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Top 10 Surprising facts about Allan Border

Allan Robert Border AO is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer who is credited with shaping his country鈥檚 dominating future in cricket.

A gutsy and tough individual in his prime, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. He was primarily a left-hand batsman, but also had occasional success as a part-time left arm orthodox spinner.

According to some, it takes more than a single post to epitomize the impact made by Allan Border in leading Australia through what was perhaps their most troubling time in cricket. However, below we try as we discuss the top 10 surprising facts about Allan Border;

1. The chieftain of Cremorne

Cremorne, Sydney – Unsplash

Allan Robert Border was born on 27th July 1955 in Cremorne, a North Shore suburb of Sydney, New South Wales.

His father John, from Coonamble in rural New South Wales, was a wool classer and his mother Sheila was the proprietor of a corner store.

Border grew up with three brothers in the nearby suburb of Mosman.

2. Border鈥檚 early years in the game

Allan Border – Pinterest

Border鈥檚 family had a spacious backyard for playing games, and Mosman Oval, the home of district cricket and baseball clubs, was across the street. He grew up playing backyard cricket with his brothers Johnno and Brett in the nearby suburb of Mosman.

On the other side of their fence was an apartment block with numerous windows. The young boys kept breaking the windows by hitting the ball over the fence. The landlord of that building was compensated by Border鈥檚 father, who agreed to pay his insurance premiums whenever the boys broke the windows.

鈥淢y guess of the total breakages would be, say, thirty,鈥� Border said.

3. Growing up, Cricket wasn鈥檛 that important to Border

Barry Knight lifts his bat to his shoulder to acknowledge the cheers for his century, Kanpur, 1964 – Twiter

Even though Border grew up playing cricket with his brothers, he did not harbor huge cricketing ambitions and viewed cricket just like any other sport.

It was Barry Knight, a former England international, who made Border realize his talent and took great interest in his training regimes. Through his training, Border was able to developed his fielding and horizontal-bat shots.

While training with Barry, Border made his d茅but for Mosman in Sydney Grade Cricket as a left arm orthodox spinner and batted at number nine. He won selection for the 1972鈥�73 Combined High Schools team in the intrastate carnival.

鈥淗e [Knight] taught me a great deal; not merely about cricket itself, but about attitude. I owe Barry Knight a huge debt of gratitude,鈥� Border wrote.

4. What did Border do before he become a professional cricket player

Alan Border, 1986 – Wikipedia

As a youngster, Border worked as an insurance agent in Sydney until businessman Ron McConnell from Brisbane offered him a good package. He received a promotional role in McConnell鈥檚 business and earned a set salary with some other perks.

During this period, Border tried to balance his work life and cricketing commitments. However, he resigned from his job as a clerk in the film library of BHP to spend the 1977 English season playing for Downend in the Gloucestershire Western League.

The highlight of his stay was 159 not out in an invitational match against Cambridge University. In Australia, Border compiled 617 runs at 36.29 average during the 1977鈥�78 Sheffield Shield season.

5. Hazing the new guy

Allan Border – Twitter

Border joined the New South Wales Colts unit, which featured some of the most promising cricketers in the state. He was the 12th man for the contest against Queensland.

He didn鈥檛 particularly enjoy the role and was also tricked by his teammates. As he kept carrying drinks through the game, one of his teammates told him that he should ask the men on the field about their eating preferences before the break.

An inexperienced Border complied and was laughed by most players on the field. He returned to the dressing room quite embarrassed and remarked, 鈥淪ix fish and six steaks, thanks.鈥� 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how gullible I was,鈥� he recalled.

6. His different nicknames

Allan Border – Wikipedia

Border鈥檚 nicknames include A.B, Pugsley, and Captain Grumpy. Early in his career, Border was nicknamed Pugsley because of his resemblance to the character. Pugsley is the oldest son of Gomez and Morticia in the Addams family.

Allan earned the tag 鈥楥aptain Grumpy鈥� after he set his sights on winning the 1989 edition of the Ashes. He can sometimes be a miserable person to deal with. However, the fact that he did it out of pure determination to win the Ashes back was something that can be seen as forgiving. Australia went on to claim the 1989 edition of the Ashes 4-0.

After Allan Border became the captain, no one dared to call him anything else but AB.

7. Since GPS had not been invented

Allan Border and his teammates celebrating – Twitter

In 1978-79, Border got picked to play for Australia against England. In a test match at Perth, he committed the ultimate gaffe. He stormed off the field, unhappy at a leg-before decision, and inadvertently walked into the England dressing room.

鈥淚 had just exhausted my vocabulary of expletives when the horrible truth dawned: I was in the English dressing room!鈥� Embarrassed with it all, Border then apologized to the England manager and the other players before going to the home team鈥檚 designated room.

He later came back and scored 115 in the second innings as Australia won by 138 runs.

8. The record that still stands

Bronze statue of Allan Border – Twitter

Border amused numerous records in his career with most runs, most Tests, most Tests as captain having been broken in recent years.

His Australian record for Test Match runs stood for 15 years before Ricky Ponting overtook him during the Third Ashes Test against England in July 2009. Allan amassed 11,174 Test runs, a world record until it was passed by Brian Lara in 2006.

The record that still remains is against Pakistan at Lahore in 1979-80 Border defied an attack consisting of Imran Khan, Sarfraz Nawaz, Iqbal Qasim, and Tauseef Ahmed to score 150* and 153.

9. Trouble with the Indian army

Kim Hughes – Wikipedia

During a tour to India in 1979, Boarder ran into trouble with the Indian army when the Australian team was on Srinagar for a tour game.

During the night, Border wanted to scare Kim Hughes. 鈥淚 was halfway along the catwalk between his [Hughes鈥橾 balcony and mine, three or four storeys up, when the Indian army intervened in the most dazzling way,鈥� Border recalled. Immediately, the army had put a spotlight on him and asked him to surrender.

鈥淚 froze. I knew immediately what terror was all about,鈥� he said. However, he was allowed to go once he shouted that he was an Aussie cricketer. Border was then lectured by the Australian manager Bob Merriman and some locals of Srinagar the next morning.

10. Cricket grounds renamed in Boarder鈥檚 honor

Allan Border Field – Wikipedia

Two cricket grounds have been renamed in his honor. The Oval in Mossman, where he played his early grade cricket. The grounds were renamed to Allan Border Oval.

The Neumann Oval in Brisbane was renamed to Allan Border Field.