Close-knit tour party essential to England (22 October 1998)

22 October 1998

Close-knit tour party essential to England

By Charles Randall

THE weightiest England party yet to compete in an Ashes series - in numbers, if not reputation - flew out from Heathrow yesterday afternoon bound for Dubai, the first leg of a journey to Perth lasting almost two days.

The 17 players, with Alec Stewart as captain, will have nine supporting staff during the tour - Graham Gooch as manager, plus a coach, assistant coach, leg-spin coach, physiotherapist, fitness consultant, sports psychologist, scorer and media relations officer.

The presence of two blue and white mascots for next year's World Cup - a cross between Walt Disney and Gray-Nicolls - and the attendant photographers and camera crews swelled the throng even more as the team prepared for their departure in the drizzle.

David Lloyd (coach), Brian Murgatroyd (media) and Peter Philpott (leg-spin) will be joining the four-month tour in Australia, where the first match, a gentle one-dayer at Lilac Hill, is scheduled for next Thursday.

After four consecutive Test series defeats against Australia, neither Stewart, who played in all of them, nor Gooch was going to predict anything but a very hard tour, and Gooch hinted he would be firm on discipline.

He indicated that a close-knit spirit would be fostered and he commented that one thing, at least, would be changing from his early days as a player on tour - the attitude towards drinking and partying.

Gooch said: "We've got to be professional and behave like grown-ups. There'll be no restriction on having a beer, a glass of wine or whatever after a game. It must always be in moderation, and players have got to be fit to do their job the next day.

"Times have changed since I first went on tour. If anyone steps out of line, they'll be told very quickly.

"I think it's important for the team to stay together off the field as well as on it. Australia is a place akin to the UK. A lot of players know a lot of people there, friends they play against or with in every city.

"It's important to stay as a unit off the field so that the players get used to each other's company and stay tight-knit to create a team atmosphere, because that's what we'll need against the Australians."

He offered a reason for optimism when he said: "In the series last year I think the gap between the two sides started to narrow. We started off well, but couldn't maintain our form. We want that gap to narrow even more. It's especially important to start off well. In the last two Ashes tours we haven't done so."

He added: "We need to match Australia in character and spirit - that's where we've improved in recent years.

"Australia's record and performances talk for themselves. They've stayed at the top of cricket and had the upper hand on us for more than 10 years. We want to get the Ashes back, there's no two ways about that.

"We've proved we're capable of beating anyone in the world. What we've got to do is do that on a regular basis."

Tour Details

TOUR PARTY: -A J Stewart (Surrey, capt), N Hussain (Essex, vice-capt), M A Atherton (Lancs), M A Butcher (Surrey), D G Cork (Derbys), J P Crawley (Lancs), R D B Croft (Glamorgan), A R C Fraser (Middx), D Gough (Yorks), D W Headley (Kent), -W K Hegg (Lancs), B C Hollioake (Surrey), A D Mullally (Leics), M R Ramprakash (Middx), P M Such (Essex), G P Thorpe (Surrey), A J Tudor (Surrey).

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)