Heroes and Villains

The death of Tony Greig was announced today. That he died in Australia was perhaps fitting for this sporting chameleon. Born in South Africa and thus denied the chance to play for his native country, he went through the necessary qualification for England and indeed went on to be captain. It is worth reflecting that even if South Africa had not been consigned to the international wilderness, it is doubtful whether Greig would have even made the team such was the embarrassment of riches available to them at that time. England though were in a precarious state of affairs being captained by the ageing Ray Illingworth with only Geoff Boycott as his serious alternative.

Like his predecessor Ray Illingworth, Greig was a better captain than player. While he was an effective batsman, neither was he a class batsman and would not have been picked solely for his batting. Indeed, it is seldom that men of his extreme height become world class batsmen. History shows the best batsmen typically to be between five foot four inches and five foot eleven inches. Certainly, this is the height range occupied by Bradman, Hammond, Richards, Compton, Harvey, Cowdrey, Weekes et al. As a bowler, he was, like Gary Sobers, equally at home bowling seam or spin. Unlike Sobers though, he was inadequate at both. There is one match though which serves to question these assertions and it would be difficult to overstate the importance of that performance.

Following the demise of Illingworth during the Oval Test against the West Indies in 1973, Mike Denness of Kent was chosen to captain the side to tour the West Indies for the winter. It was a disastrous choice from a variety of viewpoints. It upset Geoff Boycott who felt very let down at having been passed over for the captaincy himself. Denness was hardly a proven man manager and his sole claim to the captaincy was his luck at having such a bevy of international stars at his disposal at Kent. With players of the calibre of Cowdrey, Knott, Underwood, Luckhurst and Asif Iqbal to turn to, he could hardly fail. The tour started badly and was on the brink of defeat at Port of Spain in Trinidad. A draw or loss would have seen the West Indies retain the Wisden Trophy. Enter the two players who had the least reason to put in a performance for Denness.  Boycott scored 99 in the first innings and was unbeaten on 112 in the second. Greig made the questionable decision to switch from bowling seamers to spin with dramatic effect. With eight wickets for 86 in the first innings and a further five wickets in the second, Greig had delivered a truly match winning performance which kept Denness in the job long enough for Boycott to suffer a collapse in form and confidence against some innocuous Indian seam bowling. The way was paved for Greig to succeed Denness and the course of English cricket for the 1970s had been decided.

Greig was a shrewd operator and it was a surprise to few people when he resigned the captaincy in favour of the Australian dollars of Kerry Packer. Greig's legacy will thus be as the man who accelerated the predominance of one day cricket at the expense of the five day game which will always remain the definitive challenge of any serious international side. It is sad that he had died at just 66 years of age but sadder still that he attained a captaincy which history shows he did not really value. Nearly forty years later, we have since tried a few more of his fellow countrymen including Strauss and Peterson with varying degrees of success. Perhaps one day we will try to secure the services of an Englishman to take the helm of the national side. Greig will be remembered as a cricketing mercenary but it is important to make the point that in common with many of his fellow countrymen, South Africa's exclusion left him few alternatives. Mike Proctor, Barry Richards and Clive Rice all plied their cricket where a good wage was waiting. Farewell then Tony and thanks for the memories.