Latest news with #TonyGreig
Mint
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
Writer Gideon Haigh on the foremost rivalry in cricket today
A line cricket fans and writers love to quote is Trinidadian historian and Marxist scholar C.L.R. James' 'What do they know of cricket, who only cricket know?" James meant that in order to properly appreciate the game of cricket, one has to consider the historical and sociopolitical conditions under which the game is played. No contemporary writer proves this dictum more often or more thoroughly than the 59-year-old Australian Gideon Haigh, author of some of the finest cricket books of the 21st century, including The Big Ship: Warwick Armstrong and the Making of Modern Cricket (2001), Mystery Spinner: The Life and Death of an Extraordinary Cricketer (2002), On Warne (2012) and Sultan: A Memoir (2022, co-written with Wasim Akram). A prolific writer who began his career as a business journalist in the 1980s, Haigh's body of work is diverse—several true crime books, a history of the workplace, an account of the legalization of abortion in Australia. Westland has recently published his latest book, Indian Summers: Australia Versus India, a collection of essays covering what has grown to be arguably the foremost rivalry in contemporary cricket. These essays cover nearly a century of Indo-Australian cricketing encounters, starting with Frank Tarrant's touring party of 1935-36 and going all the way till the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy played in Australia. All the big, familiar moments for Indian fans—the 2001 Kolkata Test, the 2003 and 2023 ODI World Cup Finals, the 2024 T20 World Cup game—are covered here. These big-game essays show both Haigh's appetite for the 'it' moments and his full suite of writerly skills. Today, it is common to use the word 'cinematic" while talking about writers who're adept at building dramatic tension with flair and visual details. But Haigh's technique is more akin to classical theatre than contemporary filmmaking (he quotes the Nobel-winning playwright and lifelong cricket nut Harold Pinter in a passage about Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara). His essay about the 2001 Kolkata Test, for instance, drips with Shakespearean foreshadowing. In a particularly striking passage, Haigh describes the overconfidence of the Australian team after day three of the five-day game—as is well-known by now, at this point, India was still trailing Australia's score narrowly, with 4 second-innings wickets already down by the end of day three. While reading this passage (reproduced below), I could clearly visualize Steve Waugh, Michael Slater and Tony Greig in different corners of a large theatre stage, a spotlight shining above whichever head is talking in the moment: ''It'll be over tomorrow,' commentator Tony Greig said airily. 'More time on the golf course.' The Australians were of the same mind. Waugh eyed his Southern Comfort thirstily. Slater, who had nursed some reservations about the follow- on, playfully drew his cigar under his nose. 'This result is so close I can smell it,' he said, to the amusement of Gilchrist, who had not in his eighteen months as a Test cricketer known defeat." For me, though, where Haigh stands out from the crowd is his clear-eyed diagnosis of cricket's ongoing "Big Three" era, wherein India, England and Australia (and within them, mostly India) have hoovered up the lion's share of global cricketing revenues, hosting rights and programming privileges. Haigh's criticism of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is brutal (Haigh has an acid tongue) and I would argue, relentlessly fair. See how he calmly and systematically dismantles the oft-parroted argument that, as the number one generator of revenue in world cricket, India is in fact entitled to the lion's share (Ravi Shastri recently argued on Sky Sports that India is being underpaid by the rest of the cricketing world): 'As is the case for every ICC member, India in international cricket is the creation of generations of tours and tournaments, of rivalries and reciprocities, fostered by the whole world. No country can accomplish anything on its own in international cricket, and every country contributes. Some, for reasons of economy and demography, cannot offer so much. The objective should always be to put a floor beneath and handholds beside the weakest because from a generally rising standard everyone benefits—I'd call it 'levelling up', had Boris Johnson not, like everything he ever touched, debased it." Haigh is brilliant at pairing cricketing logic with political commentary, and showing us how the dots between the two connect in practice. In December 2023, the International Cricket Council (ICC) objected to Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja sporting an illustrated dove on his cricket shoes during a game against Pakistan— to indicate his support for the children of Gaza. Haigh's report at the time (on the website Cricket Et Al) was a masterclass in skewering hypocrisy. He pointed out the absurdity of the ICC's 'no politics' veneer, given that several member countries' cricket boards are headed by politicians from the respective ruling parties. 'For many years the world's longest-running stage comedy was a farce called No Sex Please, We're British, its jollity deriving from the idea that the more the characters tried to avoid the subject, the more they became implicated, and the greater the comic complications. Cricket has its own enduring counterpart: No Politics Please, We're the ICC. Its hilarious premise is that the International Cricket Council is charged with preventing the game's contamination by ill-defined but somehow always untoward political influence. This has now extended to…checks notes…a fucking dove." Indian Summers is a must-read for hardcore and casual cricket fans alike. It showcases the best of a man whose writings have described the game with wit, wisdom and humility for over three decades now. Aditya Mani Jha is a Delhi-based journalist.
The Independent
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Mark Nicholas' proudest memory tinged by sadness as 2005 Ashes marked end of era
Mark Nicholas has bittersweet memories of his role fronting Channel 4's coverage of the 2005 Ashes, his pride in the enduring 'mythology' of the series tinged by sadness at the end of the free-to-air era. Nicholas was the broadcasting anchor charged with carrying a rapt nation through many of the key moments of a contest that remains seared into the memories of cricket fans. Heading up an elite commentary cast featuring the likes of the late Richie Benaud and Tony Greig, as well as Sir Geoffrey Boycott, Michael Atherton and Michael Slater, Nicholas' debonair style crystallised many of the most thrilling moments as England regained the urn for the first time in 18 years. One passage in particular lives on, Steve Harmison's vital dismissal of Michael Clarke at Edgbaston and the subsequent call of: 'One of the great balls! Given the moment, given the batsman, given the match…that is a staggering gamble!' Speaking to the PA news agency two decades later, the current MCC chair reflects: 'You hear a lot of soundbites from that series, even 20 years on. Some of what I said didn't always make much sense, but I think the best commentary is reactive. When you plan to say certain things it doesn't work as well. ' David Bowie once gave an interview about 'Life on Mars' and said, 'It's a good song but I've no idea what I was writing about'. I sort of know what he means, you can be creatively successful completely unintentionally. 'I cannot tell you how often I get stopped, people telling me with all their hearts that 2005 and our coverage of it was what got them into cricket. 'Of course, it was the fact that England beat Australia after so long and that it was so thrilling. But to hear people, even England cricketers, say you helped get them into the game…you can't be more flattered than that. 'Some of us brought hyperbole, some did the deep analysis, Richie was minimalism brilliantly applied. I remain more proud of that time than anything else in my career, there was a certain element of mythology for all of us that summer, players and commentators alike.' Yet 2005 was not just the high water mark for Nicholas' BAFTA-winning team, it was also the end of the road. Sky television took over exclusive broadcast rights of English cricket in the aftermath, with home Tests having lost their 'Crown Jewel' status as a category A listed event. It remains a source of regret to Nicholas that the surge of public interest, which saw 7.4 million viewers tune in to the Oval finale, instantly encountered a paywall. 'I do feel desperately sad that an opportunity was blown. It will never leave me,' he says. 'They had to make sure Test match cricket stayed (free to air), even if it was in a joint broadcast, and if that meant a bit less money then so be it. 'I'm not anti-Sky at all, I'm glued to their coverage three or four nights a week. But it was a bad misjudgement. Cricket was a very powerful thing at that moment and it was the time to make sure that continued. 'I was asked to co-host the celebration at Trafalgar Square with David Gower and I remember walking home through London with my wife after the crowds cleared. All the way back I was feeling an extraordinary contradiction of euphoric happiness at the summer that had gone and the terrible sadness of losing the coverage.'
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mark Nicholas' proudest memory tinged by sadness as 2005 Ashes marked end of era
Mark Nicholas has bittersweet memories of his role fronting Channel 4's coverage of the 2005 Ashes, his pride in the enduring 'mythology' of the series tinged by sadness at the end of the free-to-air era. Nicholas was the broadcasting anchor charged with carrying a rapt nation through many of the key moments of a contest that remains seared into the memories of cricket fans. Advertisement Heading up an elite commentary cast featuring the likes of the late Richie Benaud and Tony Greig, as well as Sir Geoffrey Boycott, Michael Atherton and Michael Slater, Nicholas' debonair style crystallised many of the most thrilling moments as England regained the urn for the first time in 18 years. One passage in particular lives on, Steve Harmison's vital dismissal of Michael Clarke at Edgbaston and the subsequent call of: 'One of the great balls! Given the moment, given the batsman, given the match…that is a staggering gamble!' Speaking to the PA news agency two decades later, the current MCC chair reflects: 'You hear a lot of soundbites from that series, even 20 years on. Some of what I said didn't always make much sense, but I think the best commentary is reactive. When you plan to say certain things it doesn't work as well. Advertisement 'David Bowie once gave an interview about 'Life on Mars' and said, 'It's a good song but I've no idea what I was writing about'. I sort of know what he means, you can be creatively successful completely unintentionally. 'I cannot tell you how often I get stopped, people telling me with all their hearts that 2005 and our coverage of it was what got them into cricket. Mark Nicholas and members of the Channel Four team with the BAFTA awarded to their 2005 Ashes coverage (Yui Mok/PA) 'Of course, it was the fact that England beat Australia after so long and that it was so thrilling. But to hear people, even England cricketers, say you helped get them into the game…you can't be more flattered than that. 'Some of us brought hyperbole, some did the deep analysis, Richie was minimalism brilliantly applied. I remain more proud of that time than anything else in my career, there was a certain element of mythology for all of us that summer, players and commentators alike.' Advertisement Yet 2005 was not just the high water mark for Nicholas' BAFTA-winning team, it was also the end of the road. Sky television took over exclusive broadcast rights of English cricket in the aftermath, with home Tests having lost their 'Crown Jewel' status as a category A listed event. It remains a source of regret to Nicholas that the surge of public interest, which saw 7.4 million viewers tune in to the Oval finale, instantly encountered a paywall. English cricket's moment of greatest triumph soon gave way to a viewing paywall (David Davies/PA) 'I do feel desperately sad that an opportunity was blown. It will never leave me,' he says. 'They had to make sure Test match cricket stayed (free to air), even if it was in a joint broadcast, and if that meant a bit less money then so be it. Advertisement 'I'm not anti-Sky at all, I'm glued to their coverage three or four nights a week. But it was a bad misjudgement. Cricket was a very powerful thing at that moment and it was the time to make sure that continued. 'I was asked to co-host the celebration at Trafalgar Square with David Gower and I remember walking home through London with my wife after the crowds cleared. All the way back I was feeling an extraordinary contradiction of euphoric happiness at the summer that had gone and the terrible sadness of losing the coverage.'
