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| Sunday, 31 March 2002 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Dav Whatmore Up close and personal by Hana Ibrahim
Nice is a word you use on good samaritans with Mother Theresa predilections. Nice is a word you use on people who are pasty pale and boring to boot. Nice is an etiquette propelled cop out for things bromidic and blah. Nice is a biscuit. Dav Whatmore is neither good samaritan nor biscuit. All male and macho, with oodles of machismo to match, he is more hard nosed resolve and blithe risque than nice. His ascent to fame on a notoriously chimerical course and his ribald comments on men and related matters stand as testimony to that fact. But the word 'Nice' remains crazy glue stuck in your mind as you topic hop with him through the nostalgia of childhood escapades, the challenge of adulthood dictates and dwell on the itsy bitsy idiosyncrasies that make him who he is... ...Committed coach, benevolent mentor, jovial friend, puckish prankster, devoted father and unlikely iconoclast who transformed the mouldy concept of coaching by drop kicking conventional norms and introducing an in-your face kind of re-thinking that literally had the entire cricket world reeling at the sheer impunity of the whole approach. He is also increasingly, the new kid in the block giving the corporate circuit an unorthodox stimulus with his ingenious brand of outfield rationale. Dav the Motivator! Actually it's the motivator image that has you looking at him from a new perspective and hot trotting to the plush BCCSL headquarters for a rare one on one. But what you end up with is an opportunity to lay bare the mechanism that make this phenomenon tick. "I am just Dav. There is no E to my name" he says by way of introduction, making you wonder just who Dav 'there is no E to my name' Whatmore really is? Of course every cricket fan and his mother know him as the potency behind Sri Lanka's current status as 'winners'. Probably every cricket fan and his mother are also familiar with his intense, unsmiling, close to frowning, countenance. And may be, they also know something about his penchant for a certain brand of electronic items, courtesy an often repeated advertisement. But does he laugh; throw a tantrum when things get skewered out of kilter; slam his fist when frustrated; pull his hair; stamp his feet; shout; scream; cry; laugh.... What is it that makes him tick. Someone once described French Football star Eric Cantona as 'there is the man and then there is the man who talks'. With a slight twist the same could be said of Whatmore. 'There is the coach and then there is the man himself.'
Dav Whatmore is a genuinely nice man. Deep down where it truly matters, where truth and honesty, respect for others and doing the best are values that separate men from mice and other rodents, he stands out shoulder- high, refusing to dilute his beliefs or his values for transitory gains. Mentor and coach, friend and foreman, supporter and critic to the Sri Lankan cricket team, he strives to instill these values as part of his coaching repertoire, and says that knowing the difference between right and wrong and knowing when to make the right decision is as important as giving the best for the game. Still, he's not all nice thoughts and sugar and spice views. A tough task master who can be devastatingly acerbic as he is charmingly obliging, he doesn't suffer fools gladly and believes in holding a person responsible for his action. Traits like selfishness, stupidity, lack of thinking all make him angry. But, in his own words, 'my bark is a lot worse than my bite'. A positive thinker who believes in luck whole-heartedly and would give anything not to be deemed a male chauvinist, Whatmore looks back at his life and recalls fond memories of growing up in Sri Lanka, with two sisters for company and a dad who spent a lot of time away from home. Home was down Station Road, Wellawatte. School was Royal Primary. And life was a wonderfully riveting ball game. "But I wasn't spoilt," Whatmore insists, pointing out that penance was having to put up with two sisters, who were not only brainy, but also wouldn't play any cricket with him. Not inclined to studies "I was the master of 51 per cent", Whatmore grew up reading about the big matches in the newspaper, never dreaming that one day, the tables would be neatly turned and that it's him who would be in the news. In retrospect, it seems cricket was something inherent in him and he was always destined for fame, if not with a bat, then at least through some aspect of the game. " My natural leaning was towards cricket," he says, explaining that his rise in the cricketing hierarchy to test player status was a gradual progression of playing higher and higher levels of cricket, from school to club to county and then the final frosting -test. Each level he recalls, was tougher than the previous one. Whatmore - whose family migrated to Australia in 1962 as a direct consequence of the Sinhala Only Act, and who faced the prejudice of being an Asian 'I developed a stutter' and could never be fully Australian -played seven test matches as a batsman fielder for Australia and recorded a modest 78 as his highest score. A man with few regrets, he however repents not having excelled when he had the opportunity, and says somewhat ruefully "I had the ability and the talent. But I didn't apply myself." He also rues the fact that he didn't have any assistance from a coach. That coaching omission has been fine honed into a vital resource, and is today the basis of a mentoring tactic that's manifestly holistic and uniquely Whatmore. "Every batsman goes through a bad patch, where he is plagued by self doubt and doesn't know where the next run is going to come from. A good batsman comes out of it fact. But all have to be reassured,' he says, explaining that being able to give that reassurance along with the necessary guidance is what makes him a better coach. However, in a topsy turvy career that had him working as a ledger keeper, leaf grader and insurance inspector, coaching wasn't an automatic choice, but rather a gradual realisation. "I had a natural aptitude to help people, and something in me wanted to stay in cricket - be it as an umpire, coach or scorer." His first bona fide job as a cricket official was State Director of Coaching for the Victorian Cricket Association. He remembers it offering him a good lifestyle, and a solid base to start his married life with wife Kathryn. But his biggest and perhaps best break came when, owing to itchy feet and the urge to do something more challenging, he joined the Institute of Sports (Victoria) as cricket coach for scholarship holders - 14 boys and four 4 girls - between the ages of 18 and 20. In terms of salary and perks, the job didn't offer much. And although Whatmore had a child and a mortgage by then, he took the job, because of the challenge it offered. One year after taking up the new job he bought a jeep, but two months later he was ready to quit. "The job was hard. The boss who was also the head of programme challenged the coaches to think laterally. Those were desperate times," recalls Whatmore, who would have gone ahead with his decision to quit if not for his boss's faith in him. 'You are not a quitter. You are a survivor' the man said. And like an indelible credo, the phrase hovered in Whatmore's psyche, propelling him to aim high, demand the best and have it delivered on a platter. And today, as he basks in the glory of being coach to a team of world beaters, he looks back at his time with the Institution as an educational process and says that much of what he learnt about sporting psychology and getting the cricketers stimulated and on the their toes, is applicable to the corporate sector, where team work is the key and success is the goal. So step aside Dav Whatmore World Beater Coach, and welcome Dav Whatmore Motivation Guru. end Dav On coaching strategy- It is process oriented holistic approach. I try to be as individualistic as possible and it is based on planning, identifying components of performance and individual needs. The main thrust are skill, psychology, bio-mechanic - transference of gravity, coaching and self analysis. Nutrition, career development and personal relationship also play a big part. On his motivational seminars - "The philosophy is to make everybody the best he could be. It is about sharing my knowledge. Certain aspects of cricket are similar to business. The main thrust is team work. It is also essentially understanding that people are different. So achieving the desired outcome, has to be a process, where the goal is approached through a series of sub goals - one step at a time. More often then not we are restricted to what's available. There is not enough lateral thinking." On Team work - How many stars does a team have ? You have to mix in the worker bees to achieve success. It is the same in the corporate sector. On happiness - I am totally content. It is about achieving an even balance between home lime and work like and keeping the mind light. What makes him angry - Selfishness (seeing people acting so). Stupidity on the cricket field. Lack of thinking. I also get angry at my self when I am not being the ideal husband or parent. His idea of an ideal husband - Being a good parent, a good provider. Being sensitive to their needs. Is he a Male Chauvinist At times I am. But my bark is a lot worse than my bit and I am moving from being judgemental to being perceptive. Does he believe in Luck - Absolutely. I think I am one of the luckiest person on earth. Two things he values most - Health and family. His regrets - My playing career. I could have been a super hero cricketer, if I knew then what I know now. I'd also be retired with a swanky place that I call home. His heroes - I admire a lot of people. But I've only asked for the autograph of one person - Posh Spice of Spice Girls. And that was for my daughter Alexandra, who's 18 now. Is it Ok for men to cry - Definitely,. But I'm not sure where to do it, though it should be more in private. |
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| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
Nice isn't a word one would associate with Sri Lankan Cricket Coach Dav
Whatmore. Popular, jocund, rumbustious, brusque, forthright, determined
emulous, even obnoxious... You could tag any of the adjectives, even those
bordering on the harsh and know you wouldn't be far wrong. But Nice...
The man himself is suave, charming, candid, convivial and above all
laid-back. He is also likeable. And, when in an unabashed manner and in
humour tinged tones recounts the ups and downs and the wonky curves his
life has taken, you begin to understand why the word 'nice' remains stuck
in your mind.
