Lives in Cricket No 30 - MJK Smith

139 minister as baggage man,’ says Mike with a chuckle. Mike remembers that he arrived at an awkward time for the Prime Minister: ‘He was in a fair amount of bother, being challenged by a fellow called Paul Keating. His wife apologised to me that he couldn’t look after me very well as he had got all these important meetings.’ Hawke attended the match, but when the time came for Mike to depart, he had not appeared at breakfast. ‘I got up early as I’d got a plane to catch and I said to the butler: “Is the Prime Minister about?” He said “No, he’s not up yet,” which I thought was rather significant.’ Mike was able to see the Prime Minister in his bedroom and bid him farewell, but it came as no surprise to him to hear a few hours later that Hawke, having lost a ballot within his own Labor party by 56 votes to 51, had stood down in Keating’s favour. From earlier in his trip Mike recalls that Hawke, in his bid to cling to office, had hoped to make capital from a visit by George Bush senior. But his cause had not been helped by the wide-reaching publicity given to a banner that read: ‘America has George Bush, Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Stevie Wonder. Australia has got Bob Hawke, no cash, no hope and no bloody wonder.’ The following winter Mike was assigned to cover two Tests and three ODIs when South Africa hosted India in the country’s first home series after readmission to international cricket. David Shepherd stood as the newly required neutral umpire in both Tests, whilst an unusual arrangement for the series saw two home-country officials share the duties of on-field and television umpire. Mike’s only need to intervene came after the Code had been infringed by one of the players whose bat bore an extra logo. He remembers a sequel, when he was summoned to the middle before the start of play by the umpires. ‘There, at forward short leg, was an enormous cross obviously carved with a player’s studs.’ Mike was told that it was the work of the same player, a man of strong religious convictions. Never one to magnify a problem, Mike was happy for the umpires to sort it out. Mike’s final appointment came four years later, when he travelled to Sharjah to take charge of the Singer Champions Trophy comprising seven matches contested by New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The umpiring duties were shared between George Sharp, whom Mike had known through county cricket, Ian Robinson of Zimbabwe and Shyam Bansal of India. Mike’s abiding memory is of the awesome talent of the 16-year-old Shahid Afridi and of being able to round off his trip by visiting Carole and her family in Singapore. Triumphs and tribulations as Chairman