The Great Game Called Cricket...

Tony GreigTony Greig

England

Player profile

Full name Anthony William Greig
Born October 6, 1946, Queenstown, Cape Province, South Africa
Current age 62 years 237 days
Major teams England, Border, Eastern Province, Sussex
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium, Right-arm offbreak
Other Commentator
Height 6 ft 6 in
Relations Brother - IA Greig, Nephew - WG Hodson

Batting and fielding averages Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s Ct St
Tests 58 93 4 3599 148 40.43 8 20 437 19 87 0
ODIs 22 19 3 269 48 16.81 378 71.16 0 0 19 3 7 0
First-class 350 579 45 16660 226 31.19 26 96 345 0
List A 190 177 19 3899 129 24.67 3 21 88 0

Bowling averages Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10
Tests 58 93 9802 4541 141 8/86 13/156 32.20 2.77 69.5 6 6 2
ODIs 22 19 916 619 19 4/45 4/45 32.57 4.05 48.2 1 0 0
First-class 350 52513 24702 856 8/25 28.85 2.82 61.3 33 8
List A 190 8435 5650 244 6/28 6/28 23.15 4.01 34.5 12 3 0

Career statistics Test debut England v Australia at Manchester, Jun 8-13, 1972 scorecard
Last Test England v Australia at The Oval, Aug 25-30, 1977 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut England v Australia at Manchester, Aug 24, 1972 scorecard
Last ODI England v Australia at The Oval, Jun 6, 1977 scorecard
ODI statistics
First-class span 1965/66 - 1978
List A span 1967 - 1978

Profile

At 6 feet 7 inches, Tony Greig stood head-and-shoulders above team-mates on the field, and had the confidence and charisma to go with it, making up for shortcomings of technique with the bat and pace with the ball by sheer personality and an irrepressible love of the contest. The controversial conclusion of his career, as one of the first and firmest disciples of Kerry Packer, have tended to obscure his all-round accomplishments: in the mid-1970s, there was no more complete cricketer, and he bequeathed to his successor as England's captain, Mike Brearley, a thoroughly professional and close-knit side.

Born in Queenstown, South Africa, son of a harsh and demanding Scottish father, he trialled for Sussex in 1965 as a teenager and prospered, then set himself the goal of representing England ­ following the route already described, in different circumstances, by the Cape Coloured Basil D'Oliveira. Considered good enough to represent Rest of the World when that ensemble toured Australia in 1971-2, he met his deadline by earning a Test cap for the subsequent home Ashes series, making half-centuries in each innings of his debut and taking five wickets.

In fact, for a mercurial character, he showed notable consistency and versatility: he made Test matches hundreds in fields as far flung as Bombay, Bridgetown and Brisbane, and against the likes of Lillee and Thomson, Roberts and Holding, Bedi and Chandra. He had a homespun style, bat aloft long before it became fashionable, based on long reach and booming drives, while his bowling depended on bounce, aggression and smarts: with a sideline in off-spin, he winkled out 13 wickets at Port-of-Spain to help England draw a series in the Caribbean.

Greig's zenith as captain was in India, where his skill, swagger and extroversion appealed to locals even as their team was well-beaten. More grudgingly admired in Australia, he nonetheless won great kudos from England' s bold chase in the Centenary Test. In its aftermath, however, he made the acquaintance of Packer, another son of a harsh and demanding father, seeking to make his mark. Greig became not just a signatory but a secret recruiting agent for the entrepreneur's inchoate professional cricket circuit. When the enterprise was made public, his stocks plummeted: he lost not just England's captaincy, but what would have been a record-breaking benefit. He was diminished, too, by his indifferent on-field performances in World Series Cricket, where he seemed to cast himself as pantomime villain. Nonetheless, subsequent generations of professional cricketers owe him a debt of gratitude.

Notes

Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1975

The Deccan Chargers Who Finished In The Bottom Of The Table In Last Years IPL Have,
Won The Second Season Of The DLF Indian Premier League... An Amazing Show Between These
Two Teams In The Final. The Deccan Chargers Beat The Delhi Dare Devils In The, Semi-Final And The Royal Challengers Banglore Beat Last Years Runners Up The Chennai- Super Kings To Reach The Final. The Deccan Chargers Who Bat First Got An Early Blow.
The Skipper Adam Gilchrist Out For A Duck.. Then Somehow Gibbs And Symonds Manage To Put Up Fair Total Of 144 An Half Century From Gibbs And Quick Fire 33 From Symo...
The Royal Challengers Were Happy To Restrict The Deccan Chargers To A Reasonable Total
But All Become Waste, They Loose Quick Wickets In Regular Intervals. First To Go Was Jaques Kallis, He Was Followed By The Latest Indian Sensation The Only Indian To Hit An
IPL Century In Both The Season Manish Pandey Also Got Out... Then Dravid Bowled By Harmeet Singh By Playing A Loose Shot... Then Ross Taylor And Virat Kohli Tryed To Save The Match But Failed, Both Fell To Symonds In Two Balls... Even Boucher Failed Too.. Utthapa Was Trying Hard To Keep The Match Alive But No Use 15 runs Needed In The Last Over R.P Singh Bowled An Excellent Over Jus Gave 9 Runs So The Deccan
Won The Final And Become The Champions Of The DLF Indian Premier League Champions
Of The Year 2009. Chennia Super Kings Mathew Hayden Won The Orange Cap For The
Leading Runs Scorer And R.P Singh Of Deccan Chargers Won The Purple Cap For The
Leading Wicket Taker Of The Season.

Bob WillisBob Willis

England

Player profile

Full name Robert George Dylan Willis
Born May 30, 1949, Sunderland, Co Durham
Current age 59 years 355 days
Major teams England, Northern Transvaal, Surrey, Warwickshire
Also known as birth registered as Robert George Willis
Nickname Goose, Dylan, Harold, Swordfish
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast
Other Commentator
Height 6 ft 6 in
Education Royal Grammar School, Guildford

Batting and fielding averages Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s Ct St
Tests 90 128 55 840 28* 11.50 2564 32.76 0 0 79 1 39 0
ODIs 64 22 14 83 24 10.37 157 52.86 0 0 6 0 22 0
First-class 308 333 145 2690 72 14.30 0 2 134 0
List A 293 113 48 615 52* 9.46 0 1 84 0

Bowling averages Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10
Tests 90 165 17357 8190 325 8/43 9/92 25.20 2.83 53.4 12 16 0
ODIs 64 64 3595 1968 80 4/11 4/11 24.60 3.28 44.9 4 0 0
First-class 308 47986 22468 899 8/32 24.99 2.80 53.3 34 2
List A 293 14983 8497 421 7/32 7/32 20.18 3.40 35.5 14 4 0

Career statistics Test debut Australia v England at Sydney, Jan 9-14, 1971 scorecard
Last Test England v West Indies at Leeds, Jul 12-16, 1984 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut England v West Indies at Leeds, Sep 5, 1973 scorecard
Last ODI England v West Indies at Lord's, Jun 4, 1984 scorecard
ODI statistics
First-class span 1969 - 1984
List A span 1969 - 1984

Profile

A case could be made that Bob Willis was the most courageous fast bowler who ever played for England. After operations on both knees in 1975, when he was 26, he seldom bowled without pain, and at one stage had to run five miles a day to build the strength to play at all. Yet through sheer willpower he sustained his career for nine more years, and emerged with 325 wickets from his 90 Tests. Fitting as it was the last game of any consequence he played should have been for England, it was cruel that the 1984 West Indian assault that proved his time had come took place at Headingley, scene of the his greatest triumph, the famous 8 for 43 that beat Australia in the Botham Test three years before.

Willis, a bony 6ft 6ins with sharp knees and elbows and a cascade of curly brownish-auburn hair, was a rarity among international sportsmen: no athlete in the accepted sense, his only aptitude was bowling, and that mainly through aggression and determination. But Frank Tyson was England's only postwar bowler who was clearly faster; and none, not even Fred Trueman, was a more intimidating sight than Willis as he charged dead straight down his 30-yard approach.

On retirement he moved into the media, and for many years formed a strong partnership with Ian Botham for Sky Sports, and although his laconic style did not suit all, a sharp and humourous individual hid just under the surface. He found himself sidelined from front-line commentary duties in 2006, but he remained part of the team.

Notes

Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1978