An Aussie Legend. Review on Allan Border

They often say that the real test of a person’s character is when the chips are down. There are people who seem to revel in pressure and perform when the going gets tough. There are times when things all around you are falling apart and when you wish the earth swallows you up, but such are the times which bring out the true individual.

And one such individual is Allan Robert Border, Australian test Player, captain and an Australian living legend. Next to Sir Don Bradman he is considered as the second greatest Australian player of all time. Hyperbole, not until you have checked out his story and career.

Allan Border, the Player

Border was certainly not an exciting batsman in the class of Viv Richards nor a fluent stroke player like David Gower nor a crowd puller like Sachin Tendulkar. One could not certainly imagine people traveling all the way to see him in play. At the most he was a good hard hitting batsman. But and this is a big one, when the chips were down, and you needed some one to bail the team out of jail, he was the man for the situation. Many a time he would come with his team having lost a rash of wickets and he would be the one to bail it out. The best example I can give is the 1985 Melbourne Test against India. Australia were on the verge of defeat, and Border only had the last wicket for company. India had as good as wrapped up the match, but Border had other ideas. He hung on with the last batsman( of course with some help from the Aussie umpires also), scored a century, and averted a possible defeat. He was helped by the fact that barring Kapil Dev, there was no other Indian bowler of the same quality, and hammered the bowling all around the park. That time listening to the match on radio, it was a personally frustrating experience for me. That’s what he was as a batsman, hard hitting and not the one to yield an inch. He certainly made the bowler earn his wicket. Now just take a look at his records:

Whew, that is some amount of records. During his retirement he held so many world records, that it seemed that there would be a record itself for the number of records he held. And mind you Border had to face hostile bowling from the likes of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Malcolm Marshall, Courtney Walsh, Curtley Ambrose,Allan Donald in the pace department, Kapil Dev and Richard Hadlee in the swing department. And yes he had to lead the side also. And one important fact, Border was one of the few players who didn’t let captaincy affect his batting to a large extent.

And oh yes, he could also turn his arm over with his left arm spinners and in fact he once took 10 wickets in a Test against the West Indies. And his bowling was quite effective in ODI’s also. And not to forget the fact that he was an outstanding fielder plucking out catches from nowhere in the slips.

Allan Border, the Captain

But more than his track record as a Batsman, it is Border’s tenure as Captain that makes him a living legend. In fact if we take the trinity of Aussie captains of recent times( I will reserve my judgment on Ponting) Border-Taylor-Waugh, they are somewhat like the holy Hindu trinity of Brahma- Vishnu-Siva.

Steve Waugh was like Shiva the Destroyer, totally ruthless in his approach and destroying the opposition with a single track of mind. A man who doesn’t hesitate to go to any length to destroy the opposition.

Mark Taylor was like Vishnu the Preserver, a master of field placements but a totally affable person. One couldn’t imagine him walking up to a batsman of the opposing team and saying “You just dropped the World Cup mate”.

But to preserve and destroy, you need to create something and that is where our own Brahma the Creator, Border comes into the picture.

Allan Border created the team and laid the foundation. Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting built upon the team to take it to it’s present glory( Ashes 2005 not withstanding). The story of Allan Border as Australian Captain is also the story of how Australia grew from a team that every one could beat easily to a team which every one wanted to beat.

When Border took over as captain in 1984, Australian cricket was at it’s lowest ebb. Greg Chappell, Denis Lilee ,Rodney Marsh 3 of Australia’s greatest players had retired. Its golden eyed body Kim Hughes resigned from the captaincy and cricket, in a tears and drama at a press conference. Australia had been roundly thrashed by Clive Lloyd and his band of Merry men in the test series. Many of the existing players demoralized by the defeats were leaving. Certainly not the best of times to be an Australian cricket supporter. And that meant the team had to be rebuilt from the scratch.

From 1985-1987 Australia was one of the weakest teams in the world. Every one had a ball beating it, and they were just ahead of Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in the ranking. Under Border’s captaincy they had lost the back to back Ashes to old enemy England in 1989 and 1986-87. They were thrashed by their neighbours New Zealand, Pakistan, West Indies and they just managed to avoid defeat to India. But during this phase, they also had really talented players David Boon, Geoff Marsh, Creig Mc Dermott, Bruce Reid, Dean Jones and a certain Steve Waugh coming into the team. Still the truth was the Kangaroos were really not a team to give nightmares to the opposing sides.

1987 World Cup- This was the moment that would turn the Australian team’s fortune. They qualified for the semi finals after the league matches. The semi final was against Pakistan in Lahore. In effect, Pakistan under Imran Khan were in roaring form, they had topped their group, their batting and bowling was in full flow. And playing on home ground before a partisan crowd. Every one( including your’s truly) assumed that this would be a cake walk for Pakistan and certain defeat for Australia. Every one that is except Australia. That is what I admire the most about the Aussies, they never give up till the last ball is bowled. David Boon hit a match winning score, Steve Waugh belted 23 runs in the last over, and Craig Mc Dermott took 5 wickets to send Pakistan to a shock defeat and Australia’s unexpected entry into the final.

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