The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

A smile for a sledge?

What is the Champions Trophy? It's not that. That's the world cup. (Photo: AAP)
Roar Pro
31st March, 2015
7

I went into the New Zealand team hotel on Sunday morning to get some autographs, and I couldn’t believe it when some of the Australian team walked past. The two teams staying in the same hotel before a World Cup Final!

As each Black Cap came past I asked them to autograph a book I had, and each of them could not have been more obliging. They all smiled, came over and signed my book, and when I thanked them and wished them well, every single one of them thanked me.

An Australian fan saw what I was doing and came over to chat. We were together for about 15 minutes, and during this time several of the Australian team walked past.

His “Good luck, Michael” and “Good luck, Brad” got no response. The only exception to this lack of responsiveness was when Mitchell Starc walked past with Dan Vettori, and they laughed and chatted together.

People may look at what happened later in the day and say that the Australian reserve was part of the focus that enabled them to play so well in the Final, but I wonder. Starc didn’t do too badly for a man who seemed to be enjoying himself earlier.

It’s generally accepted that a national representative is under the microscope whenever they are in the public eye, and a smile to a fan off the field would give a lot of leeway for a bit of sledging on it.

close