We joined them and endured throughout the longest queue, to possess Greig’s trademark. Whether or not it is actually ultimately my personal change, I summoned up bravery and advised your, having a slight quaver, it absolutely was an effective «helluva catch». A separate idol minted indeed there and. For the next years, when he went towards the greater stream, Greig turned out a rewarding but difficult character – a gold doubloon, never ever totally shedding its essential lustre however, seem to searching for healing refining. Across the next few seasons, We spotted him off in the Hove in the most common house games. Save yourself for 5 wickets and you may a brisk 93 against Hampshire inside the July 1969, I don’t think about him and make any tall contribution. But he usually performed one thing. A booming safety drive otherwise a pull decide to try jumping from the scoreboard getting half a dozen.
Sussex thrashed all of them, and you may Greig try People of the Meets: 54 in the 1st innings, away from 199, following four wickets
Or an effective bouncer injudiciously intended for Mike Procter’s head, which following strike your getting cuatro, cuatro, six, 4 as he is actually clobbered for over 130 regarding 20 odd overs. In which he constantly closed autographs. I had him eight times in 2 season. Just after, the guy even said, «Ach, it’s your once more. I never spotted your deny individuals. I seated in distributed boughs of greatest tangerine forest. Robbo regaled all of us non-stop that have stories off seeing Les Ames, Godfrey Evans and you will Doug Wright while the good boy. The guts mutton is a mind box who’d created an enthusiastic encyclopaedic experience with Kent cricket, and their unique dad’s apparent fulfillment, not only admonished your when he nudged myself and talked about a stylish «popsy» about audience but fixed your when he had specific fact or profile completely wrong.
Which had been will. Robbo was never ever you to to have analytical detail; it absolutely was the storyline you to mattered. Kent’s illustrious records – whether reality or misconception – did not assist much on that sizzling hot July day. Towards the end of the day, one another center lamb and you will Robbo himself was in fact demonstrably smitten. We understood one to to be true while the, even after their child of earshot, my buddy don’t talked of this new long streak out of piss, however, of «Greigy».
Greig played only an assistance role you to go out; a quick-flames thirty-six on the Sussex innings as well as 2 wickets, in addition to regarding Kent’s top scorer, Graham Johnson, trapped from the Tony Buss of a lengthy-hop
And you can Sussex made it happen once again three years later on. Gillette Mug one-fourth-final, August step one, 1973, during the Hove. From this time Greig is actually a recently oriented The united kingdomt player and you will Sussex head. Once again, We went with Robbo, therefore we about overlooked they. My personal buddy had organized the day however when i pitched upwards ticketless on Tate Gates, we had been firmly turned into out. A sellout. The brand new stewards («soft nothing Hitlers») didn’t come with truck with Robbo’s «Come on, it is the boy’s birthday today.» (It wasn’t.) But, the guy wasn’t letting go of that effortlessly assuming advised a small warily regarding how I’d into soil free of charge which have my personal mates, the next thing We know I became offering my personal portly sibling a toes-up over the garden wall structure of one of your own larger domiciles you to recognized onto the water end of your floor. Into the, buoyed from the our profits, Robbo’s appeal struck overdrive in which he in some way nice-spoke the quicker draconian inside the-ground ushers thus effortlessly, that we finished up on gangway of one’s members’ pavilion, proper beside the players’ balcony. Inside the earliest innings We noticed since the Greig spent some time working their way as a consequence of nearly a whole packet regarding Benson and you can Hedges, and you can Robbo, truly the only Kent recommend in our midst, cheered most of the run because his lads chased 264 on the next. Today a teenager, I happened to be a tiny embarrassed from this, but thankfully around weren’t a lot of them. Works, that is. Kent have been bowled away getting 135. However, one did not number. While the people endured with the outfield and you can basked about thank you of the 10,000-good audience, Sussex had obtained. We watched because quick boys in-line to find the skipper’s autograph – I happened to be above all one today – and noted you to Robbo had registered all of them. The guy and you can Greig was basically in the future involved with transferring discussion. One another was laughing, thoughts tossed right back, due to the fact queue of short boys offered, shifting seriously regarding ft in order to base. Just after just what appeared a very long time, they shook give passionately and Robbo patted his the pal familiarly on the rear. He came bounding back up the newest pavilion actions, clutching their closed scorecard – «It is on center lamb,» he lied – and you will beaming of ear-to-ear. «He is a bloody fantastic bloke.» The feeling it absolutely was Greig’s Sussex one to won the overall game was palpable. John Spencer, brand new Sussex bowler, informed me recently if Greig took more than, the complete environment at a bar «dogged because of the backbiting, cynicism and you will negativity» altered almost overnight. Greig was an inhale from bracing water air.