E&OE....................................................................................................
Well, thank you very much, Colin, to Mark and Judy, to Richie Benaud,
to John and Veronica Fordham, ladies and gentlemen.
This is not really a chore for me, can I say that it is a great pleasure.
There are many things that one is invited to in one's political
life that you perhaps wonder sometimes whether you're going to
enjoy the experience. But to be invited to be here today to share,
for a couple of minutes, my thoughts about a remarkable Australian,
a great Australian cricketer and a great Australian captain, is an
enormous privilege. And I want to thank the Sydney Daily Telegraph
for giving me the opportunity of doing so.
It is true that we had a very early start to Cabinet this morning
and it is true that a few people remarked on the brusque way in which
I despatched some of the business so that it would but the
decisions were still very good so that I could be here. And
when Richie Benaud got up to speak he put me in mind of another important
commitment of mine that I sort of longed to be over so I could get
out to watch an encounter in which he was involved. And I recall that
my very last law exam at Sydney University, I did on the morning of
the first day of, I think, the third Test between the West Indies
in Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. A match in which, I think,
Garfield Sobers scored a fine 168. And after the exam was over I raced
out to the Sydney Cricket Ground to watch the match. So my connection
with the game is spontaneous and genuine and absolutely devoted. I
frequently said that about the greatest office anybody can aspire
to is to be captain of the Australian Cricket Team. And there is a
special bond between a sports-loving Australian public and the captain
of the Australian Cricket Team. There's nothing quite like it.
It's a function of the fact that it is our national game and
it's a function of the fact that cricket and those who've
led Australia into battle on the cricket field have always occupied
a very special place in the hearts of Australians.
Mark Taylor's cricketing prowess is well known to a gathering
like this. It is extraordinary, it's exemplary and it ranks him
amongst the very greatest players that cricket has seen from any nation.
But I think there are two characteristics about him that have really
endeared him to the Australian public above and beyond his capacity
as a player. And the first of those is that he's a great fighter.
Everyone knows that he went through a valley of criticism and despair
at a time when people were being very critical of him but he never
lost his nerve. He never lost his calm. He never lost his resolve
and, very importantly, he never lost his civility and that is a great
tribute to him.
I can remember on the evening before the Adelaide Test at the beginning
of last year at a time when there was a lot of criticism of him. I
happened to be in Adelaide for a meeting and I then found that I was
able to go to the game later on. And I rang him to wish him well and
his response was that of a person who understood the criticism, was
determined to prove it wrong but wasn't complaining about some
of the unreasonable things that were being said about him. And I think
it was that characteristic and that quality that endeared him to millions
of Australian and world cricket lovers.
And I think the other quality which was really demonstrated on that
morning in Pakistan only a few weeks ago when he really did play out
the finest traditions of the game. And I had the opportunity of getting
through to him on the telephone at his hotel to congratulate him on
the tremendous score that he'd achieved and I asked him what
he thought he was going to do and he said he thought he'd pull
up the stumps. And, of course, he went on to do that. And he was putting
his team first but he was also honouring the traditions of the game.
And I think what Mark has done is to remind all of us and to remind
particularly the young lovers of cricket that of course we strive
to achieve, we strive to be the best, we strive to be the world record
holder but we also honour the best traditions of the game. And he's
taught us that there is nothing incompatible with personal achievement,
personal success, decent financial remuneration as a consequence of
that achievement and success but also honouring the great traditions
that are associated with wearing the finest head apparel in the world
and that is the baggy green of the Australian Cricket Team.
So, Mark, you have done us all proud. You've been a wonderful
cricketer. I hope you continue to give inspiration and leadership
to Australian cricket for many years into the future. As one of your
very constant supporters and fans over a long period of time it gives
me immense pride and satisfaction and pleasure to be here today. And
I know to cross all of the boundaries that might otherwise divide
Australians on other issues and say on behalf of all Australians how
much we admire and respect what you have done. Sport does dissolve
the barriers in Australian society, sport unites us all. Nothing quite
binds the Australian community together like the love of sport, the
love of a great Australian sportsman or woman and a great sporting
achievement, whatever the sport may be. And we've had those in
abundance. To have succeeded in Pakistan in both Test cricket and
one day cricket and to have seen this astonishing achievement of yours,
Mark, has really given us an absolute feast of cricket enjoyment and
cricket pleasure. So on behalf of, not just of myself and of my political
colleagues on both sides of the House, because there are cricket lovers
on both sides of politics as there naturally are throughout different
sections of the community, I say thank you for what you have done
for Australian cricket. Thank you for being such a fine Australian
Captain, of having honoured and kept and elevated the finest values
of the game and thank you, most importantly, for being a wonderful
Australian.
[Ends]