The Professor's in the house - Part II

In Part I of our exclusive interview, Dean Jones had spoken in depth about the start to his cricket career, his life-defining knock in Madras and saying 'no' to the rebel tour. He revisited his avant-garde days of charging fast bowlers and the magic of Chepauk 1986.

In Part II of the interview, Jones is uncompromisingly forthright in his infatuation with the T20 format, his love for analysis, his strategy, his biggest regrets and more.

How big was Allan Border a factor in your career?

Big. AB had some young kids. They had no idea how to play for the country, or the discipline on what's required. He basically taught us how to do it. The Baggy Green was a bit ragged at that time. We weren't a great team. We were young kids, some of us had a bit of an attitude. He taught us stuff.

AB picked me to be his No.3 and he sacked me at the end of my career... I think prematurely. If you are not wanted by one of your best mates, it's time to go. But we had a wonderful relationship. He was like a brother or paaji as they say in India. He is a pussy cat now but he was a tough b*st*rd back then. He was everything for us then. But he was also feeling his way as a captain. He didn't like being captain early on and then he started liking it. Then he could trust himself with Mark Taylor getting runs and Boonie and Waugh... There was less pressure on him. Then he started the careers of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath and finished his own beautifully.

So, I always think he's the godfather of Australian cricket. He started the renaissance in 1986 when he picked some young kids, brushed off the baggy caps, removed the mud and grass off the cap and put it on some kids' heads proudly. Lot of us as wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for AB teaching us stuff. He was a little like Imran Khan in Pakistan. How much those players idolise him. Same thing with AB.

It all ended abruptly for you after '94, that must have been shocking...

It was gut wrenching. You never like getting dropped. I didn't see it coming. It was like grabbing a coffee and walked on the road and BANG! I got hit by a bus. I just didn't see it coming. I was blindsided? I was really prepared for the upcoming series. I hadn't played the West Indies well until then. I had got a double ton against them but I realised something in the last Test against them in Antigua in 1991.

I spoke to Greg Chappell and I said, "Greg, I'm not playing these guys well, they don't intimidate me but I'm trying to play the careful way and let everything go. They need to be whacked off their lengths, I need to throw some punches back. What do you think if I use my ODI mentality against them?" He said "Absolutely. That's the way to play."

"No, (the Amla episode) is never in the past because people will keep bringing it up. You brought it up. And that's the point. I've raised three million dollars for sick kids and I've done all that stuff and I did one flippant thing and people jumped into it."

***

I made a really good 80 at Antigua. I felt comfortable and they didn't like me using the charge. And I'd charge them and duck if they bounced. I was prepared to throw a couple of punches but I knew I wasn't a great hooker. There was a sense that to beat them you had to hook them. Steve and Mark Waugh proved them wrong in 1995 because they didn't hook. They went back and cut everything. They were called cowards and all sort of stuff by the West Indians. But the result was that they'd smacked the living daylights off the bowlers. And I was ready to play that way in the first Test. Never got the opportunity. They picked Damien Martyn ahead of me and the Waughs. Bust!

You top-scored in your final series, against Sri Lanka? Why do you think it happened the way it happened?

I was a Victorian boy. If I was from New South Wales, I still believe I would have been picked. And I wasn't. They look after their own. I was told the runs from Sri Lanka didn't count. But Mark Waugh made four ducks in a row and he got picked. But you know what, I always been a team man. I was absolutely gutted I wasn't selected. My career was finished at 31. But for the next seven years, we only lost two Test series. We won everything and I couldn't get back into the team. So at the end when I sit back, 'Yeah I was upset that I couldn't play but the team won.' If you told me after my first two Tests in West Indies that you'd would play 52 Tests, 164 ODIs, win the World Cup and the Ashes battles, I'd be thinking you're on drugs because I thought my career was done in 1984. I am blessed. Yeah, I could have played another 25 Tests. Probably, yeah! Would I be a different person? Probably not.

What about your colourful personality? Do you think maybe that had a factor?

Well... Yes, I got a thick skin. Back then, there was a bit of bravado because I was brought up in the late 70s and early 80s. That's what people did then.

They spoke about how good they were. You know... Look at it this way. If I brought you into the Burnley dressing room in the Premier League and I sat you down there for four days and you heard them talk. And if I took you out of that room and put you in the Real Madrid dressing room - the Ronaldos and Bales. They don't talk about the opposition. All they talk about is what they're gonna do to the opposition. Whereas the Burnley boys are going to be thinking about... 'Gee, this Ronaldo is good, we've got to stop him.' They talk inferior.

I'm being general here. They all have this swagger and stuff. And I was like that. I'll be honest. It's part of being the best team in the world. Probably, Jack Nicklaus and Roger Federer have been little bit different but you look at Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, Viv Richards, Allan Border, Ricky Ponting... These guys ruled the world. Body language and attitude is everything.

What happened then with that infamous walkout from Derbyshire?

Oh. I did nothing wrong there. They had problems since WG Grace had been a boy at that club. I was asked to captain the team the Australian way. So I brought Les Stilman, an Australian coach, over. I asked the committee where we were going and what they wanted... We were not going to finish anywhere in the County Championships. If we made a semifinal in the 50-over match, we would be absolute stars, it would have been a good season for us. But I thought, if we haven't come here to win, we'd might as well go home. But did you see our squad? It was just a half decent squad.

The first year in 1995, we lost the championships by two points. So I must have been doing something right. From the worst team to that. Now all of a sudden, the committee started to feel that we needed to win something. Kim Barnet was going to be the next coach of Derbyshire team and he had his own ways and that was fine. In 1995, we should have won two of our first six games. We got beaten by rain and were meandering at 5th or 6th. We beat Australia for the first time in 120 years while I was there and the chairman calls me and tells me that we got to cut our squad from 23 to 18. I said 'why is that?' He said it was too expensive and so on...

They wanted more kids coming in. I picked Kevin Deane. A very good player. Two, three 19 year olds. I think I was doing a very good job. The chairman was very close to Kim Barnett. He told me that I had to sack five players. I said 'alright, I'll do that. But my contract runs down in three months. What are you going do with me?' He said , 'No, you are not coming back next year. Kim will coach and vice captain the side for the next season' and Dominic Cork will captain the side. I said 'What?! You want me to sack these five guys and leave myself? No way, not happening on my watch.' I left

That's the story. I hear people say that... ''No, he was too hard on the players.' Of course, I was. So I don't want to be in spots where I'm not wanted. But what was the difference in the previous year, when we came second... You do the math. You talk about attitudes and doing things differently. I wouldn't change a thing with Derbyshire. No way.

The Ambrose wrist band incident and the subsequent series loss has been held against you as well...

See. I had a compound fracture in my thumb. People don't know this. I had to get it pinned back. And obviously, this was one week before that game and I was hearing whispers that Damien Martyn was going to replace me. And if I gave him an opportunity and pulled out... See back then if you didn't play, you didn't get paid. I had to play. I'm a professional cricketer. So, I came to that match knowing if I didn't get some runs in that one or the next... I was gone. I couldn't hold the bat. It was excruciating pain, I couldn't feel my hand. I was in all sorts of trouble and I was getting desperate.

I played the match. I realised he was bowling beautifully, Ambrose. I thought if I got him upset, maybe he'll bowl some sh*t. 'Cause at that time, I didn't have my hand to take him on or hit him over his head.

It was a stupid mistake and I'd take it back any day of the week. But you got to understand why I was doing it. I managed to hit one four and made 20-30. He got 6 for 30 and then took some 32 wickets in the next four games and they blamed me for it. But I didn't play in the next four games! I was sitting there with my thoughts. Was it the curse that started the end? Maybe. But I don't regret it. I was there to hurt bowlers not pat them on the back.

The Hashim Amla terrorist faux pas...

It was just a flippant remark, a silly throwaway line that I'd pay you every single day of the week for. It happened 10-11 years ago and I'm still hearing about it. I get on unbelievably well with my Muslim mates. Everyone makes mistakes. We spend so many hours on air and occasionally somebody gets picked up for saying some flippant thing.

Did you speak to Amla?

I spoke to his dad, I ticked all the right boxes. But I haven't been able to sit next to him with a cup of coffee, sadly. I haven't done a South Africa game in a while. There'll be a time when we'll sit together with a cup of it. Hopefully, I might even pick him for Islamabad, which will be really cool. It's one of those silly things. We're judged fairly/unfairly for what we say on air. I tried to hit fours and sixes in the commentary booth and sometimes I get out. I got out on that occasion after doing a shi**y thing and I've apologised profusely. If people cast their dispersion saying he's that way... then why do I come here (Tamil Nadu)? Why am I coaching in Pakistan. Give me a break.

I (told Dwayne Smith), 'Do worry about it.' and he said, 'No, I don't prepare that way.' I said, 'Okay, that's alright, I'll pick you for who you are but I'll also tell you this. If you f**k up on a ball that you didn't prepare for, in a final, you won't be playing for me next year.'

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Did you try explaining it to the broadcasters?

No. Never got around to explain to the broadcasters. It can happen. I can tell you that there have been examples of people saying worse things on radio or TV but they haven't been picked up. It was sad. It's the reality of it. Kids at home got nailed at school. It was uncomfortable situation all around. Really, I'm not that person people tried to portray me as.

But it's in the past now...

No, it's never in the past because people will keep bringing it up. You brought it up. And that's the point. I've raised three million dollars for sick kids and I've done all that stuff and I did one flippant thing and people jumped into it. Look at my profile on Cricbuzz. It is always there. I've done so many great things on and off the field, things that should be said on profiles but it isn't. It's a tattoo on my arm that I cannot seem to remove. That's the way it is. In reality, it was a pretty ugly time. I deserved a whack in my chops for my silly mistake, but I didn't deserve what I got in reality.

You got one Test wicket...

Yeah. Sir Richard Hadlee. 31 overs in my career for 1-64. Not bad for an offie. Not bad (laughs).

I got picked for Victoria as a bowler who could bat. I was doing okay. Probably on the tour in India, I bowled medium pace. And Bob Simpson said "I want you to become an off-spinner particularly on these kind of surfaces." But when I think about it. If I'd bowled medium pace, that might have saved me in 1992 when I got dropped from the Australian team. They played two quicks and two spinners. They couldn't play three quicks which meant Ian Healy had to bat at six and he wasn't good enough. They picked Damien Martyn and Waughs because they said they were half-decent first change bowlers. So I was never ever going to be picked. If there was another chance to change something in my career. That would it be it. I would have never become an off spinner.

Was coaching a natural progression for you considering how you read the game? You wanted the India job in 2005...

I was close to getting the India job (in 2005). I was in the top four. I get on well with the Indian boys. I was commentating on India's tour of Pakistan in 03-04. Probably the greatest tour I've been involved with. It was an amazing thing. I got on well with the guys. I understood Indians and I'd like to think that. I'm there to help complement them and help them find success. I wasn't going to do it the Greg Chappell way - my way or the highway. It wasn't going to work one bit. He didn't understand the Indian people. I get all the little things that make the fabric here. How the guys down South interacted with those from the North of India. People are different. I bet even if Greg had his time, he'd have changed it.

It interested me but at the same time it also didn't. I didn't think I was good enough or had the education for it. I needed to do more homework on it. So in a short way, the stint with Islamabad 11 years down the line made me feel that I still may have something to do with it. I never thought I was a good coach. I think I'm a very good analyst.

What changed then when you took up the Islamabad role?

It was just the best fun. Winning the Pakistan Super League was better than any television day I'd done. I believe I've helped change kids. Khalid Latif... look where he is. Ahmed Butt, Ruman Raees. Sharjeel Khan... He was always going to be the best player of the tournament. He almost did. I understand him. I look at those guys and I understand their personality. They'll probably need to be dealt with differently to say an Indian. That's fine. It can be challenging at times but we got to get them out of their parental hole, make them experience the world and help them make decision on their own. Help them grow up. It was really exciting.

So you're okay with a part-time coaching responsibility with a T20 franchise?

I don't know if I can be good in a full-time role? I don't know. It's serious commitment. It's a completely different role. I'm not coaching but managing a T20 team. It's all about tactics and strategies. When you're head coach of a national or a state, now you're really in the nitty gritties of coaching. Working with player's attitude, their fitness to their techniques, getting them a strategy on how to play. Make them take ownership of it. It's like some people having kids, just because they like kids. Maybe you babysit the kid and give it back to the parents. Maybe it's the easy way. I'm 55 now, maybe I don't want to take care of a full team.

But you did put your name down for the Pakistan coach role...

Yes. I was close to getting that. I was in the top three for that. The reason I thought that was because defensively their bowlers are up their way the best in the world. This game is 70% defence. So, I thought... if I could get him fitter, which they should. If I could teach them to love fielding, which we could. I have got two years... coaches technically work for 2-3 years, so you don't have to get rid of Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan. You can keep them in there and they're part of your team. And they'll be superb. It'll be harder for the next coach without Misbah and Younis. Good luck with that.

Future of coaching is in the T20s, they say...

Why is that? Time and you get paid big money. Some coaches are reportedly paid 700,000$ US to be coaching in the IPL.

Is that something that interests you?

IPL? Absolutely yes. I'd like to do the Kings XI Punjab job. It's the only job's that open. They're on the bottom and I think I can improve them. I like that kind of story. I don't like people telling you that you are bad. I want people telling, 'Do you know how good you are?' I haven't spoken to anyone about the job, but that's only what I hear, that that job could be available.

It's interesting to see you so enamoured by the T20. Players of your generation desire to speak about their Baggy Greens and the Australian way...

Actually, in my day, the baggy green wasn't a huge thing. It was great to be picked for the Australian Test side... yada yada yada. But all that stuff started with Steve Waugh... 'Ooh the Baggy Green... Let's get numbers inscribed and stuff.'

Bradman or Chappell and the lot used to get two caps. When they went overseas they'd swap one and get another cap. This stuff of just having one cap is crazy.

Do you reckon the basics are not taught right?

Take an example. Let's call this kid Sumedh. He's from Mumbai. He's played U-12, U-16,17. He got picked up for his U-19 state, India U-19. Then he's picked for Mumbai and then India. He's gone through 12-13 coaches. I don't know about you but too many cooks spoil the broth. Sachin Tendulkar mainly had one coach in Achrekar. It's going to come to a situation where players bring their own coaches in. We have Rahul Dravid coaching the U19s but Dravid doesn't know Sumedh till he's playing for Mumbai at least. He doesn't know what makes him tick. I need to have Rahul in the coaching role but he needs to work with Sumedh's batting coach.

So Sumedh's about to go to Australia. So work on the short stuff. How are we going to go about it. Are we good to go?

You've spoken about poor understanding of biomechanics in coaching. Is that what it is then?

Yeah. Do coaches understand the players of today and biomechanics? My point is they don't. I thought I knew everything about the game. I played 20 years as a first-class cricketer. I've done my time. I'm a Professor! The bottom line is I didn't know anything.

So how do you teach a skill to your body?

I'll ask you this. How do you hit a ball long? Timing? See that's what cricketers say. That's definitely not what a young cricketer wants to hear. What starts the sequence? Basically, ball has come down... the power movement is in my left hip. I come down, the arms are still behind. That creates kinetic energy which is transferred to the bat. The hips get the rotational movement. If I'm going to kick a ball... It's that. It's the big muscles which start the trigger.

Whereas, if you get a poor player of T20 cricket like Michael Clarke, who hits the balls with his arms. He doesn't use the core to hit the ball. Look at the biggest hitters... the Russells, the Brathwaites and the Gayles. You see the rotational force of their body and it's essentially a golf swing. It creates lag and then the hands come through. What starts the down swing to get the lag. They do it because they're talented and they're blessed to do something special. But to teach it to a young kid? He doesn't understand. Like Clarke, I've to teach him how to use his hips to hit the ball. And that's something mind blowing for a player of his stature because he's never used it before.

So you're saying there's a blueprint for T20 success?

I think the T20 game can be won at the front and at the end. The middle can be a bit boring. A lot of people think differently but basically if you win the Powerplays, you win 73% of the T20 games. It is so important to win the Powerplay. Getting the most runs in the first six overs compared to the opposition. Understand what is the winning powerplay score in Chennai compared to a Mumbai, Delhi or the MCG? You need to understand stuff like that.

Look. Whether it's luck I got it right, in Islamabad... I don't know. I had some very good players. But I picked these guys with the help of talent identifiers. Everyone has got their roles. You need the car doors to open the door up to get you in the vehicle, you have the keys to start the engine and the engine will take you where you want to go but you can't go anywhere without the wheels. So what I'm saying is, everyone has a role. That's the same as I say in cricket.

What are your identifiers when you step in to that auction room?

Strike rates and economy rates. Over 120. I don't want to look at anyone else less. If there is a bowler conceding 8.5 RPO at the death, he's worth his weight in gold. He's probably the most important player in my team. I call it the four pillars of strength. If we sat there and we have seven other franchises looking to buy their players and we have this pool of talent. What is your style of game and what players can you pick to enforce this style?

My first pillar of strength I'm going to pick is a death bowler. Because he is going to win you more games than anyone else in the team. The Chicago Bulls when they were winning everything had a simple strategy in the team meetings - When the game is in balance, throw the ball to Michael Jordan. And he won the game. Who do we throw the ball to when the game is in the balance at the death? He is my No.1.

The No.2 is an opening batsman, who can bang the living god out of it in the first six and then keep the momentum going and hopefully hang around in the last five overs.

No.3 is a spinner who can turn it both ways. If he can't turn both ways, don't pick him. And he must be able to bat a little bit.

No.4 is my banger, my Andre Russell. He has to bang it but more importantly, he has to bowl. You have others like (Kieron) Pollard. But doesn't bowl too much so his impact in the game isn't as much. (Carlos) Brathwaite is starting to get into that mould. I had a guy like Dwayne Smith who can bowl a few overs. He could also be the banger for me

In addition, I just think you just gotta have a left-arm spinner because guys still don't know how to play them. Maybe that's your fifth.

All your examples have been West Indians? Do you think they've got your T20 blueprint?

Well... A lot of players, particularly the West Indians may not really be into the numbers. But they probably get T20 cricket better than any other country. They play with flair, with courage and don't give a s**t if they got out. They don't get upset if they get hit for six. They understand its rhythm, its pulse better than most.

What happens then when you've to coach them? Do they buy in to this pattern-based analyses?

The West Indian guys don't talk much to me. I was coaching Dwayne Smith with Islamabad United. Before the final, we had to prepare against a new bowler, who had a few different change-ups. On the eve of the match, I just said 'Dwayne can you look at his bowling action on the computer and pick up couple of different things' and he simply said, 'Don't worry about it'.

I said, 'Do worry about it.' and he said, 'No, I don't prepare that way.' I said, 'Okay, that's alright, I'll pick you for who you are but I'll also tell you this. If you f**k up on a ball that you didn't prepare for, in a final, you won't be playing for me next year.'

He didn't, he picked it up and smacked it. So that's his class. I'm not there to interrupt him but if he keeps making mistakes, then I will come and wield the axe. I picked him because I liked him in the first place but ultimately if they don't look to improve their games, they'll be moved on... It's harsh but it's also the reality. It's my job. My franchise owners tell me that my job is to win. If my job is to win, then my job is also to make hard calls.

But the need to play big shots is also a cultural thing? You don't see Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma and the other sub-continent batsmen resort to the big hits in T20s but they get by fine...

Yeah, they probably didn't need to do it before. But they are doing it now. Look at Rohit Sharma, if you make 264 you don't need too many of these shots. And he's done it twice. But is he is really a big-name in T20 cricket? I think he's a very, very good T20 player. If he wants to take it to the nth degree... to the levels of AB de Villiers, he has to accept that he has to park his ego in the car park and go out and try and play these shots. He's going to make mistakes but he's going to go to the next level. He's already at god like, he could go to heavenly like. Look at his game a little bit more... What balls are you going to attack. How do I read the play? Mitchell Johnson hates bowling yorkers, so you can get deep in your crease and get under the ball and that's why he's not a great T20 bowler. It's understanding the opposition. That comes down to education and the defensive part of the game. Mitchell Starc is the best bowler in the world because he hits his defensive lines and lengths better than anyone else.

You've also been open about cricket embracing change...

I love to see where the game is going. I like to see T20 tweaked a little bit here and there. I like to see the batsmen being able to use an over where they double runs. If they hit five of that over, it is 10. Because it is about entertainment and also about strategy. When will he use this over. I like to think if you hit a 90m six, you should get 8 runs instead of six. You have technology to do it.

I think we should have three umpires on the ground. One solely to call no balls. The umpire at the bowler's end look at LBWs and caught behinds. My point is let's not use technology for this. I hear this all the time. This is my point. I'm batting and I can smack the living daylights but you can't. All of a sudden, I hear a no ball call, I get a free hit. Why am I putting you on strike? I'm going to stay here and I'm not going to run. I have got one run and now I have a chance to hit the next ball for a six. The technology, if I hit the ball and run for a single and if the umpire says it's no ball after we've crossed then it's wrong. We need it to know instantaneous. It's not hard and it's way way easier. Sometimes there's a run-out, he is already in position to adjudicate a run-out or check if the catch has carried. All those type of things. If umpire gets fatigued, we can turn it around. People tell me, that's another player on the ground. Soccer has 22 people on the ground. Come on. Just move on.

What about technology in cricket?

The Indians don't trust technology. I agree with some of their thoughts. HotSpot they said was 100%. It has been proved that it's not. Mr. Broad proved it to us in Nottingham. DRS is not right. Sachin Tendulkar was plumb LBW in the Mohali semifinal of 2011. Absolutely dead. It says, it's missed leg. No way.

You sound very excited in your commentary stints. Do you love calling games?

That's right. It's a privileged position. I love calling a T20 game. I don't know if you can feel it in my voice. It's entertaining. You got to give the viewers something other than the hard core cricket. You go to the lighter side and probably take the mickey out of yourself a little bit. Lots of commentators don't do it. I've been doing it for a long time now.

What was great about Shane Warne. Warne had a beautiful skill but he also had a guy called Richie Benaud, who also bowled legspin, telling the world how Warne bowled the leg spinner, the wrong 'un and the flipper. Benaud told the world how Warne was going to bowl a leg spinner, and another one there. Then he'd set him up with a wrong 'un and then finally get him out with a flipper. He just told the whole story and of course Warnie was good enough to back it up. The bottom line is it is fun. The analytics now is superb. The viewer is voracious in appetite for stats. What's a good stat, what's an interesting stat. I like that. The technology... Understanding the laws of the game.

But it brings with it its own challenges. The demographics and the broadcasters' specific requirements

Challenges? The pronunciation is the biggest challenge. But I'm here to get employed. I'll speak the truth but you've got to understand your audience. I was doing a game in Dubai between Australia and Pakistan. And I was quiet and sedate because I knew it was being watched by Fox Sports. I know that Australian people don't like me to get up too much with the commentary. They want you to be chilled. 'That's a nice shot. Four' Done.

I got the call from the director. And he says he 'I don't want you to be like that. I want you up.' You've got to understand 'What's your audience? '180 million Pakistan audience. They want you up.' Alright, Ok. No, I wasn't supporting Australia at all. I don't care who wins. I'm not too upset if Australia get beat. I don't have any allegiance to them. They didn't have any allegiance to me at the end of my career, let me tell you that (laughs). I just call the game.

But I said, 'Boss, they'll smash me on social media from Australia if I talk too much.' He was like. I don't care about that. Your marker is the Pakistan crowd.' It's what your boss says, you do it. You get what you want.

You started the Major Events Group based out of Dubai. Did you always have an entrepreneurial edge to you?

Basically, I opened up the Sydney Olympic Stadium with my company in 1999. I used to do little events. Mainly, I was architect for the ICL. Basically the stuff you have IPL is copied from everything we did. AJ Kapoor was a television executive then with Zee. We sat in a room to come up with ideas for a cricket league. We came up with the ideas similar to the American baseball league if you can call it that. We came up with 8 franchises, 7 Indian players. We had buzzwords like Kolkata Tigers and all that kind of stuff. We then got the whole Lahore, Bangladesh teams to play against the Indian boys. All those wonderful things. Then IPL copied pretty much everything. Right down to the franchise agreements. Word for word.

Do you feel hard done by the BCCI?

I was never against the BCCI. At the end, it was my boss telling me to do something, I had to do it. Sadly most of them didn't get paid. The ICL was massive. Let's not forget. In 1983, India didn't like ODI cricket one bit, then Kapil Dev won the World Cup. Suddenly India liked ODI cricket. Then India didn't like T20 cricket. I came up with an idea that is actually being used.

Check out stats. I played in matches in Bangalore and I opened with Dhoni. We played T20 cricket in India in 2004-05. We were playing all these hybrid T20 games. It was about time, it was going to become a big thing.

What happened with the MCL? Can you get retired players and get the league to work?

Don't think it will work. I was not there making the idea. I was only there to work with the components. I had the rights to procure the players. I got 250 signed up. I got exclusive right for broadcast and sponsorship and after there were problems, I withdrew my company's services. After I got the players. I had nothing to do with the running, the sale or how it was perceived. Even the rules... Nothing. There were confidentiality agreements signed to get out of it. I was quite happy to.

Finally... If I were to ask you to choose one moment from your entire career to relive...

There are two. Winning the World Cup and the Ashes in 1989. Being on the balcony and ringing your dad - to say we've just won the Ashes. That was pretty cool.

And winning the World Cup, becoming a World Cup champion, is something unparalleled. You talk about footballers... They say he is a World Cup champion, he is a European Cup champion. They never talk about how many games he played and stuff. In cricket, we talk about 'Hey Sachin has played 200 Test matches and scored 49 (51) hundreds.' They never talk about what you've won. Nothing can take away winning the Ashes in 89 at Old Trafford. It was massive.