County hero working with the batsmen of the future

FEW batsmen can have graced New Road with more panache than the legendary Kiwi Glenn Turner whose name still engenders a warm glow of appreciation among Worcestershire's more seasoned followers.

And those very same Faithful City' faithful will no doubt be equally delighted to hear that Turner, once such a cherished asset in the County's batting line-up, is still very much at the sharp end of the international cricket scene, helping to shape the Test sides of the future in his native New Zealand.

Now a fit and bronzed 59-year-old and a member of the New Zealand selection panel, the former master craftsman is charged with the task of helping to identify a new generation of Kiwi cricketers to strike terror into the collective heart of Flintoff, Ponting and co - much as Turner did with international contemporaries during his hey-day between the 1970s and mid-1980s. It's an unenviable task, for as any Worcestershire supporter of a particular vintage will tell you, budding Glenn Turners' don't surface all that often.

Not that the County's favourite adopted son is letting the prospect bother him, ensconsed as he and his Sikh-born wife Sukhi are in their stunning new home at Wanaka, South Island, surrounded by a wilderness of snow-capped mountains and crystal-clear lakes. You would be hard pushed to find a decent piece of level terrain to accommodate a half-decent cricket square.

I met up with the couple quite by chance during a recent campervan tour of islands, and was thrilled to find the former New Zealand skipper as eager to know about things back in Worcestershire as I was to reminisce with a genuine cricketing legend.

Over coffee and muffins served on - what else - Royal Worcester Porcelain, the memories came flooding back for both of us.

"It's been great to return to New Road on three occasions since my retirement from playing and to find so many of the same people still involved in and around the game," said Turner, who has recently swapped the handle of a cricket bat for that of a rod as he tries to master the art of fly-fishing.

"On meeting them, it's as though I'd never been away. Although I'm not one for dwelling on the past, from time to time when I do look back at my days at Worcester, I do so with a great deal of fondness."

Such warm words from one of the game's gentleman tend to belie the ruthlessness and determination with which the younger Glenn Turner, at the peak of his powers, went about his business, notching up a playing record which was to qualify him as one of his nation's best and most prolific batsmen.

Born in Dunedin, New Zealand, he represented his country in 41 Tests and achieved an average of 44.64, including seven centuries.

He would have appeared for New Zealand much more had he not elected to be unavailable for several seasons after falling out with administrators.

Instead, Turner made his mark on the first-class cricket scene with Worcestershire. In all, he played 455 first-class matches, amassing 34,346 runs including 103 centuries - making him one of a select few to score a century of centuries'.

He also coached the New Zealand side twice - once in the mid-1980s, when he presided over the team's first and, to date, only series victory in Australia, and again a decade later.

Turner is one of only two players since the Second World War - the other being Graeme Hick - to have scored 1,000 first-class runs before the end of May, a feat he achieved in 1973.

Among the eight batsmen who have done this, Turner is one of the two - the other being Donald Bradman - who did it while playing for a touring team.

To say Turner flourished at New Road would be an understatement, displaying a natural ability, professionalism and sportsmanship which instantly endeared him to a generation of cricket supporters both at home and abroad.

And when not in his native South Island, it was perhaps in Worcestershire that Glenn and Sukhi felt most at home, bringing up their children in Droitwich Spa and Fernhill Heath, and taking weekend strolls on the Malvern Hills.

"Being brought up in a hilly city like Dunedin, I appreciated the Malvern Hills being nearby," he said. "The Kettle Sings teashop overlooking Herefordshire and the village of Colwall were two of my favoured spots."

Back at the office' on a Monday morning, Turner curiously found the New Road wicket "a largely peaceful and tranquil place to play", even with an opponent whistling the ball around his ears from time to time.

"On the other hand, the ground was intimate enough for a relatively small number of spectators to create a buzz of expectation and appreciation," he said.

And while Turner was doing his stuff out at the crease, it was not uncommon to find his wife Sukhi, who has since served two terms as mayor of Dunedin, lending a hand with the teas in the New Road pavilion.

"On one occasion, I recall Sukhi contributing to the afternoon teas served in the ladies' pavilion; I'm not sure that the samosas went down quite as well as the traditional cream cakes, particularly in the 1970s," Turner added.

Such a seemingly obscure yet treasured memory from one who has achieved so much in a glittering international career speaks volumes about the personability of Glenn Turner, and goes some way to explaining why this modest and unassuming Kiwi was to prove such a popular all-round hero with Worcestershire's traditionally conservative barmy army'.

His demeanour also provides a welcome antidote to the shallow, celebrity-obsessed world in which we currently find ourselves.

How much more tolerable life today would be if Becks' was known solely for his superb football, and his wife subsequently as one of the ladies who quaintly helped brew-up' in the clubhouse during a European Championship clash!