Smoking ban a drag for changing-room addicts

[King]

Don't tell me that cricketers have become so mentally self-sufficient, so fitness conscious, or so meekly subservient, that not one cricketer up and down the land has not broken the law this week, says Mike Atherton. More... Smoking ban a drag for changing-room addicts By Mike Atherton, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 12:46am BST 08/07/2007 Come on, hands up, you know who you are. Maybe a fast bowler was steaming in and you were watching and waiting a trifle nervously; maybe you were just about to take the field and were worried about a Harmison-like start, or maybe you're just addicted. But don't tell me that cricketers have become so mentally self-sufficient, so fitness conscious, or so meekly subservient, that not one cricketer up and down the land has not broken the law this week. Somewhere, in some dark recess of a changing room, someone must have reached for his fags, flicked a 'V' sign to the nanny state and sparked up. If changing rooms are now completely smoke free then how times have changed. Reading Frank Keating in The Spectator this week recalled an age just after the war when smoking, and cricket I suppose, was far more popular; when smokers were regarded as the epitome of cool rather than the pariahs they now are, and when changing rooms must have been among the most fertile grounds in the country for lung cancer. Even the Lancashire dressing room of my time was inhabited by half-a-dozen or so. Nick Speak, Graham Lloyd, Phil De Freitas, Wasim Akram and Graeme Fowler all paid constant homage to nicotine. Early season Benson and Hedges games, when sponsors not only provided loot but product as well, produced a terrific scramble for those distinctive yellow bricks; even the non-smokers were known to hoard a packet or two to bargain with. How about a few half-volleys in the nets then, Daffy? Phil Tufnell and Wayne Larkins were the culprits on my first England tour. Because I was a first-time tourist, and because I have no sense of smell, I was forced to room alternately with 'Tuffers' and 'Ned' for the whole five months. No occasional smokers these two, even though Tuffers rarely carried a packet with him. "Cam on, Ned, let us ponce a snout will ya," was Tuffers' daily begging ritual. And how differently they enjoyed their drag! Ned was all macho, first finger and thumb strangling the cancer-stick, eyes half closed, stubbing it out with a brutal twist of the foot before swaggering out to bat; Tuffers, first and second finger with little finger splayed, a light touch, a shaky hand (violently so if he was next man in) - on the whole slightly effeminately. I wandered around in a constant fog and if I die of lung cancer 'early doors' (as cricketers like to say) then I'll know who to blame. It clearly helped calm the nerves for some. We reckoned that John Crawley was on his third packet by the time the Jamaican Test match of 1998 was abandoned because of a disgraceful pitch 12 overs in. In between drags he kept muttering: "Jesus Christ, someone's going to get killed out there!" But times are changing. Glen Chapple is the only link between Lancashire then and now, and the only smoker at Old Trafford; the last time I checked, Crawley was a born-again non-smoker. Not one current England player enjoys a drag I'm told. Not that smoking is an impediment to sporting excellence, of course. The great Serge Blanco, France's greatest rugby full-back, was a 40-a-day man, and the greatest cricketer of the modern era is also the greatest smoker: Shane Warne. Like Mark Twain, Warne has given the habit the flick thousands of times, but not yet permanently, even with the occasional financial inducement to stop. Warne's addiction presents an interesting challenge for Hampshire. Have they, as the law demands, put up no-smoking signs in the dressing room? If Warne lights up will a team-mate complain? If so, the law states that the initial responsibility for action lies with the manager in charge. As captain, Warne would have to reprimand himself. Perhaps none of this will come to pass: I'm told that Hampshire have put up a special cubbyhole out of the back of the players' dressing room especially for the skipper. So next time you're at the Rose Bowl with your son, and you want Warne's autograph, that's the place to hang out. As long as you're prepared to put up with the smell.

[King]

I don't reckon anyone in the Indian cricket team smokes. I know for certain Inzi, Shoaib and Akram from Pakistan smoked. I think John Wright and Coney were into smoking habits too.

[King]

I wandered around in a constant fog and if I die of lung cancer 'early doors' (as cricketers like to say) then I'll know who to blame. It clearly helped calm the nerves for some. We reckoned that John Crawley was on his third packet by the time the Jamaican Test match of 1998 was abandoned because of a disgraceful pitch 12 overs in. In between drags he kept muttering: "Jesus Christ, someone's going to get killed out there!"

:hysterical:

[King Tendulkar]

Mo Asif is a smoker. Rumors abound that Tiger Tim Henman is a smoker!

[jf1gp_1]

Is there a point Atherton is trying to make via this article ? wonder how many on this forum smoke

[ludhianvi]

I am a good boy. I dont smoke nor drink. I do drink tea twice a day :tee:

[Holysmoke]

I think sehwag does.. I remember John Wright mentioning it somewhere

[King Tendulkar]

Went to the oval this year and saw Ian Ward having a sneaky fag. I reckon there are quite a few smokers we dont know about

[Rahul]

I think sehwag does.. I remember John Wright mentioning it somewhere

no, he doesn't.

[Guest dada_rocks]

My Smoking and drinking history Smoking: Grand total of two fags and one chilum ganza in life so far Drinking: started at insistance of my phd supervisor in grad school never had drunk before that and these days average one glass of red-wine every two to three week. Tea: Black tea every evening after dinner with a little piece of dark chocolate. Sehwag is mama's boy, I can't imagine him smoking.