Paul Lewis: Cricket wars are no big deal

It would have been highly surprising if the fuss about John Bracewell and Stephen Fleming not talking on the Black Caps tour of South Africa had any substance to it. Alternatively, it would be a huge shock if these two strong personalities didn't clash from time to time - over Chris Cairns or any other subject.

Of all team sports, cricket is the one which most promotes this sort of drama. It is a team game, played by individuals. They compete as a team but the cult of the individual is very much alive.

Only one batsman can play a delivery. Only one bowler at a time can bowl. Bowlers can hunt in pairs and batsmen obviously bat in pairs and form partnerships - but it is not for nothing that cricket's most celebrated records are individual.

Other team sports mean the players involved can attain success only if they play as a team, with all component parts contributing. But, in cricket, a team can still win even if only a few of the XI fire.

That, plus long periods spent on the other side of the boundary rope with nothing to do but talk means cricket is a game which, albeit unconsciously, promotes the backbiting and nudge-nudge, sotto voce commentary on players' abilities from other players at all levels of the game.

None of which usually finds its way into the media, of course, as most cricketers keep their public noses clean. But, especially when you add in the dimension of sledging, it can be seen that cricket is a game where comment is often king. Gobbing off is part and parcel of cricket, perhaps more than any other sport played in this part of the world with the possible exception of football, which throws up some golden gobbers.

Which brings us back to Bracewell and Fleming. I can't say I know Fleming at all but I knew Bracewell back in his Auckland and NZ playing days. He often reminded me of Grant Batty, the All Black winger, in that he always seemed to take the field with his blood at boiling point and his competitive spirit stoked up to "overload".

There was never any question about his commitment. He wasn't scared of anyone and was one of the few New Zealanders to have a real crack at the Australians - cricket-wise and verbally.

I fell foul of 'Braces' when covering an Auckland match at which he was given out while batting. That he did not agree with the decision became manifestly obvious as he returned to the pavilion, with a running commentary of impressive cuss words. No problem there, except there were a few kids hanging around who wanted his autograph but who instead got only the tail end of the verbals.

I wrote in the New Zealand Herald the next day that Bracewell might have toned down the language and minded the kids a tad more. This enraged him and, to be fair, he has always been very good with kids and patient with the autograph hunters - although not that day.

He then sent me to Coventry for some time and, for a while, some members of the team also gave me a bit of a wide berth as Bracewell continued to pass judgement in the dressing room.

"Don't go near Braces," said one of the team whom I knew well, speaking out of the corner of the mouth as he passed me. "He's all fired up about you today."

Not long after that I was sitting in the stand at Eden Park chatting to another team member when Bracewell appeared, loudly passed comment and then moved off. The team member shifted uncomfortably in his seat and then found a reason to leave.

I mention all of this not to get at Bracewell but to underline the point that cricket can be one of the bitchiest of games. Bracewell moved on to the next burning issue and noraml service was resumed.

When I lived in England, I played for a village side. One day we put to the sword the league's best XI who had always previously flayed us.

While we were deep in celebrations, the team's leading allrounder said: "What a great day, we all contributed - except him!" He was pointing at me (failed with the bat, dropped a catch, didn't take a wicket). It was a fair cop but, again, it is the bitchiness of cricket - at all levels - which prevailed.

I can exclusively reveal that my tormentor came to a sticky end in his personal life which (the bitchiness of cricket again) gave me some satisfaction at the time.

Again, the point is: Don't be misled by bickering, backchat or blind enmity between cricket team-mates. It happens all the time.

What really matters in Bracewell's and Fleming's sphere is how they operate as professionals and get the best result out of themselves and their team, no matter what their differences, if any, as people.

In South Africa, New Zealand were an ordinary team playing averagely and were beaten by another ordinary team playing less averagely. But I'd be amazed if that occurred because they weren't speaking to each other.