Cricketers Jonty Rhodes and Paddy Upton never miss a chance to surf the waves whenever they are in Visakhapatnam. They know the little surfers of the Waveriders’ Surf School at Rushikonda, a spot considered to be a surfer’s paradise, by their names now.
Since 2007, the Visakhapatnam coast has been a big draw for cricketers from across the world, who are frequently spotted riding the waves in their time off cricket during any match held in the city. Giving them some great surfing lessons is Melville Smythe, the man behind the Waveriders’ Surf School. It took Melville a while to start a surfing school in 2006. Now, with the City of Destiny set to host its first cricket Test match on Thursday, Melville is again gearing up with the surf boards for greeting some familiar and new visitors from the cricketing fraternity.
Every time there is a cricket match in the city, the 15 kids from the fishing community trained by Smythe at the Waveriders’ Surf School are the most excited lot. For this is their best chance to meet the cricketers personally and show their skills. On Thursday, the kids wait to surf with one of their favourite cricketers V.V. Laxman and the former Australian cricketer Dean Jones who are expected to come down to Rushikonda for a quick surfing experience.
“In 2009 Jonty Rhodes, who was the fielding coach of Mumbai Indians, came to surf at Rushikonda for the first time. Incidentally, Vizag didn’t have any IPL matches then. But he somehow came to know that Rushikonda was a great place for surfing and specifically came down here and spent three days simply to surf. He is a fantastic surfer,” said Smythe. The following year, Paddy Upton, who was then the assistant coach of the Indian cricket team, came along and Australian bowling coach John Davison when Vizag hosted the India vs Australia ODI. “Paddy somehow got my number when he was enquiring about water-sport in the city and fell in love with the waves here,” Smythe added.
This year in the IPL season, Upton and England’s Sam Billings had brought their team mates to surf during the Vizag matches. Upton had referred to Vizag as the top spot for surfing in India because of its great waves. “Cricketers like Paddy and Jonty have given us a boost to popularise Rushikonda as a surfing spot. However, with lack of government support it is very difficult to promote Vizag as a surfing hub. The beaches in Kovalam [Kerala] and Mahabalipuram [Chennai] are maintained well and attract more tourists, unlike here. Similar initiatives need to be taken up,” Smythe added.
