A Late Dawn

Perhaps the only international cricket captain to have grown younger on the job wasAustralia’s Allan Border—and then only in late 1987. He had been captain of apoor, losing Australian team for a little over two years, the two toughest years of along, illustrious career. Yet when Dean Jones and Craig McDermott lifted Border and the1987 World Cup onto their shoulders after the relatively unknown and definitely unfanciedteam’s win over England in the final at Eden Gardens on November 8, 1987, the hardyears and the bitter disappointments seemed to drain from Border’s sun-lined face. Helooked young again.

Most teams enjoy being the underdogs. It is easier coming from behind. The reasons aresimple: there are fewer expectations, little to lose and everything to gain. That’show it was for Border’s team in 1987. After all, that win was their first significantsuccess since he took over the captaincy in 1984 and it remains amongstone of his mosttreasured cricket memories.

"That triumph as rank outsiders propelled Australia towards today’sprosperity," Border says. "The 1992 campaign on home soil spluttered from thestart and can never be classed as anything but a major disappointment. Still,psychologically the success of ’87 is a plus for the 14 players of today as they gointo the 1996 tournament knowing that winning the Cup on the subcontinent is not MissionImpossible."

Several memories loom large in Border’s mind now, some eight and half years sincethat sole Cup win. First was the tactical thinking and preparation which came before theflight to India. Then came a good pre-tournament week that the team enjoyed in Madras."That week in Madras was crucial," Border reminisces. "We were blessed witha good net set-up and ground bowlers, we worked the fielding hard and we were thinkingone-day cricket. We also spent 24 hours a day together. As well as that week had gone, westill had to play India first up in Madras." A tough start. And the course of eventsturned there.

"I look back at that as the pivotal day. We upset India by one run, which was ahuge kick-start. So, one game into the tournament and we were already celebrating likewe’d won the whole thing. If we’d lost that game in such dramatic circumstances,our whole energy for the tournament would have been different. Losing by one run wouldhave been so disheartening. Instead, the snowball started rolling."

In the folklore surrounding Border’s decade as captain, the party in Madras thatnight is considered more significant than even the one after the final triumph. Thatvictory proved they could win important games against the best teams. Players still talkabout the "special feeling" in the air that night.

The hard work and the luck that it attracts paid off for Border’steam in Calcutta when they won the final by another close margin, seven runs this time.Border recalls the twilight scenes as the winners took their lap of honour, thewonderfully warm response from the Indian crowds who supported the Australians that day,the scenes in the dressing room later when both teams mixed happily and Englandoff-spinner John Emburey managed to bowl one more off-break, this time with thegem-encrusted ball that had been screwed into the top of the trophy and especiallythescenes in the Oberoi Grand Hotel as the celebrations continued.

Border remembers sitting on the floor of the party room, next to GrahamGooch, sipping a can of beer and wondering whether the win was "the start ofsomething big".

The next morning, as the team bus pulled off to the airport for the trip home, Bordersat up front, with the World Cup nestled in his arms. His one thought: "A newera!"

He was right too. For Australian cricket, the bad times of the early to mid-1980s wereover. One-day success would continue and in the middle of 1989, Australia would regain theAshes on a triumphant tour of England. As Border acknowledges, the prosperity that reignsnow for Mark Taylor’s team can be traced to many events and many contributions fromnearly as many people, yet in the captain’s mind that month in late 1987 in India wasthe beginning of it all.

What of Australia’s chances in 1996? "Australia are the team to beat in mybook ahead of India," Border says. "Sri Lanka and the West Indies are thesleepers."