Tony Greig

[quincywagstaff]

I think the main reason though why Grieg wasn't properly celebrated for his Test career is how he threw his lot in with WSC and that upset a lot of people and weren't prepared to give him his due as a cricketer.

I remember Dennis Lillee observing that he though Grieg was a better cricketer before he became Test captain as seemed to make him more reserved and defensive minded.

 

[NUFAN]

Yet he wasnt included inCW's all time 18 all rounders i looked at

Wasn't this just a list of 18 All rounders that the thread creator picked by himself.

Without doubt a Cricket legend.

 

[Daemon]

I really miss him. Tony Greig was basically cricket commentary for the short period of time that I watched cricket until his passing away.

"Give your hand to cricket and it will take you on the most fantastic journey, a lifetime journey both on and off the field."

 

[Red]

Was a classic bit of commentary of him saying something about a woman in the crowd, realising it what the modern era rather than the 70s and probably not PC or whatever to say what he did, then trying to rope Bill into the conversation to give him some help, and Bill gave him nothing. So funny.

 

[vcs]

 

[Adders]

Was a classic bit of commentary of him saying something about a woman in the crowd, realising it what the modern era rather than the 70s and probably not PC or whatever to say what he did, then trying to rope Bill into the conversation to give him some help, and Bill gave him nothing. So funny.

Pretty sure Bill said something along the lines of "You've dug the hole mate, I'm not climbing in it with you" It was brilliant stuff.

I also remember Greg for constantly calling Cameron White "Craig".......it was years and I don't think he ever got it. White is a local boy from our home town so my missus used to go off over it.

 

[Burgey]

Greigy famously called a game at north Sydney where mixed race couple were getting married in the gardens behind the ground, and called the bride a mail order. Think he had a spell after that.

 

[Adders]

Greigy famously called a game at north Sydney where mixed race couple were getting married in the gardens behind the ground, and called the bride a mail order. Think he had a spell after that.

Kin el.......nah that's right up there with his "grovel" comment!! Definitely had a bad case of foot in mouth did Greigy..........still miss him though.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

Greig’s Knock in Brisbane in 74/75 is one of he great test knocks. Lone hand in a losing side against one of the best and fastest new ball attacks of all time on a fast bowlers’ paradise.

Undoubtedly a top knock. My old man always harps on about this series and complains that Chappelli didn't use a third man more against Greig. Always has me thinking Greigy batted like Bell more so than a KP style.
Anyhow definitely one of England's best true AR's.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

For a minute there I could have sworn someone said that Tony Greig batted like Ian Bell.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

Not my meaning at all. Moreso just Greig's batting approach to very fast bowlers was a bit like Bell's.. Which is odd as KP seemed to be the most unflappable but had a far more direct and powerful approach which is what I imagine Greigy was like to most other bowlers.

 

[AndrewB]

Presumably because he only played for 6 years. Longevity has always been supremely overrated on CW.

Greig played Tests for 5-and-a-half years - i.e. 6 English summers, 5 overseas winters.
Comparing the obvious 3 players their best comparable period:

Greig: 3599@40, 141@32 (1972-1977)
Botham: 2996@38, 249@23 (1977-1982)
Flintoff: 2801@38. 166@30 (2003-2008)

On those figures I'd put Greig a little ahead of Flintoff (he played more matches in the time, and was a more versatile bowler), with Botham well ahead of them both.

 

[SeamUp]

One of my dad's proudest moments - getting his picture taken with Tony Greig for the newspaper as they travelled up for Nuffield Week circa 63-64. Spoke highly of both.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Before my time but he has numbers that stack up. Maybe the fact he was basically replaced by Botham does him harm, if we had had a spell like we had when Botham left the side or should have left the side as he was past it but was replaced by useless fodder then he may have been thought of more highly.

 

[mr_mister]

greig wasn't in that list because i had to limit it at some point and i chose 18 to be the number i stopped at. You can see what happens when I put too big a list up, the 25 player ODI all rounders thread has come to screeching halt.

 

[AndrewB]

There's an odd quote from Greig about what he claims to have said to Packer when signing up for WSC in 1977: "Ian Botham is going to be a great player and there won’t be room in the England Test side for both of us."

Besides the fact that Botham hadn't played a Test at that point, at the time he looked like being (and for the first year or two he was) an opening/first-change bowler who would be a useful #7 or even #8 bat, while Greig was a #5 or #6 bat and useful 4th seamer/spinner. It would have been like S Africa deciding there wasn't room for both Kallis and Shaun Pollock.

 

[CricAddict]

Loved that commentary. Allrounders do look like they love adding strings to their bow, with some of the best commentators being allrounders. Richie Benaud, Tony Greig and might I daresay, Shastri.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

There's an odd quote from Greig about what he claims to have said to Packer when signing up for WSC in 1977: "Ian Botham is going to be a great player and there won’t be room in the England Test side for both of us."

Besides the fact that Botham hadn't played a Test at that point, at the time he looked like being (and for the first year or two he was) an opening/first-change bowler who would be a useful #7 or even #8 bat, while Greig was a #5 or #6 bat and useful 4th seamer/spinner. It would have been like S Africa deciding there wasn't room for both Kallis and Shaun Pollock.

As much as I loved watching Greig in the 70’s, a lot of his reminiscing is extremely fanciful. I doubt whether he said that to Packer. WSC for Greig was about financially securing the future of his family. They all did it for personal gain. The fact that cricketers became better paid as a a result was obviously good for everyone, but wasn’t the reason the participants took part.
England’s batting at that time was paper thin and Greig would still have been the second name pencilled into the batting line-up (after Sir Geoffrey) irrespective of Botham.

 

[watson]

Greig played Tests for 5-and-a-half years - i.e. 6 English summers, 5 overseas winters.
Comparing the obvious 3 players their best comparable period:

Greig: 3599@40, 141@32 (1972-1977)
Botham: 2996@38, 249@23 (1977-1982)
Flintoff: 2801@38. 166@30 (2003-2008)


On those figures I'd put Greig a little ahead of Flintoff (he played more matches in the time, and was a more versatile bowler), with Botham well ahead of them both.

Greig was still the better No.6 batsman and more likely to make a big score against quality bowling. Mainly because he had the technique to construct an innings rather than just blaze away.

Botham and Flintoff are only better than Greig in the context of Bowling-Allrounder. But both are not really good enough to warrant nudging Trueman, Larwood or Snow out of an English ATG side IMO.

 

[Red]

Prime Botham was something else though. Greig was a guy who got the most out of his ability. As a batsman he was a grafter and a glancer, and as a bowler he was handy at best.

Botham was a true force. The guy played a decade too long, but the Botham that should be remembered is the early era Botham. Pre mullet. Great, proper, orthodox batsman with immense power, and a brilliant swing bowler. Forget the meme about Botham got a lot of wickets with **** balls (he did later in his career when he was fat) but the guy took a hell of a lot of wickets with great bowling early on.

The guy was a force in this match...

3rd Test, Australia tour of England at Leeds, Jul 16-21 1981 | Match Summary | ESPNCricinfo