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Warwick Todd has never been afraid to speak his mind in public. Here he tackles a few of the games bigger issues and offers his opinion on sledging, sponsorship and umpires. "Sledging, or the gentle art of verbal harassment, is as much a part of international cricket as ball-tampering and bribery. I've known wicket-keepers in grade competition to be selected for their ability in this area alone. It's a time-honoured tradition for players fielding behind the stumps to engage in a little psychological warfare, trying to put the man at the crease off his game". "There's a lot more to sledging than just verbal abuse... I discovered on the 1993 tour that even the friendliest of conversations could fire him (Graham Gooch) up. All I had to say was stuff like 'How are you going? Looks like being a good game...' and he'd go right of his nut. Looking back at the incident, I'm surprised the switchboard at his motel ever put my phone call through to his room, seeing as it was 3.00 in the morning, but the technique sure worked". |
"I didn't take the catch, but I did come up with the winning sledge". |
"Didn't hit the ground my arse..." |
"With few wickets falling and the runs flowing freely a
few 'pleasantries' were naturally directed towards the batsmen. In
any serious sporting contest there's always going to be the odd word said
in the heat of battle and provided it's kept in check I have no problem
with that. However, we Aussies absolutely draw the line at comments
of a racial nature - for us racist sledging is simply not on".
Toddy had this to say about the ACB's strict new racial and religious
vilification policy:
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Sponsorship is something Todd has been heavily involved with over his career, but he has dispelled the myths about being overpaid. "I think a lot of people have the wrong idea about test cricketers and the money they make. If you think we all live in luxury houses, drive SAABs and fly first class from venue to venue, you'd be wrong. That sort of star treatment is reserved for rock stars, prime ministers and the odd blond leg-spin bowler. The rest of us do it a lot tougher". "Now I know a lot of people think cricketers shouldn't be making ads. And I agree - no-one likes to see Dennis Lillee rolling around on a shagpile rug or AB pretending to enjoy Liptons tea. But we've all got to make a living, and put a little cash in the bank before we grow old, get dropped and end up doing crosses for Nevelle Oliver from the Bellerive Oval. However, I made it quite clear to my manager if I was going to do an ad it had to be for something classy - otherwise, no go. So you can imagine my delight when the folks at the Fine Pine Furniture Centre rang. Six grand for one photo shoot and that's it - we don't owe them another thing". |
A bit of support is always welcome |
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"Well, they were already broken anyway". |
Warwick Todd is not the biggest fan of cricket umpires,
as these confrontations reveal:
"Whenever countries like India or Pakistan lose a match the postmortems go on forever, with fingers being pointed and players attacked. We simply accepted the loss, blamed the umpires and got on with the job at hand. Drinking". "Imagine my surprise when the entire team goes up, followed by the umpire's finger. Arguably the worst caught behind decision in the history of cricket. Of course, I'm a professional, not to mention an ambassador for my country, and I copped the decision sweet. I simply glanced back down the wicket at the umpire to let my feelings be known and then, four or five minutes later, walked off the field". "I'm very conscious that somewhere out there there's a kid with a poster of me on his wall. Possibly signed. Possibly by me. So there was no anger, no violent outbursts on the field. But jeez did I tear that dressing-room apart". |
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'The Warwick Todd Diaries', 'Warwick Todd - Back in the Baggy Green' and 'Warwick Todd Goes the Tonk' are available from all leading book stores. Thank you for visiting my webpage and reading this. |
