Cricket in the SPOTYlight

In my younger days, one of the television highlights of the year was the BBC Sports Review of the Year. Broadcast live every December, I would enthusiastically wallow in nostalgia, loving the ‘goosebump’ moments from that year’s sporting events as well as the compilations of ‘funnies’ and special guests in the Beeb’s studio, watched by rows of mostly blokes in blazers.

This weekend, the programme will be hosted in the huge Genting Arena in Birmingham, complete with Oscars-style production values and a substantial audience expected to be wearing more dinner jackets and posh frocks than beige blazers. Amongst the many awards to be presented will be two of the more traditional ones: the overall BBC Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) and its Overseas equivalent.

The former has, since 1954, been determined by a public vote, be it by names submitted on a postcard or the current instant online method. By and large, those chosen have been worthy winners although BBC viewers have occasionally served up surprises.

Perhaps the greatest of them all came in 1975 when, after being called up by England to face the intimidating Aussie attack of Lillee and Thomson, cricketer David Steele saw off allcomers to take the SPOTY prize. Just as well, because the Ashes were lost but, while he scored consistently without once reaching three figures, the England batsman’s prematurely grey hair, schoolmasterly specs and shy-but-solid character endeared himself to the viewing public in an extraordinary way. Two years later he was largely forgotten but the name David Steele will forever be engraved on one of the trophy’s plinth shields.

In 64 years, only three other cricketers have taken the main award, and only two others placed second or third. In 1956, Jim Laker triumphed on the back of his 19-wicket achievement against Australia, then in 1981 and 2005, further Ashes accomplishments received SPOTY recognition, to the benefit of Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff. Geoff Boycott and Graham Gooch are the additional pair to claim the minor prizes. Since cricket accepted self-imposed exile on Sky, becoming a minority sport in the process, the chances of a cricketer winning SPOTY have decreased sharply. I can’t imagine even Alastair Cook, Jimmy Anderson or Joe Root making Sunday night’s shortlist of six. Only another outstanding Ashes or World Cup performance could end the drought. 2019 perhaps?

But what about the Overseas Personality prize? Well, cricket hasn’t fared much better. Of course, individual sports are more suited than team games to such awards. While tennis and athletics have dominated in recent years a mere three cricketers have been selected by the judges (not public). The award was introduced in 1960, too late for Garry Sobers’ 365. However, the West Indian did receive the accolade in 1966, shared with World Cup footballer Eusebio.

It was another 28 years before Brian Lara erased the record, and a few others, making him a shoo-in for the BBC’s 1994 award. Then, in 2005, to balance Flintoff’s SPOTY and Ashes triumphs, the trophy went to the brilliant Aussie spinner Shane Warne, whose individual performances in defeat eclipsed even Freddie’s. However there has never been space in the panel's affections for superstars such as Dennis Lillee, Viv Richards (defeated in his vintage year of ’76 by gymnast Nadia Comaneci), Imran Khan, Sachin Tendulkar or Muttiah Muralitharan.

So could a cricketer win in 2018? Despite there being a Winter Olympics, Commonwealth Games and football World Cup, I reckon those charged with deciding these things must surely consider the claim of Virat Kohli. After such a stonking year for him personally, making loads of runs in all formats while shouldering the burdens of India’s captaincy and expectations, It is surely time for cricket to take centre stage once again on BBC Sport’s gala night of glory.

The Ashes 1975

The first Ashes series I remember with any clarity took place forty years ago. The early part of the 1975 summer was memorable for the inaugural World Cup, about which I have waxed lyrical more than once. The previous winter had introduced England to the twin pace threat of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson. Now they were bringing their brand of cricket to these shores to thrill teenagers like me, just developing my enthusiasm for cricket.

Australia defeated England in the World Cup semi-finals (through the unfamiliar swing of Gary Gilmour) and gave the West Indies a cracking contest in the final. There followed a four-Test series for the little red urn which would give the home nation a chance for revenge.

England were thumped 4-1 Down Under but at last did end the series on a high, thanks to an innings victory at Melbourne. Even without a sulking Geoff Boycott and John Snow, the tourists turned the tables thanks to a captain’s innings by Mike Denness and Peter Lever’s 6-38. Nevertheless, the Aussie squad staying on from the one-day showpiece was pretty formidable.

Rick McCosker was a very useful opener, Ian Chappell a combative skipper and brother Greg one of the best batsmen in the world. Doug Walters was an old-school, smoker, drinker and gambler yet he ended with a Test average of 48, extremely high back in the Seventies. Rod Marsh was another character, whose wicketkeeping was just as strong. And then there was the bowling. Apart from ‘Lilian Thomson’, Max Walker was a fine exponent of swing and Ashley Mallett offered skilful off-spin.

That’s not to say England were weak. We had world-class players such as Alan Knott, Derek Underwood, Snow, opener Dennis Amiss and all-rounder Tony Greig, so a useful series was in the offing. However. from their standpoint, it didn’t get off to a promising start.

At Edgbaston, Denness won the toss and fielded. Australia notched 359, then on day two, Lillee and Walker ripped England apart. Following on, it was Thomson’s turn to claim a five-for and it was all over by the fourth morning. The match was also memorable for Graham Gooch’s debut. After some great performances for Essex, the 21 year-old was thrust into the Test side – and bagged a pair!

Gooch was retained at Lord’s but there were changes elsewhere. Barry Wood opened, Amiss dropped down to four, while debuts were handed to the grey-haired bespectacled David Steele and Kent all-rounder (as he was then) Bob Woolmer. More significantly, Mike Denness made way for new captain Tony Greig. The result was an honourable draw. Edrich, Greig and Knott nullified the threat of Chappell’s seam attack, and even Gooch scored 6 and 37.

At Headingley, left-arm spinner Phil Edmonds played his first Test, and there were recalls for Yorkshire pair John Hampshire (for Gooch) and Chris Old. England were on top at stumps on day four but were denied the chance to level the series by the infamous pitch vandalism by supporters of imprisoned East End villain George Davis. He may have been, as the ubiquitous graffiti proclaimed ‘innocent, OK’ but cricket fans were horrified that someone could ruin an excellent Test match by digging holes on a length making the pitch unplayable.

I’m not sure whether it was the result of the lost day at Leeds but the fourth Test at The Oval was allocated six days. As such it became the longest first-class game in England. A second-wicket partnership of 277 between McCosker and Ian Chappell took the visitors beyond 500, then the pacemen left Greig’s men to follow on 341 behind. Things looked as grim as the late August weather. However, second time around, England took control. Woolmer, promoted to five, responded with 149, four others passed fifty, and they left the Aussies no time to reach their target.

The series ended 1-0 to Australia, but England had regained some confidence. Gooch’s time would come again and David Steele’s quiet determination and resilience struck a chord with the British public, earning him the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award! Australia would destroy the West Indies the following winter, a result which in turn would lead to Clive Lloyd’s all-pace strategy and a new world order in the sport for years to come.
I doubt whether 2015 will create another watershed in world cricket but hopefully there’ll be plenty of drama and excitement for me and all those teenagers out there looking for new sporting heroes, whatever the nationality.

Heatwave Hysteria

Outside London and the Home Counties we go berserk whenever the thermometer creeps close to 25 degrees. Imagine the feeling now after a fortnight of such temperatures! At least the cricketers are getting onto the pitch and fans are confident of buying discounted advance T20 tickets safe in the knowledge the game won't be rained off, unlike last year's miserable summer.

For anybody aged at least 50 or so, the word heatwave conjures up memories of 1976. Weeks of unending sunshine, no wind, the school sponsored walk being curtailed for fear of mass hopitalisation, while the UK economy went down the toilet. Then, as now,it was foreigners getting the blame. In 2013, it's European migrant workers. 37 years ago, it was the Caribbean population in the cities. The white English backlash acquired a voice in the neo-Nazi National Front while these days it's the rise of UKIP and the English Defence League.

Living in Essex black faces were extemely rare but what I shared with the West Indians living in London, Birmingham, Bristol and elsewhere was enjoyment of Caribbean cricket and watching Clive Lloyd's new team bewitch and bewilder England, and not just in terms of cricket. The cacophany of rhythmic beer can percussion, especially at The Oval, still rings in my ears now - and I experienced it only via BBC TV. The vast brown desert of The Oval's outfield traversed by Michael Holding's mesmerising run-up also remains fixed in the brain.

The book and film 'Grovel!' brilliantly evoke the atmosphere of the cricketing summer, and reminded me, sitting in the uncomfortable heat, of the selection measures resorted to by England to counter the threat posed by the four-man pace attack. The notion of a barrage of dangerous bouncers seems alien in these times of batting-friendly rules. Then, while umpires could intervene to stop 'intimidatory' bowling, there was no limit to the number of short-pitched deliveries. And Lloyd's attack took full advantage. Trouble is, the ludicrously long run-ups employed by Andy Roberts, Wayne Daniel, Holding and co made for a dreary spectacle. Twelve overs an hour became the norm, later prompting minimum over rules in Test cricket. The strokeplay of Lloyd, Roy Fredericks and the relatively youthful Gordon Greenidge and Viv Richards was anything but boring. Quite the reverse, and Viv became my all-time favourite sportsman on the back of his scintillating drives hooks and pulls that long hot summer.

But I digress. 1976 was also the summer of recalls for batsmen considered well past their prime, or those whose prime had previously gone completely unnoticed by the short-sighted selectors in their ivory tower at Lord's. In 1975, the grey-haired, bespectacled figure of David Steele had been summoned to replicate his form for Northants, particularly against fast bowling, against Lillee and Thomson. He had scored no centuries but had avoided calamity to the extent that his efforts (rather than achievements) earned him the unlikely accolade of BBC Sports Personality of the Year! A year later, he was an automatic choice, at 33, for the West Indies series. But who to join him?

The answer was probably the oldest English Test side of all time. Geoff Boycott was missing through bloody-mindedness then injury, Dennis Amiss because of fear of fast bowling after being hurt a few times, and so the 39 year-old John Edrich was crucial to open the innings. 34 year-old John Snow remained England's best fast bowler, despite being increasingly injury-prone. However, some of the young county batsmen were not considered ready to throw into the firing line. Enter Brian Close. At 45, the former England captain and professional Yorkshireman (see also Boycott) had moved to lead a young Somerset side but his fearless persona and willingness to take the bruises rather than risk reckless hooks to the short stuff catapulted him into the England team. He performed well enough to keep his place but the West Indies were simply too good. Skipper Tony Greig was given a torrid time after his 'grovel' comments and another late 30-something in good nick for his county, Chris Balderstone, was given a couple of Test caps.

His first innings at Headingley brought 35 runs in 3 1/2 hours before being caught behind off Roberts. Second time of asking, he was out in similar fashion for just 4. At The Oval, he bagged a pair, as Holding ran rampant. By the time England introduced people like Peter Willey, Mike Selvey, Geoff Miller and Frank Hayes, the series was already lost. Willey and Miller continued their international careers but the following years saw wholesale changes promoted by the departure to the 'Packer Circus'.

Nevertheless, I'm just happy to soak up all this sunshine and recall the glorious summer of '76. Get me another Cornetto!