Clayton Murzello: Making a pitch for cricket drama

England allrounder Ian Botham and Aussie umpire Dick French shoot for a film at the Sydney Cricket Ground in October 1986 Picgraham morris midday archivesTomorrow the release of Sachin A Billion Dreams promises to bring to the big screen dramatic offfield scenes from Sachin Tendulkarrsquos life that very few have been privy to thus far From emotional and riveting to downright amusing the cricketing world has always offered up anecdotes packed with drama controversy and humour Not surprisingly these aspects provide much fodder for filmmakers should they choose to showcase any number of great offfield stories from the history of the game in a movieIn keeping with the spirit of Tendulkarrsquos upcoming biopic here are a handful of tales from the game that would make for an interesting movie montageScene one is dedicated to superstar Sachin though he doesnrsquot feature in the action in person Set in an era before Tendulkar exploded into our collective consciousness this act unfolds in Mumbai The national selectors headed by the late Raj Singh Dungarpur met to pick the Indian team for the 198990 tour of Pakistan Tendulkar who was playing the ongoing Irani Cup match for Rest of India against Delhi was on their mind But opinion was divided After all they didnrsquot want to crush a 16yearoldrsquos confidence if he were to fail against Imran Khan amp Co Raj Singh it is believed turned to the seniormost man in the room Naren Tamhane for an opinion Tamhanersquos simple but emphatic response was ldquoSachin Tendulkar never failsrdquo That was it No further discussion was necessary Tendulkar got pickedThe Adelaide Test was probably the most controversial of the Bodyline battles of 193233 It was in this game that Australian captain Bill Woodfull told England manager Pelham Warner off with the famous words ldquoThere are two teams out there one is trying to play cricket and the other is not The matter is in your hands Mr Warner and I have nothing further to say to you Good afternoonrdquo Warner had gone to the Australian dressing room after the third dayrsquos play to check if Woodfull who was hit above the heart by Harold Larwood was doing fineIt is learnt that England skipper Douglas Jardine too knocked on the door of the Australian dressing room wanting an apology after an Australian player had given him a earful on the field Middle order batsman Vic Richardson the grandfather of the Chappell brothers opened the door On hearing about Jardinersquos apology demand he turned to his teammates and asked ldquoOkay which of you bds called Larwood a bdrdquoFred Trueman a proud Yorkshireman and a great England fast bowler was prouder when he got his Yorkshire cap in 1951 He returned home that night chuffed and noticed his father in the living room The young fast bowler asked his miner father why he was not at work Trueman Sr replied ldquoOn a night like this in a Yorkshiremanrsquos life he doesnrsquot go to work Come on where is itrdquo He meant the cap It was shown to him and a sense of pride filled the old man When he died that white rose cap was placed in Trueman Srrsquos coffin ldquoIt was his and hersquod worked for itrdquo said Trueman many years laterIan Bothamrsquos one and only stint as England captain was disastrous He lost the home series against West Indies in 1980 and was well and truly outclassed by the same opponents in the Caribbean in 1981 When it came to the start of the 1981 Ashes England under Botham lost the opening Test at Trent Bridge while Botham bagged a pair in the drawn game at Lordrsquos Mike Brearley was recalled as captain before the Leeds Test and had a meeting with Botham He asked him whether he wanted to play in the Test and Botham replied ldquoIrsquom absolutely certain I want to play Irsquom in great nick but I just havenrsquot been converting it for England Of course I want to playrdquo A delighted Brearley remarked ldquoGood because I think yoursquoll get five wickets and a hundredrdquo Botham did better he bagged seven wickets in the Test and destroyed Australia with 50 and 149 not out Ashes cricket was never the same againOne simply cannot leave the cash element out of any film so herersquos a moneyrelated segment In 1977 Michael Holding went to Barclays bank in Jamaica and asked the person behind the counter to update his passbook He examined it and found no change in the meagre balance The money onethird of 25000 for a season promised to him for joining Kerry Packerrsquos World Series Cricket had not yet been remitted Holding returned to the bank a week later and pushed his red passbook through hoping for an update It came back to him and he discovered that there was a comma in his bank balance for the first time in his life It was then that Holding realised World Series Cricket was not just about promises but serious money Mike Coward the doyen of Australian cricket writers calls the red passbook story one of the pearls of the game It sure ismiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom