Ian Greig - not bothered by uproar

CRICKET: Mention the name Greig in cricketing circles and the chances are that one will get only one response.

Who else could you mean, but Tony the somewhat controversial former England captain and Kerry Packer rebel, now a commentator in Australia?

It's been somewhat of a burden living in the shadow of his Big Brother. But Greig the younger is a honest trier, neither flamboyant nor terribly ambitious as Tony.

Ian Greig had to come to terms with such assumptions while endeavouring to build his own career in the sport. It was young Greig who was thrust to centre stage.

Surrey's decision to name him as its captain in place of Pat Pocock was greeted with the kind of uproar which used to be reserved for some of Tony Greig's actions.

Ian played twice for England against Pakistan in 1982, but three years later his country, Sussex, released him because of a lack of form. Since then he had become a forgotten man so far as England was concerned.

Out of the blue

In ground 1987, Ian Greig had been running an indoor cricket centre in Brisbane, apparently settled in a new life in Australia. When the captaincy at Surrey became vacant, leading players like Trevor Jesty and England wicket-keeper Jack Richards nurtured hopes of taking over a side full of promise which finished third in the Britannic Assurance Championship in 1986.

Then out of the blue, the then 31-year-old all-rounder Ian Greig was named ahead of them both.

Jimmy Fulford, the then Surrey's cricket Chairman, had no doubts about the decision. He said: "We had no option. It was a hard choice, but we went for the best man. Ian Greig is a good, energetic leader."

Others, notably Jesty, were far from convinced. At the time, he stormed: "I can't believe the decision. Ian will find it difficult to pick up things after an year away."

Ian Greig made no appologies for his return. "Everybody is entitled to his opinion, but if anyone has a gripe it should be with the committee and certainly not with me. I have got the players behind me."

Ian Greig was born and educated in South Africa, where he did national service before coming to England as a student at Cambridge University. As well as gaining a law degree there, Greig was awarded three cricket Blues and a further two for rugby.

Poor show

Just two years after making his Sussex debut, he was in the England Test side. His international career was short-lived, however - just those two Tests against Pakistan, scoring 26 runs in four innings and taking only four wickets.

Ian Greig had a history of knew trouble, stemming from his rugby playing days. That trouble was aggravated when he fell from his window in Hove while trying to gain entrance after snapping his key in the lock in 1983. Two broken bones in the foot and the need for an operation on his knee kept him out for seven weeks.

He failed to capture his earlier form, and eventually Sussex let him go on economic grounds. Greig insists: "What upsets me is that no effort was made to try to keep me there. I was not told the truth, namely that they did not think that I was good enough any more."

Surrey tried to sign Greig then he left Sussex, and eventually got its man second time around through its chief coach, Geoff Arnold.

The former England seamer was a team-mate of Greig at Sussex and the man whose advice turned him into a Test-class bowler.

The other major influence on him has been his brother Tony, Ian says: "Tony is a great competitor and a special person. Though I am a little bit quieter, I admire the drive and the determination he showed in his career."

A.C. de S