LEAD STORY - CRICKET: Furlong declares innings over

ANENDRA SINGH | 11th March 2010

Come June 1, Blair Furlong will roll out of bed just like any other day.

But unlike the past 22 years of his working life, the Central Districts Cricket chief executive won't be sliding behind the steering wheel of his company car minutes before 8am to ease into Auckland Rd, weaving his way through the rush-hour traffic to his McLean Park office, in Napier.

He wants wife Kathie Furlong, Napier's deputy mayor, to rest assured she won't be tripping over him on her way to work.

Instead, Furlong is more likely to be an aberration among cellphone-toting schoolchildren catching the bus in the serene Greenmeadows neighbourhood.

"I'm leaving my house every day at 9 o'clock in the morning, even if it's to read the paper in the bus shelter on the corner. Instead of leaving the house at half past seven or 8 o'clock, I'll leave at nine.

"I'll find something to do, even if it's pushing supermarket trolleys around or something," a grinning Furlong tells SportToday only a day into the aftermath of the first Chappell-Hadlee Trophy one-day international.

Propping up his head in his hands as he leans into the backrest of his elementary chair, he looks out of the window of his sparse office, tucked away but catching a sliver of the park from the Centennial End.

He is bereft of ideas on what to do but seems unfazed.

"I'm not going to retire. I'm just retiring from cricket," says the former All Black and first-class cricketer, who took on the administrative job in its infancy in August 1988 as a one-man band.

"I worked off my kitchen table at home. I worked 50 per cent for Hawke's Bay and 50 per cent for Central Districts.

"After about 18 months, as I did the job, it grew and I became a fulltime employee of CD."

His office is in disarray - paper everywhere and laminated accreditation cards in a mangled mess in boxes. Mountains of documents are propped up on his desk, chairs and floor like high-rise buildings abandoned midway through construction.

"I've been accused of not being strategic enough and being too operational. Well, that's me.

"I actually saw Daryl Tuffey bowl - I think it was to Cameron White yesterday [last Wednesday] - in the last over and that's all the game I saw."

The 65-year-old is nothing like the modern-day CEO, decked out in a suit and tie with spotless sensible shoes, a cellphone to boot and a tense entourage waiting for him to bark orders.

If anything, he cuts a striking figure at the ground, a floppy hat covers his bespectacled face as he goes about his business just like any of the ground staff. Stacking drinks in the players' dressing rooms, welcoming guests, addressing media issues - you name it, Furlong's done it.

Staying put behind the desk is not an option for a man whom neighbouring Hawke's Bay Football Rugby Union wallahs call "Putser" (he was the last to leave the ground after switching off the lights).

"One of the things that annoys me is when I have to pay people to do something when I can do it myself," he says, paying tribute to his band of voluntary helpers.

"I've never asked my staff to do anything that I won't do myself, either."

Often perceived as "old school", he'll be the first to admit he's not a forthcoming person.

"The players think I'm a grumpy bum and probably someone who says 'no' far too often, but the reality is you're not just dealing with what was an amateur game. It is now quasi-professional and you're dealing with kids from under-13 up to Black Caps."

All the attention surrounding his service embarrasses him. His parting words are not to write this story as if it was a "wake".

He has no idea who placed the "Thanks, Blair Furlong" banner in front of the Harris Stand during his last ODI match. He realised it was there only when a security officer pointed it out to him.

"That's why I was hiding yesterday [last Wednesday] from all the people who might have been chasing me around.

"I'm not sure if a whole lot of people are jumping up and down cheering because I'm going, but there's probably a fair percentage of both," he says, throwing his head back in laughter.

Having played cricket and rugby to an elite level, Furlong always felt comfortable with any aspect of his job. He certainly has no regrets.

"I'll miss coming to work and miss the camaraderie of my staff and the players and the team, but I'm not going to stop watching them.

"I won't have any regrets about waking one day and knowing I've run my race in doing the Central Districts administration," he says.

Apart from the transformation the park has undergone, Furlong's other highlight has been ensuring a regionally fragmented CD has survived the odds of retaining its status as a major association.

"For years there have been thoughts of changing from six [associations] to five, to four, but we've managed to keep our heads above the water and do the things we have to do - with limited resources sometimes," he says.

A CD development programme that in its infancy had $40,000 has now mushroomed to more than $500,000 when the contributions from its eight districts are added.

He also derives pleasure in the knowledge the CD under-19 players will graduate with Stags honours soon. While the under-17s didn't enjoy the same level of success as a team, there are individuals who are thriving.

"The No 1 priority is that it's a game. You have administration, human resources, employment issues and other things, but it's really a game you are administering.

"The reality is that we're working for New Zealand Cricket and to get the Black Caps better by trying to get better players for them and improve their lot," he says, throwing around the names of recent Black Caps like confetti - Ewen Thompson, Peter Ingram, Mathew Sinclair, Michael Mason, Brendon Diamanti, Jacob Oram, Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder.

Season rookie Seth Rance's debut for the Stags will have lifted the spirits of youngsters in Wairarapa who will want to emulate his feat.

While Wanganui and Horowhenua-Kapiti are not represented in the Stags' ranks, Furlong is upbeat that age-group players from there will come through.

He accepts his successor, once the 35 candidates are culled from March 15, will embrace a different style.

It's not that Furlong couldn't handle the changes, but he simply feels it's time for a new direction.

"It might not be a totally new direction and it's not that I wouldn't like to be a part of it. If there's a slight change in the road, then I feel someone else can take them down that road rather than me. I'm very comfortable with that."

Asked if he has any advice for his successor, Furlong pauses then delivers: "Treat people well. If you do, then they won't hold a grudge against you of any sort."