Tim Southee and the Blue Jays

PInk Day here we come

In May 2012 Tim Southee, Jacob Oram and Kyle Mills were part of an International XI which played an exhibition T20 match against an Asian All Stars XI at the famous Blue Jays baseball stadium in Toronto which had been rudimentarily ‘adjusted’ to accommodate a cricket match.

The Asian XI was captain by Sanath Jayasuriya and also included Saqlain Mushtaq, both big names but considerably past their peak. There were several more, younger Asian players due to play but one by one they dropped out at short notice – not helped by the PCB’s last-minute decision to deny them NOC’s. The Asian XI was patched up with hours to go with members of the Canadian national team of Asian heritage.

The ‘World XI’, renamed an ‘International XI’ at the last minute at the ICC’s insistence, was struck even harder by last-minute withdrawals. An ageing Brian Lara, due to be captain, refuse to play with 12-hours to go because he hadn’t received his full, copious appearance fee, in cash. He stayed in the hotel suite, however. He was replaced by Cecil Pervez. Oh come on, you remember him?

The three men from New Zealand arrived 48 hours before the match following a journey of the same length. They had been flown the ‘wrong’ way around the world involving over 35 hours in the air and another 12 in various transit lounges. At least they had been in Business Class. “Bit dusty, but good to go,” said Oram, wearily, on arrival at the team hotel.

The businessman behind the fixture had grand designs, good intentions and a large budget. But when things started to go wrong, they quickly spiralled out of control and the budget was suddenly very small. Some players hadn’t been paid at all, expenses never materialised, flights hadn’t been booked and the boys from the bottom of the world were a long way from home.

The International XI team manager was well-meaning but hopelessly out his depth, stuttering and mumbling in response to the regular inquiries from the players he had signed up for the match. His own hotel room had not been paid for and the paymaster had become uncontactable. It was a shit show, as worrying at the time as it became hilarious in retrospect.

At the venture’s nadir, when the majority of the players were considering not playing the game and considering legal options, it was a young Southee and Oram who lightened the mood: “Hey, it’s an adventure, nobody is hurt – let’s play the game, it’s a bloody long way to come to go on strike,” said Oram. A few hours later a beaming Southee entered the hotel lobby with an envelope in his hand: “Blue Jays tickets! They’re playing tomorrow night!”

A dozen years later Southee has bowed out of Test cricket after 107 appearances, 391 wickets and 98 sixes (paired with Chris Gayle), which helps to explain his love of baseball. He bowled the ‘hard’ overs more often than not, up hill and into the wind with an old ball. He never complained in Toronto and very rarely did in the dozen years of his international career which followed.

He bowed out on his home ground, Seddon Park in Hamilton, with a record-equalling 423-run consolation victory against England as New Zealand conceded the series against England 2:1. Having flagged his retirement before the series began, the three Tests inevitably became a sort of ‘benefit series’. He did not foresee the fuss and emotion which followed, but he did recognise the respect and affection that team-mates and the opposition had for him.

On a rare day off between the second and third Tests in Wellington and Hamilton, a tall, lithe man in a baseball cap and large shades chose a sudden, intimidating change of direction on the sidewalk of Lambton Quay, towards me. He whipped them both off shortly before collision:

“Got any more World XI gigs for me, mate?” We couldn’t have smiled any more broadly. We had a little hug. Tim Southee has a thousand better memories from his cricket career but he’s never forgotten his Toronto ‘gig’ or the man who talked him into it. Neither of us could ever quite understand how we ended up there, but I’ll never forget that it was him who made the very best of a potentially miserable situation.

Goodbye to Hamilton and New Zealand, this time. And hello to the Wanderers for the Pink Day ODI against Pakistan on Sunday. The journey is about 30 hours, about half the time I’ll have to sort myself out for the match. So, I’m already 50% better off than Tim was 15 years ago.