Tony Greig: The oft overlooked cricketing career of the iconic voice of cricket

Channel Nine Cricket Commentators  : News Photo
Greig was recognised for being an ace commentator to younger audiences

Sharjah, 22 Apr 1998; India were playing Australia in what was a virtual qualifier for a spot in the final of the Coca-Cola Cup. Chasing a target of 276 in 46 overs (238 to qualify for the final), revised from 284 in 50 overs due to a desert costing 4 overs of play.

When play resumed after the storm, India were placed at 143/4 in 31 overs, needing 95 runs in 15 overs to qualify for the final, and 131 to win the game (which seemed highly unlikely).

Sachin Tendulkar hoisted a slower ball from Kasprowicz to end the 32nd over and get India past the 150 mark. He kept batting with relative restraint until about the 38th over, the match equation stood at 60 runs needed off 56 balls for India to qualify for the final.

Starting with a straight, almost nonchalant, six off Steve Waugh, Tendulkar produced an awe (and romance) inspiring display of batting which has not been experienced by his fans since. By the time the dust of that onslaught settled with his dismissal, India had not only cruised past the qualifying score (with 20 balls remaining) but with 34 runs required, looked poised for a win.

But apart from Tendulkar’s pyrotechnics, there’s something else which will be associated with that great night almost for eternity, Anthony William (Tony) Greig’s pyrotechnics played out from behind the microphone. I think it’s a pardonable exaggeration to say that Greig’s commentary has had a big role to play for the cult status that innings of Tendulkar has acquired over the years.

With Greig’s demise on Dec 29, 2012, cricket lost one of its most avid disciples. He played a key role in making cricket the spectacle (limited overs if only) it is today by promoting Kerry Packer’s World Series cricket.

Greig as an international cricketer

But is Tony Greig to be remembered only for his stint behind the microphone? After all, he represented England in 58 Test matches, led them in 14, scored almost 3600 runs and took 141 wickets with medium pace bowling. I believe Tony Greig is one of the most under-rated cricketers of his generation.

Tony Greig played 58 Test matches between a five year period between 1972 and 1977. It is a testament to his abilities as a genuine all-rounder that during his career, he scored the most runs, and took the most number of wickets for any England player after Derek Underwood.

What’s even more impressive is that even amongst all test playing nations, only Greg Chappell scored more runs than Greig, and apart from Derek Underwood, only Dennis Lille took more wickets than Greig’s 141.

Tony Greig : News Photo
Greig was a genuine all-rounder who could bat and bowl well

One must also remember that Greig was an all-rounder, so in-spite of having played more matches than any other cricketer during his career, he played as an all-rounder. Yet for an all-rounder to be at the top of the batting and bowling charts is quite an achievement.

His batting prowess

As far as his batting is concerned, Consistency is the word which describes it best. For one thing, his career average never dropped below 40, which is mighty impressive for an all-rounder. Greig was also amongst the select few batsmen who averaged more than 50 in Test wins during his career.

Although he placed far below several batsmen of his generation, he still had a better average than Doug Walters and Ian Chappell. 3 of his 8 Test centuries came in winning causes.

Table 1: Average in test wins (8 Jan 1972-25 Aug 1977) - min 750 runs

Player NameMatRunsAvg
Geoff Boycott782775.18
Gordon Greenidge8101572.50
Viv Richards11103769.13
Greg Chappell23213368.80
Clive Lloyd14131265.60
Roy Fredericks14122761.35
Dennis Amiss13100258.94
Ian Redpath15143757.48
Alvin Kallicharran1296856.94
Gundappa Vishwanath981754.46
Tony Greig17106453.20
Doug Walters1597548.75
Ian Chappell20148146.28
Rod Marsh23116938.96

Greig’s consistency as a batsman is also illustrated by his series-by-series record. He played a total of 15 Test series, and in 10 of them, he averaged over 35. One must also not forget the runs he scored in ‘tough-rubbers’; most evident is his performance vs Australia in the 1974/75 Ashes played Down Under.

The fierce pace of Lillee and Thomson terrified England batsmen throughout the six-match series, eventually won 4-1 by Australia. Not only was Greig the highest scoring England batsmen with 446 runs, but he was the only English batsman apart from John Edrich to average more than 40.

1st Prudential Trophy ODI  England v Australia : News Photo
Greig played for Sussex in the English County

The 1976 Wisden Trophy against the West Indies was marked by controversy over Greig’s comments of making the West Indies ‘Grovel’. He was nowhere near the top of the batting charts which was dominated exclusively by three West Indies batsmen (Richards, Greenidge, Fredericks), but notably he was the only England batsman apart from Dennis Amiss, Alan Knott, and David Steele to have managed a century against the West Indies pace battery.

For a majority of his career, Greig batted at no.6, and till date, he has scored the most runs at this position apart from Steve Waugh, Hashan Tillakaratne, and VVS Laxman.

Although his average looks a bit mediocre compared to other batsmen on the list, it must be remembered again that Greig was an all-rounder, and only Gary Sobers averaged more than him at this position whereas Ian Botham averaged only 29.23.

That is some class to be at par with.

Table 2: Most runs at No.6 (Qual-2000 runs)

Player NameMatchesInnsRunsAve100s
Steve Waugh6679316551.946
H.Tillakaratne5864284347.387
VVS Laxman5267276050.185
Tony Greig4567274143.507
Ian Botham6694269029.235
Gary Sobers4257261453.348
Allan Border4863255652.166
Shiv Chanderpaul4049252864.827
Asad Shafiq3956242046.538
AB de Villiers4050239452.045
Clive Lloyd4047211449.166
T.Dilshan4252208746.375

All-rounder par excellence

Middlesex v Sussex : News Photo
Greig was a useful medium pacer and off spinner

Greig is amongst the most prolific all-rounders, not only during his time, but in Test cricket history as well. The Englishman is one of the 15 select players to have scored 300 runs and taken 15 wickets in a Test series.

What’s even more interesting is that he is the only English all-rounder to have breached this double along with Andrew Flintoff; Ian Botham missed the mark by one run but his performance in the concerned rubber (1981 Ashes) is more than just the numbers; it uplifted an entire nation, or a team to say the least.

If we reduce the cut-off to 300 runs and 15 wickets, the list of achievement expands to 34, but Greig is again the only Englishman to have breached the double twice.

The only other players to have bettered Greig’s frequency are Sobers (5), Miller (4), and Botham (3). All, apart from Miller, played a substantial number of matches more than Greig.

Although more of a batting all-rounder, Greig bowling was more than useful, none more so than the one instance where he took 13 wickets in a match vs West Indies at Port of Spain (1972) is the 5th best bowling performance by an England bowler from the 2nd World war to the present day.

Apart from his utilities as a batsman and bowler, Greig was also an extremely good fielder as is evident from the number of catches he took (87). At the time of his retirement in 1977, only 5 fieldsmen; Colin Cowdrey (120), Wally Hammond (110), Gary Sobers (109), Ian Chappell (103), Bob Simpson (99) had taken more catches than Greig.

Removing the time filter to include all fieldsmen till the present day, Greig’s catches/inns ratio (.813) is amongst the best for a non-wicketkeeper. Only 6 fielders in the history of the game have a better ratio than Greig’s.

Table 3: Best Catches/Inns Ratio (Qual-Min 50 catches)

Player NameMatchesInnsCatchesCatches/Inn
Eknath Solkar2750531.06
Darren Sammy386865.956
Bob Simpson62117110.940
Brian Young355854.931
Ross Taylor69129112.868
Stephen Fleming111199171.859
Tony Greig5810787.813
Mark Taylor104197157.797
Bruce Mitchell427156.789
Graeme Hick6511590.783

As an all-rounder, Greig stands in absolute elite company when it comes to the difference between batting and bowling averages of top all-rounders across eras. Considering all-rounders having achieved a double 3000 runs and 100 wickets, Greig’s average difference (8.23) is bettered only by Gary Sobers, Jacques Kallis, and Imran Khan.

Now that’s cricketing royalty, because even if we reduce the career runs cut-off to 2000 runs, Greig’s difference is still only bettered by 5 players.

Table 4: Batting and bowling average difference (Min 3000 runs and 100 wickets)

Player NameMatchesRunsBat AveWktsBowl AveDifference
Gary Sobers93803257.7823534.0323.75
Jacques Kallis1661328955.3729232.6522.72
Imran Khan88380737.6936222.8114.88
Shaun Pollock108378132.3142123.119.20
Tony Greig58359940.4814132.208.28
Ian Botham102520033.5438328.45.14
Richard Hadlee86312427.1643122.294.87
Chris Cairns62332033.5321829.404.13
Kapil Dev131524831.0543429.641.41
Andrew Flintoff79384531.7722632.78-1.01

The most remembered facet of Tony Greig’s personality is his enthusiastic calling of cricket action from behind the microphone, so much so that his exploits as a cricketer are easily forgotten.

But if there’s one thing that he carried over from his cricketing career to a commentator, was his passion and persona for the game on the field and in the commentator’s box.

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Edited by Staff Editor