Sporting Life

The Age

Thursday October 17, 2002

Geoff McClure

So close for Hammerheads

Amid the tragedy that has unfolded in Bali, inevitably there would be stories, too, of last-minute changes of plans that resulted in people cancelling trips to the Indonesian resort, decisions that might well have saved their lives. Well, you can count among that number a 45-member group from the Hammerheads footy team that made up Channel Seven's reality show The Club. Program producer Tim Watson confirmed yesterday that the group, consisting of both players and officials, was booked to fly to Bali from October 6 and return last Sunday, the day after the bomb blasts. But a few weeks ago, when sales of their promotional calendar had not reached expectations, the boys cancelled their plans, each having to forfeit a $200 accommodation deposit. ``I think they were banking on the calendar earning them $10,000 and they would pay for the rest, but that didn't happen so they called the trip off," said Watson. The hotel they had booked into, the Bounty, is only 100 metres from the Sari nightclub that felt the brunt of the blasts. One of the Hammerheads team told us yesterday 18 of the players, including "Chub", "Bazza", "Bucky" and "Jayco", headed for Adelaide instead and were out partying at the weekend when news of the tragedy came through

Tully ho, 14 years on

If you are into omens, try this for size. Fourteen years ago 50/1 chance Imposera won the Caulfield Cup seemingly against all odds. Not only had the four-year-old mare finished near last in the Caulfield Stakes the week before, but when top jockey Malcolm Johnston opted to seek another ride, trainer Ross McDonald was left with no choice but to give the mount to Brian York, who had never ridden the horse. Well, all the memories came flooding back for McDonald at yesterday's cup barrier draw not least because his runner this year, Tully Thunder, is also a four-year-old mare and also finished last in last Saturday's Caulfield Stakes (now the Yalumba). Not just that, but because regular jockey Andrew Findlay is suspended, the mount has gone to Craig Newitt who, like York in 1988, has never ridden the McDonald-trained cup starter. But here's the real scary bit - in 1988 Imposera won from barrier two, the precise alley that Tully Thunder ($41 in latest betting) drew yesterday. Don't say you weren't told.

How Viv bounced back

The cricket's hotting up and so are some of the players' tempers, as Australian paceman Brett Lee illustrated in Pakistan last week when he struck Pakistani batsman Imran Nazir with a bouncer and ignored the potentially badly injured batsman, instead walking back to his mark. It was, of course, Lee's way of trying to intimidate the opposition, all of which is timely, given this story that pops up in the just-released Legends of Cricket, by respected author Geoff Armstrong. In the book, former Australian captain Ian Chappell tells of an incident in a Test in Adelaide against the West Indies in the early 1980s involving paceman Len Pascoe and ace batsman Viv Richards. ``Lenny was bowling to Viv, and he's bowled him three bouncers in a row," Chappell remembers. ``After the third one, Len was walking back past umpire Max O'Connell and Max said, `Len, that'll be enough for this over'. And a voice came from the other end: `Max, please don't stop him.' It was the voice of Viv Richards." Concluded Chappell: ``Intimidation is a two-way street."

Edge on the rest

The book that profiles the 25 greatest players of all time - the list was selected by a panel that included Chappell, Richie Benaud, Ian Botham, Allan Border, Richard Hadlee and Sunil Gavaskar - also tells a couple of great stories about former champion batsman Barry Richards. Fellow South African, wicketkeeper Denis Lindsay, says that if presented with a challenge, Richards was tremendous ``but if there was no challenge, then he would get to 50 or get to 100 and just toss it". Said Lindsay: ``One day, when we were playing in Durban, Barry got to about 40 and he turned around to me and said, `Come on, let's have a little bit of fun here'. He then played for the next half an hour with the edge of the bat and was still hitting balls through the covers for four. That's how great Barry was."

The 325 man

Barry Richards enjoyed a season with South Australia in 1970-71 during which he played what might have been his greatest innings, against Western Australia at the WACA Ground. Richards' captain, Ian Chappell, recalls that he batted so well that day that he hit every ball downwind regardless of where the ball was bowled. ``He just decided that he wasn't going to run any more," said Chappell, who calculated at one point that the batting maestro would fall just short of scoring 300 in a day. Said Chappell. ``I'm looking at the board and working it out, thinking, `Oh, he'll probably get 280'. Pretty good judge I am. He finished the day on 325." Legends of Cricket, Allen and Unwin. RRP $49.95.

Making a fist of it

And the best of luck to golfer Sean Fister, who in the next couple of days will defend his title in the world long driving championship in Mesquite, Nevada. The 40-year-old is certainly in form. At last month's world drivers' cup, a team competition, he smacked his sixth and final ball 406 metres to clinch victory. Mind you, hitting a golf ball long distances can take its toll. Not only will Fister soon have surgery on his back because the discs are collapsing, but his knuckles are knotted and his tendons are stretched. -- geoffmcclure@bigpond.com.au Phone (03) 9601 2317 Fax (03) 9670 0856 AGE SPORT (03) 9601 2255