Greg Blewett is with the Australian team for the Hong Kong International Cricket Sixes. Blewett shot to fame with two consecutive centuries in his first two tests against England. Here, he is being interviewd by fans of cricket, in the IRC Undernet channel #cricket. Rohan Chandran, CricInfo's correspondent in Hong Kong acted as the moderator and the link between Greg Blewett and the fans.

Got Greg Blewett tucking into a bowl of crisps here... OK.. We'll bring him along, hang on... one or two other aussies as well... Please be prepared...

I've got Greg Blewett and the rest of the Aussies here with me. Anyone got anything they want to ask Greg?

ddyte: Greg: can you make it back into the test team to play the Windies?

Greg: Our season is just about to commence. Hopefully I can get off to a good start - lots of cricket to be played over the next two years, so I'll hopefully get an opportunity.

sailesh: Can you give your current World Test XI and World One Day XI (based on performance and perceived ability)?

Greg: Test: Saeed Anwar, Slater, Tendulkar, Lara, de Silva, SR Waugh, Healy, Akram, Warne, Ambrose, Younis.

One Day: Sri Lanka!

sailesh: Have any of you played in Hong Kong before? What do you think of the ground and the wicket?

Greg: I have played last year. It is a different venue this year, seating 30000. Hopefully crowd is going to be large.

hotdog: Who are your most "feared" opponents in this competition?

Greg: South Africa, and Hong Kong of course :)

Penfold: Do you reckon the Ashes tour next year is going to be a closer series than last time....? (I'm English, and still smarting)

Greg: I don't think so!

ddyte: Do the players take things like 6s and Super 8s really seriously or is it mainly a good holiday?

Greg: It is a bit of both. It is a good shopping holiday but the games are taken quite seriously as there is quite a bit of money at stake.

mohan: Greg: How much longer do you think before the bowlers world over will sort out Jayasuriya ? (if they ever do, that is :-)

Greg: Guess he's very good in the subcontinent, but on faster wickts, he is not so successful.

Joshi: What do you think about this globalization of cricket these days? We had cricket in Singapore and Canada now, Kenya later... you think it is being done hurriedly or you think it is hightime we expand the size of our cricket world ?

Greg: It will be a long time, but the more the countries playing, the better.

Ros: Greg: a personal question - we were wondering if you have a girlfriend?

Rohan: Greg smiles ... yes !!

colquhoun: What were the selection criteria for the Aus HK6 squad? and what will the Aus team be shopping for in HK?

Greg: It is a team of all rounders and shopping for golf clubs, cameras, cds, perfumes... whatever we can gert our hands on...

colquhoun: (I hope they will all be declared in customs in Aus:-))

Greg: hah!

chandra: Greg: I remember you playing for Oz in ODI's last year (if I am correct), do you think you are not suited to shorter version of the game ?

Greg: No Comment.

drinnen: The Jayasuriya question brought this to my my mind. We've seen the Sri Lankan openers having a lot of success in scoring rate terms at least. But most of this has not been in Australia where the grounds are larger. What is your opinion on the idea of roping off the larger grounds?

Greg: I think the crowds like the smaller grounds because there are more runs scored.

colquhoun: Is all Australia quaking in its boots now that Tufnell has been recalled to the Test fold?

Greg: I think the Australian nightclubs are shaking in their boots the most.

(several laughs from the crowd interviewing Greg)

Penfold: No fair - he's a married man now - he does garden centres, not nightclubs.

Rohan: Hansie wants to know if we have the latest county scores...

colquhoun: Leics 82-3 chasing Middx 190, Surrey Worcs off for rain. Looks as if Surrey title hopes gone. Somerset 87-4 in reply to Sussex 141.

sailesh: Do you chaps as cricketers actually notice the little things that the crowds do ?

Greg: Yes, the guys like to get the crowd involved, and hopefully win them over.

mohan: Greg: By the way, was Azhar's record on your mind whe you went in to bat in your third test ?

Greg: It was in the back of my mind only because at the time I was having a lot of interviews and the press were on about it.
Date-stamped : 07 Oct1998 - 04:33