Dregs of respect swilled after night on the turps

By RICHARD BOOCK

It's difficult to reconcile the actions of a team that's too scared to play in Kenya, but more than willing to get blotto at a nightclub in one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

Whatever waning respect New Zealand might have still commanded after their decision to baulk at Nairobi, it almost certainly vanished after their attempt to drink Durban dry last Friday night - to the extent they had to be rescued by their own security guards.

The side who had been fed all manner of reports on the dangers surrounding Kenya, or "educated on the situation" as Stephen Fleming likes to say, flunked an elementary test of commonsense last week and are now the laughing stock of South Africa.

It is a sobering thought that, had it not been for security officials appointed to be with the team at all times, about half the squad might have been making their way to Kimberley yesterday by ambulance, if they were lucky.

Had it been a group of cricket fans or tourists, there would have been no safety net to save them at the end; no pistol-toting bodyguards to take control when things got out of hand, just the strong likelihood that casualties would have resulted.

And, as difficult as it was to understand the team's lack of judgment, it was almost impossible to fathom Chris Cairns' behaviour, whether or not he was celebrating the reported news that his partner was pregnant. After all, Cairns was kept in cotton wool for a year while recovering from injury and surgery, he and New Zealand Cricket making all manner of sacrifices to ensure his availability for this tournament in particular.

Call me old-fashioned, but getting rip-your-shirt-off drunk and riling a bunch of Durbanites in the small hours of the morning doesn't sound like a readymade recipe for a long and prosperous World Cup.

And it was surprising to hear that Fleming wasn't more concerned about what was happening given he was part of the 1994-95 'Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll' tour, when he, Dion Nash and Matt Hart were later suspended for smoking pot.

If anyone should have been aware of the dangers of excess, it was him.

As it is, the 1994-95 blowout was just one of a stream of unfortunate incidents that have befallen sports teams visiting South Africa, a country where the hosts' sense of hospitality has often contained an element of overkill, leading to altercations.

Apart from the "Suzie the barmaid" allegations in 1995, there have been enough high-profile incidents in recent times for the New Zealand team to have known that a night out on the turps in Durban might come with complications.

Back in 1998, Pakistan cricketers Saqlain Mushtaq and Mohammad Akram claimed they had been mugged and beaten up on their way to a Johannesburg restaurant, although it was later suggested they were involved in a brawl at a local strip-joint.

In 2000, five members of the Brumbies rugby team - Joe Roff, Owen Finegan, Rod Kafer, Peter Ryan and Bill Young - were detained by Cape Town police after allegedly trashing a taxi following a dispute over the fare. Earlier the same night, Brumbies players had been causing trouble at local restaurants.

And it was only last year that members of New Zealand's under-21 rugby team were beaten up and shot at after their antics at a Johannesburg nightclub.

In a country that rates second only to the United States in terms of bearing firearms, the idea that the New Zealanders could act like spoilt rock stars and almost deliberately attract such unwanted attention says something about the maturity involved.

Ye Gods, they haven't even qualified for the second round yet.

It was only a few months ago that the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association had them out on strike for more money, allegedly on the grounds that they deserved to be treated as the elite professional sportsmen they were.

Well, on the evidence of last Thursday night, they're not so much in need of a raise as a refresher course in common courtesy and maybe a couple of sessions at Alcoholics Anonymous.

* New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden has delayed making his findings public until today.

Manager Jeff Crowe had forwarded his report to NZC yesterday morning, but Snedden has asked for further clarification on a couple of issues before deciding if any disciplinary action is needed.

Snedden has various options in terms of punishment, but most likely is that the squad will be given a reminder of their obligations as international sportsmen.

Cairns and young wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum, who is seen as the other main perpetrator, could be fined, while the top end of the scale would put them out for a game or two.

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