Tony Greig - a master in motivating team

by A.C. de Silva

CRICKET: There were several factors that contributed to the good time that England had on their tour of India with Tony Greig who provided the trust and motivated the team as skipper to taste success. It was a three-month tour and Greig towered above the rest not because of his 6ft 7 inches height, but because of his professional attitude and the ability he displayed to the lead the team from the front.

Having come as the show-piece of Tony Lewis' team four years earlier, Greig had picked up sufficient lessons from the previous tour.

He knew the inherited weaknesses of the Indian players and had understood how to lift the spirits of the cricket-crazy Indian crowds when the situation demanded it. He played his cards shrewdly in the series to smell success after the sound thrashing England received at the hands of Clive Lloyd's men in the previous English summer.

The tour of India, however, saw Greig recover some of his lost prestige. His instructions to his team members to go round the stadia before every match had the psychological effect. The crowds simply loved that gesture. Greig's men became popular wherever they went. And then, when the atmosphere was to be dull and dreary, there was the English captain with his ready humorous acts to put life to the proceedings.

It was seen that Greig had done enough home-work on that tour soon became evident when his instructions to the batsmen were to occupy the crease as far as possible to leave the better apart of the deteriorating Indian spin tracks to the home team batsmen.

Therefore, whether it was batting first or second, Greig's men took their own sweet time to make the runs. But they made them steadily through unyielding tactics and stubborn defence. Greig set a personal example when he batted in an exemplary manner to make 103 in the second Test at Calcutta. Exemplary because he had to bat for over seven hours despite running a high temperature and suffering a cold.

A good tactician

Greig's calculated move of keeping pace at one end and spin at the other paid England rich dividends. And when John Lever, the bowling hero for England in that series, was in the thick of two major controversies, the "rogue ball" and "vaseline" affairs, Greig's way of dealing with things helped England steer clear of troubled waters. True, he indulged in a enough comical acts to relieve the boredom that surfaced now and then. But when it came to playing the game in the tightest and toughest manner Greig was the veritable master. The results clearly spoke in his favour - a 3-1 victory. It was England's second series win on Indian soil, Jardin's team being the first to do so in 1930.

Dennis Amiss' orthodox and disciplined batting, Bob Willis' sustained pace, Alan Knott's unorthodox, but very effective batting measures, the spinning skills of Derek Underwood plus the cut and swing of John Lever all contributed to England's success. But the man who motivated them all was Anthony William Greig. And none can dispute that.

This tour was a significant one for Greig for soon after the Indian-leg he took his team to Australia for the Centenary Test. While playing in that Test at Melbourne Greig made himself a vital switch gear in the Packer battery.

Soon after Greig was to pay the price for joining the Packer circus, but none can dispute the fact that under his regime he did his best to put England on a high pedestal.