Merv Chats: Cricket

"Allan Border labelled me the 'fruit fly' Australia's biggest pest, and I think that's still fairly appropriate today."

Best cricketing memory?

My most memorable cricketing memory would have to be the 1989 Ashes Tour of Australia. My first tour with the Australian team where we were written off as the worst Australian team ever to be selected. I went over to England and won 4-nil. So to be part of that, I look back at that. Very, very fond memories.

You know I love to play against England, always England, history, tradition. First time I played against England in Australia, we got absolutely walloped and then turned things around. So 1989, toured England, won that. 1990, 1991, Australia won that, and then 1993 back in England, won that. So I had a bit of success against England. Just the history, tradition. You're playing for the ashes as an Australian cricketer, you can accept the defeat from most teams, but you cannot accept defeat from England.

Who was the hardest batsman to bowl out? Combination of a few earlier in my career. Sunil Gavaskar, because he was so clinical and methodical about the way he went. And also Viv Richards, because he was just brutal. So if you bowl to Viv, he just took you down. So it was chalk and cheese, really. One was a death by a thousand cuts, and the other one was just brutal. And then later in the career, no surprises with Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar for the same reasons. But a bloke always found to have a lot of courage and always stood up against Australia was Michael Atherton. He was one of the toughest competitors I played against.

What used to get me fired up before a match, I think just the adrenaline of the game itself. Anytime I played a game at no matter what level, if you weren't on, it made it hard. So the desire not to let anyone else down. So selectors pick you for a reason. The captain gives you an opportunity, I didn't wanna let them down. So I always tried to pick myself up for any contest, whether it be club, state or international.

What makes a good cricket captain?

If you have a look at what Australia have put up over the last 30, 40, 50 years, they've had captains that are really rational and think about their decisions. It's almost as though they can remove themselves from the situation, have an overlook of what's going on and make a decision that makes a difference. So yeah, from Alan Border, he was a fantastic captain. Yeah, he had a lot of emotion, but he was really rational in his thinking. And you go through all our captains since Alan Border, to Mark Taylor, to Steve Waugh, to Ricky Ponting, to Steve Smith, to Michael Clarke, all the guys that are really good players, number one, they've got really good cricket brains, but they're rational in their thinking, they're not emotional.

Who would make your dream team?

You think about this quite often, and as hard as it is, you name a team and you always leave players out. But my dream team: Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes at the top of the order. Ricky Ponting was the sensational player, so it's a toss-up between him and Richie Richardson. Then you've got Viv Richards, and you just think, well, Viv. There's so many you leave out, but Allan Border has to be, has to be at five. Number six, Steve Waugh. Number seven, you gotta pick. See, a lot of people think Adam Gilchrist, but I love Ian Healy and like I played a lot of my cricket, but what Gilchrist has done makes it very hard to pick Heals, but I'm still sticking with Heals. And then Shane Warne just every day of the week, best of his kind, just a sensational player, but a better bloke. And then, gee. All the fast bowlers, Glenn McGrath, Dennis Lillee, picking Dennis Lillee every day of the week, my favourite cricketer of all time and then Glen McGrath or Craig McDermott. So a lot of Australians in there, A few of the West Indians. I got scarred by the West Indians, so they're up there. But yeah, pretty easy to pick. I didn't even mention Boonie.

Growing up, my cricketing hero, to be honest, I had three of them. So Ian Chappell, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh. And people ask why I grew a moustache! Have a look at those three. They all had moustaches. So Ian Chappell for the way that he captained the side and just looked after his players. Dennis Lillee, as a young fast bowler, to watch him bowl. You could dream of being a tenth as good as him, and you'd be a fairly decent cricketer. And Rod Marsh, just a competitor, behind the stumps, some of those catches that he took, and especially off Dennis Lillee. They just sit in your mind. So yeah, the big three for mine when I was growing up.

Love it or hate it: The 'fruit fly' nickname

Probably loved it because it was pretty apt. I got into the rooms in Adelaide for my first test match and I reckon I was in there for five minutes when Allan Border labelled me the 'Fruit Fly - Australia's biggest pest', and I think that's still fairly appropriate today, still a pest.

Love it or hate it: Bay 13 warming up with you

No better place to be. MCG, packed house. Always said there's only one thing better than being in the Australian side playing at the MCG, and that's being a Victorian in the Australian team playing at the MCG. The support we got and the crowd that got behind me from Bay 13. Every one of those guys, just yeah, thank you very much. Great day.

Love it or hate it: The Big Bash League

I'm sort of in between there. Love the players. And while I follow The Renegades, because I was on the coaching panel with them for the first four years, it's very hard to follow a team with all the movement of the players. So basically the players that I love to watch, Aaron Finch, fantastic. Glenn Maxwell went from the Renegades to the Stars. Brad Hodge, a couple of sides ended up over in Adelaide. All Victorians, funnily enough, isn't it? But what I love is what the Perth Scorchers have done, is that they seem to really rely on homegrown talent. They get a couple over overseas players, but most of their players are homegrown talent. and if you can do that, stick with your homegrown talent, you have a fair bit of success. And the Scorchers have certainly had their success in the Big Bash.

What's your best ever sledge?

Probably too long to discuss on air. Mate, I was very basic with sledging. So it was all sort of two syllable, one syllable, just words that I could understand. But yeah, I think people get mixed up with sledging it and don't understand what it's about. Sledging is a distraction. So sledging, chirping, whatever you wanna call it, it's a distraction. So as a bowler, if you are sledging through frustration, you've lost the battle. But I used to sledge for a reason to convince myself that I hated the batsman, and if I hated the batsman, I was more inclined to bowl better at him. So, if I was going through a bit of a flat spot in a game, I'd be taking it out on the batsman to get myself back involved in the game. But some of the best sledgers, they're just great. They are good and the best sledge is one that makes your teammates laugh and totally humiliates the opposition player.

Talking cricket, hope you've had a lot of fun with that. I certainly have. And have a think about the drive and when you next drive, jump into SsangYong. Drive long knackers.

Thanks for the chat Merv!