Clayton Murzello: Salutations in order for Mike Coward

Itrsquos celebration time in the journalistic fraternity of world cricket as Australian writer Mike Coward becomes a lsquoMember of the Order of Australiarsquo It is an honour conferred according to the Australian government website ldquofor service in a particular locality or field of activity or to a particular grouprdquo Cowardrsquos contribution to cricket writing broadcasting and authoring has been exemplaryTo say that Coward has been a senior respected pro is as obvious as saying Greg Chappell was a master batting technician his brother Ian a fine captain Doug Walters an entertaining batsman and Dennis Lillee a menacing fast bowlerMike Coward at his desk in the Sydney Cricket Ground press boxAll these names played at a time when Coward went from strength to strength in cricket writing Over the last eight years he has made less use of his pen and focussed his energies on enriching the International Cricket Hall of Fame in Don Bradmanrsquos hometown Bowral through his onscreen interviews with some of the gamersquos best namesCoward has a close bond with India In the late 1980s he wrote a good part of his famous book Cricket Beyond the Bazaar mdash Australia on the Indian subcontinent in the outskirts of Chennai his favourite city where he reported on the 1986 Tied Test and the thrilling India vs Australia 1987 World Cup game Since then he has visited India often Each visit stressful but fruitful every return journey filled with the satisfaction of having reunited with old friendsIndia and Australia play more often now than in earlier years and Coward has played a part in that change Having reported on the 1986 Tied Test Coward recognised that the rivalry between these two cricketing giants could help the game immensely There was a10year gap between the 196970 and 197980 Test series in India It took another seven years for both countries to play Test cricket in India and another 10 years for the next Test by which time the BorderGavaskar Trophy was initiatedCoward pushed for more cricket exchanges through his writing There was absolutely no cynicism displayed by him when it came to India As Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his foreword to Cricket Beyond the Bazaar in 1990 ldquoIt is people like Allan Border and Mike Coward who will vouch for the fact that nowhere else in the world is cricket so much a way of life as it is on the subcontinentrdquoIn Cricket Beyond the Bazaar Cowardrsquos description of Dean Jonesrsquo return to the Chidambaram Stadium dressing room after scoring probably the most painful Test double century in the history of the game is profound ldquoI was behind the steel mesh of the communications cage at the rear of the playersrsquo viewing area when Jones made his agonisingly unsteady return to the dressing room Not since I stood close to those who trailed American Frank Shorter into the Munich stadium at the end of the marathon at the 20th Olympiad had I seen a sportsman so distressed His pupils were dilated his lips swollen his face red and his whole body weak and racked with painrdquoOf course Cowardrsquos work goes beyond the subcontinental canvass Like the late Tony Cozier he wrote and spoke on air and did the sweaty yards to write and despatch reports on tight deadlines At one time he reported on every Australia match from August 1984 to March 1989Coward shared press box space with some great writers like Jack Fingleton Bill OrsquoReilly Ray Robinson Peter Roebuck and our very own KN Prabhu but hersquod make even the juniormost of cricket correspondents comfortable And if you happened to be in Sydney at the time hersquod always invite you for his customary Sydney Test party at his Annandale homeCoward is currently celebrating his lsquoMember of the Order of Australiarsquo and the buildup to his 70th birthday in Europe He told me yesterday ldquoAs Gideon Haigh cricket historian said it is an award that is lsquogood for the tradersquo I very much hope this is so One of the joys of the past week was fielding nearly 200 calls texts emails and notes from colleagues and friends throughout the world of cricket and journalism And this included calls from India which especially meant a lot to merdquoAnd while Coward enjoys his glass of white wine on his European holiday hersquoll turn back the clock to the 1950s when it all began for him writing lsquoreportsrsquo on his return from childhood football matches on his motherrsquos old typewriter and using a broken torch as a microphone lsquocommentatingrsquo on street games And of course to 1963 when he began as a copy boy at the Adelaide Newsmiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom