Grovel storm and all

South Africa cricket coach Shukri Conradrsquos first name is two letters short of Shukriya But thanks to what he said recently there is no question of Indiarsquos cricket fraternity showing any gratitude towards him Shukri said after the recent Guwahati Test against India that they wanted to make India grovel by batting on during a good part of Day FourThe lsquogrovelrsquo mention brought back memories of what then England captain Tony Greig said in a preseries interview before a fiveTest battle with the touring West Indies team in 1976 West Indies took that racist comment very seriously and beat England 30 There was an element of humour too in this controversy with Greig falling to the ground and grovelling at the end of the seriesHerersquos what the big names in cricket involved in that series wrote about Greigrsquos grovel remark in their respective autobiographiesWhat they wrote about Tony Greigrsquos lsquoGrovelrsquo remark in their booksSouth Africa coach Shukri Conrad PICAFPlsquoIt was a mistakersquoI was chased around the country that summer by the acrimony my lsquogrovelrsquo remark had stirred up I have already admitted that it was a mistake if an unwitting one but it did not dissuade me from the belief that the game needs people to stand up and be counted every now and then By that I donrsquot mean that everyone should adopt slanging tactics and constantly bring the game into disreputeMy Story by Tony GreigPublished by Stanley PaullsquoParticularly unfortunatersquoGreigrsquos notorious remark about lsquomaking lsquoem grovelrsquo turned out to be a sort of battle cry for the West Indies and their supporters once they had got in front as they did from the moment they won the toss at Trent Bridge Viv Richards told me ldquoThatrsquos what made the West Indies into a team for the series Up to that point we were simply a collection of individuals mdash but once we had heard about Greigrsquos remark there was no way England were going to beat usrdquoBrian CloseBut it could all have been so different Greggiersquos remark taking political and historical considerations into account turned out to be particularly unfortunate but who am I to talk about unfortunate remarks Everyone in cricket knew what he meant mdash that if you get on top of the West Indies the odds are that you will stay on top Itrsquos as simple as that and cricketing history proves the point The astonishing thing was that Tony having made his point made no attempt to drive it home once he got on the fieldI Donrsquot Bruise Easily by Brian ClosePublished by Macdonald and JanersquoslsquoOffensive illchosenrsquoGreig had raised our hackles prior to the series by saying in a television interview that he would make us lsquogrovelrsquo It was his second series as Englandrsquos captain and we recognised him as a talented fiercely competitive cricketer from his exploits in the West Indies in 1974 when he was Englandrsquos outstanding allrounderMichael HoldingBut he was a white South African qualified to play for England only through his parentage and lsquogrovelrsquo was a particularly offensive and illchosen word for him to have used in reference to a predominantly black team It smacked of racism and apartheid and provided us with a very powerful psychological stimulusFrom then on Greg became a special target and every time he came to the wicket the fast bowlers seemed to add a yard of paceWhispering Death ndash The life and times of Michael Holding by Michael Holding with Tony CozierPublished by Andre DeutshlsquoA calculated commentrsquoI believe Greig did a good job as skipper of an England side which was probably as weak as at any time since the war World War II As a captain he was as shrewd and as capable as any in the world game probably only lan Chappell seriously rivalling him We knew he had a way with words and his lsquogrovellingrsquo comment was not spoken off the top of his head The consensus of opinion in the West Indies dressing room was that Greig had said the words for a purpose a calculated commentGordon GreenidgeLooking back though Irsquom not sure what his intentions were Was he trying to make us so mad as to panic Or was he trying to make his team that much better than they really were Whatever his aims we went on to slaughter England with only the minimum of resistance from hardened battlers like Derek Underwood Alan Knott Dennis Amiss Greig himself and veteran performers like David Steele and Brian Close who had been summoned from their cricketing dotages to face our fearsome fast bowlers with little more than their raw courageThe Man in the Middle by Gordon Greenidge with Patrick SymesPublished by David amp CharleslsquoFastest ball Irsquove seenrsquoI will never forget Andy Roberts charging into the tall England skipper Greig in the first Test at Trent Bridge and sending the offstump reeling several yards before he had a chance to put his bat downClive LloydIt was one of the fastest deliveries I have ever seen Naturally we had respect for Greig as a cricketer and realised he was a key batsman but it was his taunt that he would make us grovel that committed our bowlers to regard him as Public Enemy Number 1Living for Cricket by Clive LloydPublished by Stanley PaullsquoIncredible gaffersquoI doubt whether any word used in a cricketing context has ever caused a bigger stir than lsquogrovelrsquo Tony Greig the England captain was a straighttalking man but his choice of that word caused immense repercussions and had a telling effect on the outcome of the series The dictionary gives the definition of grovel as to lsquolie prone in abject humilityrsquoClyde WalcottTo say that about West Indians some of whose countries had only recently become independent of Britain whose ancestors were slaves taken to the Caribbean from Africa was an incredible gaffe that he must have regretted later It provided our players with the best possible motivationExtract from Sixty Years on the Back Foot by Clive Walcott with Brian ScovellPublished by Victor Gollanczs Walcott was the WI team manager in 1976What Tony Greig said in 1976I think that people are building these West Indians up because Irsquom not really sure theyrsquore as good as everyone thinks they are I think people tend to forget it wasnrsquot that long ago they were beaten 51 by the Australians and struggled very much to handle them and only just managed to keep their heads above water against the Indians just a short while ago as well Sure theyrsquove got a couple of fast bowlers but really I donrsquot think wersquore going to run into anything any more sensational than Thomson and Lillee and so really Irsquom not all that worried about them You must remember that the West Indians these guys if they get on top they are magnificent cricketers But if theyrsquore down they grovel and I intend with the help of Closey Brian Close and a few others to make them grovel