Mike Carran – a figure of strength and sporting integrity

Mike Carran swung his ax with breathtaking power and precision.

The ax from Southland, who died three months ago, appears in a new biography as proof that intense competition can go hand in hand with personal humility.

But not always easy, in a sport where some egos have proved tougher than the blades.

The biography of Carole Henshall Mike Carran: The Story Behind a Mighty Axe recounts how his captaincy on the New Zealand team was one of his most conflicted times – his competitive nature and national pride met with a deep personal aversion to failures of camaraderie in his team’s ranks.

For a time he was a man regarded by his Australian rivals as better than some of his teammates.

Carran’s record of championship wins in New Zealand is estimated to be around 180, although the man himself confessed lightly that he had lost count. He pitched for New Zealand in 32 test matches and represented his country from 1965 to the early 1980s.

He had been offered the captaincy at a time of conflict between the Kingsland’s fireproof captain Sonny Bolstad and Wairarapa’s Jock Bentley.

Though Carran held back, he said he would be honored when he was offered the captaincy. The North Islanders didn’t feel the same.

“I don’t think Sonny ever spoke to me again after that.” he said.

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While traveling through Australia, he called a team meeting and no one showed up. He made his captain’s calls anyway.

The Aussies were unimpressed with the treatment Carran received.

“I think,” Henshall says, “Mike had a very strong sense of personal ethics that transcended the natural rivalry between competitors and allowed him to see the good in ‘rivals’.

It also led him to condemn the dishonest behavior he saw towards himself and others, from those who were supposed to be their comrades.

“I can’t speak to the animosity between the North and South Islands, but it may have colored his view of the Australians, who generally seemed to treat him better than his own countrymen.”

The mighty Australian giant David Foster, 18 years younger than Carran, admits to targeting him early in his own career, only to find he could match the aging veteran, but no better.

Foster – a warm-hearted man completely at ease with his own ego, rightly based on his status as holder of the World Woodcutting Championship title for 21 consecutive years – much later judged their respective careers in terms of nothing else.

“In Mike Carran’s time, he was the best. In David Foster’s time, he was the best. We have our days.”

Henshall believes Carran’s story is about more than just his competitive success.

He was fortunate to have both raw talent and physical strength, but it was his dedication and determination that allowed him to rise above his peers.

“Several people in the book also comment on the effort he made to analyze his shortcomings, and his willingness to listen to advice that might benefit him.

“Yes, he was competitive, but he was competitive for his team and for his country, rather than on a purely individual level.”

She finds it telling how touched he was by something the legendary track and field coach Arthur Lydiard, whose book Carran read as a schoolboy, said to Peter Snell.

Essentially this: Snell had worked hard. So he was the one who deserved to win.

“Perhaps,” Henshall says, “Mike felt that winning was the natural conclusion of a huge input of time and effort, so there shouldn’t be too much cheering.”

His own lack of fiery temper didn’t mean that Carran was a dainty flower when it came to physical conflict, including raucous bar fights, which he describes in the book in sardonic, contemptuous terms; as an unimpressed contestant, yet alert to what constitutes a good yarn.

The biography Mike Carran: The Story Behind A Mighty Axeman, launches August 13 at the Thornbury Vintage Museum. Copies will be available at Paper Plus stores across Southland.