If Not Me, Who? by Andrew Murtagh

Author:Andrew Murtagh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2020-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Annus Mirabilis Tour of India 1976/77 Centenary Test 12–17 March 1977

‘Ah, happy days!’

Roger Tolchard’s memory of Greig’s tour

HIS brother’s attention may not have been fully focussed on the England captain that afternoon at the Oval but there were millions of Indians who couldn’t take their eyes off him as soon as he stepped off the plane in Bombay at the head of the MCC party on their tour of that country. A large number of the team had been on Tony Lewis’s tour four years previously and would have been known to the Indian public but by far the most recognisable was the Blond Beanpole and Tony being Tony, he was determined to exploit this popularity for all its worth. The fact is he often belied his reputation as one who fired from the hip. Yes, there were occasions when he did not carefully consider the ramifications of what he said but for all that, he was a planner. His brother said that he ‘built dreams’. Before you build, you have to plan, and this he did throughout his life. The Indian tour was no exception. He remembered the lessons learned from the last trip and was determined not to repeat the mistakes.

The plan of campaign was pored over long before the team quit British air space. He was not one for sitting next to the tour manager at the front of the plane, producing pen and paper and suggesting they jot down the side for the first Test. Thought had gone into the likely composition of the side long before at the selectors’ meeting when the touring party was chosen. Remember the conversation Mike Selvey had with Tony when they met up in East London. ‘Greigy was talking about touring, its pleasures and challenges. “Get on the tour to India,” he said, “It’ll be a great experience.” Sure enough, I was picked and he was right, it was a great experience. I often wondered why he had said that.’ He believed in you, Mike. Selvey laughed. ‘Maybe. He was like that, though.’

There were one or two unusual aspects for the selectors to take into consideration, over and above the usual ‘unusual’ happenings that take place on any tour of that fascinating country, for which no contingency planning can cater. First, what to do with Geoffrey Boycott? To ‘boycott’ has entered the lexicon of English as meaning to isolate. Our Geoffrey had not been isolated; he had isolated himself. It was mainly in protest at the appointment of Denness and subsequently Greig as England captain in preference to him. Tony offered him the olive branch of the vice-captaincy, which he refused, citing health risks on a tour of India. Never mind, was Tony’s riposte, we have a ready-made alternative in Mike Brearley.

Horses for courses. This is a logical precept to bear in mind when selecting a party to tour overseas but one that is not always followed. Tony was insistent that good players of spin should be picked, given the pitch conditions expected in India.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.