Chris Tavaré Interview

OUCC recently spoke to Former England international Chris Tavaré (St John’s) about his time at Oxford and about his career in County and International cricket.

What did you study?

Zoology, in that great big grey building in the science area.  It was very new at the time but I suppose nowadays is very dated.

Did you play any college cricket?

Not until my final year, but we had a good run in Cuppers that year, getting to the final but I couldn’t play as I had an exam that day and I don’t remember the result. But we did have Vic Marks playing for us so I imagine that it went well.

Did you play any other sports at Oxford?

I played the odd game of squash for the college but my main other game was hockey which I played a fair bit for college.

What is your favourite pub in the Oxford?

Eagle and Child

How did OUCC prepare you for your career?

Playing for Oxford was terrific, before I came up I was struggling to get into the Kent side.  I had played a few games for Kent before I came up but it really was a very strong side with 6 or 7 internationals in it.  But playing at Oxford was a great place to learn the game away from the pressure of a county set up.  And another good thing about it was the county sides that used to come down would probably leave out 1 or 2 of their top bowlers, which made it a bit easier.

What is your favourite ground?

Apart from the Parks obviously (contractually obliged to say that. Ed.), I enjoyed playing at the county out ground as I didn’t really like the built up grounds.  I really enjoyed playing at Canterbury and Worcester, but Lord’s is probably the only built up ground I enjoyed playing at because the atmosphere was so great there.  Around the world I enjoyed Adelaide, but I can’t say I played too well there and I liked Bombay, again for the atmosphere.

What was your favourite innings?

78 against Australia at Old Trafford in 1981, but not for my performance but because I got to watch Ian Botham’s terrific 118 at the other end, it really was a magnificent innings.

Best team mate?

Alan Knott, he was a fantastic professional who had such a great attitude to game as well as a great attitude to life.  He had a good sense of humour and was great around the dressing room as well.

What was your attitude to batting?

I tried to play a very simple game.  The advice I followed most was something Bob Woolmer said to me that I should play in 5s.  Once I got to 5 I concentrated on getting to 10, and then to 15 and so on.  I would think that if I had been in for an hour or so and I had scored 10 or 15 not out then I was pretty well set to score bigger runs, especially because at that time the ball stopped moving around as much.

Best opponent?

Allan Border.   He was someone who wasn’t the most flamboyant of batsmen but someone that you just had that feeling that you didn’t have a chance of getting him out.  Viv Richards was so destructive and he could take a game away from you in an afternoon but I always felt we had a chance but Border made you feel like he was going to bat forever.

Fastest bowler?

Day in, day out I would say Malcolm Marshall.  You always knew he was going to be fast whether it was on a slow wicket or a fast wicket or whatever, you knew what you were getting with him.  Although that said Michael Holding bowled me the fastest ball I faced in ODI, I hadn’t moved before it hit me in the shoulder, I couldn’t move it for a week.

Favourite England Captain?

Bob Willis, because he kept picking me.

What do you teach?

Biology at Sevenoaks and also help out coaching various sports

Ever wanted to stay in cricket?

There are times when I think yes, especially watching things like the World Cup I get that feeling that I would love to be involved.  But the day-to-day life of someone involved in cricket isn’t something that appeals to me.  It is one of the good things about teaching is that I get to do a whole range of things rather than just concentrating on one thing.

Has test cricket changed?

In some ways, pace of the game has changed, run rates have certainly gone up.  The bats are so much bigger these days.  But I would say that whilst there is a lot less out and out fast bowling these days there are other challenges, such a reverse swing and the rise of spin; I imagine facing someone like Murali or Shane Warne is extremely challenging.

Do you still have your Blues Cap and Sweater?

Yes, somewhere in the loft I suspect.

Did you every play for the Authentics?

Yes, just the one game and rather predictably I scored 0.