RedHanded: I recently read a quote about you by David Hemp, your predecessor as Glamorgan captain: “Jamie can come across as very intense. But I think a lot of that is due to the different mentality he knew at Middlesex. He was in the same changing room as Andrew Strauss and players who had aspirations to play for England. I don't know how many Glamorgan players have that same ambition, so it can lead to a different mentality. Most Glamorgan players like a laugh and a joke in the changing room, Jamie is just as happy going into a corner on his own and reading a book.” Sound about right?
Jamie Dalrymple: I’m not particularly used to describing myself. I guess I could be called intense, at times, others have said I can be a bit of a perfectionist, and I do like to try and do things right. Those were also early days for me at Glamorgan so maybe I can claim “reserved”. And I do like books, I’m not going to deny that.
What are you reading?
Just something light at the moment. I’m working through Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, which people seem to be raving about. I’ve just started book two so maybe I’ll catch the bug soon.
What’s been your favourite read?
That’s a tricky one. I’m sure I should say something profound like War and Peace by Tolstoy, but that was truly tortuous. I recently read one about Lord Dowding, which was interesting and I enjoyed Stalingrad and The Life of Pi. I do enjoy reading, particularly about history. It’s a nice form of escapism. I was given one of those handheld devices that allow you to read thousands of books off a small screen and in cricket you have plenty of time so I can read quite a lot.
I gather you studied Modern History at Oxford and got a 2:1. Why did you choose history?
I always liked it and found it interesting. Again I’d like to offer something profound but can’t. There was an element of deciding if I felt I was an arts student or a scientist but there was also a case for avoiding afternoon labs when I was at uni. My other A-levels were science-based or maths-based and the compulsory afternoons in the laboratory would have been bad for cricket.
You mentioned escapism. Is that to get away from the pressures of your sport and your own drive to do well?
Yes and no. I do find reading a great way to quiet my mind and think of other things, a bit like watching films, I guess. Maybe some of it – mentioning escapism - is my way of explaining reading to my teammates so I’m not known as a complete geek. However, I have read since well before sport became my business. As for the perfectionism, or the focus, or the “intensity” you quoted, it’s just the way I am. I didn’t grow up with a father waving a stick telling me to do stuff. My parents never pushed me to do anything other than my best but I have inherited some serious competitiveness from somewhere... In school I was always in a class where it was important to get A grades. In cricket, all through school we played and won. In my school team we never lost a game and at university we won a lot too. I like winning and doing things well on or off the pitch - I can’t really deny that. I have also played a lot with people who apply themselves very hard to do well and those standards rub off.
With that in mind, how’s life at Glamorgan? Your chairman, Paul Russell, was quite clear at the end of last year that the club needs to improve.
A lot was made of his comments, but that’s also a media thing. Neutral headlines do not sell an awful lot of newspapers. We are aware that the headline results need improving but the reality is that building sports teams is a long process. There was evidence of improvement last year but also room for more focus on one-day results in particular. It is time now to move on but Glamorgan was at a low ebb and as I said there was a lot of work to do, some started by my predecessor that you mentioned, David Hemp. It is not an easy job rebuilding teams and it is not made easier by the current economic challenges that make recruiting big players difficult, but we have a lot of good young talent at the club and much of it is Welsh too so there is a lot to look forward to. Right now we are probably two or three players away (either through developing younger players or recruiting) from what I would like. At the moment we have a thin squad and if you lose players - we lost two seamers through injury for the opening game and it cost us - you are exposed. The club has gone through a huge regeneration with the stadium and the rest will take time. That can be frustrating for us, as competitive men, but perspective and patience is needed.
So there is potential down the line.
Absolutely. The stadium is excellent and we have the facilities we need. With some hard work and a bigger core of players this team can get back up there.
Going back to patience, mine has been stretched a little by the amount of international cricket we seem to have. The England team, across the formats, played upwards of 60 games in 2009 and is scheduled for 45 this year. I always thought international sport should have an element of novelty about it. As an international with 27 one-day caps and three Twenty20 caps, what’s your take on it?
It’s a difficult one. Sport being what it is - suffice to say a largely commercial entity these days - the demand for the team to play is high. Sponsors want more visibility etc. Do I think that’s right? Well, my opinion is a moot point I guess. But personally, I think we do play too much cricket. I agree that international sport should be something special and yet it is extremely common. I mean, at the moment there is a Twenty20 World Cup every year. And all the tests and tours. It’s not just international cricket, either. Look how much IPL (Indian Premier League) is on. How much Twenty20 do guys need to watch? For us in England, it is particularly difficult. England are, as best I know, the only team that plays in our summer. The West Indies, Australia, India etc, have that time off. We play through and also the winter. It’s mad. From a player point of view, I remember from 2006 or 2007 I didn’t have an uninterrupted two-week period for a couple of years or more. That’s a lot of cricket. As players it is a lot and you do feel there shouldn’t be so many international games - it puts an enormous strain on the England squad especially. Quality not quantity maybe.
As always you have a game to prepare for so we’ll leave it at that.
Glamorgan captain Jamie Dalrymple is not your typical sportsman. Riath Al-Samarrai caught up with the occasional England all-rounder to talk books, bats and Blues
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