CRICKET: Tooth-aker

YOU could smell the fear.

A row of grown men, brows perspiring, sitting gripped by terror, praying they wouldn't be next.

Some chewed fingernails, others thumbed through an assortment of tatty magazines, on a variety of subjects in which they had no interest.

The rest just stared into space.

Each was lost in his own thoughts.

Yet they were all united by one common theme - an overwhelming sense of foreboding.

I was in the waiting room of an Accrington dentist, trying to track down cricketer Dave Saker, who lived in the adjoining flat.

But I could so easily have been in any Lancashire League dressing room, amongst opposition batsmen awaiting their own first sighting of Enfield's new pro.

Saker, a rugged looking individual in the mould of Merv Hughes, means business this summer.

And the 32-year-old Aussie, a fiery, aggressive fast right arm bowler, is intent on ruffling a few feathers along the way.

Batsmen, therefore, have every reason to worry about losing teeth.

"You've got to size up a guy's personality," said Saker. "If he's got a weakness then you give him a hard time and he might do something to get himself out.

"You've got to exploit it if you can.

"There's never any intent to hurt anyone but you just try and play as hard as you can.

"Then afterwards you have a drink with them."

That's cricket the Aussie rules way, and Saker hopes to bring his own brand of antipodean fire to the Lancashire League this season.

But then that's the least you'd expect from one of Merv Hughes' closest drinking pals.

Five years ago, Saker broke into the Victoria first team.

It was then that he became friendly with Australia's equivalent of Desperate Dan.

The pair have been bosom buddies ever since and, aside from the odd tinny, they also share a competitive streak which has been chiselled from granite.

"I've been lucky enough to play with some great players like Shane Warne, Dean Jones and Merv Hughes.

"But Merv is the biggest character I've ever played with.

"He's a fierce competitor and any Englishman who has ever played against him will vouch for that.

"I would hope I'm the same. It's the Australian way." Brought up in Nunawading, on the outskirts of Melbourne, he started playing grade cricket with Richmond.

From there, Saker moved on to Northcote before breaking into the Victoria first team in 1994.

A relatively late developer, he made his First Class debut at the age of 27 and, in the last five years, he has gradually established himself as a leading force with the Bushrangers.

Under the captaincy of Shane Warne, he's been Victoria's leading wicket taker over the last two years.

And last season he took more wickets than anyone else in the Shield.

International honours have so far eluded him, though, but there have been times when he's been close.

"There've been occasions when I thought I should have got picked for certain matches. But if they pick you, they pick you, if they don't, they don't.

"You've just got to accept it."

Now 32, his chances of an international call up are increasingly remote.

But the first class game is changing anyway from the one he got to know five years ago.

In those days, Shield cricket was no less daunting.

But players played hard and sometimes partied harder.

"I think that culture is changing in Australia now.

"In David Boon's era and when I was growing up, that's what it was always like.

"We always used to go into the opposition changing room for a few beers after a day's play.

"In the last few years that's drifted out of the game a bit.

"The youngsters coming through in the sport are a lot more professional now, probably because there's more money in it these days." Victoria actually went as far as introducing a drinking ban in the dressing rooms last year.

But, far from destroying morale, the team ended a barren spell by winning Australia's one-day trophy.

Saker still needs some convincing, though, and it's a good job big Merv wasn't around to see it.

He wouldn't have given a 'Four X' for the new policy.

A few cans after a day's play were compulsory in his day and the team regularly used to go out on the tiles.

"The one thing I always remember about Merv is that he never showed any pain.

"No matter how bad his back or his hamstrings were feeling, he'd never tell you.

"But one day, after a day's play in Brisbane, we went out for a few beers and as Merv does he started playing around.

"Paul Reiffel did something to him and he went to chase him but turned round and went straight into a telegraph pole.

"That's the first time I ever saw him show pain - he was really hurt."

Another time, he recalls going into a casino with Warne for the odd glass of amber nectar after one match.

The Australian spin-king went straight up to the nearest roulette wheel, stuck $100 on his lucky number, 23, and it came up trumps.

"At that time everything he touched turned to gold."

Now Saker is hoping he can come up trumps for Enfield in the coming months.

It's his first taste of Lancashire League cricket, although he has played in England once before as an overseas amateur for Shaw 10 years ago. And he's been impressed by the attitude and commitment he has seen so far.

After arriving two weeks late, following his wedding to new wife Dana, he has quickly found his stride judging by a seven wicket haul against Colne last week.

But he's not had it all his own way.

"A lot of people back home said I'd come over and kill them but it's not going to be as easy as that.

"I expected to blast out the opposition in my first game but the batsmen got behind it and batted fairly well.

"You've still got to do the right things like you do in any competition.

"You've got to bowl well to get wickets and you've got to bat well to get runs."

That's one challenge Saker is certainly prepared to get his teeth into.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.