Years ago when I was managing a restaurant in Courtenay Place in Wellington, four or five members of the New Zealand cricket team filed through the restaurant where I was the maitre d' and into the back bar, where a good time was guaranteed.
The Black Caps were in themiddle of a test match, against Pakistan from memory, and my lips pursed as I watched the high-spirited young men go from the restaurant into the bar and vanish into a night life Narnia. It was very late. There was a game the next day.
But still, I reasoned, George Best had been known to play his best football after a night of carousing and James Hunt won the Formula One race in Tokyo when he shouldn't have been able to stand, far less drive.
And besides, I could hardly march into the bar, drag them out by their ears and send them home, like a caricature of a nightmare mother. But I wish I had.
The next day, the Black Caps collapsed and lost the test with a day and a half to spare. I was livid. I love — or used to love — cricket and it appalled me that some of the team could be so cavalier about such a beautiful game.
If you play up, you get up and you perform. It's a simple rule for life. If you can't, then behave yourself. When members of the commentary team came in later that night, I told them that if any of the underperforming Black Caps dared to cross the threshold, they would be shown the door.
The commentators laughed but I was quite serious — as I proved when a couple of the team did have the temerity to wander back into the bar for round two.
I didn't think I could be any more disappointed in New Zealand players until Lou Vincent's revelations about former players being involved in match fixing. Accusations have been swirling around for years but Vincent's testimony was the most detailed and damning yet.
From the outside, the game looks rotten. A few venal, morally bankrupt individuals from most of the cricket-playing nations have cast doubt on every glorious victory and nail-biting defeat over the past few years.
It is hard to see how the international cricket community can recover from this shame and earn back the respect of the fans who love the game.
