The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 57

-The Sydney Morning Herald Saturday, December 24, 1988 57 Sport ynd's sight luimdred tue as helps surfers make the grade 31 I oraer passes Test jWi J'f vVsVi i 5 1 v- "5 I -T A ft I r. 1 fj jf- it A 1 sKl 'vr-f lVVVt -Vv, s-' n--; i 1 mil f- w-Srllif tSie it has long been said there should never be any cheering from the Press box. Perhaps that is right It is best not to drop one's guard in front of the readership. They say, too, all strivings in the Press box should be in the name of objectivity. That, too, is laudable providing the end result is not so dispassionate as to be empty, even trite.

'In any event, I will not be a passive observer today as Allan Robert Border becomes the first Australian and only the eighth cricketer to play in 100 Tests when he. leads the team out in the third Test against the West Indies at the MCG. I admire Border greatly and rejoice that the game which so often has broken his heart but never his spirit can at last provide him with a moment to cherish the rest of his days. Border has played at a time when Australian cricket has been racked with pain. Yet still he has prospered.

This is his 97th consecutive Test match only Sunil Gavaskar (106) has played more on end and he has scored more runs than any other Australian, the brothers Cbappell and Sir Donald Brad-man included. Given that his career has coincided with the most unsuccessful period in the history of Australian cricket, it is remarkable that he continues to average more than 50 in Tests. Each day one hears and reads much about Border. Presumably because of the accursed "tall poppy syndrome, much of it seems to be negative. Often we are told of his moodiness and aloofness; his fits of pique and his wont to withdraw; his threats to quit the captaincy he never wanted in the first place; his lack of imagination, tactical appreciation and communication as a leader.

And so it goes on. Mercifully, no-one ever questions his greatness as a batsman, although invariably it is observed that he is not a stylish cricketer. For what it is worth, I don't necessarily think that is right of CRICKET MIKE COWARD particularly when he plays from the front-foot between cover point and mid-off and off his pads behind square leg. I agree with Doug Walters. The circumstances of his era have prevented Border playing his natural game.

Why aren't we producing busts of the mighty little man and placing them on plinths the length and breadth of the country? For while the observation will anger him, Border has been Australian cricket from 1984 to 1988. Given the extent of the load he has had to carry, is it any wonder that his moods can be unpredictable and that occasionally he has said things he later regretted. Frankly, I marvel that the man has retained his sanity particularly in the four years he has had the captaincy. As a captain he won two of his first five Tests and has managed only four more wins in his next 31. If he leads beyond this series he will become the first skipper in the history of the game to lead in 40 consecutive Tests.

Unquestionably, he has improved considerably as a leader a fact which is readily confirmed by Richie Benaud and Ian Chappell and his commitment to traditional values and virtues has won him immense popularity throughout the world. He is a resolute, caring, honest and loyal man. At times he has frustrated selectors and officials with what could be termed a blind loyalty to some players who demonstrated they were not worthy of such consideration. For someone who originally did not want to lead and was sceptical, if not cynical of the media pop and posh he has made a dynamic contribution as the principal public relations officer for, Australian cricket. But it has been his warm and wonderfully old-fashioned commitment to the green baggy cap SOCCER MICHAEL COCKERILL of the most sought-after teams in the country, and it has been five years since we last saw them over here (WA beat the Socceroos 2-1 in an exhibition match).

"Soccer has undergone an amazing transformation in this State in the past 12 months, and a match involving the national team would give us an enormous boost" The likelihood of the Perth match will determine whether the tour goes ahead. The NSW Soccer Federation has already agreed to host the first match in Sydney, but unless Perth can underwrite the costs of a second match the tour will be cancelled. National coach Frank Arok has already made it clear he considers the tour vital preparation for the final Oceania World Cup matches in March. Universidad Catolica, who boast eight current Chilean internationals, have indicated they are prepared to host the Socceroos should they triumph over Israel and New Zealand in March. The national team would then face a South American country (Paraguay, Ecuador or Colombia) for a place in the World Cup finals in Italy, and the offer of a training base in Chile is one Arok will find hard to refuse.

John Adshead was yesterday confirmed as the coach of New Zealand for their 1990 World Cup Allan Border in classic pose today he becomes the first Australian and only w.v.i.a iihj iu iuw ltoio aim uc 11 uu it icauiiig xus Slue imu battle, looking for victory against the West Indies. SURFING NICK CARROLL Few surfers would deny Hynd's technical knowledge or his ability to analyse heat results. None has knocked back his help. Hynd is sure guidance is necessary for many of the young surfers who fling themselves into the world tour with too much money and not enough commonsense. But, paradoxically, he thinks the individual nature of the sport stops older surfers from taking up the coaching reins.

"The best coaches are the ones who can stand away from what's happening and be objective," he said. "Surfers want to stay in the limelight all their lives. They end up destroying their chances at coaching by getting into competition with the guy they're coaching." For Hynd, this is a pointed subject. It is also a spiky one for Mark Occhilupo, a surfer who should be one of the dominant competitive forces on the world tour. Hynd was Occhilupo's coach when the Cronulla assassin erupted on to the international surf scene in 1984.

He said he grew close to Occhilupo, maybe too close. By late 1984 Occhilupo was at the summit of the world rankings, and roaring through victory after victory. Then the capricious kid decided to ignore his coach and spend some time travelling and surfing with one of his toughest competitors, Cheyne Horan. "They went on a fast together," recalled Hynd. "Occy lost two stone in 21 days.

He was having fun but it totally threw him off track." He remains certain that the 1985 world title would have been Occhilupo's in a canter. Instead, the surfer finished second behind Carroll. Eventually Hynd was replaced as Occhilupo's coach by Rabbit Bartholomew, who at the time was as fierce a competitor as ever. "Occy came up to me a few months later and it was classic," Hynd said. "He said: 'You know, it's funny, we spend more time talking about how Rabbit's performing than about how I'm performing'." Hynd laughed wryly at that.

He'd seen it coming. The young superstar hit for six by two of the most cunning players in the game. Page puts paid to his past pains HONOLULU, Friday: Young Wollongong surfer Rob Page overcame a painful ankle and an ugly history to win a strong second-round heat of the Marui Pipeline Masters yesterday. The painful ankle came from a pre-heat warm-up, when Page's board rapped him hard on the bone. "It was real weird," he said.

"As soon as I felt it, I thought it had snapped. When I realised it hadn't, I was so stoked." The chequered past dates from a practice attempt at Pipeline last season, when Page tried to dive head-first into a huge oncoming pile of foam. "The thing picked me up and bounced me off my neck, back, elbows, knees, everything. I felt like I'd been hit by a baseball bat for about a week," he said with a grin. That incident kept him out of the Pipeline water this year until his heats.

"It scares me, all the crowds out there," said the Wollongong Wonder. "Anyway, I figure it's pretty straightforward. You just paddle into them, catch them and get tubed." This simple philosophy worked well as the youngster threaded his way past Gary Elkerton, Hawaiian Hans Hedemann and Peruvian Rodolfo Lima for a win. Few other surprises dotted the smooth-faced 2m waves, as the top seeds performed strongly. World champion Damien Hard-man pulled through one very long tube ride to qualify behind Hawaii's Aaron Napoleon.

It was a pressure heat for Hardman, but a calm consultation with "caddy-coach" Simon Anderson set the champ for some intelligent wave selection early in the piece and tough competitors Mark Occhilupo and Cheyne Horan conld not bridge the gap. Derek Ho and Ronnie Burns, who both featured in last year's final, shared control of the surf to shut out Californians Brad Gerlach and Chris Frohoff, and Australians Dave Macaulay and Rob Bain strolled past Japanese stars Satoshi Sekino and Takao Kuga. Still to surf are world title contenders Barton Lynch and Tom Carroll, dark horse Glen Winton and American hero Tom Curren. In a typical pre-event drama, Carroll contracted influenza, then a form of asthma, and is feeling blessed that lack of surf has meant a six-day break. "I do feel weaker," he said.

"I've lost Vh kilos in the last week." HONOLULU, Friday: Young' Australian surfer Simon Law paddled out into the surf for his heat in the Pipeline Masters contest and sat on his board, ready and waiting, eyes fixed firmly on a figure back on the beach. That figure standing in the yard of a small house in front of Pipeline was fellow surfer Derek Hynd. He sat with a score book, staring seaward with similar intensity, his free hand gripping a huge umbrella. "Umbrella up," Hynd said, "he's coming first or second. Umbrella up with a red rag on top, he's looking shaky.

Umbrella down, he's buggered panic." He turned and grinned. "I always do this send signals," i he nodded. "You'll find me in the most bizarre positions." Hynd, 31, is a former top pro surfer who wears several hats. He is a journalist for a US surf magazine, is an inveterate traveller and is one of the few professional surfing coaches in the world. Sports coaching, with its theories, techniques, twists and turns, is yet to catch on in pro surfing.

And Simon Anderson, whose role as a "caddy" for world champion Damien Hardman involves teaching him more and more about the sport, has a few ideas why. "The thing is that the sport is still so young," Anderson said. "Not many people have much idea about what works and what doesn't Blokes like Derek can be very valuable to younger surfers because they've been there and done that." Hynd has been around. He tackled the fledgling tour in 1979 and pushed himself to a seventh ranking. Then his favourite board bounced out of a South African shore break and hit him solidly in the left eye.

The optic nerve was ruptured beyond repair. That was 1980; Hynd kept touring for two years and maintained his ranking before dropping out, frustrated by his handicap. He is now a coach for surf wear company Rip Curl, whose team includes Hardman, Law, Tom Curreri and new tour sensation Marty Thomas. He said the best advice he could give young pro surfers was to simply be sure of what you do in the water. "I always try to tell them that tell them if they mess up then the interference rule is right there waiting." strong opposition as many times as possible," he said.

"At present the elite compete only at selected amateur events where they generally have an easy run and go home. If Darren Clark could get his 100m time down to 10.1s then he would run 43.5s for 400m. "With athletics now open, the athletes can chase the money on offer the same as their golfing, surfing and tennis counterparts. Austin said this year's Stawell Gift winner earned $30,000 from the circuit, junior sprinter Chris Davis collected $10,000 and veteran female Karen Adams, 35, received more than $6,000 for three appearances in events up to 400m, Chilean match would be a coup for Perth time and his dogged determination as a batsman to defy consistently colossal odds that has earned him such admiration throughout the world. It is significant that 1 1 of his 23 hundreds have come since he took over the captaincy.

No-one in India, Pakistan, the West Indies, England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka has any doubt about Border's greatness as a cricketer. Sadly, that does not always seem to be the case in his own country. Keith Miller is among those who is convinced that Australians don't realise how good a cricketer Border is; just how remarkable his contribution has been. I hope the tens of thousands at the MCG today will adequately express the gratitude of a generation to a big, selfless patriot who stands just 173cm tall and has a heart as big as the wide brown land itself. And I sense the ghosts of the Press box will happily join in the applause.

Apart from Border, West Indian paceman Malcolm Marshall should also achieve a milestone during the first two days when he takes his 300th Test wicket On 299 wickets from 60 Tests, Marshall will become the ninth bowler to take 300 Test wickets. Medium-pacer Terry Alderman was targeted by a small but noisy anti-apartheid protest at the Australians' net practice at the MCG yesterday. Alderman, recalled after a three-year ban for touring South Africa as a member of Kim Hughes's side in 1985-86 and 1986-87, is the first rebel tourist to make it back into the Test arena. If he is selected ahead of spinner Peter Taylor, this will be his first match back in the five-day game for Australia since 1984, after playing the first three one-day matches earlier this month. Six people from the Victorian branch of the Australian Anti-Apartheid Movement waved placards and shouted slogans at Alderman for just over a quarter of an hour but left once they had received television coverage.

campaign, which continues against Australia and Israel in March. Adshead, who led the All Whites to the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain, took charge when Kevin Fallon resigned last month and guided the team to a comfortable 8-1. aggregate victory over Chinese-Taipei in the recent preliminary round. He has now agreed to remain at the helm "until we exit from the World Cup." While Adshead said his obvious goal was to qualify for the finals in Italy, he warned the New Zealand public to be realistic about the campaign. "When I hear people talking about our success six years ago and saying, 'Oh well, he did it in 82, 1 just laugh," he said.

"People have got to remember that that team was built around three years of' preparation. We won't even have three months with this side." Adshead and his assistant, Dave Taylor, will bring together a squad of 20 players early in the New Year to begin preparation for the qualifying round. While he used a squad of predominantly Auckland-based players for the recent matches against the Taiwanese, it is likely he will produce a broader-based squad for the games against Israel and the Socceroos. He said: "All I will say is that I am looking for the best 20 players that are available, whether they come from Auckland, New Zealand, Australia or Europe. result of injury.

Should he imoress. however, he could expect progressively greater returns for his efforts, with a shot at the major league the ultimate reward. Against such a prospect Lindsay must weigh the offer of a four-year free scholarship to Birmingham College in Alabama, one of the Mets' breeding grounds. Spending money and accommodation would be thrown in for a package worth about $250,000. Whether he was picked op by the Mets after four years or not, Lindsay would walk away with a degree.

Complicating matters further is the question of timing. With college due to recommence on January 11, and the size of the Mets offer not known until next week, he has precious few days to ponder the relative merits of the offers. "My parents would rather see me The Winfield Socceroos will make their first appearance in Western Australia since 1983 if the planned tour of Chilean champi-. oris Universidad Catolica goes ahead in February. The Australian Soccer Federation has already approved the choice of Perth as a venue for the second and final match of the tour and, if local officials can secure the necessary backing, the soccer- starved WA fans are expected to respond in their thousands.

"Perth promoter Nick Gerono-mos said yesterday that if the fixture went ahead he would expect a minimum of 10,000 spectators to attend the match, which may be played under lights at the WACA Ground. chief executive of of the eight-team Western Super League, which this year became th major competition in the State, will meet executives of Bond Brewing in Perth next week in an effort to secure the necessary sponsorship. the company agrees to support the venture, the promoters expect to make a small profit from the match. At this stage it is estimated it will cost $100,000 to pay for air fares and accommodation, and to promote the game. A Dutch fee of 11,900) will also be paid to both teams.

are not a profit-making organisation, all we want to do is break even or maybe even make a small loss," Geronomos said. "At the moment the Socceroos are one Ghristmas A W-k Auburn pitcher Darian Lindsay will long remember Christmas 1988. 'While his friends approach the festive season with little more on 'tfreir minds than presents and podding, Lindsay is contemplating what may well be the most crucial decision of his life. The 18-year-old's anxious Yule-tfdte was precipitated by a discussion held soon after last Sunday's conclusion to the World Youth Baseball Series. helped Australia to fourth place at Auburn's Oriole Stadium, the left-hander was contacted by a scout from the New York Mets, one of America's premier ball clubs.

The scout alerted by former Auburn player Craig Shipley, who is now with the Mets had travelled to the series specifically Taming the tube Australian Luke Egan shows his style, timing his effort perfectly to duck into a towering wave as the surf finally came good for the heats of the Marui Pipeline Masters in Hawaii. presents pitcher with tough choice Gandy back on track for Bay Gift BASEBALL- IAN COCKERILL to watch the 186cm pitcher after first casting an eye over him during the under-19 World Youth Series in Canada last year. He liked what he saw and presented the Baulkham Hills youngster, less than a month out of Greystanes High, with two gilt-edged options. The first would see Lindsay sign professional forms with the Mets for a initial fee yet to be determined but, judging by past examples, expected to be between $30,000 and $40,000. Should he join the Mets, Lindsay would be expected to make progress in the club's minor league teams, with the threat of being cut from their roster at season's end or as a go to college so that when I come out I'd have something for the years after even if I didn't make the leagues," Lindsay said.

"Then there are others saying I should sign the contract. I have to make up my mind by myself it's not easy. "I think if the money's good I'll probably take the contract." Dick Shirt arguably Australia's finest pitcher and Lindsay's coach for the past five years is in a better position than most to appreciate his charge's dilemma, having spent a year with the Cincinnati Reds in 1967. "Whatever he chooses, I see him fulfilling his goal," said Shirt, who steered Lindsay into the Claxton Shield side at the age of 16. "You've got to remember it's a million-to-one chance.

But if you can get there it's half the battle." Former national 200m record- holder Peter Gandy is leading an Australia-wide revival in professional athletics. Gandy heads a list of prominent sprinters who will contest the $10,000 Bay Gift at Botany on January 7. He will face strong opposition from current 200m record-holder Clayton Kearney, University Gift winner Tim Jackson, Pan Pacific Games champion Steve Perry and Stawell Gift winner Scott Antonic. Gandy indicated a return to form when he lost Thursday's Waratah Gift final at Hensley Field to Robert Hanna in a photo finish, after conceding his 19-year-old opponent a 2m start. Hanna collected first prize of $250 and a further $100 for SPRINTING winning the series points score.

Nearly $600,000 in prize money is being offered for the Australian summer circuit, with $160,000 available in NSW. Australian Professional Athletics president Reg Austin said the circuit extended to more than 50 country centres around Australia each year, attracting up to 10,000 spectators in some areas. Austin was critical of leading amateur athletes who complained about lack of finance and lack of support. "Without speed, none of these athletes will ever improve their performances, and to get speed an athlete needs to run fast against NICK CARROLL.