Cricket: From Geoff 'Who?' to the main man

By Richard Boock

at the World Cup

MANCHESTER - Whatever fate should befall the Kiwi cricketers in their World Cup semifinal this morning, opening bowler Geoff Allott is at least assured of one award from this tournament: most sought-after player.

The man known as Geoff "Who?" when he arrived in England last month has featured in just about every newspaper in the land over the past few weeks, and was again the target for the full might of the British media after practice at Old Trafford yesterday.

Allott's feat in blowing the tournament's previous wicket-taking record to smithereens has fascin- ated British sports followers, with television, radio and newspaper agencies highlighting his every mannerism, from the sock that flops out the open toe of his cricket boot, to his back-brace and fully reconstructed bowling action.

Before this morning's match, Allott had taken 20 wickets at the World Cup - two more than the previous record - but had given about five times that number of interviews, and was again splashed all over Britain's major dailies yesterday.

This was not a huge surprise, given that Allott was the subject of multiple television and radio interviews after his team's final blowout in the nets yesterday, after which he sat down and gave a mass interview to at least 15 newspaper reporters.

The media in England are making much play of the fact that Allott has not discounted a career on the English county scene, with reports already trickling in that several counties are interested in pursuing his services.

However, the ever-smiling left-armer is unlikely to be in a position to sign with an English team as his commitments with New Zealand are likely to be a full-time proposition over the next 18 months, with tours to India, South Africa and the West Indies, not to mention the domestic international series looming.