ODT cricket writerr Adrian Seconi reflects on his most memorable interviews during two decades in the saddle.
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Ian Botham
Never been so nervous before an interview.
But the England great could not have been more accommodating. We sat down and started chatting.
I barely looked at the questions I had jotted down on my pad and he sipped away at his chardonnay.
It is the only time in 20 years I’ve asked the photographer to make sure he got me in the frame.
The photo was up on social media before you could say "howzat".
Some cheeky bloke commented we looked of the same vintage. Class endures, Hayden Meikle. Class endures.
Merv Hughes
Things got awfully frosty with the former Australian fast bowler for a few frightening moments.
The details elude me now, but the feeling of wanting to shrink into a ball and quietly roll away remains.
He is an intimidating-looking man, and the glance he put me under would burn its way through tungsten.
But I dug in and the interview finished on good terms. I think there was even a smile under that famous moustache.
Suzie Bates and Katey Martin
The cricketing duo spent more than 20 years playing cricket together and I tagged along for most of that journey, gathering the odd insight here and there when I got a chance to interview them separately.
But in 2022 I interviewed them together, and it was just a delight to hear them banter and joke with each other.
Discovered a lot of really important information. Like how Suzie is a "neat freak" and very fickle with her coffee order, and how Katey is messy and "likes to live in chaos".
Two nicer people you will not meet.
Lance Allred
The former Otago Nuggets centre was a gold mine for a journalist.
He grew up in a polygamous sect. He battled OCD. He was an author and he was the first legally deaf athlete to play in the NBA. He briefly shared a dressing room with LeBron James.
Allred was also thoughtful and engaging, and he played an influential role in helping the Nuggets snap their infamous 33-game losing streak.
Tab Baldwin
The former Tall Blacks coach’s trademark move was to get down on one knee and turn people into melted cheese through the sheer force of personality and that withering, intense glance.
I had the good fortune to join the Tall Blacks in camp in 2006.
During a training session, Baldwin was annoyed with what he was seeing. He called the team in for a huddle and a dressing down.
Somehow they managed to form a circle that included former Press basketball writer Geoff Longley and myself.
We were just sitting courtside minding our business and suddenly Baldwin was scowling at us like we missed a defensive assignment.
Billy Bowden
The former international cricket umpire had to come to terms with disappointing people, and also had to learn to make peace with his mistakes.
He had some sound advice for a relatively fresh journalist during our interview about 15 years ago that has always stuck with me.
People will forget details, he said. But they will never forget the way you made them feel.
