More to Greig than just commentary

Tony Greigrsquos death followed by Christopher MartinJenkinsrsquossurrender to cancer just like the former England captain inevitably gets you thinking about how saddened the commentators fraternity is Robin Jackman and Martin Crowe are fighting it out at the moment Cricket needs them to be back on their feet and in the box Crowersquos role is beyond ballbyball commentary and he has made a mark as a producer as well in New Zealandu00a0Greigrsquos loss will be huge He was loud extravagant and often jumped the gun but he made cricket exciting for many viewersu00a0 Despite being gregarious in nature he was not often interviewed by the print media Not sure whether that was because he didnrsquot agree to interviews or whether he was merely untapped by the print gang Remember his lsquogrovelrsquo comment before the 1976 Test series against the West Indies was made on camerau00a0All the same Greig was great with telling stories mdash yarns mdash as they like to call them in Australia For the documentaries Cricket in the rsquo70s and Cricket in the rsquo80s mdash he threw in a few gems which caused Mike Coward the celebrated Australian cricket historian to call Greig a ldquogenerous intervieweerdquo Endearing WSC World XI Captain Tony Greig during the World Series Cricket Supertest held on February 4 1979 at the Sydney Cricket Ground Australia PicGetty Images I particularly liked the one about Geoff Boycott who according to Greig walked besides him to the pavilion at Queenrsquos Park Oval in Trinidad after Englandrsquos 26run win over the West Indies congratulated him Boycott scored 99 and 112 while vicecaptain Greig claimed 13 wickets in the match bowling offspin and then told him that the only problem was that they contributed in helping Mike Denness keep his job as captain with the series now squared u00a0As for Greig he was just chuffed after winning a Test match against a formidable West Indies team but Boycottrsquos complex nature left him shocked Greig was also amazed how a group of Indian and Pakistani cricketers playing for the same Rest of the World team in Australia 197172 gathered in the dressing room listening to the radio about war between their nations According to Greig the Indians and Pakistanis despite the war back home were ldquothe greatest of matesrdquo in the team room It was also a great example to him about how ldquosport can break down politicsrdquo Greig played a crucial role in Kerry Packerrsquos World Series Cricket and he narrated a story about a daynight match between Australia and West Indies in Melbourne which went on beyond the city councilrsquos permitted time for floodlights u00a0When Packerrsquos trusted man mdash World Series Cricket CEO mdash Andrew Caro told his boss that they would have to turn the lights off Packer told him to stop the clock which was not far away to where the councilrsquos representative was sitting ldquoFix it Andrewrdquo Caro was told It was done and there was no trouble from the authorities Apart from talking cricket behind a microphone Greig also got his kicks by collecting memorabilia One of the items he possessed was Harbhajan Singhrsquos Test hattrick ball bought for around Rs 50000 at a charity auction several years ago As a player Greig endeared himself to the spectators but he didnrsquot allow all that popularity to sway him He loved winning just as much On Christmas Day of 1972 he was part of an England team that won the opening Test in Delhi According to him the team went a bit overboard with their Christmas and victory celebrations lost focus and went on to lose the next two Tests The series ended 21 in Indiarsquos favour Four years later he arrived in India as captain Again the first Test was held in Delhi and England won three days before Christmas Greig remembered the lessons of 197273 and ensured the focus was good enough for England win the series He was determined to fight cancer too like a boxer he said but it was too hard to beat That a tall strong otherwise healthy man could be reduced to helplessness caused by lung cancer is no good an example to cite in motivational speeches but herersquos another Anthony William Greig gem ldquoIn life sometimes yoursquove got to take what you are dealtrdquou00a0 Clayton Murzello is MiD DAYrsquos Group Sports Editor