Rest in Peace Tony Greig

[1990crow]

RIP Greigy, still in shock that you're really gone. Taken too soon.

 

[tugga]

33 with the bat and 28 with the ball for Botham.

Botham did take far more wickets.

Interesting nonetheless.

Hmmm, thanks for the info. It's not as clear cut as I thought, but Botham still wins.
anyway, it doesn't matter.

 

[lionbear]

You have to remember that Tony Greig played his last Test at the age of 31, would have still had 3 to 5 years of good cricket left in the tank, so plenty of wickets and runs still on offer for him.

 

[Football Pope]

The Nine Cricket Commentary Team is now "like a cricket bat with holes".... don't go prodding your keys down the pitch cracks on the other side...RIP.

 

[fairdinkum]

A truly sad day for cricket.

I have lived a relatively sheltered life in terms of deaths of people I care about (only been to three funerals in my 25 years; given the proportion of drunks in my family it is amazing how long we tend to live) but I don't think that is a factor in how deflated I felt when I heard the news. I'm not one to pretend to care when people die, either. I really will miss Greigy. Can't remember feeling this way about the death of anybody I hadn't actually met personally.

Cricket lovers my age grew up listening to Greigy. Who knows, perhaps the first match of cricket I actually enjoyed watching (a nail-biter between Australia and some other mob in an ODI yonks ago) might have been partly due to Greig's colorful commentary? What I do know is that people like myself learnt a great deal about cricket - the tactics, the strategies, the technical aspects, the mental battles, the history, the legends - by watching days and days of cricket every summer, listening to blokes like Greig. It is no exaggeration to say that my own cricketing talents (or what little I have) and love for the game are genuinely and largely indebted to Tony Greig.

My respect for the bloke only increased when I saw his interview earlier this summer wherein he discussed his situation. At first I thought it a bit voyeuristic of C9 to broadcast such an interview during the cricket until I realised it is exactly the sort of thing Greig was all about: giving the viewers, at home, all the information they could. Greig proved his raw courage when he faced the angry Windies without a helmet (if you haven't seen the documentary Fire in Babylon, do yourself a favor and get your hands on it), but he proved even greater strength of character when faced an interview to discuss what he must have known was quite possibly his end and presented the same man we had come to know over the previous decades. It showed the kind of mental strength and courage that cricket is so beautiful for allowing men (and women) to display in the heat of battle.

This is all to say nothing of his contribution to cricket during WSC and since, which has been sufficiently covered by others in this thread. Cricket, and myself, will be forever indebted to Tony Greig.

*Please do not read the following if you are an easily-offended mouth-froffer who is upset by words on a screen conveying the truth*

Spoiler

I must say it is notable that some people who have repeatedly made derisive remarks about Greig on this very board in the past are now lamenting his loss. You can GaGF as far as I am concerned. If it took for his passing for you to realise how much of a treasure he was to our great game, you never deserved to watch and listen to him in the first place.

There is one particular poster who has made several posts in this very thread who has in the past described Greig as a 'deluded moron' in one thread and called for his visa to be cancelled in another. That's fine if you feel that way, I don't care. But don't then come along to this thread and join in with the respects paid by people who actually enjoyed Greig's time with us, and pretend that you, too, were afan of the man. It is worse than crocodile tears, it is outright pathetic. Go and retract your comments in those threads (I am more than happy to post links) or **** off from this one.

Goodbye to Tony Greig, a great cricket man.

 

[desie]

I am going to seek out that Dave Tossell book on Greig mentioned in the article.

I purchased this through Amazon UK when it first came out last year, it's a terrific book.

David Tossell also wrote a book about the 1976 England v West Indies series called "Grovel!" for which Greig wrote the forward. I'd also recommend you seek this one out for those who might be interested.

In fact, Tossell has written a number of books about soccer and cricket which are excellent reads.

 

[MAXIMUM GRUNDAGE]

Cricket coverage hasn't been the same this summer without AW Greig in the box.
Was too young to see him play, but grew up listening to and enjoying his commentary.
He will be missed.

 

[spookism]

RIP Greig.

Listening to the Cricket just won't be the same now.

 

[sherb]

About time Channel 9 got their act together.

They showed Greig signalling four after hitting a boundary in the first test of 74/75.

That's more like it...

 

[Stig O'Hara]

About time Channel 9 got their act together.

They showed Greig signalling four after hitting a boundary in the first test of 74/75.

That's more like it...

Reckon that's ABC footage.

Reason he was signalling the boundaries is that kids used to jump the fence before it hit the boundary rope so they could toss it back, Gabba had a dog track which made it more like the Adelaide Oval, so they used to put a little picket fence on the oval, and the umpires couldn't really call it, so AW called them himself to keep the game flowing....... and to stick it to Lillee and Thommo.

No doubt one of the all time great sledgers.

 

[sherb]

Reckon that's ABC footage.

Yes, it would definitely be ABC footage.

 

[MG MG]

A truly sad day for cricket.

I have lived a relatively sheltered life in terms of deaths of people I care about (only been to three funerals in my 25 years; given the proportion of drunks in my family it is amazing how long we tend to live) but I don't think that is a factor in how deflated I felt when I heard the news. I'm not one to pretend to care when people die, either. I really will miss Greigy. Can't remember feeling this way about the death of anybody I hadn't actually met personally.

Cricket lovers my age grew up listening to Greigy. Who knows, perhaps the first match of cricket I actually enjoyed watching (a nail-biter between Australia and some other mob in an ODI yonks ago) might have been partly due to Greig's colorful commentary? What I do know is that people like myself learnt a great deal about cricket - the tactics, the strategies, the technical aspects, the mental battles, the history, the legends - by watching days and days of cricket every summer, listening to blokes like Greig. It is no exaggeration to say that my own cricketing talents (or what little I have) and love for the game are genuinely and largely indebted to Tony Greig.

My respect for the bloke only increased when I saw his interview earlier this summer wherein he discussed his situation. At first I thought it a bit voyeuristic of C9 to broadcast such an interview during the cricket until I realised it is exactly the sort of thing Greig was all about: giving the viewers, at home, all the information they could. Greig proved his raw courage when he faced the angry Windies without a helmet (if you haven't seen the documentary Fire in Babylon, do yourself a favor and get your hands on it), but he proved even greater strength of character when faced an interview to discuss what he must have known was quite possibly his end and presented the same man we had come to know over the previous decades. It showed the kind of mental strength and courage that cricket is so beautiful for allowing men (and women) to display in the heat of battle.

This is all to say nothing of his contribution to cricket during WSC and since, which has been sufficiently covered by others in this thread. Cricket, and myself, will be forever indebted to Tony Greig.

*Please do not read the following if you are an easily-offended mouth-froffer who is upset by words on a screen conveying the truth*

Spoiler

I must say it is notable that some people who have repeatedly made derisive remarks about Greig on this very board in the past are now lamenting his loss. You can GaGF as far as I am concerned. If it took for his passing for you to realise how much of a treasure he was to our great game, you never deserved to watch and listen to him in the first place.

There is one particular poster who has made several posts in this very thread who has in the past described Greig as a 'deluded moron' in one thread and called for his visa to be cancelled in another. That's fine if you feel that way, I don't care. But don't then come along to this thread and join in with the respects paid by people who actually enjoyed Greig's time with us, and pretend that you, too, were afan of the man. It is worse than crocodile tears, it is outright pathetic. Go and retract your comments in those threads (I am more than happy to post links) or **** off from this one.

Goodbye to Tony Greig, a great cricket man.

I agree 100%. At 22 I have never lost a family member I have known so death isn't my experienced point. Some celebrities you hear about you think, OK, Its sad but... I live. But 3 this year have been bad for me. Jim Stynes I always thought would beat his cancer battle and didn't which was dispiriting as I had been so confident that he was gonna top it. It didn't and that day was sad but I got over it and back into life and work and stuff. John McCarthy rocked me to a bone, I never thought it would happen to a currently listed player, I mean they are just as vulnerable I guess, but I didn't sleep that night and my headache was the worst I have had. Also the fact that I am only 1 year younger than him. That is the worst I have felt after a death I reckon. Greiggy was so sudden, and I thought he would beat the cancer as well, but it was heart failure, so I guess that is beside the point. I was looking forward to the return of his commentary, and even if not, I thought he would have still been with us.

RIP Tony

 

[sherb]

Reason he was signalling the boundaries is that kids used to jump the fence before it hit the boundary rope so they could toss it back, Gabba had a dog track which made it more like the Adelaide Oval, so they used to put a little picket fence on the oval, and the umpires couldn't really call it, so AW called them himself to keep the game flowing.

Rightio then, it had to be that.

 

[Stig O'Hara]

Rightio then, it had to be that.

Was editing as I typed. Has since been updated.

One thing though, he was a terrific cricketer, gave as good as he got.

Loved hating him as a player.

 

[DREAM TEAM BUFF]

Jim Maxwell
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-29/jim-maxwell-remembers-tony-greig/4447194?section=sport

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-29/jim-maxwell-remembers-tony-greig/4447220?section=sport

 

[childeric]

The wedding comment during the Adelaide test. Holy ****, still can't believe he said that. Haha.

Tony was from the generation that thought "PC" stood for "police constable"

His commentary was all the better for it

 

[DREAM TEAM BUFF]

Kerry O'Keeffe

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-29/kerry-okeeffe-remembers-tony-greig/4447222?section=sport

 

[sherb]

Was editing as I typed. Has since been updated.

One thing though, he was a terrific cricketer, gave as good as he got.

Loved hating him as a player.

I hated him at the time too.

He was a shit stirrer of the highest order.

 

[rocker_oz33]

Rest in peace tony Greig you've always been on telly since forever i can remember,such a cruel disease cut your innings short.

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

Absolutely stunned, he was commentating for longer than I have been alive and it's going to be a very numb feeling without him there. A truly sad day for cricket indeed. R.I.P

 

[Awesome!]

The man will be sorely missed. I would love to see words of affirmation written on comically large sized keys at the SGC test out of respect and in honour of a man who simply loved the game an brought great character to it. The world is at a loss.

 

[mark73]

As one of those that used to be driven to distraction in Greigy's early days as a commentator, I grew to enjoy his combative, opinionated contrariness as well as his ability to laugh at himself and fellow commentators. I was looking forward to his return to the commentary box once he had beaten this insidious disease.

Shocked to hear the sad news and will miss his commentary. He truly was one of those larger than life figures who gave so much to the game.

To those who played against him all say the same thing. He was a prick on the field but afterwards he was the nicest bloke you'd meet. Something a lot of our sub continental friends don't seem to understand. There's no reason to bring politics or backbiting into it, it's just a game. Life still goes on.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

If you do a Statsguru query search on Cricinfo, and put in batting average 40+, bowling average less than or equal to 35 and wickets taken at least 100, ie a true batting allrounder who has taken a decent amount of wickets ie not a Doug Walters with 49 from 74 tests or Steve Waugh with 92 from 168 tests, you get 3 names - Kallis, Sobers and Greig.

Now that cuts out a lot of great batting all rounders who didn't play a lot of tests say pre 1960 especially guys pre WWII, like Wifred Rohdes (played on wet wickets), George Faulkner from South Africa (didn't play a lot of tests in the first couple of decades of the 20th century) but it highlights where he stood with the batting allrounders of the last 50 years.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...alval3=wickets;template=results;type=allround

Although Jayasuriya with 6,973 runs @40.07 and 98 wickets @34.42 came close but he did play 110 tests compared to Greig's 58.

If you set the criteria at batting ave of 40+, bowling of >= 35, no restrictions on wickets taken, but add must have batted at least 30 times and bowled in at least 30 innings its still a pretty short list of only 10 names.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...innings_bowled;template=results;type=allround

 

[worbod]

Greig's close to the wicket fielding was also a highlight of his game. Of all players with 50 or more catches, Greig's "catches per Test" average is right up there.

1.96 Eknath Solkar . India . . . .53 catches, 27 Tests
1.77 Bob Simpson . . Australia . 110 catches, 62 Tests
1.54 Stephen Fleming New Zealand 171 catches, 111 Tests
1.50 Mark Taylor . . Australia . 157 catches, 104 Tests
1.50 Tony Greig . . .England . . .87 catches, 58 Tests

Taylor shades Greig's avergae by 0.009

 

[Suspense]

sad news. i agree that it's been weird not hearing him during the cricket.
enjoyed his banter and ofc the inspiration for one of the best 12th man characters too.