Ex-Australia batsman Mike Veletta, 12th man in the 1986 Chennai Tied Test and 1987 World Cup-winning team member, catches up on some IPL in city; feels he would’ve excelled in format given his then ODI strike rate of 75.38
Australia wicketkeeper-batter Mike Veletta during a practice session at the Gabba nets at Brisbane in December 1987. Pic/Getty Images
Mike Veletta, the former Australia wicketkeeper-batsman, who scored a 31-ball 45 not out in the 1987 Cricket World Cup final triumph over England, says he would’ve enjoyed playing T20 cricket.
Veletta had a strike rate of 75.38 in his ODI career, quick in those days, when T20 was nowhere in the picture.
“I was never a power-hitter. Steve Waugh wrote in his book I was one of those great improvisers. It was about using the pace of the ball and rotating the strike. I’d have loved to play T20. It’s an excuse to play bad shots. You’re almost gifted the opportunity to play shots that you wish to. I would love to be fielding of it. Things that Bobby Simpson [Australia coach] taught us about cutting off the angles, cutting down the twos, those parts of the game really excite me,” Veletta, in the city for a pleasure trip, told mid-day on Monday.
Veletta, along with his long-time friend Peter Cutler, a banker by profession but largely a cricket fanatic serving the Western Australian Cricket Association as an independent board member, watched the CSK-SRH match in Chennai last week and the MI-LSG game in Mumbai on Sunday. “I loved it. They say the AFL grand final [in Australia] is the biggest event, the loudest and most emotional. Many said the IPL is like the AFL grand final on steroids. I’ve experienced it. It was very loud. In Chennai, they gave everyone whistles,” he said.
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Mike Veletta, part of Australia’s 1987 World Cup-winning team, in the city on Monday. Pic/G Krishnan
Drama at the Tied Test
Veletta was a member of the Australian squad that was involved in the Tied Test II in Chennai in September 1986, carrying out the 12th man’s duties and also fielding for an unwell Dean Jones, who fought his way to 210.
Veletta, 61, who works in the property business in Perth besides coaching privately, recalled that Chennai tie: “It was extreme heat and the effort of Jones was beyond belief. It was his chance to cement himself as a great Test player. When he fell ill, he said to [captain Allan] Border ‘I’m ill, I’ve gotta leave the field’. And, Allan’s response was ‘you go and we’ll get a tough Queenslander out’. Being a Victorian, that was the fire that fuelled Jones to keep batting to a point where he lost control of all his bodily functions. Full credit to Border and Simpson, they had the courage to declare on the last day, giving India a run chase. It gives me goosebumps to recall I had the great fortune of playing with Allan, captain courageous, a fantastic leader and an awesome person. I was very grateful to be part of that era where Australia was starting to resurge.”
Veletta was involved in the run out of Border in the 1987 World Cup final. He recalled that too: “We had a great experience in India 12 months before. We worked hard on our fielding and Allan had a simple game plan. In the final, Border took the crucial wicket of [Mike] Gatting. We were fortunate to have the support of the Indians because India had lost to England in Mumbai in the semi-final and we had beaten Pakistan in Lahore. So, that endeared us to the Indian crowd.
That Border run out
“Walking out to bat, I thought, ‘if I’m going to deliver, this is my great chance’. Many accused me of running Border out, but AB’s never ever accused me. Allan and I shared 73 for the fifth wicket. It was a great opportunity to bat with the captain.”
And the rewards for winning the World Cup? Veletta said: “I did get my bonus cheque of $930. Though not very significant, it boosted our confidence.”
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