Cricket legends meet a kid with a camera

One of the real joys of growing up as a sport-loving kid in Victoria is being able to experience the magnificent arena that is the MCG.  Our footy and cricket heroes seem to be much larger than life in that venue than anywhere else, and I get the impression that other sporting cultures don’t offer quite the accessibility to our heroes as we do here in Australia.

Back when I was just a little tacker I lived in the country, but on rare occasions I was fortunate enough to have been taken to the cricket or footy in Melbourne.  My grandfather was an ex-VFL footballer and a state cricket selector, and as such had regular access to tickets for all the big games at “The G”.  I’ve been dusting off all the old prints I took with my plastic Hanimex 126 from one particular Xmas Test (a match between two “Test” nations), and running them through a new Canon MP980 scanner.

1979

The Test in question was the 1979 Australia v West Indies Boxing Day clash, and aside from being able to see the games greatest names in action right in front of me, it turned out that one of the players actually bowled against me later in my own cricket playing life.  On a related note, I once clean bowled the Sri Lankan opening batsman in a one-day game, but that’s another story.

Anyway, because the tickets came from my grandfather I was seated in the Members, right in the middle of the actual players section. This gave me the very best access possible to snap photos of the legends that shaped my sporting life.  Dennis Lillee has always been Australia’s greatest fast bowler, and you can sense a real charisma and confidence in him as he makes his way down the race.

After the game, the players exit the MCG through the Members doors then walk through the public surrounds of the ground to get to the team bus. I don’t know that this happens much these days but it led to a situation where you could easily approach them and ask for an autograph or simply say hello. As you can see by the lack of hysteria, or even many other fans, times were very different back then.  I have a memory, which may well be just imagination, that I asked Dennis if my Nana could wash his clothes for him that night.

And here is my Nana with Joel Garner, who was everybody’s favourite West Indian. Not only was he huge at 6′ 8″, he was also a gentle giant. He was more than happy to hug Nana as I took the shot.  I’m pretty sure that’s Bob Simpson in the background autographing something for a young girl.

The most powerful and dangerous batsman in modern cricketing history is a debate that could rage for quite a few beers. Many would say Adam Gilchrist, and it would be hard pressed to argue against that. Then there are Lance Klusener, Lance Cairns, Ian Botham and many more.  For me it is still Viv Richards. There is something to this man’s incredible arrogance that makes it appear to the general public as supreme confidence, which it probably was. Whatever the case he was amazing to watch, and on this particular tour he didn’t make one score below 70.

In this shot he is coming back up the race after being dismissed on 96 (probably trying to hit a boundary for his ton).  I’m wondering what possessed me to stand right in the middle of the race to take this shot. Today’s attendants wouldn’t allow such boldness.

1983

I don’t remember going to this match in 1982, but I am fascinated to know how I got so close to the presentation. You must remember that my camera at that time had a fixed lens of probably 50mm, so to get this tight a shot I must have been in the front row of the onlookers.

Tony Grieg (ex-English cricketer, and Australian TV commentator) interviews David Gower as he accepts the award for player of the series.

At the time I was taking all these photos on such a cheap little gadget it never occured to me how much I would appreciate them in the future. In fact, it is part of the reasoning behind my developing thoughts on the unnecessary focus people place on technical perfection and expensive gear. The more time I spend on Flickr, the more I am disillusioned by people who are pushing over-Photoshopping and totally “perfect” images instead of capturing the real life events going on around them. Their amazingly crafted images might look wonderful on a wall, but who is buying them for that purpose? We just look at them on our screen and say ‘wow’, then click “Next Image”.

These old, badly crafted snapshots taken at the MCG gather value over time, and I wish I’d spent more of my life with a camera in hand.

KL – Bird Sanctuary and Royal Selangor Club

My final day in KL and I still had a list of things I wanted to do. I wanted to catch up with my Melbourne friend (and model) Natasha Shan

and I also wanted to see Lake Garden along with some of the parks within. Tash wanted me to try some more local food, so we combined both. She and her sister, Tania, picked me up at KLCC after I took the monorail to get there. Along the way you can see inside the old jail. I’m told that it was closed before the monorail was built, which is a good thing, as I can’t imagine how it would feel to actually be able to see the prisoners on your way to work each day.

First stop was a street corner offering with authentic Indian breads, curries and chicken pieces. I stuck with non-spicy stuff (surprising both girls at how sensitive my taste buds are), banana roti (I think) and fried chicken. Lovely. Later we stopped for “tea”, which is apparently an actual meal between lunch and dinner. KL-ians (sounds like something from Battlestar Galactica) eat six small meals a day!

Worrying about rain which eventually stayed away, we navigated to the Bird Park in Lake Garden. This kept me clicking away for quite some time, whilst Tania stalked peacocks with her new Nikon D60 until it decided it had taken enough photos and wouldn’t let her take any more. Of course I told her that a Canon would be far more receptive to her needs.

The day started well when this brat of a Lovebird decided to eat my finger. I had been watching another guy tempt it into sitting on his hand by offering his finger to nibble on. When it came my turn the bird decided my finger was far more tasty than the one he is sampling right now (stunt hand used for photograph) and took a chunk out instead. I hope he gets food poisoning.

I fell in love with Hornbills the moment I saw these two clumsily hopping and flapping their way around their cage. I’ve been looking for them in the wild ever since, and whilst they look awkward on the ground or whilst hopping between branches on trees, they look fantastic when gliding in flight.

I love this stork. I can tell it has a sense of humour by the look in it’s eyes, and I think it’s only putting on a typical stork pose because it knows we expect that and it likes to entertain.

I’ve never seen an orange Ibis and I must have taken about 20 shots of this one. You can see he really wants to scream, “Leave me alone you freak!”.

Dinner was with Tash and Tan’s family and friends at the Royal Selangor Club. This is a rather exclusive cricket club with spectacular night views.

I arrived early to find that I couldn’t enter via the public entrance because I was wearing jeans. I also had to wait in the foyer as I was not a member. Being yet another hot and humid day I was rather thirsty so asked if there was a nearby bar in which I could wait. The answer was no, but a good samaritan named “Henry” was on his way out as I asked the question. He came over to me and asked if I would like to join him in the “Cellar”, much to Tash’s later amusement as she wondered at my seeming ability to pick up anyone. Henry was great company, and it turned out he knew Tash’s Dad. I learnt all about his kids, where they were studying, and how much his 14yo daughter racks up in phone and internet bills (A combined $1000 a month!). I resisted the urge to tell him that it serves him right for having children, as I doubt much of the world feels the way I do about that topic. Henry was quite happy to keep buying me beers, but Tash eventuated to rescue me.

The food was, as expected, very very good, and the company even better. Sorry about me spoiling this one – I look like a well-fed deer caught in headlights. Do you now see why I am usually the photographer?

Ken, this is especially for you…

Leaving for home I noticed a building on which an entire side has become a digital advertising screen. Both video and stills run on this giant screen. I believe this is called City Hall. Blows Melbourne’s meagre efforts at looking modern out of the water.