Read Online Can Anyone Hear Me? by Peter Baxter - Free Book Online Page A

celebrated producer David Hill for the release of Fred Trueman to come to our end of the ground to join the
Test Match Special
team for a bit. Hill was quite grumpy about it, clearly despising radio and any organisation as ‘establishment’ as the BBC.
    Bythe next time I toured Australia a new stand had been built at the Torrens River end, inevitably called the Bradman stand. That housed all the media, which is good for the press, who used to be on open desks in the stand at square leg.
    More than any of the other Test grounds, the authorities here have always been keen to preserve the traditional look of the elegant ground. But considerations other than cricket have had to be taken into account. Two stands appeared opposite the main one and in front of the Vic Richardson gates in time for the 2003 Rugby World Cup and when the BBC asked me to conduct a facilities reconnaissance before the 2010-11 Ashes series, I found that even the famous sweep of the red-roofed George Giffen Stand was no more. Not that its much larger replacement was not elegant in itself. Again, the driving force was not cricket, but AFL.
    Back in 1982 I see I was quite enthusiastic about our
TMS
cabin.
Wednesday 8 December 1982
    The box itself is easily the best placed of the tour so far, between ABC Radio and Television positions, in a purpose-built hut on scaffolding behind the sight screen. There is only one problem. Without leaning out of the window, you can’t see the scoreboard.
    This problem had clearly been noticed, as it was resolved by the installation of a closed circuit camera trained on the board, with a monitor provided in each box.
Saturday 11 December 1982
    The spectators were entertained during the day by one splendid public address announcement, asking the owner ofa particular car to go to the car park. ‘He’s left the hand brake off and the attendant can only hold it so long.’
    In those days we still had rest days in Test matches. In Adelaide the tradition was for the players, press and an assortment of others associated with the match to enjoy the hospitality of Wyndham Hill-Smith’s Yalumba vineyards in the Barossa Valley. The teams would fraternise, which meant the unfortunate intrusion of photographers and television cameras, looking for the candid shot, but otherwise my one experience of this was thoroughly enjoyable. The food – and of course the wine – were wonderful and it was extraordinary to find myself in a group of people including Don Bradman himself. He started an enthusiastic conversation with Fred Trueman, who was a big hero worshipper of the truly great players.
    Bradman somehow seemed to be able to keep away from the television cameras that hunted down the players at these sorts of gatherings. Most of the radio and television coverage in Australia is locally based, so I remember that in each post- or pre-match scrum Greg Chappell, the Australian captain, looking round for a familiar face, would light on me – the man from the BBC – as the one constant factor among the radio reporters on the tour. Eight years later I was to find myself commentating alongside him for ABC radio.
    These media scrums also made me realise the necessity for an identifying microphone collar, which the BBC did not use at that stage. I pressed to have one made up for my next tour. Nowadays you see them in every press conference and interview situation. Though the BBC are always keen to brand them for a particular network, when for overseas use at least, you just want a big ‘BBC’ on show.
    The 1982 Adelaide Test was infamous for England’sdecision to put Australia in – and to lose by an innings. That left me with the afternoon of the fifth day completely clear and my wife Sue and I decided to walk along the Torrens River to the zoo. We had a very enjoyable late afternoon strolling round its peaceful surroundings. Suspiciously peaceful, in fact. As we made our way to the exit at