Merv is still cashing in on representing Australia
IN DURBAN CHARM has rarely been his forté, but former Aussie fast bowler and notorious sledger, Merv Hughes, delighted a packed audience at the Durban Country Club yesterday morning.
Hughes, recruited to tell a few tall tales at a breakfast organised by Ward Events, was in town with a group of Aussie supporters to cheer on their team in the T20 International series against South Africa.
The moustache looks greyer, and is more neatly manicured than in his prime, but the 52-year-old Hughes quickly showed that his wit is as pungent as ever.
He readily admitted that he was no intellectual, but claimed that his good mate Shane Warne made him seem like a “Rhodes scholar”.
Running a quick line over his international career from 1985-94, which spanned 53 Tests and included 212 wickets at 28.38, Hughes described what had motivated him to represent his country.
“My first Test at the Adelaide Oval (in 1985) was not too good, 1/123 and two dropped catches. It didn’t seem much of a return after all the hard work I’d put in to get into the side. But I realised, as I toured the city’s pubs, that I could get a lot of free beer representing Australia.” Looking back on his career, Hughes concluded: “It was a great decision. I’m still cashing in!”
Talking about his great speciality, sledging, Hughes took the Steve Waugh line, describing it as a form of verbal intimidation.
Hard to beat
“It’s all bluff and bulls**t really. It’s all about distracting your target. When we played South Africa, half the team would target Jacques Kallis, while we’d always have a go at Herschelle Gibbs because he’s a bit of a fruitcake. As for Graeme Smith, the whole team – and the 12th man if he was around – would latch onto him.”
As you might expect, Hughes had a barb to direct at the old enemy, England.
“What’s the pathway to the Australian national team? The Aussie Under-19 team. What’s the pathway to the England team? The South Africa Under-19 team. Gee, if you guys had always been able to select your strongest team, you’d have been hard to beat.”
On a more serious note, Hughes said that the recent Newlands Test proved once again that Test cricket was the highest form of the game.
“It was a great series. I missed the first one, but Dale Steyn made the Aussie batsmen look like a bunch of schoolboys in Port Elizabeth. The two boards are now discussing whether to introduce a four-Test series. Personally, I think it should be five.”
Hughes also had some advice for the Aussie selection panel, of which he is a past member, if they want Mitchell Johnson to retain his pace and ferocity.
“It’s all about workload. The best thing that happened to Mitch was the eight months he was off because of injury. Before that he was overworked, he lost some of his pace and he became erratic because his arm got lower as he searched for more speed.”