Video: Tony Greig’s England made to ‘grovel’ by West Indies

  A video of West Indian fiery fast bowling making English batsmen struggle and dance on their tunes during the famous Test in 1976.   On the eve of the first Test at Trent Bridge, Greig sat on the roof of Hove’s pavilion and spoke on Sportsnight, the flagship midweek sports program of BBC. With time, his frustration became...

A video of West Indian fiery fast bowling making English batsmen struggle and dance on their tunes during the famous Test in 1976.

On the eve of the first Test at Trent Bridge, Greig sat on the roof of Hove’s pavilion and spoke on Sportsnight, the flagship midweek sports program of BBC. With time, his frustration became more and more palpable with the line of questioning that seemed to indicate that England had absolutely no chance of competing in the series. He finally fixed his gaze at the camera and said the words that would continue to haunt him for years.

 “I like to think that people are building these West Indians up, because I am not really sure they’re as good as everyone thinks they are,” he started and touched upon their defeat in Australia and struggle at home against India. “Sure, they’ve got a couple of fast bowlers, but … you must remember that (if) the West Indian get on top they are magnificent cricketers, but if they’re down, they grovel. And I intend, with the help of Closey and a few others, to make them grovel.”

But what followed in the Test match was a ruthless display of fast bowling West Indies wanting vengeance on Greig’s words.