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Interviews

Slats4ever

International Vice-Captain
Slats: For this weeks interview I have one of the games longest serving manager Rich with me. He has seen not only seen his beloved Kent through the good and the bad but also seen WCC grow as an entity. His Kent side have climbed lusty peaks and currently play in division 1 for one dayers where they sit comfortably in 2nd. His side has a lot of worldly talent drawing on players from all parts of the world and it is one of these reasons that we believe he's so special.

Anyways enough blabbing from me, onto what Rich thinks about WCC and his team.


Your sides start to the division one, one day series has began well, do you see yourself as being able to carry this momentum through the remaining rounds to possibly pulling off the title? And how do you think you are going to go about doing this?


Rich: Firstly I would like to thank you for jinxing me! We picked up a lost this week :-(



On a serious note though, One Day was never our major target we were just hoping to make it through the season and avoid relegation, so this fine start is somewhat a pleasant bonus to us here at Kent.



Slats: On the reverse side, your side in 4 day has performed below expectations over the last couple of years. On paper your side looks one of the strongest around, however results have not gone your way. What do you see as the main cause of this and how are you going to approach to solve it to get into division 1?


Rich: Yes your spot on there and this is a major worry at the moment of why a side on paper as strong as it is has failed to pin down more wins this season.



The cause is simple Kent are located in one of the wettest parts of the world and even some of the away games see us visiting other wet areas and as a result we have been effected by rain in ever single game thus far this season. Obviously some games have seen a lot less rain than others but IMO we were ahead in a few of the effected games.



Slats: Rivalry seems to be something entrenched in a lot of you English managers minds! Which team do you most enjoy playing in WCC? And more importantly which one do you enjoy beating?

Rich: LOL – I think your find that Rivalries extend much further than us English managers!

Kent’s rivalries though have built and intensified over time having been here from the start the main ones are with the original teams such as South Australia, Hampshire and NSW etc, however new ones are always developing with many mates from the forum getting into WCC.

South Australia/Hampshire has certain become the strong ones it’s always a mission… Opps I mean always a pleasure in defeating their sides.

NSW are a nice occasional rivalry as so far due to league positions we haven’t played them much, but when we do we are always up for the battle ahead.





Slats: It appears obvious you place a lot of importance on your one-day sides performance. Many managers don't do this and then ultimately totally don't care about VB Cup. What are your views on the VB Cup and do you take it seriously or is it a place to give your young guys a go?

Rich: I am afraid your research team has miss-informed you, I spent about 2 minutes developing my One Day side this season all my time and effort went into making my Four Day side one to be reckoned with.

VB Cup is a issue which keeps coming up time and time again, I like the VB Cup it’s something a bit different and adds more to WCC and I feel the group system will be much more accepted by the managers as even if they are mathematically out they are still involved in the matches etc.

Also if you’re not particularly bothered about the VB Cup as you pointed out it’s the perfect opportunity to check out your rookie’s talent ahead of the draft.


Slats: If you could manage one other team in WCC who would it be? Would you give yourself a challenge or do you enjoy the high life?

Rich: It’s easy to say one of the top teams, but if I was to leave Kent I would probley take on a challenge and see if I could build them up like I have done so with Kent so far to a level of respectability and be a contender for titles.

As for a particular side I really couldn’t say; one because I haven’t really had to think about it and second I just said I’ll take a challenge and the current manager will probley lynch me for saying the side isn’t that good ;-)


Slats: Come transfer time it's not uncommon to find you on your comp a lot!!! It's obviously something you place a lot of importance on! What have been some of the better trades you have made the last couple of seasons?

Rich: To be fair this season was a little deceptive as two of my trades were like 3 for 3 so it obviously made it look a lot more than what I actually did in terms of number of trades completed.

This season I was highly active mainly due to being around a lot more, I think transfers fell during a holiday from work so that’s why, also I think it helped that with some other trades and draft picks/rookies last season I suddenly had a lot more players people wanted so increased deals.

Best deal, Ok that is an incredibly hard choice to make but I think I am going to have to say my first ever WCC trade back at the end of season 1.

The deal involved me releasing B.Lara to NSW for S.Waugh, at the time the deal wasn’t a massive improvement to my side as both were about the same stats wise, however the deal also involved 2 other players of not great quality, I think Bug’s was desperate for a opener or something and I got a couple of solid players in return, as a result I suddenly had two players that people wanted to trade for and as they say the rest is history as transfers began to roll and with some fantastic draft/rookies thrown into the equation Kent has just gone from strength to strength.

When I started out with Kent I think we had like 2 players with a batting average of over 30 in One Day cricket and a couple in Four Day when it arrived, now the Four Day side boosts a batting line up of a top 6 all averaging over 50 and 2 over 40. Although One Day hasn’t been an issue we have still picked up players with 50+ averages and the whole batting line-up is solidly above 30.



Slats: Out of all your players which one do you think has performed the best so far in this short season? Who are you looking for more from????

Rich: Tough call the young bowler Q Aylott has impressed in the bowling department in both forms so far, batting has been harder to pin-point as different people have stood out in different matches so far.




Slats: We've seen some great sides so far, SA season 3 and Mumbai season 2!! Out of all the teams which one do you think is the strongest?

Rich: South Australia mainly because their side was the complete package, whereas IMO Mumbai was all about their batting and having such huge totals week in week out that it didn’t really matter if their bowlers were slightly weaker.



Slats: Now it's time to find out a little bit about Rich as a person!!!!

If you had 10 dollars left and you were about to buy what would you buy with it?

Rich: A month’s Internet assess to be with you all ;-)


Slats: Describe your ultimate female? A Mixture of Anniston and Hurley? or Anderson and Mika (don't ask how I know porn stars)

Rich: Gezz there is so many stunning women about at but I guess a starting block of somebody like Christina Aguliera wouldn’t be a bad start.

Slats: What's your ultimate job?

Rich: Tough one, there are a few things I wouldn’t mind trying…don’t really have any really fixed ideas as such yet iam open to all things.

My ideal job however would need to be a job where things are always a bit different each day doing exactly the same thing day in day out would bored me after a while. If money was no factor I wouldn’t mind doing a few things I enjoyed like becoming a cricket photographer how good would that be, watching cricket for a living ;-)



Slats: 10 years from now where can we expect to find you?


Rich: 10 Years would make me 29 and by then I would hope to be in a job I enjoyed, with the women of my dreams and making Cricket Web the leading Cricket Website in the world! And also within 10 years I am determined to defeat South Australia in WCC!

And I guess above all enjoying life :-)

Slats: Well I hope you all enjoyed the return to the interview scene. Rich gave us an interesting insight into the going on’s at Kent.
 

Slats4ever

International Vice-Captain
Interview with Neil

Slats For this weeks interview we have the manager of one of South Africas only 2 teams in WCC, the ever emerging Free State Eagles. Neil took over the reins at the beginning of last season and since then has recorded some impressive
results, perhaps the biggest beating brother club and arch rivals Western Province in the first local derby ever early this season. The side currently play in division 5 in the 4 day form, however in division 4 for the one dayers where most of their intentions lie!

Ladies and Gents I present to you..... Neil Pickup!

Thanks for making the trip across the country to the South african Cricket Association's special broadcasting Service.
Your side is one of the most impressive to come out of the new clubs added at the start of season three. Your emergence as a real competitive side in the one day form of the game has raised many eye brows. How far realistically can you see your side getting in the next 3 seasons?

Neil There is no reason why we can't continue to keep winning the one day games and progress up to the top flight of the one day game, hopefully with some cup triumphs along the way. First things first - and that's getting out of division four!

Slats On the reverse side of the coin however your 4 day performances see your dead last in division 5, is this a concern to you? and how are you looking to rectify the sinking ship?

Neil You have to make sacrifices to succeed - the squad I started with was little use in either format - so I concentrated upon one after I had seen the outcomes of my first draft picks. As things stand, there's no reason for it to concern me, and the 4D side of things will be worked on once we have
become a real 1D powerhouse.

Slats mAlso, is it to late to make a comeback and gain promotion for next seasons
division 4 competition?

Neil Yes. To be honest, one draw in four is one more than I thought we'd manage in ten.

Slats Obviously you have a lot of all round talent in your one day side, but often all round talent can lead to a side having so real strike players. Who do you see as being the 2 most crucial players with bat and ball in your one day side?

Neil Without doubt it's young batsman John Arlott and off spinner Lennox Cush. John has come through the academy and continued to impress with some crucial scores whilst Lennox is, as ever, economical and incisive as well as contributing some useful lower order runs.

Slats Out've all the sides in WCC who do you most enjoy playing and beating... obviously coming out've South Africa there are limited oppurtunities for local derbies.. but if you could beat one side who would u most enjoy beating?

Neil Surrey. Tough one to call here - I've thoroughly enjoyed my wins over ACT (after they won the D5 title on the last day of last year, consigning me to the playoffs), Western Province (local rivalry) and Auckland (always good to beat Liam), but nothing would be better than putting one over Surrey and
doing the duty of all cricket fans north of Watford.

Slats Who do you see as being the greatest player to ever waltz the stage of WCC... is it a seasoned performer like Darren Lehmann or Michael Bevan, or is it someone new like O Clarke or Darden? who would u most like to have in
your team?

Neil Not having followed the top flights too closely, I'll try and keep a straight face and say Lennox Cush. But keep an eye on young French Guianan Yannick Porter, who is on to take a shedload of 4D wickets this year as Free State don't have any other competent bowlers.

Slats You haven't been here as long as some of the others so a new, fresh approach could be interesting, if there was one thing you could change about WCC what would it be?

Neil Extra points for South African teams... nah, KEEP THE VB CUP!

Slats If you could manage one other WCC team who would it be? You've obviously had enough of a challenge with Free State... maybe it's time for a change and go to one of the high rollers?

Neil I had a shot with my side, Somerset, in Season 1 and it didn't work out, but I'd quite fancy another shot with them at some point. Failing that, my home county Lincolnshire (ACT aren't First Class either!) or Surrey - purely to send them down faster than the Zimbabwean top order.

Slats Now onto Neil as a person!!!

How often do you brush your teeth mate?

Neil Twice a day without fail. Honest. Well, I try to... never less than once a day.

Slats What's ur favourite sporting moment of all time?

Neil Most involved I've ever got in a sporting match was when the U13 side at my club finally managed to tie a game last year. The looks I got in the clubhouse, standing in the drizzle shouting and cheering were something.

I really felt very little emotion in the RWC final, much as it's nice to put one over on you lot.. Damon Hill winning the 1996 F1 World Title was quite special.. and as for the things that hooked me on various sports? Gooch's 333 against India at Lord's in 1990 (I was 4) and the next year, Mansell and Senna's wheel-to-wheel duel on the back straight at Catalunya. Magic.

Slats Rugby League, Rugby union, Soccer or AFL (come on there has to be someone out there who agrees with me on AFL)?

Neil It's not soccer, it's football. And it's superior to everything except
cricket.

Slats This one's popular but who's your ideal woman?

Neil I managed to bring large scale mirth to a Shakespeare workshop when this was asked on stage and I yelled out "Carol Vorderman" from the back... but in reality? Hmm... any socialist cricket fan would do.

Slats I've just given you a 50,000 pound voucher to use in any car sales yard, what would you buy?

Neil A £299 Nova and the rest goes in a high interest savings account. Or a Lancer Evolution.

Slats Matthew Hayden or Michael Vaughan?

Neil I'm English! Vaughanie all the way!
 

kears_falcon_9

International Debutant
PICK ME ME ME

I no im only new and im only managing a academy side but can u please interview me.... please please
 

PY

International Coach
Re: Interview with Neil

Slats4ever said:
Neil I managed to bring large scale mirth to a Shakespeare workshop when this was asked on stage and I yelled out "Carol Vorderman" from the back... but in reality?
He's not joking either folks, it did happen. :O.

Still worth a chuckle now :lol:
 

bugssy

Cricketer Of The Year
great interviews mate

ill do one for ya if u like


oh and rich, so what u are saying is that u need to thank nsw for where u r today
 

kears_falcon_9

International Debutant
i want to be interviewed

please slats can u interview me i was manager of gavaskar XI but just this morning blewy offered me karachi. i was hell happy. anyway plz interview me
 

Mr. P

International Vice-Captain
Re: Interview with Neil

Slats4ever said:
Slats For this weeks interview we have the manager of one of South Africas only 2 teams in WCC, the ever emerging Free State Eagles. Neil took over the reins at the beginning of last season and since then has recorded some impressive
results, perhaps the biggest beating brother club and arch rivals Western Province in the first local derby ever early this season. The side currently play in division 5 in the 4 day form, however in division 4 for the one dayers where most of their intentions lie!

Ladies and Gents I present to you..... Neil Pickup!

Thanks for making the trip across the country to the South african Cricket Association's special broadcasting Service.
Your side is one of the most impressive to come out of the new clubs added at the start of season three. Your emergence as a real competitive side in the one day form of the game has raised many eye brows. How far realistically can you see your side getting in the next 3 seasons?

Neil There is no reason why we can't continue to keep winning the one day games and progress up to the top flight of the one day game, hopefully with some cup triumphs along the way. First things first - and that's getting out of division four!

Slats On the reverse side of the coin however your 4 day performances see your dead last in division 5, is this a concern to you? and how are you looking to rectify the sinking ship?

Neil You have to make sacrifices to succeed - the squad I started with was little use in either format - so I concentrated upon one after I had seen the outcomes of my first draft picks. As things stand, there's no reason for it to concern me, and the 4D side of things will be worked on once we have
become a real 1D powerhouse.

Slats mAlso, is it to late to make a comeback and gain promotion for next seasons
division 4 competition?

Neil Yes. To be honest, one draw in four is one more than I thought we'd manage in ten.

Slats Obviously you have a lot of all round talent in your one day side, but often all round talent can lead to a side having so real strike players. Who do you see as being the 2 most crucial players with bat and ball in your one day side?

Neil Without doubt it's young batsman John Arlott and off spinner Lennox Cush. John has come through the academy and continued to impress with some crucial scores whilst Lennox is, as ever, economical and incisive as well as contributing some useful lower order runs.

Slats Out've all the sides in WCC who do you most enjoy playing and beating... obviously coming out've South Africa there are limited oppurtunities for local derbies.. but if you could beat one side who would u most enjoy beating?

Neil Surrey. Tough one to call here - I've thoroughly enjoyed my wins over ACT (after they won the D5 title on the last day of last year, consigning me to the playoffs), Western Province (local rivalry) and Auckland (always good to beat Liam), but nothing would be better than putting one over Surrey and
doing the duty of all cricket fans north of Watford.

Slats Who do you see as being the greatest player to ever waltz the stage of WCC... is it a seasoned performer like Darren Lehmann or Michael Bevan, or is it someone new like O Clarke or Darden? who would u most like to have in
your team?

Neil Not having followed the top flights too closely, I'll try and keep a straight face and say Lennox Cush. But keep an eye on young French Guianan Yannick Porter, who is on to take a shedload of 4D wickets this year as Free State don't have any other competent bowlers.

Slats You haven't been here as long as some of the others so a new, fresh approach could be interesting, if there was one thing you could change about WCC what would it be?

Neil Extra points for South African teams... nah, KEEP THE VB CUP!

Slats If you could manage one other WCC team who would it be? You've obviously had enough of a challenge with Free State... maybe it's time for a change and go to one of the high rollers?

Neil I had a shot with my side, Somerset, in Season 1 and it didn't work out, but I'd quite fancy another shot with them at some point. Failing that, my home county Lincolnshire (ACT aren't First Class either!) or Surrey - purely to send them down faster than the Zimbabwean top order.

Slats Now onto Neil as a person!!!

How often do you brush your teeth mate?

Neil Twice a day without fail. Honest. Well, I try to... never less than once a day.

Slats What's ur favourite sporting moment of all time?

Neil Most involved I've ever got in a sporting match was when the U13 side at my club finally managed to tie a game last year. The looks I got in the clubhouse, standing in the drizzle shouting and cheering were something.

I really felt very little emotion in the RWC final, much as it's nice to put one over on you lot.. Damon Hill winning the 1996 F1 World Title was quite special.. and as for the things that hooked me on various sports? Gooch's 333 against India at Lord's in 1990 (I was 4) and the next year, Mansell and Senna's wheel-to-wheel duel on the back straight at Catalunya. Magic.

Slats Rugby League, Rugby union, Soccer or AFL (come on there has to be someone out there who agrees with me on AFL)?

Neil It's not soccer, it's football. And it's superior to everything except
cricket.

Slats This one's popular but who's your ideal woman?

Neil I managed to bring large scale mirth to a Shakespeare workshop when this was asked on stage and I yelled out "Carol Vorderman" from the back... but in reality? Hmm... any socialist cricket fan would do.

Slats I've just given you a 50,000 pound voucher to use in any car sales yard, what would you buy?

Neil A £299 Nova and the rest goes in a high interest savings account. Or a Lancer Evolution.

Slats Matthew Hayden or Michael Vaughan?

Neil I'm English! Vaughanie all the way!
sorry for the giant quote, but...

1/ Good Interview.

2/ Slats you've used the 'reverse side of the coin' thing twice. Stop.

3/ Neil what were you thinking? You're never going to get your hands on Somerset. Ever.
 

Slats4ever

International Vice-Captain
Slats For many years Lancashire have been one of the quiet achievers... quietly going about their business manager Graham, has built up a very strong side. Currently the Lancashire side is the toast of English cricket, playing in division 1 for both competitions and doing very well. Unlike his other counterparts, Graham has a largely "real" team, meaning that a lot of his players are real life players and not generated rookie, showing that a side doesn't need new "freaks" just to be successful. This interview I believe will give a great insight into what makes Graham and the quite achievers Lancashire click...

Thanks for spending the time with us today Graham... it's often hard to get a comment out've you as you usually are one of the quieter managers, but the Lancashire side have really impressed this season, their one day form has been great with everyone in the team contributing well. In saying that though who are the stars in your one day side to see you hopefully lifting the trophy at the end of the year?

Graham Batting was my real area of concern at the end of last season with the retirement of M.Ramprakash adding to my woes.
I made the big decision to allow my best bowler S.Harwood to return to Victoria in exchange for rookie batsman Z.Court and an arranged first round draft pick pace bowler A.Salvi.
Thankfully, Salvi has proven to be a real find, but disappointingly Court hasn't really bolstered the batting as yet.

My OD hopes revolve mainly around my pace attack with Salvi and Y.Engineer standing out in particular. If they can restrict the opposition's batting, then hopefully some of my batsmen will fire enough to pick up enough wins to avoid relegation. My OD batting goes down to Dravid at no.8 but there are no real standouts amongst them.


Slats In the 4 day game you're currently sitting on 4th, with the gerat Rahul Dravid mirroring his real life form into WCC? How much of an influence does someone like Rahul have in your team on your younger players like Court?

Graham Dravid is holding the batting together although M.Kaif has also made a good start to the season. Court hasn't fulfilled his promise as yet, but I guess it's still early days!


Slats The swing of Salvi is proving to be a great bonus and he is showing his promise as one of the games greats. Are you surprised by his progress especially seeing u picked him up so late in the draft?

Graham I had a deal with Victoria that allowed S.Harwood plus a player of my choice to go in return for Z.Court plus their first round pick. I provided a list of first round picks to the Victorian manager and Salvi was the player acquired. Thankfully he's a more than capable replacement for Harwood.


Slats Outside Rahul the batsman have really been struggling. how do you see the team solving this problem and are you going to try anything different in the coming matches to get more runs on the board?

Graham As previously mentioned, Kaif has also been performing and the other batsmen have had the odd good contribution, but batting remains my area of weakness.
Lancashire's success under me has always been founded on a strong bowling attack. Hopefully some of the older heads in the side (batsmen) might inspire the youngsters to perform.


Slats Realistically how much chance do you think you are of winning either of the titles this year... there are some strong sides in both competitions and if you don't win, where will you be looking to improve your side for next year and how many years will it take for you to win the title?

Graham I'm looking to avoid relegation in both the FC and OD competitions.

If I can strengthen the batting over the next couple of seasons, Lancashire will be a force to be reckoned with!


Slats All round your side is very young with many players being under 22. Was this a concious effort to prepare your team for the future, or you were just lured in by the sheer talent of these youngsters?

Graham Both really. There's only so much you can do when trading and acquiring draft picks.

My strategy was to try and build a well balanced side that could compete at both FC and OD level and this meant having to take some risks with youngsters.

Under the new sim this was a real risk and I was hoping that some of the youngsters would prove to be real stars. Salvi and Engineer seem to be in this category and should form the foundation of my attack for many years to come. However Court and Q.Boxall have been disappointing to date.


Slats Who do you see as the strongest side currently in division one in both forms of the game? is it south australia? or does someone else pose a larger threat?

Graham SA are the side to beat for sure. It has been interesting to note the decline of Mumbai. Also Bugssy has a huge challenge on his hands as the ageing stars of his NSW side near retirement. Yorkshire have surprised me with their success this season, but experience has played a big part under the new sim to aid both NSW and Yorkshire.


Slats Which team outside of England do you enjoy beating most?

Graham Any of them!


Slats Which player in all of WCC would you most like to join your side next year?

Graham No one player in particular, but I would like to acquire a proven batting star (not one that's too old though!).


Slats If you could see one thing change about WCC what would it be? are you pleased with the new sim? is the VB cup worth it? do you like all the freak rookies?

Graham I'd like to see the VB Cup be a 50 over knockout.
The new sim is much more realistic than VCM4 although still not perfect.

Yes I think that some of the younger players should be real stars right from the start. It happens in real life, so why not here?


Slats Now onto Graham as a person...

It's a standard Saturday night... where could we find you? at a pub? restaurant? home? dance club? what are you doing, where can the ladies find you?

Graham I'm 45 years old and married with three teenage boys, so I don't get out to create havoc as I used to like you younger fellows!
I enjoy sports management games (TCM2004, ICC2002, Madden2004) and I also enjoy computer chess.
As a chess player I managed to win the NZ Correspondence championship back in 1994-95 (without computer assistance I might add!). You can find many of my games on the Chessbase website and on a comercially available database CD, something also of which I'm proud. Don't play much chess at present though.


Slats After the series between Australia and India what team is the best in the world?

Graham Aussie still perform consistently well both home and away, so I go for them.
India are chock full of talent, but don't perform away from home all that often and their temperaments aren't as good.


Slats It's a standard rule as part of these interviews, you have to create your ultimate woman. you can use as many as you want, britney spears or whoever, but what does she look like?

Graham Good looking with a nice bod!


Slats Say the first thing that comes to your mind when i say these words....

Slats *****- Graham cat (this is a decent forum!)
Slats Anna- Graham Kournikova
Slats baby- Graham no more thanks. Three's enough!
Slats curve- Graham you're starting to drive me round the bend now!
Slats straight- Graham normal!

Slats That's all we have time for this week... thanks very much Graham, but stay tuned for next week...

Graham
 

age_master

Hall of Fame Member
Slats4ever said:
Graham You can find many of my games on the Chessbase website and on a comercially available database CD, something also of which I'm proud. Don't play much chess at present though.[/B] [/B]
ahh chess base, nice program, very useful for learning stuff about chess too :)
 

Blewy

Cricketer Of The Year
Ian, any more interviews???

If you haven't got time let me know and ill do some....
 

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