England & Middlesex batsman Nick Compton tests his mettle in CricFit’s rapid fire segment.
Q: Your Nickname?
Compton: Compdog.
Q: Favourite cuisine?
Compton: Lebanese.
Q: Favourite holiday destination?
Compton: Knysna on garden route in Cape Town.
Q: Favourite ground?
Compton: Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai), Taunton and Kingsmead (Durban).
Q: Favourite movie?
Compton: ‘Lagaan’. What else? Maybe ‘Gladiator’ and ‘Shawshank Redemption’.
Q: Favourite actor?
Compton: Ryan Gosling.
Q: Favourite actress?
Compton: Aishwarya Rai.
Q: Song played most frequently on your iPod?
Compton: ‘Losing My Religion’ by R.E.M.
Q: First thing you bought with your salary from professional cricket.
Compton: A camera and a flat white.
Q: Book you are currently reading.
Compton: ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’.
Q: How would you describe yourself in one word?
Compton: Passionate.
Q: One thing you cannot live without.
Compton: Photography.
Q: Your hobbies?
Compton: Photography, playing golf, art and traveling. I love traveling and exploring new countries. I find the diverse colours, textures and people so interesting. When it comes to the art of photography I reckon you need to give people a feeling of what it’s really like there.
Q: Any superstation?
Compton: My speedos. I wear them to bat in with my box.
Q: Having Denis Compton as a grandpa meant….
Compton: I was fortunate. I had something to dream of, someone to be proud ofand something to aim for.
Q: Your favourite Arsenal player and why?
Compton: Currently it’s Alexis Sanchez. Without him, we aren’t scoring too many goals and we are in dire need for goals!
Q: And from the past?
Compton: There are many- Henry Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Overmars Petit, Ian Wright, Tony Adams and Thomas Vermaelen.
Q: What if you wake up as Arsene Wenger tomorrow morning and are asked to take charge of Arsenal F.C with immediate effect?
Compton: I would keep playing exciting football and get myself a world class striker and a strong, big midfielder and also a defender.
Q: Suppose you wake up tomorrow and someone hands you a magic lamp. If you only had three wishes, what would you wish for?
Compton:
- To get back to my best on the cricket field and help England win the next two ashes series’.
- A double hundred against South Africa at Durban.
- Lastly, I would ask the Genie to make my sister walk again.
Q: Any aspiration to enter Bollywood?
Compton: Yeah, for sure! I have a feeling I could do well there (guffaws).
Q: How was it bantering with SouravGanguly on ESPNcricinfo’smatchday during the India v/s England Test series?
Compton: Ha ha! It was good. Loved every bit of it!
Q: Which players would you want Arsenal to catch in the ensuing winter transfer window?
Compton: We need strong and well-built players to deal with the lesser teams at times and a little bit of back up. We need a bigger pool of players because we have a habit of stumbling towards the end.
Q: Any regrets?
Compton: Yes, there are regrets. I rue my exclusion from the Test side for the 2013 Ashes. I also regret not getting a hundred in my hometown, Durban..
