Andrew Miller speaks to Martin Corry about the winning habit
Andrew Miller22-Aug-2005Cricket in England is currently enjoying the sort of media coveragethat is usually reserved for football and football alone. Only one othersporting side knows that feeling – the England rugby team who won theWorld Cup in 2003. Martin Corry, the England captain and Leicester Tigers stalwart, was a member of thatsquad, and he spoke to Cricinfo about the similarities between the games,and his own passion for cricket.
Martin Corry knows a thing or two about winning © Getty Images
In the autumn of 2003, everyone in England was a rugby fan, now all ofa sudden, cricket is the sport of the moment. Are you experiencing astrange sort of déjà vu?
To be honest, because we were on the other side of the world [inAustralia], we weren’t really aware of the phenomenal interest back home.It was only when we arrived back at Heathrow that we understood just howgripped the nation must have been. This Ashes series has been fantasticand it just goes to prove what we found in 2003. The country just wantsits national sides to be successful, because it’s a chance to share thepride and get behind the team.Is it a help or hindrance for the cricketers to know just how manypeople are willing them to succeed?
It can only help them. Just listen to the crowd and you’ll know what’sgoing on. I don’t think England have ever been supported as well as theyhave been in this series, and so far, the lads have risen to thechallenge. It must be a huge help for them.I hear you were down at Edgbaston for the second Test
Yep, I managed to find a window in my training schedule and went downthere on the first day, and it was a brilliant experience. That day reallyepitomised everything that has been going on, because England really tookthe game to the Aussies and you could see the confidence coming out oftheir pores.Have you ever played the game yourself?
I’m a mad-keen fan and I love watching cricket, but I’ve never played thegame to a great standard. In fact, I had the dubious pleasure of facingMatthew Hoggard in the nets on the Tuesday before the match, and I thinkhe did a good job of showing up all the flaws in my batting!In 2003, you were an ageing side at the very peak of your powers – muchlike the Australian cricket team, in fact. All of a sudden, there aresuggestions that the Aussies have hit the slippery slope. How did you dealwith similar carping Down Under?
When everyone starts criticising you, you have to use it as a spur, andtake on an “I’ll show ’em” kind of mentality. I happen to read a lot ofthe press about cricket, but absolutely none on rugby, because that wayyou can cocoon yourself in your own world. Obviously we all hear stuffthat’s being said, so if it’s negative and it’s someone having a pop, youhave to use that to your advantage. That’s what any professional sportsmandoes – he’ll use any motivation he can get, be it positive or negativecriticism.What makes a great team?
First and foremost, you have to get into a winning mentality, because onceyou’re there, it’s very easy to think like winners and act like winners.Once you’ve done that, you tend to find that you’ll nick the games thatend up in the balance, because you have the confidence of having done itin the past. Presumably that situation arises more in cricket, becausewhen a game gets tight, when it looks like one side might have to bat outfor a draw, there will be someone on hand to pull it out of the bag.That’s what you’ve found with the Australians over the years. They’veoften secured victories when they shouldn’t.
The allrounder Andrew Flintoff is doing a hero’s job for England, says Corry © Getty Images
Is Andrew Flintoff turning into the sort of totem that Martin Johnsonwas for England’s rugby team?
As spectators you always want your heroes to stand out, and Flintoff isdoing that job. Not only is he producing the goods, but he is a greatcharacter with it, and whenever a team-mate takes a wicket, he is alwaysthe first to congratulate him. You always need people like that in theside to give you a lift and make you feel good about yourself. I’ve beenimpressed with not only the way he’s played, but the way he’s become acomplete team man – every successful side needs someone like him.There is a suspicion that this tour will mark the end of Australia’sera of dominance. As we saw with England after the World Cup, the declinewhen it comes can be pretty swift …You’re not going to have world-class players like McGrath or Johnsonaround forever, so the key thing is to give the guy who steps into hisshoes enough opportunities, so that when he does retire, there’s a guywaiting in the wings who’s an experienced Test player. When Jonno wasplaying there was always a squad mentality, because we recognised the needto bring on and give time on the training pitch time to his successor. Andso, when he did retire, straightaway we had a Test-class stand-in. Nobodycan play forever.What is it that keeps great sides at the top?
For the past few years there has been an aura of invincibility surroundingthe Aussies, and that counts for so much in professional sport. If you gointo a match thinking “can we really beat them”, then you’re beatenalready. The great thing about this summer is that, regardless of whathappens in the rest of this Ashes series, England have done themagnificent thing and sent messages around the world. We are really goingfor these Australians, and they are beatable. That is the single mostimportant thing, they have chipped away at that aura.Both cricket and rugby have tended to labour under football’s giantshadow in recent times. How important is it to have periods like these, inwhich they are the only sports anyone is talking about?
It is of massive importance – cricket’s a little bit different to rugby,because it’s predominantly a summer game and so is not competing for thosecolumn inches in the broadsheets. I’m no marketing man, but the aim is toget the sport out as many people as possible, and the best way to do thatis to win the major games.
Jonny Wilkinson: his example has been an inspiration to children everywhere© Getty Images
What is the trickledown effect of a World Cup win or an Ashessuccess?
It is massive. All you’re looking to do is give the youngsters a reason toget up, go out and play the sport. I got a lovely letter from someone theday after the World Cup win. They were driving through town, it wasraining heavily, and they saw a kid with the exact same Jonny Wilkinsonstyle, kicking a rugby ball against a garage door. Things like that makeall the difference, all you want is for this to be their introduction tothe sport. Once they get going they’ll find they love the sport andthey’ll stay hooked. Everyone has stories about how they first got intotheir sport, and if it takes a World Cup win or an Ashes Test victory toget a child playing sport, then that’s a fantastic achievement.So much of rugby and cricket is tactical – are they similarities in theway a captain must approach a game?
To a certain extent, yes. The greatest coaches in the world can give youall the tools and make sure your preparation’s right, and that is whatthey are there for, but as soon as you step onto the park, you’re on yourown and have to make decisions on the hoof. If things aren’t goingaccording to plan, you have to change tactics, and that’s the majorsimilarity. The need to change things around and make something happen.And I find that is particularly evident in the way that Michael Vaughancaptains.What are your memories of astonishing open-top bus-ride after the WorldCup win?
That was a surreal moment. I remember driving down wandering who was goingto turn up. We got on at Marble Arch and there was no-one around, and thejoke among the lads was that we would just be waving at the shoppers onOxford Street. Then we pulled round the corner and the streets were justlined, absolutely packed with supporters waving flags. This country isfull of nationalistic pride, and it was wonderful to be able to see that,especially when we pulled into Trafalgar Square. Looking back now Isometimes think: “did it really happen? Did it happen to that magnitude?”Because it was just such an immense day – the whole occasion wasphenomenal.Two years on, do you feel the rugby excitement has died, and is thatlikely to happen to the cricket as well?
To a certain extent, we’ve got ourselves to blame because we haven’tperformed as world champions since. We haven’t played at the standard towhich we aspire, and while a lot of that is down to our rebuilding phase,we know what’s it’s like to win and be at the top, and we want to stay atthe top. The recent world rankings tell a pretty accurate story because weare quite a long way down. But we’ve had a taste of what it’s like at thetop, and we’ve got to make sure we keep that as our target.