Border insisted that winning had to come first, and that’s what happened.

He still cops flak about the decision from some of the (ex) players’ wives, apparently.

However, it puts into context the decision by current Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke to return home from a tour of New Zealand to support his girlfriend model, Lara Bingle.

Bingle is said to be so distraught over former sexual partner Brendan Fevola distributing a nude photo of her that she’s suing him for an undisclosed amount.

Clarke’s unprecedented decision leaves the touring team with just 12 men.

Earlier, Australian cricket management had simply stated that Clarke was heading home for “personal reasons”.

His manager Chris White, told The Punch today: “Michael has come home to support Lara through this tough time.”

Society has changed since 1989, when I was 22, but my sense of perspective hasn’t.

Clarke has abandoned his teammates to be with his upset girlfriend, not a dying relative. He has left his workplace.

Since when did “upset girlfriend” qualify for personal leave?

An employer should be reasonably compassionate, but under Clarke’s rules, anything goes.

Bugger your work colleagues (fellow players) and customers (spectators). They can go to hell. A girlfriend is more important.

Michael Clarke, you don’t deserve to be captain of Australia.

Mike Coward relives the moment in The Australian.

Kids today are so used to Australia winning they can’t relate to the turmoil that existed in cricket at that time.

The establishment had just been reunited with the World Series rebels and it was an unhappy alliance.

Hughes was the favorite son of the old school, but never won acceptance from the WSC professionals like Ian Chappell, Rod Marsh and Dennis Lillee.

He was a marvellous batsman though.

The other nations were stronger then than they are today, especially West Indies, Pakistan and New Zealand.

Allan Border was my favorite cricketer and he was Hughes’ deputy at the time of the meltdown. He subsequently became the reluctant skipper and set about reviving Australian cricket.

Coward writes: Border, who was destined to succeed Hughes and spend 10 years building a foundation for the future prosperity of Australian cricket, realised something was amiss with Hughes earlier in 1984 in the Caribbean. Indeed, he is on record as saying he returned to the team hotel in Montego Bay, Jamaica to find Hughes half cut with his hair braided and watching cartoons on television. “I thought then: Kim, you’ve lost the plot.”

Seeing Hughes cry on national television was a moving experience. People didn’t know how to take it.

I think he lost a lot of support, not for the act of crying, but for walking away from the disaster and compounding the crisis.

Border didn’t want the captaincy. I recall speculation that David Hookes might be given the job.

Although it was a rough time for Australian cricket, it was also the turning point that began the rebuilding process — one of those unforgettable moments that sport throws up occasionally.

• Audio blog (phlog)

Peter Roebuck has suggested they may be better off forming national sides based on their countries, eg Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, etc.

If they can’t get their act together as a confederation that may be the way to go.

There are only four top-rung nations at the moment: Australia, England, South Africa and India.

The second rung comprises Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies.

There is a third rung that includes Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Kenya, Scotland and Ireland.

Beneath that are the current Associate nations and developing countries, some of which show considerable promise.

Some articles in the Australian press recently have focused on the game’s potential in China.

That’s great, but don’t forget Kenya needs support, Uganda shows hope to improve, Papua New Guinea has structures in place already and Indonesia also has great potential.

There was an interesting blog article earlier this month on cricket’s prospects in Indonesia.

“Former Surrey left-arm-spinner Keith Medlycott thinks giving Indonesian cricketers exposure to longer forms of cricket and continued coaching would bring huge rewards for the game after leading the Marylebone Cricket Club on a four-game tour of the country last month.”

It’s great the MCC is touring to countries like Indonesia and I hope it’s true the game is developing there beyond expatriates.

If it is true, Australia should be taking the lead and actively encouraging the sport.

There have been suggestions that China is on the brink of major cricket development. I hope that’s right and, if so, it’s worthy of Australian support.

In the meantime, if the game can be assisted in PNG and Indonesia, Australia should play a key role.

The fact he achieved it for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh means it has largely slipped under the radar.

It was a marvellous achievement.

Likewise, the massive strike by Brendan Taylor a few years ago to win the game against Bangladesh off the last ball was a stunner.

Even if you have no interest in cricket, watch this:

Peter Siddle, who comes from my home region of the Latrobe Valley, took five wickets and Stuart Clark looked impressive in his comeback game.

Australia will win this match, which sets things up for a great finale at The Oval in London.

[polldaddy poll="1854176"]

Twice today he called “great shot” when batsmen hit catches. It’s obviously not a great shot if the hitter gets out.

I liked Slater’s daring as a batsman, but he’s a pretty ordinary commentator, in my opinion.

He doesn’t give any significant insight, is never incisive and makes mistakes.

It begs the question whether retired sporting stars should be parachuted into the commentary box or earn the right through actual media skills.

I think Slater feels a need to keep talking when he really should learn to keep his mouth closed.

The great commentators, like Richie Benaud, have mastered the art of timing; when to speak and when not to.

Cricket on television isn’t like football, which needs a kick-by-kick call. It’s more like golf. The viewer can see what’s happening, knows the players and wants analysis.

I like TV commentators to describe field placings, captaincy decisions and statistics. They should discuss tactical aspects of the game, which is something Ian Chappell does very well.

Slater today was clumsy, way too quick off the mark. It was embarrassing.

He always seems to be hyping up the game, willing Australia to create something out of nothing.

I tweeted the first stuff-up, when David Hussey hit a soft catch to point.

Everyone makes mistakes, so I could forgive him that one. It was surreal when it happened again an hour later involving James Hopes.

I overcame parochialism and wrote once about how I enjoyed reading The Book of Fame.

It traces the story of the famous 1905 All Blacks, known as “The Originals”, on their pioneer tour of Britain, France and the United States.

Australia hardly ever played New Zealand at cricket before the 1980s; we didn’t consider them good enough.

Hence I had never heard of their 1953-54 South African tour before Graeme Smith’s heroics last week.

For overseas readers, Smith led South Africa to a series victory against Australia in this country for the first time ever. It was also the first time Australia had lost at home for about 20 years.

Australia won the third test, but the result went down to the wire. Smith broke his hand in the first innings and couldn’t bat. Replacements are not allowed in cricket.

With South Africa nine wickets down and needing to survive another 45 minutes to draw he strode out to bat with his broken hand unprotected, except for the normal batting glove.

He lasted for half an hour before being bowled.

It reminded South Africans of some New Zealand heroics in 1953-54. Tim Lane told the story in The Age today and it brought a tear to my eye.

While the second test was being played at Johannesburg, a rail disaster in New Zealand killed 151 people, including the fiancee of young Kiwi fast bowler Bob Blair.

New Zealand’s star batsman Bert Sutcliffe was injured after being struck on the head. It was thought he would not be able to bat again in the match.

Bob Blair was grief stricken after losing his loved one, and it was thought he would take no further part in the game either.

With New Zealand in trouble against hostile South African bowling, Sutcliffe bravely returned to bat at the fall of the sixth wicket, his head heavily bandaged.

I’ll let Tim Lane pick up the story:

Unbowed for the moment, he took to South Africa’s pair of champion bowlers, Adcock and Hugh Tayfield, striking a succession of fours and sixes to ensure his team avoided the follow-on. Men fell around him though, and when the ninth wicket went down at 154 players of both teams moved towards the pavilion.

Then Bob Blair appeared. Brittenden described the moment thus: “He walked into the sunshine, finding it pathetically difficult to put on his gloves, and the huge crowd stood for him, silent, as he went. Looking down on the scene from the glass windows of the pavilion, the New Zealanders wept openly and without shame; the South Africans were in little better state, and Sutcliffe, walking out to meet his partner, was just as obviously distressed. Before he faced his first ball Blair passed his glove across his eyes in the heart-wringing gesture of any small boy anywhere in trouble but defiant.”

Magically, Sutcliffe and Blair proceeded to hit four sixes from one Tayfield over before Blair was dismissed. Although Sutcliffe had hit seven sixes, compiled an unbeaten 80 in an hour-and-a-half, and almost single-handedly averted the follow-on, “he stood aside at the gate, allowing Blair to pass in first. They went, arms about each other, into the darkness of the tunnel but behind them they left a light and an inspiration that several thousand lectures on how to play the forward defensive stroke could never kindle”.

New Zealand lost the match, but that hardly mattered. The physical and emotional courage of Sutcliffe and Blair is legendary in that country.

It’s the type of unscripted, exceptional event that inspires and is never forgotten. Sport can do that.

Thomas Wentworth Wills (1835 – 1880) is described in the book’s subtitle as a “charmer, scoundrel and visionary sportsman”.

He was certainly all of those things; a fascinating man, a sporting hero laid to waste when his physical prowess failed him.

Wills was born on a sheep run south of Sydney to parents who were born of convict stock. This made him a “native” and there was some division over the next century between native born and immigrants.

The family moved to Mount William in Western Victoria in 1840. That’s about 200km from where I live at Mount Gambier.

Young Tom grew up among shepherds and tribal Aborigines. He learnt to speak their language.

Tom was sent to Rugby School in England in 1850 for his education, around the era covered in Tom Brown’s Schooldays, the author of which Thomas Hughes attended Rugby from 1834 to 1842.

Tom Wills excelled at sports, but struggled academically. He rose to be school cricket captain and was an excellent athlete. He also excelled in the early days of rugby football, which bore little resemblance to the code today.

Tom showed no promise of entering Cambridge to study law as his father hoped, although he did represent the university at cricket. His father eventually lost patience and called him home.

His parents had moved to Geelong, just south of Melbourne and Tom’s father Horatio Wills won election to the Victorian Parliament.

While Tom had been in England the first inter-colonial cricket match was played between Victoria and New South Wales. The Victorians had lost.

As a former captain of Rugby School, Tom was in demand as a cricketer and won selection to represent Victoria in the second inter-colonial match.

Football did not exist in 1856 and cricket was the colony’s premier spectator sport. Most clubs had some professional players, although in the English tradition there was a social divide between amateurs and professionals.

Tom fought hard to retain amateur status over the years, but as he derived most of his living from cricket he was eventually regarded as a professional.

Tom took 10 wickets in a losing performance against New South Wales in the second game.

He was later elevated to captain and led Victoria to many famous victories. He was the best cricketer of his generation, renowned mainly as a fast bowler with useful variations and was handy with the bat.

Alcohol was a feature of the sport’s early days. Players took wine during breaks for refreshments. They also smoked pipes while fielding.

Tom was embroiled in many controversies. He had a knack for offending influential people through his combative nature, but won much popular support among spectators and professional players.

There were many spirited debates carried out through newspapers. In his later years, Tom’s bowling action was questioned and after he was “no balled” for throwing, his first-class career was effectively ended.

In between cricket seasons, Tom was basically bored. Along with several others he is credited with codifying the first rules of Australian football.

The rules were based on those learnt from Rugby and other English public schools, modified for Australian conditions.

The author de Moore dismisses a folk theory that Tom introduced rules from Aboriginal games he had observed in the Western District. All the available evidence suggests Tom adapted the Rugby rules.

Football was just a distraction however, and cricket was the main game.

Meanwhile, Tom’s father still wanted his son to pursue a respectable career.

In what appears to have been a concerted effort to remove Tom from the Melbourne sporting world, Horatio took his son with him to carve a station property from virgin bush in Central Queensland.

They took a steamer to Brisbane, bought supplies and wandered with bullock drays to their new property, which was beyond the edge of civilisation … like Boers on a trek or wagons moving west in the United States.

Shortly after they arrived at Cullin-La-Ringo, Tom left his father and most of the staff to buy supplies.

When he returned he found Horatio and 18 other settlers dead. They had been killed by local Aborigines.

Tom was in shock, of course, but stayed on the station for a couple of years. He worked hard, but didn’t make much progress in transforming the bush into a profitable enterprise.

He was lax with accounts and trustees overseeing the operation eventually dismissed him, with much money unaccounted for.

Tom returned to Melbourne and resumed his cricket career. He was still exulted and led Victoria again as captain until his skills waned.

He never took up a regular occupation, but made money from cricket where he could. This included leading a team of Western District Aborigines on matches throughout Victoria and New South Wales.

In his twilight playing years, after the throwing scandal, he played mostly for country clubs in Geelong and elsewhere, including against the visiting English team led by the legendary WG Grace.

He also continued to play football, mostly for Geelong, and umpired some early VFA matches at the South Melbourne ground, which he lived near for a couple of years.

What becomes evident through the book is the demise of a great man. Tom was a brilliant sportsman before it was common to earn a living from sport. He had little other talent.

He became an almost pathetic figure in his early 40s as he virtually begged for coaching jobs with various clubs.

Tom sank into alcoholism and when the money ran out to buy grog, he suffered tremors and hallucinations which led to his suicide.

By that time his family had pretty much disowned him. He was living with his defacto at Heidelberg on the outskirts of Melbourne.

If he had been born 15 years later Tom’s name would probably be etched forever in Australian sporting history, because he almost certainly would have played test cricket and top-level football, like Jack Worrall in the 1890s.

Could a tragic fall from grace occur to a sportsman today? Maybe Ben Cousins could answer that.

The book is well written, with highlights of Tom’s life being introduced with dramatic effect; a ripping yarn.

Tom Wills: His Spectacular Rise and Tragic Fall
Author: Greg de Moore
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Publication date: July 2008

Browsing YouTube tonight I came across the original video of C’mon Aussie C’mon from the 1970s.

Cricket in that era went from an amateur sport to professional. The split damaged Australian cricket in the short term, but the game was better for it in the long run.

I arrived at Alice Springs in early December 1987, if memory serves me correct.

According to my photocopied report: “The way it was with the mighty Federal C Grade 1987-88″ I scored 63 runs on debut in game 10 against West.

I made 19 in the next game against Vets and top scored with 53 against Rovers in game 12, again in game 13 with 38.

I must have had three poor games after that because I didn’t register on the record. I remember holing out to deep fine leg in two of those games.

I came good with my best innings ever in the semi final when I top scored with 66, opening the batting against West.

Federals scored 6-205 from 35 overs and my opening partner Darryl Miller scored 47, so we did most of the work. The record says we “shit in by 57 runs”.

We played South Memorial in the grand final and batted first.

Everyone was nervous, and that contributed to me being involved with three run-outs, including my own dismissal for 24.

I was later awarded the “Graeme Wood Perpetual Trophy” for the “most run-outs attributed to any player in a grand final in the history of Australian cricket”.

Great joke by my comrades. We won the game and I was second top score. My own run-out was dodgy because the umpire said my bat was above the crease when the bails were removed, which wasn’t the case.

Anyhow, I really enjoyed that season of cricket in Alice Springs.

The picture shows me in the front row on the left-hand side, holding the sponsor’s sign.