It was 1996. New Zealand were playing the West Indies at Sabina Park in Jamaica.Gavin Larsen was stationed at fine leg. Suddenly, a chap from the stands yelled out, “Hey postie, hey postie.” When Larsen turned around, the fan said, “You are the postman because you always deliver.” Yes, he did. And he is still doing it.
Sixteen years after he played the last of his three World Cups, Larsen is an integral part of this edition of the tournament. Suited, booted and armed with an all-access accreditation card, Larsen struts around the place like he owns it. In many ways, he does. In his role as thecricket operations manager of the World Cup in New Zealand, the 52-year-old is busier than a bee.
“It’s a 24/7 job,” says the former seam bowler, who forged a successful partnership with Chris Harris, Willy Watson and Rod Latham. Together, they were called ‘Dibbly’, ‘Dobbly’, ‘Wibbly’ and ‘Wobbly’. Ah, how sweet.
Larsen goes on, “As a player, I only played. Now, I have to look after the pitch, the training facilities and even logistics. That involves moving someone or something from A to B. Then, there are the flights, hotels and all that. I have to do dirty jobs as well like cleaning their (players’) socks and undies (laundry).”
Larsen, who picked up 119 wickets in 121 ODIs between 1990 and 1999, was known for being a miser. His career economy rate of 3.76 suggests just that. His called it a day after New Zealand lost to Pakistan in the semifinal of the 1999 World Cup in Manchester. Larsen spent the next seven years in a cricket sponsorship role with the National Bank. Then he went on to become the chief executive of Cricket Wellington for five years.
His time is now divided between the running of the family’s Hells Pizza franchise and his role as the World Cup’s operations manager.
“Cricket is pulsing through my veins. I couldn’t imagine not being involved with cricket. Two years ago, the phone rang and it took me two seconds to take up this offer. I have been a lucky man. I am living the dream,” he says. “I played in three World Cups and am now delivering one.”
Having played the game at the highest level, Larsen knows the needs of his ilk. “That’s one of the reasons why I am in the role. I look at things through a player’s lens. There are numerous challenges involved, but being able to work with fantastic people is a great experience,” he says.
The talk veers towards cricket. Known for bowling a tight line and restricting the flow of runs, Larsen acknowledges that his job was a tough one.
“I had the ability to put the ball in the right place. I knew how to take the pace off the ball. Today (Tuesday), it was interesting to see the Indian spinners bowl well. In modern-day cricket, you have got to attack all the time. They did well,” he says.
Talking about the importance of variations, Larsen says, “In my time, bowlers bowled just a single yorker and maybe a couple of slower deliveries. Today, you have four types of yorkers. The toe-crusher, the one bowled on off-stump, the one bowled wide of off-stump. Similarly, there are different types of slower deliveries, including the slower bouncer. In my time, we bowled our stock delivery, which in my case was a seam-up ball bowled just back of a length, about 80 per cent of the time. Now, every ball is a variation,” he says.
The time for talk is over. The Indian openers are walking out to bat. It’s show time. Larsen has to ‘deliver’ all over again.
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World Cup 2015: The "postman" continues to deliver off the field
