STEVE WAUGH. He often marks fullstops to rivals' dreams. But sometimes he helps others make a beginning. Ask Angus Fraser. The former England seamer's first Test wicket came at Waugh's expense in 1989.
However, sporting highways often threaten limbs and the spirit. Fraser was no exception. A hip injury left him on the sidelines and he watched England play 24 Tests. The Middlesex player hitched his comeback dream on a strong self-esteem and was able to wear the English cap again.
All he now has is a genial smile, a laptop churning out articles for The Guardian and a microphone beaming the state of England's game over BBC Radio Test Match Special. Statistics garland him with 177 wickets in 46 Test matches. But Fraser is far from sporting a contented smile and saying, "Gee, I did well."
He knows that he could have done better. "Yes 177 wickets sounds good and it came at 27 runs apiece, but I should have got 200 Test wickets. I always wanted that benchmark. If you watch the papers now, whenever they publish the list of wicket-takers, the minimum cut-off is 200 and I am not there," he says while the rain put paid to England's hopes in the third Test at Bangalore.
Regrets cannot stick forever and the smile is back when he says, "I had my hip injury and sitting out was hell. Being injured is horrible. But I worked hard and got back. Sometimes the selectors didn't favour me. Overall, I could say that I was a lucky chap to bowl for the country and get wickets."
Injuries and selectors' blind spots could never stymie his progress. "When I went out to bowl, I wanted to be the best. I couldn't manage that always. But the spells in West Indies - that place inspires me - and against India in our home series in 1990 were special," he recalls.
West Indies always left a bruised England rushing back to a psychiatrist's couch. But Fraser's eyes have that 'I-saw-chocolate-cookies' look when the Caribbean shimmers into view. "The pitches there had something for big guys like me, Ambrose and Walsh. May be because we could hit the deck. Out there it's a celebration just like in India. And it's better than getting abused from the stands in Australia and South Africa. It was a challenge to bowl against Brian Lara. He could destroy you. Sometimes he got the better of me and sometimes I got him out," he says. A best of eight for 65 against the Windies still delights Fraser.
Some of his victims still shake their heads in disbelief. In the 1990 series, former India opener Navjot Singh Sidhu may well have muttered his favourite line, "there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it is that of an oncoming train." Sidhu proved to be Fraser's bunny and reportedly said, "I just couldn't figure him."
It was a series known for Gooch's triple hundred, India's middle-order riches and Kapil's four successive sixes against Eddie Hemmings to stave off the follow-on at Lord's. However, amidst the runs, one bowler stood tall - Fraser.
"I think those spells against India were perhaps the best ones in my career. We bowled on flat wickets where runs were scored and on either side I was the best bowler on view, ahead of a legend like Kapil Dev, that's something I could be proud of," he says. And Sidhu? "Yeah, I got him quite a few times, caught at slips and short-leg," he says and the eyes crink as he laughs.
Fraser still bowls for Middlesex. He is the captain and on long tours trailing behind England's fortunes, he doubles up as an extra bowler at the nets. "I will play for Middlesex may be for another two years. But at 36, you can't do things which you did at 25, the body doesn't respond."
The analyst in him applies thought on England's fast bowling resources. "I have bowled with Devon, DeFreitas, Gough, Caddick, Cork and all these guys out here. Among them Gough is good. Caddick had everything, technique, seam... somehow he isn't there, maybe it's got something to do with the mind. In this tour, Flintoff and Hoggard have come along well. It's a good sign and the way we played after the loss at Mohali is heartening," he says.
The tall man delves into cricketing philosophy. "A bowler's job is hard. I am not belittling the batsmen but just that a bowler is in a sense a true team man, he depends on his team mates for support. But in the case of a batsman, he is often alone in the middle and at times it could be a selfish pursuit. Bowling fast is hard but you have to enjoy it, love the game," he says.
"I want to be involved with coaching, also write for the papers, being involved with the game," he says before BBC staff lure him back to the mike. His opinions fall straight like his deliveries. Without any fuss. So much like the man, so much like the bowler.
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