The Rediff Interview / Mark Butcher

'The expectation from this England team is so low that there is nothing we can do wrong'

Not one Englishman managed to challenge the Australian bullish grit this summer at the Ashes until Mark Butcher's cavalier, unbeaten 173 -- the same score Don Bradman made when the Aussies beat England at Headingley in 1948 -- won England the only Test of the series.

That innings didn't alter the fate of the Ashes urn, which was already with Australia after they emerged victorious in the first three Tests. But it did send a message to the Aussies, and also heralded the return of Surrey southpaw Mark Alan Butcher.

After having captained England in a Test against New Zealand two years ago in the absence of Nasser Hussain, Butcher lost his place following a disappointing tour to South Africa the following winter.

With his personal life plunged into turmoil after splitting with Judy, teammate Alec Stewart's sister, Butcher’s Test career floundered as well. He returned only at the start of this summer when England, plagued by injuries to Graham Thorpe and Michael Vaughan, looked around and recalled him in desperation.

In India for the first time, as England's top batsman along with Graham Thorpe, the vibrant Butcher looks to return with at least a Test century under his belt on Indian soil and a Test series win.

Excerpts from his conversation with Faisal Shariff.

How much did the epic knock change your life?

I went from being recognised a little bit to being recognised a lot. It was very good and very positive. I always thought that I could play an innings like that; in all the four years of Test cricket I never fulfilled what I thought I could do.

So, it was great to get that knock, and that too getting it against the best bowling attack in the world; then people remember it even more.

What was going through your head when you walked out to bat?

I thought, here we go again. The ball was dancing around quite a lot. McGrath and Gilly were bowling well just like they had through out the summer. They had great opening spells and I thought that we couldn’t really lose too much. I thought that if we miss some balls and get some singles and then you never know what might happen. We survived the first hour and things quietened down after that and I was able to get more aggressive then.

What about Nasser’s [Hussain's] stand at the other end?

Nasser was a real rock at the other end. He took some of the sting out of a couple of Bret Lee’s spells early on. He also lost the first ball by hitting it out of the ground; we never got it back. Maybe, that had something to do with it. It was his first game after injury and he played very well.

When did you reckon that you could take the game away from the Aussies?

We got to about 220-2 and there was plenty of time left. Everything I was hitting was coming off the middle of the bat and I felt that I wouldn't make a mistake. I was only worried that if I got out someone else would have to start all over again. I just made sure that I kept looking at the board and getting the runs.

Your plans for the subcontinent now...

It will be very different. I have never played any cricket on the subcontinent and I’m really excited, because it will be like starting all over again. Everything you have learnt in England and Australia will not help too much here. You almost have to go in with an open mind and absorb as much as you can. Watch as many cricketers as you can and get into the whole ethic of playing over here. That in itself is a challenge.

What kind of homework have you done for India?

I have watched some tapes of the Australian series and batted against a lot of spin bowling back at home indoors, which isn’t the same thing, but you get into that sort of mode; and work on the fitness because of the heat one here.

Is the reputation of the Indian team at home playing on your mind?

No, I don't think so. I think the expectation from this England team is so low that there is nothing we can do wrong. People just don't give us any chance whatsoever; so we don’t need to worry about that. We just need to work on our own performances and see what we can get out of it. If we manage to win a Test match or draw a couple of Tests we will already have exceeded people's expectations. I don't think we have any pressure at all in that way.

Mark, you earlier had a problem with your technique and your dad, Alan, helped you out with that. Can you tell us about that?

They were basic things I was missing out on, really. These were things that happen when you play four years of international cricket non-stop. I had started to get low in my stance, my back-lift wasn't as high as it ought to have been and my grip was too open. These were things I didn’t realise while I was playing.

So I had two-and-a-half months with my dad in the nets and he got me to stand taller, turn the back face closer and to pick my bat up well. It was like going back to school.

What kind of a relationship do you share with your father?

Alan's contribution to my cricket has been immense. He was playing for Surrey when I was a kid so I always went with him and that way I spent a lot of time at the cricket grounds and watched a lot of cricket. In the last year we have worked a lot closer than we ever have worked before. He now coaches Surrey at the Oval and we see eye to eye on a lot of cricketing things.

Life has not been kind to you on the personal front. How have you coped with that?

Well, this year hasn't been so bad really. But before that it wasn't good at all and I couldn't cope with it very well. And I was left out of the England team and playing as badly as I can remember. That was a hard time not just for me but for my family as well. That's why last summer was good for me. It was like starting all over again. That's why the enthusiasm for the sport here in India is so good for me. I feel like a 12-year-old starting all over again.

Given a choice where would you like to bat this series?

I am an opener. That’s my trade, but I have just had the best series of my life at number three so I don't really mind either way. Whatever the captain and manager want me to do I'll do as long as it's one of those two places. Number six will be a no-no. Every one might say I would prefer when the seamers are on. But with the kind of homework that I have done I wouldn’t mind going in and showing that I can play against anyone when I go in there.

You and [VVS] Laxman have one thing in common: both of you single-handedly won a Test for your countries against he Aussies. Looking forward to exchanging some notes with him?

The only guy from the Indian side I know is the skipper, Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid, when he played at Kent. So it would be nice to meet him since a lot of people have made comparisons about us; but I don’t know if he watched my innings, but I watched his and I was amazed.

In the last few years, the England team, at any given point of time, has three or more players who have been captains. Did that always create rifts in the dressing room with so many prima donnas around?

I think on a trip such as this one, where everything will be hard for us here, if everyone can go the extra yard for everybody else and be a real team unit, then that can really help.

I have played in several teams where you got a lot of guys who are inexperienced and it helps come together very quickly. So, you never know. it might help.

There really weren’t too many problems during the Ashes series because most of the time the players weren’t playing. Nasser was gone, injured; Thorpe was injured; so was Ramprakash. The same team rarely ever played two Tests together.

There was no problem at all, barring the fact that we didn’t play very well.

What kind of a relationship do you share with your brother-in-law, Alec Stewart?

We share a good relationship. We have played cricket with each other for 10-11 years. He is someone I have always had respect for when I started off. I started playing with him when I was 17 and he was a Test cricketer already.

During the last year things were difficult but no more than you’d expect. As professionals we got on with it. We never allowed it to affect our cricket. Now we still get on like we used to.

English cricket has been very enigmatic since the last decade. Where do you think does the problem lie?

I think we have always struggled to put out the same team for enough time. The team always seems to be changing. Players find themselves out due to injury or loss of form, or selectors deciding to change things. The Australian side always keeps the same side; for years you see the same names in the middle-order. Continuity always helps in international cricket. We've come here and we have five-six guys who have never played Test cricket. It is difficult to keep an upward curve on your performances with constant chopping and changing. But having said that it is not to say that we will not be able to come up with something. It just makes it more difficult.

Interviews

Mail Cricket Editor