It came as quite a shock to read that the former England fast bowler Graham Dilley had died. It also brings you face to face with your own mortality when it's someone just a few years older, and who is forever remembered as a dashing athletic fast bowler.
History has not been kind to Dilley. He had the misfortune to be at his peak when England were at their worst and so was on the winning side in only two out of his 41 Tests. That's an incredible record, and not in a nice way! Of course, cricket is a team game and you can't blame him for England's woes. However, those two victories came in Ashes games, including the famous Headingley triumph in 1981. he shared the 117-run partnership with Ian Botham as the latter built his match-saving innings. What is forgotten that 56 of those runs were scored by Dilley himself, so he matched the bearded wonder boundary for boundary and the half-century became his highest Test score.
Of course, Dilley's strength was as a strike bowler, and he took 138 wickets for England at under 30 apiece. 41 Tests over ten years doesn't do his legacy justice but he did suffer some injuries and occasional lack of form along the way. In the First Test of the 1981 Ashes series, he took 7-47 in two innings and if the England batsmen had shown any gumption under Botham's shortlived captaincy, the young Kent bowler may have added to his 4-24 in the Aussies' second innings and - who knows? - it may have been Dilley's Ashes?! However, he missed the Old Trafford and Edgbaston triumphs, as well as the decisive win in the 1986-7 series. Between January 1982 and June 1986 he played a mere two Tests but following his move with Botham to Worcestershire, where Duncan Fearnley was splashing his cash like some mini-Abramovich, Graham Dilley enjoyed the best form of his life. Sadly, the sport wasn't the lucrative business it is now, and he followed Gatting et al on the 1989 rebel tour to South Africa, thus finishing his international career. Two years later, dodgy knees and osteo-arthritis made him call it a day at the age of 33.
As well as his photogenic flowing blonde locks, I remember Dilley for his unusual bowling action. The run-up was rhythmic and even, the leading arm very high, the action very chest-on, but he would always drag his trailing boot along the ground at the point of delivery. It must have driven groundsmen mad because of the groove it carved in the crease, but probably to the delight of boot manufacturers. Dilley would have kept whole factories going just to replace his right boot's worn toe caps!
Judging by the obituaries, he was a popular player with colleagues and rivals alike. He may not have been the smartest bloke financially but he has earned some wonderful plaudits from the likes of Botham and Allan Border. He also did a bit of advising and coaching young bowlers at Loughborough University, one of his students being Monty Panesar, so current stars also owe a debt to Graham Dilley. Botham, Willis, Gough and Caddick may have taken more wickets and produced greater match-winning hauls in better times for England, but the nation should give thanks to an excellent servant to county and international cricket who has left the crease tragically young.
