Ep2
Transcript
00:00I only understood the enormity of the occasion from the front page of one of the papers.
00:06We need one hero.
00:07And I said, I'll be that hero today.
00:11Topping the averages, playing brilliantly for Knox, but your captain picks up your cricket
00:16case and throws it over the balcony.
00:17Why does that happen?
00:20There were stories that he was not the greatest team player, but I didn't care about that.
00:24You know, I just wanted someone that could win games for England.
00:28I said to him, are you going to play a shame war?
00:31He said, I'm going to smack you.
00:33It was a red dukes ball and we needed runs and I bashed it.
00:38That was when everybody in the world took notice of Kevin Peterson.
00:42There are certain players that just exist on a different plane altogether.
00:48Throughout the whole of his career, Peterson just knows how to produce magic when it matters.
00:58By 2005, Peterson's gamble to leave South Africa for England had paid off and he'd announced
01:07himself on the international stage in a big way.
01:10That's it.
01:11He's got his first one day hundred.
01:12That's a great shot.
01:13Good strike.
01:14That Peterson strike, that's miles over the boundary.
01:15That's his hundred.
01:16That is something.
01:17But back in England, there were already signs that he was not going to be the easiest person to manage.
01:34to manage.
01:42Lorry, you were one of the first people in England to see a young Kevin Peterson back in
01:462000. What did you make of him when you first saw him?
01:50When he came across he was your typical southern hemisphere, very tall, very
01:54athletic, very confident, some might say verging on a little bit of arrogance.
01:59He batted four for us, averaged fifty-odd. He wanted to bowl, he just didn't get the
02:04opportunities. His batting was impressive, yeah.
02:06Did you find him high maintenance and hard work or not?
02:09Yes, there were times when he ruffled feathers.
02:13Other people felt
02:15that he wasn't always playing for the team, there were times when he would play for himself
02:19and as I said to them, yes that's the case.
02:22But as long as he does his job
02:24I'm happy.
02:25But yeah, there were
02:27times when it was difficult.
02:30After helping Canuck to the Birmingham League title, Peterson's performances
02:34attracted the attention
02:36of an old mentor.
02:37I saw that he was now the leading run getter in the Birmingham League
02:42and that's when I phoned him up and I said, right,
02:45I want you to come and play for me. I'm not even asking you to come on trial
02:49because
02:50I'll have you playing for England in four years' time.
02:55This is the bit that really intrigues me about your career. You left here as a
02:59dodgy off spinner who batted at number nine.
03:01In the first three seasons for Notts, you topped the averages every single season as a
03:07batsman. What did you do with your batting?
03:09I don't know.
03:10I found it easy to bat in England.
03:13Maybe it's just talent or just some sort of a hand-eye gift
03:16which I've never taken for granted.
03:19Jason, you first came across Kevin in 2001, you arrived at Notts. What made his batting
03:24kick on the way it did, do you think?
03:26His hand-eye coordination, he's very tall, he had the ability to hit balls that
03:30us mere mortals could just push back.
03:33So he had this ability to strike the ball.
03:38He wasn't going to let anything stand in his way. He was determined, he was focused.
03:41He had a work ethic
03:42that was second to none, as good as I've ever seen. So he would hit ball after
03:46ball after ball. Not everyone was like that though. You had a problem with the
03:49county cricket
03:51mentality where there was a comfort zone. It did get you into trouble a few times.
03:54It did.
03:55I didn't like people earning the regular county contract and for six months of
04:00the year just getting hammered on a Friday night and
04:02playing on a Saturday and not putting in those extra yards of training.
04:06That just wasn't me. Because of where I've come from, because of the challenges
04:09that I've faced, I believe it is such a wasted opportunity if you're lazy.
04:15My response to that would be that everybody's
04:19trying to get the best out of themselves from what I saw.
04:21I think some people
04:22don't get to a certain level. Kevin's level was moving all the time.
04:26Certain people don't move through the levels like Kevin could.
04:29I can understand why you would think that, but
04:32certain people, be it
04:33local county players from all over the Shires,
04:35don't have the ability that Kevin had to keep moving. With Kevin a lot of the time
04:39the better he played, the worse he behaved and I think that started to lead to
04:42issues around the dressing room and that people, whilst they could enormously respect
04:46his ability, if he was putting other people down at the same time, that made
04:50the relationship more difficult. Things were getting tense in here. I think there was an
04:52occasion where Chris Cairns held him up against a wall because he refused to go
04:56out on the field after batting. That was one of the more intense moments I've seen
04:59in a cricket dressing room. Two big blokes squaring up is, you know, one not
05:05taking a backward step, the other not taking a backward step. Yeah, look, I think
05:07it got to a point where it was no longer manageable and things needed to
05:14change.
05:18You're topping the averages, playing brilliantly for Notts, but your captain picks up your cricket case and
05:22throws it over the balcony. Why does that happen? Yeah, but that happens because it was a
05:26Nottinghamshire issue. They sacked Clive Rice. Richard Logan, my best friend, was
05:31promised another contract and they never gave him another contract and I just said
05:35to Notts, I'm out of here.
05:36Kevin keeps a lot of people, a small amount of people, very close to him and
05:41when two of those guys that were really close to him had gone from the club, he
05:45decided to leave as well. We got to the last game and he basically walked round the
05:52changing room and shook everyone's hands and said, right, I'm off, that's it. And I
05:55said, but you've got another year's contract to fulfil. And he was sort of like, well, I'm off
05:59anyway. We all had a couple of beers and Kevin's bats were all lined up and one
06:03happened to go out the window. There were stories that he was not the greatest
06:09team player, but I didn't care about that. I just wanted someone that
06:13potentially could win games for England.
06:17After the South Africa series, Peterson had established himself within the one day
06:21side. He was now ready to prove his worth against England's oldest enemy.
06:27I think he showed against the Aussies in that one day series that led into the ashes.
06:32He's just got a gift and a game to be able to put the opposing team under a huge amount
06:36of pressure. You got wickets at Bristol, overshadowed slightly by another
06:40remarkable innings. We hadn't really seen an England batsman destroy Australian
06:45bowlers like that. Fair enough?
06:47Oh, massively. He came out and played unbelievable.
06:51That's six. Peterson's gone for the big one, that's sailing into the crowd. Four more serious
07:01words between Peterson and Watson.
07:04That was a phenomenal innings and I think that was when everybody in the world took
07:07notice of Kevin Peterson.
07:11It's a monster, this one.
07:14I remember him smacking Gillespie to all parts.
07:19Bigger, bigger and bigger.
07:22And four players, Andrew Strauss, Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmerston and Paul
07:27Conawood actually came and said he's got to play in the ashes. I said, I think he may
07:31just get that nod.
07:32Kevin Peterson's the hero for England, 91-0, England home by three wickets.
07:38That one at Bristol was unbelievable. And I remember having a conversation with him,
07:42this is all his truth. The conversation went, right, he's done well in South Africa, done
07:47well in the one days, you're going to be playing in the ashes. He said, yeah. So I
07:50said to him, how are you going to play Shane Warne? He said, I'm going to smack him.
07:54That was the answer. I said, hang on a minute, what do you mean you're going to
07:57smack him? Nobody's done that ever. He goes, when he bowls at me, I'm taking it to him.
08:03He might get me out, but I'm not letting him feel comfortable bowling at me.
08:07From what I'd seen in that one day series, I thought there was a special level of
08:11talent there, an ability that you simply couldn't ignore. And also the way that he
08:16was playing, which was super aggressive.
08:18You know, we had players that could play and we had players that could be really hard
08:22to play against. But we didn't have many players that really sent a shiver down the
08:27opposing team. And Kevin straight away just had that kind of mindset.
08:37Your ashes debut, your debut for England. Did you feel ready for test match cricket?
08:41I thought with the hostility of what the ashes presented, I'd conquered that against
08:46South Africa in the one day series before. So I wasn't afraid of a battle.
08:50It's going to be one of the biggest occasions of my sporting career so far.
08:54I wasn't afraid of the Australians.
08:56It's just a case of keeping things simple, knowing that it's a game of cricket and
08:59that's what has stood me in good stead.
09:00I wasn't afraid of any of the previous history between Australia and England.
09:04For me to succeed is to keep things simple and to make sure that I watch the red ball
09:08and players I've been playing.
09:09I thought that I had what it took to give that a good go.
09:12Vorney had had a lot of success against Australia, so they didn't buy into this
09:15whole thing that they were better than us.
09:17All the meetings were about being out, going out, being aggressive, taking the game to
09:22them, not taking a backwards step, almost standing up to bullies.
09:26That was kind of the messaging.
09:27And, you know, in a lot of ways, there was no one that embodied that better than
09:33KP.
09:45What do you feel like that first morning at Lords?
09:47Opening day of Lords, the crowd at Lords, the long room at Lords, I mean, I was just
09:51trying to take all this stuff in.
09:54They bat at first and I think I got 50 or 60 the next day.
09:57You say you got 50 or 60.
09:59It wasn't the runs you got, it was the way that you got them.
10:04That's hit very hard indeed.
10:06Can Gillespie get across to cut that off?
10:08The answer's no.
10:09We played poorly at Lords, the whole team, apart from Kev.
10:12He's on debut. You know, we're struggling and all of a sudden he walks out there and
10:15he just looks like he's playing in the park.
10:17And he toyed with Glenn McGuire.
10:18Again, I'd not seen that from an England player.
10:22That's a massive hit up in the air.
10:25Straight into the members in the pavilion.
10:28That's woken a few up.
10:30What makes you think I can put Glenn McGuire back over his head into the
10:33pavilion?
10:33See-ball, hit-ball-ness.
10:35I was just whacked to it.
10:36I know people say, Glenn McGuire, Glenn McGuire, Glenn McGuire.
10:38Well, it wasn't Glenn McGuire.
10:40It was a red dukes ball and we needed runs and I bashed it.
10:45What is the dressing room thinking?
10:47I know what I was thinking. I was gobsmacked.
10:48That was 22 yards away.
10:49I was at the other end when he did it.
10:51McGuire had a brilliant record at Lord's.
10:53I don't know, he averaged 10 or something.
10:55And he used to bowl from that pavilion end and he'd hit a nagging length and he
10:59would pin people to the crease.
11:01And Peterson was kind of taking a massive stride, whereas everybody else with low
11:05hands and a low back lift was getting pinned.
11:08So it was just that ability that struck me straight away there.
11:11And I thought, yeah, this guy's going to be all right.
11:15Well, McGuire's not enjoying this.
11:16And 50 for Kevin Peterson in his very first Test match innings.
11:20It's been quite an innings too.
11:23Even though we lost that game pretty badly, it was a good demonstration to all
11:27of us that actually, if you do take the game to Australia, they could run out of
11:31ideas pretty quickly.
11:34Do you understand the reaction though?
11:36Hold on, if Kevin can do this, maybe some of us should have that attitude as well.
11:40I know that it was a team effort and Michael Vaughan and Duncan Fletcher took
11:44took it to us and said, guys, if we're going to go down, let's go down swinging.
11:48And the guys did that next Test match, first morning, Triskopic and Strauss,
11:52magnificent.
11:54That's the 20th boundary of the morning.
11:57Took Australia for a 408 on day one.
12:01That's a big blow.
12:03Me and Freddie went to town for a session and we had a lot of fun with it.
12:10Well, that's outrageous.
12:12Well, it could have been Vivian Richards this.
12:16And I think that's been what I've done throughout my career.
12:19If I'm going to go down, I'm going to go down my way on and off the field.
12:3423 Test hundreds, the most important for an England fan was the one against
12:39the most important for an England fan was the one at the Oval.
12:42Yeah. I mean, England were desperate to win that Ashes series.
12:46It was the greatest series of all time.
12:47That last day at the Oval, tell me what you were thinking, what you were feeling.
12:51Did you understand the enormity of the occasion?
12:53I only understood the enormity of the occasion from the front page of one of the papers.
12:57We need one hero.
12:58And I said, I'll be that hero today.
13:03The thing that helped me the most in that innings was Vaughan and Bell got out in consecutive balls.
13:10What a twist in this game.
13:12So the enormity of the situation didn't have time to sit with me while I waited to bat.
13:17So Vaughan went, Bell went.
13:18It was just put your pants on and go.
13:20You can sense it.
13:21You can taste it.
13:22You can smell it.
13:23You can feel it.
13:24England now 67 for three.
13:27Magrana Hatrick, new batsman, Kevin Peterson.
13:32Oh, it's a sharp ball.
13:34Massive catch.
13:35I heard the massive roar.
13:36I thought, he's gone.
13:38I can't believe it, Hatrick.
13:39And I looked up at the screen and Billy Bowden, I think it was, he went not out and it'd come off his shoulder.
13:44Shake of the head.
13:45Shake of the head.
13:46It's not out.
13:47It's off the body.
13:49Great decision.
13:50I could have completely understood if the umpire had given it out with the emotions of the day.
13:54To watch the way things unfolded on that final day, it's just extraordinary.
13:58You know, I still can't quite believe it played out the way it did.
14:03He's nicked it.
14:05That's a drop.
14:06It's come off the keeper, I think.
14:07I was dropped twice.
14:11Fortune favours the brave on occasions.
14:13You've got to take the opportunities.
14:14You've got to work hard and be driven.
14:16But you've also got to be lucky along the way.
14:20The other thing that seemed to help you was lunch, actually.
14:22Because Brett Lee has just said, you've got to be lucky along the way.
14:25The other thing that seemed to help you was lunch, actually.
14:27Because Brett Lee is just steaming in at you.
14:29He hit you.
14:31I sat at lunch with this ice pack on me.
14:33Just literally.
14:34He just crunched me.
14:35He's bowling, what, 96, 97 mile an hour.
14:37I got hit so hard.
14:39Kev's in the corner and he goes, skip, skip, can I have a word?
14:41So I said, yeah, what's your problem?
14:42And his eyes, he looked petrified.
14:45And he goes, I don't know how to play it.
14:47So I just went, well, I hope you played all series.
14:51He said, well, I've been aggressive.
14:52I said, get out there.
14:53He said, just give us half an hour.
14:55Give us half an hour of aggression.
14:56Say, come on.
15:00It's in the air, but it's gone a long way in the air.
15:08It's Kevin Peterson's 50th.
15:10Valuable runs.
15:11I have to admit, the first 10 minutes after lunch,
15:13I've sat on that balcony going, oh my word, what have I said?
15:16But I think it released him to go out and just play.
15:20It's in the air.
15:21But it's gone a long, long way again.
15:25We're sitting on the balcony going, oh, what's he doing that for?
15:28Why is he playing that?
15:29Kevin didn't believe in that.
15:30Kevin went for it.
15:34He was a young player without any fear, without any mental baggage.
15:39And wanted to take the game to Australia.
15:41And half an hour later, probably 40 minutes, we'd scored 40 or 50 runs.
15:47That's it.
15:48The arms are aloft.
15:50Ball through extra cover signals Kevin Peterson's first Test 100.
15:54What a performance.
15:56This could yet be the biggest day of his career.
16:00I think it just illustrated the incredible ability he had.
16:04There are certain players that just exist on a different plane altogether.
16:08To hook Brett Lee for six consistently when he was bowling 95 miles an hour.
16:12To be able to smash Shane Warne around when he was turning around corners.
16:16Those are things that ordinary mortals can't do.
16:18Throughout the whole of his career,
16:20Peterson just knows how to produce magic when it matters.
16:24The Ashes are heading England's way.
16:28His utter self-belief was what got him into a position
16:31to draw that Test match, save that Test match,
16:34which won us the series.
16:41England have regained the Ashes at the Oval.
16:46September the 12th, 2005.
16:492005.
16:54Do you think you'd have won the Ashes without Peterson that year?
16:56I don't think we would.
16:57No, I don't think we would.
16:59We might have, because we might have caught our catchers better.
17:01Because he dropped six catchers.
17:03And we took the mickey out of him for it.
17:05So we might have got the Australians a bit cheaper if Kev could catch it.
17:08But hey, I'd rather have had him in my team score on the run.
17:16College old boy wins the Ashes.
17:18I'm guessing there's only one college old boy
17:20that's won the Ashes, Kev.
17:22What was it like playing in that series?
17:25It was amazing.
17:26It was the start of a Test career which went from strength to strength.
17:31Yeah, this shirt was worn with immense pride.
17:33I don't know if it was worn on day five.
17:35Hasn't got the Brett Lee bumper under the ribs,
17:38the little mark in there, no?
17:39There has to be.
17:42But it would have been worn at some stage in the series.
17:45And yeah, it brings back wonderful memories, it does.
17:54You win the Ashes.
17:56Your life changes that moment, doesn't it?
17:58Did you feel that change in your life?
18:00Yeah, I did.
18:01It was rabbits and headlights.
18:03It was just, I mean, everything changed.
18:05But I was always afraid of a few things.
18:07I was afraid of the media.
18:09But at the age of 25, when my life did change,
18:12Jesus, I liked those bright lights for a while.
18:18It was obviously a very public celebration,
18:20Open Top Basics here.
18:21But behind the scenes, you get the NBE,
18:24and your mum and dad are there.
18:26And I've heard your mum and dad talk about it.
18:28That was one of the best days of their lives,
18:30going to Buckingham Palace, meeting the Queen, etc.
18:33It was one of the best days of my life.
18:35It's truly humbling.
18:37I mean, it's breathtaking.
18:39To think that I've come from Pietermaritzburg
18:41and I walk around and I can chuck an NBE next to my name.
18:44It's a case of me making the best decision of my life
18:46five or six years ago,
18:48in terms of coming over here to fulfil my ambition,
18:52to fulfil my dream in playing international cricket
18:55and being, hopefully, one of the best players in the world.
18:58With the ashes earned finally back in their hands,
19:01England had now stumbled across a seriously talented cricketer.
19:05But it wasn't long before problems started mounting.
19:10Those text messages...
19:13That hurt me.
19:15From Moores through to Taylor,
19:17Strauss, Pryor, Flower.
19:19At some stage, you don't think,
19:21it could be me, Kev.
19:23I don't think he should have played for England again.