrible decision after a few beers?
Bracewell is a gifted athlete from a family of tough, abrasive competitors; son of former New Zealand fast bowler Brendon and nephew of three former firstclass cricketers Doug, Mark and John, the latter a combative test offspinner then Black Caps coach.
Some former team-mates or coaches were either reluctant to share their insights, or struggled to sum Bracewell up. None spoke ill of him, although there was high frustration at his latest blunder.
‘‘He made a very poor decision and now he needs to be accountable for that. There’s no two ways about it,’’ said Cricket Players’ Association boss Heath Mills.
A cricketing figure who declined to be named said: ‘‘Most people would say they don’t really know him. He’s a quiet guy, Doug, an interesting character. It’s not all about Doug and he’s happy to be a background guy. I’ve never heard him utter a bad word about anyone. He’s a really good team man.’’
Bracewell grew up in Tauranga. He was a childhood friend of future captain Kane Williamson, the pair attending rival intermediate schools but teaming up for Bay of Plenty age-grade sides. Bracewell was in awe of his mate’s skill and once recounted a opening stand of 271 between the pair against Hamilton under-14s.
He remained close with father Brendon who ran cricket academies in Tauranga, Rathkeale College near Masterton, then Napier, before he shifted to Perth in 2014. Doug attended private school at Rathkeale, where he made Wairarapa-Bush rugby agegrade sides as a gifted first five-eighth or fullback. A rugby-playing trip to Perth after he finished school sent him down a cricketing path. ‘‘At the first training I broke my ankle so that ended that, and I never played again,’’ he said in a 2012 interview with the Dominion Post.
But a darker side also emerged. In 2007 the New Zealand Herald reported Bracewell was one of two boys expelled from Rathkeale for attacking sleeping boarders in a dormitory. It prompted his short move to Perth. He rejoined his father in Napier, and gained a reputation for enjoying a hectic social life as he worked his way up the Central Districts ranks to a first-class debut in November, 2008, at age 18.
Police records show two drink-driving convictions, in February, 2008, and October, 2010. Just over a year later, on test debut, he bowled New Zealand to victory in Bulawayo, then six weeks later exploited a tricky Hobart pitch to inspire his country’s first test victory in Australia since 1985.
The cricketing world was his oyster, and he secured an Indian Premier League contract with Delhi in February, 2012. All high octane stuff, but not really in keeping with Bracewell’s eventual niche as honest toiler with the ball and handy batsman not prolific enough to be a genuine allrounder.
The wheels soon began to wobble at high speed. He was stood down for a game by the Black Caps for going out drinking with Ryder in Napier while injured. In March 2013 he missed the big home series against England after he cut his foot on broken glass after cleaning up following a party at his house. The Stags stood him down for drinking before a match in Hamilton later that year, then it seemed his international career was done when he and Ryder went out on test eve against India in February, 2014. Both were in the squad as cover, and Bracewell emerged with a broken bone in his foot.
While Ryder – the more gifted cricketer of the dynamic after-dark duo – had his card marked in the Black Caps, Bracewell didn’t. In fact, after convincing coach Mike Hesson he’d grown up, was managing his alcohol intake and making better off-field decisions, he was back in international cricket in South Africa in August, 2015, and contracted again by NZC.
Said his Central Stags manager Lance Hamilton at the time: ‘‘He’s been great on and off the field and he’s got a great lady, Renee, his partner, and he’s sorted himself out. I’ve got nothing but good things to say about Doug off the field.’’
Within the Black Caps he was seen as a different person from the hellraiser of several years previous. He was one of the fittest, too, with team-mates adamant he could fit into any sport and be top of the tree in terms of work ethic. ‘‘He has to [work harder] because his skill level with the ball . . . he’s not a massive swinger so he has to use his engine,’’ said one.
Despite this latest, serious incident, it seems cricket isn’t ready to shut the door on Bracewell. Said Mills: ‘‘He came into the environment very young, virtually straight from school into international cricket and he made some poor decisions in those early years. There’s no question about that.
‘‘He has matured quite a lot and we’ve really noticed that, particularly in the last couple of years. It’s disappointing that this has happened and he’s made a mistake. I don’t think it should define him in any way.’’