I was 20 years old when, sitting down one day to lunch with my manager Warren Craig at Homebush Bay in Sydney, he made what I thought at the time was a very interesting remark.
‘You need to develop some interests outside the game,’ he said. ‘It’s all very well to have cricket as your main focus when the going is good, but when things aren’t going so well you need to be able to take enjoyment out of other things as well.’
Warren knew what he was talking about. He’d managed Glenn McGrath through his successful career, helping him make the transition from player to former player and, having looked after me for two years at that stage, he’d seen how much I obsessed about the game as I sought to make a success of my chosen career.
It’s true that, up to that point in my life, cricket had been front and centre for me, with everything else running a distant second. When I was in the UK playing club cricket for Sevenoaks Vine in 2007, Tony Ward, who I was staying with at the time, joked to a club official that I loved the game so much I even slept with my bat.
I didn’t quite go to those lengths, but Warren’s observations, along with those of a few other people I respected, made me reflect upon where I was in my life and now, while cricket is still my number one priority, I’ve gradually moved to a position where I take an interest in lots of other things away from the game that give me pleasure. And those things have, in turn, helped to take my mind off thinking about the game 24/7.
I was quite resistant to the idea of having anything other than cricket to think about when I first got into the Cricket New South Wales structure as a rookie, even though the state had a welfare program pushing players into diversifying in that way. The idea was—and still is—to give players other strings to their bows and ensure that if things don’t work out on the field then there is a plan B and something to fall back on career-wise, or some other skill learnt that could make you attractive to potential employers.
I did get as far as considering doing a business course online but at that stage of my life my mind always came back to the same thought: when I wasn’t playing or training then I wanted to be in a position to enjoy my relaxation time and not have to think about something that needed to be done. So, on that basis, I always shied away from that sort of commitment.
Of course, as I became more and more high profile through becoming a member of the Australian side, the potential for me to become associated with businesses to help them market themselves and their products grew and, whether I liked it or not, I came to realise that came with the territory.
But the good thing from my perspective was that Warren was quite selective in helping me choose likely partners, and we had a series of criteria that we used to help in that decision-making process if companies approached him expressing an interest in wanting to work with me. Those criteria were that the brand had to fit in with cricket, it had to fit in with what I was all about—a young, fit and healthy athlete—and resonate with me so I would feel comfortable promoting it. We also both agreed there had to be an upper limit of companies that I could be involved with, as too many would have the potential to impact negatively on my ability to manage my time.
One thing I’ve become acutely aware of is my appeal to young fans of the game, and on that basis it’s made me even more conscious of doing the right thing in terms of what I endorse. As an example, in 2016 Warren was approached by a leading multinational snack food brand with a proposal for me to endorse a well-known product. There’s no need for me to name the brand here but I decided it didn’t fit in with the image that I wanted to portray, so I knocked it back. The bottom line for me is that any money I might earn from such endorsements is less important to me than the image I put forward to the next generation of players and supporters, and that is something I will always seek to live by wherever possible. The companies I do work with—Sanitarium and its Weet-Bix brand, Fox Sports, Commonwealth Bank and New Balance—all share my values of getting young people fit and active.
If that seems like a relatively small list of companies for a person whose profile is as high as mine as captain of the national team, then it is because it fits in with Warren’s and my aim of not overcommitting me. Having too many brands to endorse doesn’t work on a number of levels, not least because it would then be a question of trying to find the time to look after them. If companies are prepared to support me then I have to be prepared to do the same in return and with our playing schedule involving pretty much through-the-year action, the opportunities to lock time away in my diary to attend events is strictly limited. On top of that, there are commitments that Cricket Australia agrees with its commercial partners and, along with all the other contracted players, I am locked in to attending a set number of those during any given year too. And with those factors to consider, Warren is always conscious that when I do get downtime then he doesn’t want to be filling it all up with endless promotional activities, as that would be a recipe for ensuring I never get that switch-off time that’s always been so important to me.
A greater awareness of business through these endorsements has given me the confidence to look around off my own bat and over the past two years I’ve developed an interest in investing in start-up companies, both at home and abroad.
Before you get the idea I’m too focused on business and not focused enough on cricket, I’d point out that investing in this way is something I’ve been involved with since 2015 and the period since then has coincided with me playing the best cricket of my career, so it certainly hasn’t affected me in that sense. And the investments I’ve made involve only a relatively small percentage of my income. What I’ve found is that the whole process has been thoroughly enjoyable, a good diversion from a diet of cricket, cricket and more cricket, and one that has whetted my appetite for greater involvement in the business world once my playing career winds down.
I think of my investments as a hobby, and one that has the potential to make a lot of people, not just me, very happy. Another hobby I have that has that same potential, although in a different way, is my interest in racehorses.
My attraction to the sport developed in a fairly standard way. Once I turned 18, just like many young Australians, the idea of a beer at the pub while having a bet on the horses was a very appealing one, but although I enjoyed it, it wasn’t much more than a passing interest at that stage.
That changed when my friend Richie Callander introduced me to the idea of ownership, and as a result I now own small shares of two geldings, Hogmanay and Cauthens Power, both trained by Chris Waller, one of New South Wales’ leading trainers. Hogmanay is a four-year-old and Moisés Henriques is also part of the syndicate of owners, while Cauthens Power is a five-year-old originally out of New Zealand.
I’ve never had the chance to make it to the track to watch them race—and win—on a Saturday, but I have managed to attend a few midweek race meetings when my schedule’s allowed, although I’ve never made it to the winner’s enclosure in person yet.
I’m not one who has a copy of the form guide under his arm at all times and I’m not so obsessed that I’ll go and watch either of my horses train. But what I will do is watch my horses race online if I know they’re running and I’ve got access to the coverage. It’s something that gives me a lot of enjoyment although I know it’s not something that will ever make me rich.
Most cricketers will follow most sports because sport is what we love. I think we all enjoy watching people compete, especially if the standard of that competition is high and, for me, the two sports I’m most passionate about outside of my own are rugby league and tennis.
My rugby league side is the Sydney Roosters, which would surprise people familiar with the city’s geography as, coming from Sutherland, a long way from the Eastern Suburbs, the club isn’t one that you would think I would be barracking for.
My attraction to the Roosters came from following Brad Fittler. He was my favourite player when he was at Penrith and I began taking an interest in the game, and when he moved to the Roosters my affiliation moved with him.
Brad’s obviously long since retired but I’m still following the team, and although I’ve not been able to get to a game in person for the last couple of years, I do watch them online whenever I get the chance. And as the side trains in the SCG sports complex it’s often the case that I’ll cross paths with members of the squad.
I can’t say I’m best mates with any of the current lineup, but I’m on nodding terms with the likes of captain Boyd Cordner, Jake Friend and Mitchell Pearce and they all come across as good guys.
Tennis was my winter activity growing up and although I don’t get the chance to play much these days, I’m still in love with the sport and watch it as much as I can. For me, the Australian Open tennis in Melbourne in January is as much a part of the summer sports scene as any cricket match and there’s nothing I like better during those two weeks than tuning in to a night session after I get back from a day’s playing or training. Perhaps the biggest thrill of my sporting life outside of cricket was meeting and getting the chance to chat with Roger Federer in Sydney a couple of years ago.
Roger is someone I’ve idolised as a sportsman for his longevity and the way he conducts himself on and off the court. I got my introduction to him when he was playing in a Fast4 Tennis event in Sydney—the format of the sport billed as tennis’ equivalent of Twenty20. Warren teed the meeting up through Lleyton Hewitt, who was playing Roger, and originally he was going to keep it a secret from me and give me a big surprise.
But when Warren told Dani about the planned meeting she thought I should be told beforehand as she figured—probably quite rightly—that I’d be so in awe of him that I might end up tongue-tied. By giving me a bit of notice I could at least get used to the idea of a catch-up with the great man.
I was like a child at Christmas when Warren let the cat out of the bag and all I could keep saying was ‘The Fed!’ And when the time came to actually meet him he was every bit as impressive as I thought he would be, and we chatted for about 20 minutes. He was honest enough to admit he didn’t know very much about cricket, but he did say that wherever he goes in the world he tends to watch whatever sport there is on television so he had actually heard of it and seen some cricket as well. That night was also the first chance I had to meet Lleyton and he was just as impressive. I’ve got enormous admiration for both men as they have managed to remain at the top of their chosen profession for well over a decade, which, in sporting terms is a lifetime. Lleyton really has carried the Australian flag superbly throughout his time at the top.
For some players, any time away from the game and commercial appearances involves family time at home, but I’m still at the stage in my life where those considerations aren’t things I have to worry about. On that basis, my primary way of relaxing away from cricket is to travel.
It may seem odd to some readers that someone who spends much of his life living out of a suitcase in hotel rooms as I do, is happy to do the same thing when I’m not playing, but it works for me. In 2016, after we won the ODI tri-series in the Caribbean against the West Indies and South Africa, Dani and I went on to the USA for a trip that combined a stop in Boston to visit the New Balance head office along with a holiday in New York, and we headed to the USA again after the Champions Trophy in 2017.
New York is something of a favourite destination of mine as it is such a fantastic place to explore, and Dani and I can spend four or five hours walking the streets there without anyone batting an eyelid at us given cricket’s low profile in the country. The fact we can walk from one end of the city to the other means there is plenty of scope for exploring the place, as well as assisting in maintaining my fitness levels between cricket commitments, and with so much to see and do there, I’d happily live in New York tomorrow if the chance presented itself. There’s obviously no chance of that at the moment, but once I finish playing, who knows where I might end up.
Dani has been a breath of fresh air in my life since we got together in the early part of 2012, and I reckon I was the happiest man alive when she accepted my proposal on top of the Empire State Building in New York in June 2017. We met at a time when I was out of the Australian Test team, but still enjoying life, perhaps in hindsight a bit too much. It was during the inaugural season of the Big Bash League, the summer I was part of the victorious Sydney Sixers line-up—I actually hit the winning runs in the final against the Perth Scorchers at the WACA—and I was on a night out at Scubar, a backpackers’ bar in Sydney.
I’d seen Dani across the bar and was trying to pluck up enough courage to go over and chat to her and to work out what I might say if I did, when a male friend of hers who was part of a group with her that night, recognised me, came over, and started to make conversation. It turned out to be the perfect opportunity for me to introduce myself to Dani and I was delighted that we hit it off straight away.
I pretty quickly realised I enjoyed being with her and within a couple of weeks I took her to meet my parents, the first time I’d ever done that with a girlfriend. Soon after that I took her to Hawaii for a holiday, the sort of long-distance trip that can either make or break a relationship in its early stages, and thankfully for me it was the former rather than the latter.
I think meeting Dani was life’s way of helping me to grow up. By the time we got together I’d already moved out of home and had my own place, but it was something of a lad’s pad with housemates, including my New South Wales teammate Stephen O’Keefe. There was one occasion when I went out and bought a table tennis table on the spur of the moment only to find that when it was opened out it took up most of the living space in the lounge. It meant we had some great games of table tennis but it wasn’t necessarily the most practical thing to do. Dani’s arrival on the scene quickly made me realise what my priorities were, my housemates moved out and she moved in.
Dani didn’t know a great deal about cricket when we met but as I quickly discovered she is very smart and now understands the game pretty well. I’ve even had her feeding me balls into the bowling machine at the SCG nets when I’ve gone down there for a hit on my own. She doesn’t comment on my technique, and that suits me fine, because there are times when all I want to do is to feel bat on ball without a coach’s input and she’s able to help me with that whenever I need it.
Dani tends to travel with me pretty much everywhere I go when I’m playing and I find it great to have her around. Anyone reading this book will have realised there are times when I find it hard to switch off from thinking about the game, and that’s even more so since I became captain, and so having someone around who’s not involved with the team and the game, is very helpful for me. Regardless of the day I’ve had I can get on with the rest of my evening with her and she’ll be the same person with me whether I’ve scored a duck or a hundred.
There is a view, of course, that having wives, partners or children around the team can lead to a dilution of team spirit but, although I guess I’m biased thanks to Dani, that’s not my experience and I think you’ll get the same answer from Darren Lehmann and David Warner, among others, too. As a team, we’re on the road together so much and we see so much of each other every day anyway that I think it’s actually good to get out of that bubble when we can and I, for one, am all in favour of families being with us whenever possible. We’re fortunate now that we earn enough money to have that luxury, and Cricket Australia has also been supportive with dedicated family windows during summers and tours when they actively assist wives, partners and children travelling with players. Warren believes I play better when Dani is around and I think there’s some value in that argument for the reasons I’ve already mentioned.
Dani and I have plenty of interests in common, whether it’s going to movies and watching DVD box sets, walking or even going to the gym, as she’ll head for the treadmill while I go for the weights. Our time together has certainly coincided with an improvement in my training regime, something that has led to a definite change in my body shape. I’m now at the stage where I actually enjoy going to the gym, whereas for the first few years of my career I regarded it as more of a chore that had to be done.
I’m conscious of the fact that Dani’s put her life on hold to a great extent in order to be with me, as she’s highly intelligent and has graduated in commerce and law and would be a great success in life in her own right if she chose to focus on her career. She’s yet to decide what she’ll do with that qualification but in the meantime we’re working together on one of my other new interests, property development and management.
I own a portfolio of properties in Sydney and Brisbane that I rent out, but I’ve also now taken an interest in buying and doing up property too, and our plan is for Dani to take a hands-on role with that as she has a flair for interior design.
I’m fortunate to have had Dani come into my life and, with an increasingly fulfilling existence away from cricket, I know I have a lot to be grateful for.