Tony Greig's successes as England captain tend to be overshadowed by the
controversy over his involvement in World Series Cricket. Yet he
rebuilt the England side battered into submission by Lillee and Thomson,
won a difficult tour in India and led a magnificent attempt to topple
Australia in the Centenary Test. He won a few matches himself, as well,
not least when he learned to bowl off-breaks almost overnight to give
Mike Denness the chance to square the West Indies series of 1973-74.
Greig, born in South Africa of Scottish stock, first played for Border
in 1965-66 then threw in his lot with Sussex. At 6ft 4in he was an
upright driver of the ball and also an aggressive fast medium bowler. He
first attracted the attention of the England selectors in 1970, when he
was selected for the unofficial Tests against the Rest of the World. He
returned to the side in the Ashes series of 1972, scoring two
half-centuries and taking five wickets at Old Trafford. Against New
Zealand in 1973 he scored 139 and took seven wickets at Trent Bridge.
He
was a major force in the West Indies, scoring 148 in Barbados, 121 in
Guyana then squaring the series when he switched to off- spin almost
overnight and took 8-86 and 5-70 in Trinidad. In Australia in 1974-75 he
scored 110 against Lillee and Thomson at their most fiery in Brisbane
and that lead to him taking over from Mike Denness. He scored 96 at
Lord's in his first Test as skipper. He scored 116 and 76 not out
against West Indies at Headingley, but lost the captaincy after the
Centenary Test, although he played on under Brearley in the 1977 Ashes.
(Bob Harragan). |
On Saturday December 29th. 2012 Tony Greig died at The St. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney,
of cardiac arrest. He was sixty six. He had been was diagnosed with a form of
lung cancer in October 2012.