{"id":14438,"date":"2013-01-05T23:34:57","date_gmt":"2013-01-06T04:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=14438"},"modified":"2013-01-05T23:34:57","modified_gmt":"2013-01-06T04:34:57","slug":"tony-greigborn-in-south-africaplays-for-englandlives-in-australia-and-supports-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=14438","title":{"rendered":"Tony Greig:Born in South Africa,Plays for England,Lives in Australia and Supports Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Sanjiva Wijesinha<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was saddened \u2013 as I am sure many of us in this island were \u2013 when the news came in last Saturday of the passing away of Tony Greig.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Quite apart from the fact that he was a great cricketer \u2013 his record as an all rounder (a batting average over 40 and a bowling average less than 33) proves him to be one of the best to have played for England \u2013 he was also an entertaining, articulate and highly knowledgeable cricket commentator. Even more importantly, many of us here in Sri Lanka looked on him as our spokesman in the wider world of cricket \u2013 someone who talked well of our cricketers and stood up for us when other less intelligent and more parochial commentators were wont to speak disparagingly of Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

Even during the years when were in the midst of our Tiger Wars, Tony Greig was enthusiastically extolling the talents of our cricketers, the sweetness of our pineapples, the beauty of our beaches and the hospitality of our people. Small wonder that Sri Lankans have been heard to describe him as someone who was “born in South Africa, played for England, lives in Australia \u2013 and supports Sri Lanka!”<\/p>\n

Who can forget his famous words, delivered on air after Arjuna Ranatunga hit a Shane Warne full toss over the square-leg rope as he and Aravinda de Silva were taking Sri Lanka closer to victory in the 1966 World Cup final “These Sri Lankans are giving the Aussies a real hiding!”? It was a cricketing moment that every one of who was listening to that match remembers.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the internet, I have during this week been reading the many tributes to this great man that have been appearing in the media in various parts of the world. It would not be wrong to say that Tony Greig\u2019s famous voice and those oft repeated “Greigisms\u2019 have been enjoyed wherever cricket commentaries are televised or broadcast. His verbal sparring in the commentary box with former Australian captains Ian Chappell and Bill Lawry have kept Australia\u2019s Channel Nine listeners highly entertained over the years.<\/p>\n

Chappell, who opposed him in many a contest, referred to him as “my best enemy \u2013 and my close friend.” He remembered Greig as a man who was able to get the best out of his natural talents; well might he have added that Greig as a captain was a man who could bring out the best in his players by the sheer strength of his personality. Ian Botham, who played his first test for England under Greig\u2019s captaincy, described him as ” flamboyant and extroverted – and he made things happen.”<\/p>\n

I cannot do better than quote what Andrew Fernando wrote in his Cricinfo column, “Both in the cricketing universe and elsewhere, Greig believed in Sri Lanka before she even believed in herself.”<\/p>\n

Our island is now a more united nation than it was during most of Tony Greig’s years of visiting Sri Lanka as a cricket commentator – and I am sure that now it will be united in mourning the loss of one of our favourite adopted sons.COURTESY:SUNDAY ISLAND<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Dr. Sanjiva Wijesinha I was saddened \u2013 as I am sure many of us in this island were \u2013 when the news came in last Saturday of the passing away of Tony Greig.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14438"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14438"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14439,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14438\/revisions\/14439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}