Ted Dexter Current Opinion and Memories

Ted Dexter copy for June issue of the Cricketer


When the first whispers and rumours about match fixing were voiced in dark corners,
I simply refused to believe my ears, treating every allegation with the disdain that I thought they deserved. First of all the mechanics of underperforming as a team seemed to contain far too many uncertainties, totally at odds with what the serious gambler needs. Easier surely to fix a tennis or boxing match with only one intentional loser to pay, and only one to settle with in case of a double cross.

Even now, having accepted with heavy heart that the game has been dragged into the gutter by a few unprincipled players, if you read Mihir Bose in your Wisden Almanack , you may agree with me that neither the cricketers involved nor their gambler counterparts really seemed to know what they were doing. It was as if they were playing some sort of silly game, blissfully unaware of the damage done. Forgive them, for they know not what they do. How horribly apt is that biblical reference in this context.

It is human nature to tear down those things that are most revered – and some might say that reverence for cricket is overdone, out of proportion –all about just another ball game like baseball or hockey. I happen to think otherwise. The facts about cricket and how it all works are pretty clear even if some people still find it all a bit of a mystery. But there remain those who know all the facts, think they understand and yet still totally miss the point.

Let me tell you what I think sets cricket apart.
One. It is not a contact sport, but it remains physically demanding and essentially dangerous.
Two.It is a team game but one in which personal performance is highlighted – also there is a requirement for every player to take personal responsibility. You cannot complain in cricket that nobody passed you the ball. You are often enough on your own.
Three. There is such variation in accomplishment from one day to the next. 200 for mike atherton one day and zero the next. 7 wickets fo Gough and then nothing. It takes a stout heart to deal.with such swings of the pendulum. Nobody tells Tiger Woods for instance that he must go stew back in the clubhouse for a couple of days just because he played one bad shot.
Four. The major games last long enough to deny individuals the luxury of pretending to be what they are not. Cricketers personalities are fully revealed on the field of play.
Ian Botham, the wild spirit, Geoff Boycott, the curmudgeonly Yorkshireman and proud of it, the cash register mind of the late Sir Donald Bradman, the carefree genius of Dennis Compton and so to the delightful Muttiah Muraltharan, a man who was apparently born to the game and the business of bowling a cricket ball.

No wonder the game has a literature beyond compare. There is this great edifice of the games history, carved more deeply by some more than others but solid – something permanent against which every generation can test itself. And then along comes one group of thoughtless dunderheads who virtually aim a canon at the middle of it, apparently not caring a jot if it all comes tumbling down. Well, if it is not in ruins, there are certainly some gaping wounds to be healed – and the question is how?

Match fixing is of course not the only assault on the game. There is orchestrated cheating on a scale never encountered before. It is cheating, plain and simple but the perpetrators simply shrug and say it is the way of the world.
Resist the temptation to cheat your way through life is the very message which cricket was designed to bring home to young and old alike. Accept bad luck – and wrong decisions when they come along. Rejoice when the wheel comes round again and it is your turn to profit from a bit of good fortune.

So what is the way out of this unholy mess? For once I am wholly in tune with one aspect of Mr Blair's policy style of government on the hoof. If you seek a reduction in major crime, get rid of minor criminal activity first. Clean up the graffiti in an area and there will be less muggings as people gain respect for their surroundings and then for each other. So we clean up what goes on on the field first and the off-field misbehaviour will more likely wither and die.

Looking around me there is precious little to be immediately optimistic about. Sir Paul Condon seems to be offering no more than a historical record and a few suggestions on policing to minimise the incidence of this scourge. In the same way as fire and brimstone from the pulpit did precious little to modify human frailty , you can forget about the effect of dire threats or getting people to sign pledges of honesty.

We administrators must, I think, adopt a more evangelical approach. We must paint a picture of a new dawn, a resumption of innocence, if you like, which may grab the imagination of a few young players and then spread around when others see how much fun they are having.

It is hard to get the image of the late Colin Cowdrey out of my mind when I start thinking along those lines. Colin saw clearly the importance of those five little words “The Spirit of the Game” tucked away for so many years in Law 42 “Fair and Unfair Play” and set the process in motion whereby that “SPIRIT” has now been defined and brought forward as a preamble to the Laws much like Etiquette in golf. It is our responsibility now – and particularly mine at MCC – to make sure that every young cricketer gets to know the wording of the spirit of cricket by heart. At Colin's magnificent memorial service in the abbey, there were three youhg captains in the procession. To my shame, none of them had even read the words. They all received a copy personally from me. This, on a hugely expanded scale is a fruitful avenue, to be pursued in concert with the ECB and can only benefit the game.

Looking around further for inspiration , imagine my surprise when I came across it in, of all places, Southern California, a land with more eccentrics per square yard than even, may I make so bold, an MCC AGM. Of all places in the world, can you believe it, they have a National Sportsmanship Day… God Bless those thousands of oddballs, because they talk about “ a day to celebrate the intrinsic value of sport as a source of inspiration”.

They go on to ask simple questions about what is fair as opposed to unfair. Its easy they say. Just look at the rules- Laws- and ask whether any questionable tactic demonstrates a skill the game was designed to measure. Was cricket designed to Test which group of fielders can clap their hands louder than the other teams ? answer –no- so don’t do it.

Finally these definitive words There is no victory without honour. Now if every international cricketer had that logo on his shirt rather than the name of a mobile phone or fast food outlet, then we would be starting to win hearts and minds. Any multi- millionaire with a yen to do good in the world could do worse than to buy and decorate Test Team shirts with such a poignant message

ted dexter copy for the cricketer magazine
3rd november 2000

I received a news release recently from the International Cricket Council headlined “ ICC commits to ongoing fight against cricket corruption”, a statement of intent which had all the impact of a cotton wool ball bowled at a brick wall. “ICC suspends three nations from international cricket for three years” – or “ Seventeen Test cricketers banned for life” would have knocked one or two bricks out of the wall at least.

More earth shattering revelations were to come. “The Pakistan Board intends to pursue a policy of no tolerance to corruption.” Which suggests that prior to the recent ICC meetings in Nairobi, there was a possibility that a blind eye had been turned to certain misconduct in that part of the world. I am amazed that Pakistan could have approved the text of a release with such negative implications.

On a more positive note, it was the first time that I became fully aware of a formal Anti-Corruption Unit under Sir Paul Condon and the existence of individual investigating processes in each affiliated country.

Turn the page, however, and matters seem to descend into pure farce with the reqirement for every Tom, Dick and Harry involved with international cricket – including groundsmen – to sign “honesty” declarations with a pro-forma players’ form attached. It is rather like one of those old-fashioned immigration forms where you were asked whether you had ever been involved in subversive activities for the overthrow of the state.
Is any player seriously going to have a sudden change of heart and admit to match fixing just because he is faced with a new scrap of paper to sign?

Every existing player contract contains a clause binding him to observe the Code of Conduct which already theatens disciplinary action for everything from dissent to drug taking and includes a detailed list of offences involving cricket gambling of any kind. To add a further layer of bureaucracy is surely pure window dressing.

And so to the mention of Alec Stewart's name within the Indian Government enquiry into cricket related misconduct. Some have dignified these mentions with the word “allegations”, but since they emanate from a self confessed criminal corrupter, an Indian bookmaker acting unlawfully in the first place, it is totally irresponsible and odious to do so. If ever there was a need to remember the old maxim of “innocent until proven guilty”, it is now in relation to Stewart. It also strikes me as a total overreaction for a posse of anti-corruption officers to rush over to India in the light of such a totally unsubstantiated linking of the Stewart name to the very serious offences admitted by other individuals.

There is just one more small point of probably academic interest only.
I see that the relevant Appendix to the ICC Code of Conduct dealing with gambling starts with the words “ at any time after the 1st July 1993”. The England Tour to India finished in March 1993.

My off-the-cuff recollection of the 1992/1993 tour to India was of England performing so poorly that there was no possibility of a bet of any kind. We lost all three Tests by such margins that under-performance by one or two of the Indian batsmen would scarcely have made any difference. It is quite scary to note that our two spinners, Tufnell and Emburey took their grand total of 6 wickets in the series at an average of 69 and 72 respectively.

However the 6 match series of one-day internationals was well contested with England and India winning 3 matches each. I have looked at the analyses of each game, not to see what Stewart did or did not do, but to see whether there was any pattern which suggested anything unusual and my conclusion is one of total inconclusiveness. Perhaps that is where the so-called glorious uncertainties of cricket play into the hands of unscrupulous gamblers. 0 one day and 100 the next is commonplace without any help from ideas of match-fixing.

Going back to the ICC release, I was dissappointed to see that the penalties imposed on Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams were confirmed. As young players early in their careers, it must have put them on the spot in an unprecedented way to be instructed to underperform by their Captain, Hansie Cronje. Such was the general high level of respect for Cronje before his fall from grace, it was virtually impossible for such juniors to blow the whistle.When I first played under Peter May, his word was law as far as I was concerned and I am sure I would have done whatever he told me to do. It would have been a nice way of emphasising the crucial role of cricket captains in the conduct of the game if those penalties had been suspended by ICC.

It warms my heart just a little to finish by talking actual cricket. Watching the first one-day international in Pakistan, my heart was in my mouth when Hick started to take a swing at Saqlain's very first ball. He was clearly nowhere near the pitch of the ball but miraculously there was a meaty connection and the ball sailed away for six. It was a defining moment which heralded a famous victory just as much as the wonderful clean hitting by Flintoff.

Only a few days later, exactly the same scenario emerged in the Final. Saqlain to Hick, a mighty swing and victory to Saqlain on this occasion. Now who could have bet on that.

CRICKET COMMITTEE

[Agreed by Tony Dodemaide: 17.1.2002]
[Amendments from Roger Knight incorporated: 31.1 2002]

“The Cricket committee is responsible for the main ground at Lord's and all matters relating to the Laws of the game. It drives the policy of the Club, in all of its cricket activities - playing, coaching and supporting the game”.

The Cricket committee believes that 2001 will prove to have been a pivotal year for Lord's, and the Club. At the Special General Meeting, Members approved subscription increases that will enable MCC to press ahead with three major ground improvement projects. As indicated in the President's Statement, each of these initiatives is important and, taken together, they are also extremely ambitious. They present us with an unique opportunity to ensure that, in future, Lord's can combine its undoubted historic appeal with genuinely state-of-the-art sporting facilities.

The Cricket committee undertook much important preparatory work in advance of September's SGM. In particular, it considered evidence, from a wide variety of sources, on the re-laying of sporting surfaces, the use of portable cricket pitches, and the relative merits of different types of floodlighting. In addition, it contributed to the preparation of the documentation (including the special memorandum) that was sent to Members, to ensure that everyone was fully informed about the MCC Committee's proposals and their merits from a cricket-playing perspective.

Since September, the committee has continued to take a close interest in all three projects. It has been pleased by the amount of progress that has been made. For example, the first metal trays, in which drop-in pitches will be developed, initially on a trial basis, arrived in England (from Australia) in December. Similarly, plans for the re-laying of the outfield have proceeded well. As a result, the Cricket committee believes that the existing outfield should be removed as soon as possible, starting in September 2002, and is confident that its replacement will provide a high-quality playing surface from the outset of the 2003 season. (The famous Lord's ‘slope’ will, of course, be unaffected). As far as floodlighting is concerned, the committee continues to examine all the available evidence about the likely costs, benefits and practicality of installing floodlights at Lord's.

In due course, these ground improvement projects should help to increase the quality and quantity of cricket that Lord's can offer. For instance, the new outfield will reduce the amount of play lost after rain, while portable pitches should cut the number of days which have to be reserved for pitch preparation before major matches. This will not only increase the amount of cricket that MCC Members can watch, but it should enhance the prospect of Playing Members being able to demonstrate their skills at ‘headquarters’.

Indeed, the Club's key achievements in 2001 included the organisation of a match between MCC North East and MCC London North. The chance to play at Lord's was greatly appreciated by the twenty-two participants, whose selection reflected the strength of their commitment to Club's Out Match programme. Moreover, the game, which was a great success, marked the start of a cycle which will enable a team representing each of the twelve MCC regions to play at Lord's on a regular basis.

Other notable matches included MCC's encounter with the Australians, at Arundel Park. However, high-profile fixtures remain less important than the Club's overall playing programme which, in 2001, continued to prove its worth. Its value was vividly demonstrated by the results of a questionnaire sent to schools which play MCC sides. The vast majority of respondents were extremely positive about these matches and their effectiveness in cricket development terms. Looking further afield, the tours undertaken by MCC teams were equally productive and further enhanced MCC's worldwide reputation.

In total, our teams played almost 500 matches in 2001 - consolidating MCC's position as the most active cricket-playing club in the world. The Cricket committee was pleased to note that three groups enjoyed particularly successful seasons. First, MCC's Young Cricketers broke record after record, with the best summer (particularly from a batting perspective) in their history. Second, the end-of-season games played by the Cross Arrows Cricket Club featured some outstanding individual performances, including Kevin Sedgbeer's undefeated 226 against Adastrians C.C. - the highest score in the Cross Arrows’ 121 year history. Finally, MCC's women's teams had their most active season so far. It included their first tour, to the Netherlands, in July. The committee congratulates them on their achievements, and looks forward to our women's teams assuming an increasingly important role in the Club's playing programme in 2002 and beyond.

Our congratulations must also go to Mick Hunt, the Head Groundsman, and his colleagues, whose pitches continued to earn good marks from umpires. In 2001, pitch markings remained at their previously high levels in respect of the four-day games played at Lord's, while umpires rated its one-day pitches more highly than in 2000 - helped by the successful re-introduction of the most recently re-laid surfaces.

Other improvements included the creation of a gymnasium in the MCC Indoor School, which further enhanced the facilities available for cricketers’ use at Lord's - as noted by, for example, the touring Australians. However, 2001 included some disappointments, too. Security concerns resulted in the scheduled tour of Israel being postponed (but replaced by a trip to Portugal), while our hopes of developing a multi-faceted regional centre, in partnership with a club in Castleford, proved to be too ambitious and will not be pursued.

While such developments were unfortunate, the Cricket committee believes that they should not detract from one of the most active and successful years in MCC's history - and one which will prove pivotal to its future.

Ted Dexter was an honoured guest at the Calcutta Test together with his opposing Captain in 1961, Nari Contractor. On the eve of this match, Dexter gave the five Test scorecards to his Indian opposite number 50 years on at a ceremony the Cricket Association of Bengal laid on to celebrate 80 years of Anglo-Indian clashes and the half-century since that first, famous Indian series victory over England
Both Dexter and Contractor were due to be presented to the Eden Gardens crowd.
'It's wonderful to be here,' he added. 'My wife was born here and loves coming to India.'
Dexter speaks with the gushing enthusiasm of a man who could be excused for being scarred by his time in India
His series as a sort of interim captain in 1961-62, with Peter May, Tom Graveney, Jim Laker, Fred Trueman, Colin Cowdrey and Brian Statham missing, ended in a 2-0 defeat.
Worse followed more than 30 years later when, as chairman of selectors, Dexter presided over a 3-0 'brownwash' for Graham Gooch's England.
That was the tour of dodgy prawns, smog in Calcutta and 'a study into facial hair'.
Dexter, for a man who was lampooned for muddling his words - 'Who could forget Malcolm Devon?' he once said - was both lucid and articulate as he spoke to Sportsmail.
'Our side were in a terrible state,' the former chairman remembered.
'Air India had gone on strike so they did all their travelling by train or bus. I invited Graham Gooch for dinner first night and halfway through the soup he went… bonk. Out for the count, his head on the table.
Then there was that report into the pollution. 'I got into terrible trouble about the smog,' winced Dexter.
'This professor said he was making a study of pollution and its effects on athletes. I told him a couple of ours were coughing and perhaps he could let us have a proof.
'I don't think I ever saw it but I mentioned it in a press conference. Two guys heard some rumour and gave me a hard time.
England, in particular manager Bob Bennett, were also criticised for being unshaven after an arduous train journey.
'Oh yes, we had all that business too,' he said. 'It went with the territory I suppose.'
This dashing batsman, one of England's best post-war, and innovative chairman of selectors whose legacy remains in the form of rankings and a four-day County Championship, should not be remembered for slips of the tongue.
'I still follow cricket,' said a man now living in the south of France. 'You can read my blog. It's teddexter.com.' He always was a modern thinker


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In a floodlit corner of the huge Eden Gardens stadium last night some 200 local cricket aficionados and dignitaries turned out for the felicitation of Ted Dexter by the Cricket Association of Bengal in a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of Test matches between England and India.
It would be cynical and wrong to suggest that Dexter is popular here because he was the first England captain to lose a series to India, in 1961-62, and then chairman of selectors in 1992-93, when his side was beaten in all three Tests.
Nowhere do they appreciate charisma more than in India and Dexter possessed that in spades on and off the field. His charm shone through the ceremony, his eyes twinkling as brightly as they had been half-an-hour beforehand when he reflected on his experiences of a country he loves.
The 1961-62 tour visited what are now all four Test-playing nations on the sub-continent.

The India series was sandwiched in the middle of a programme in Pakistan. Peter May, Colin Cowdrey, Fred Trueman and Brian Statham were among those who made themselves unavailable, but Dexter jumped at the opportunity to take charge.
“As a cricket experience for a young captain getting a grounding it was the best bar none,” he said. “There was no television and very few hotels. We mostly stayed in rest houses and made our own entertainment. But we were garlanded and made to feel important wherever we went.
“I loved the speeches and big evenings, the spirit and colour of it all. It was fabulous for me and on the back of it I managed to sneak to Australia as captain in 1962-63. Although we lost 2-0, many younger players like Peter Parfitt, Geoff Pullar and Kenny Barrington went on to have very good careers.”
England drew the first three games, but Dexter lost a crucial toss at Calcutta to Nari Contractor, who was also lauded last night. The ball spun sharply after the first day and England succumbed by 187 runs. Salim Durani, the left-arm spinner born in Afghanistan, took eight wickets in the match.
Over the series, the England spin pair of Tony Lock and David Allen held their own. “Dear old Locky was among the few big names who came with us,” Dexter said. “Sadly, he was at the end of his England career because his knees were buggered. But he hurled himself around the field all the time and I couldn’t get the ball off him — a great competitor.”
Some questionable umpiring decisions did not help England. “Well, they were locals,” Dexter said. “I once asked Don Bradman whether he thought there was any slight bias with home umpiring. I tried to be discreet. ‘Always,’ he said back straightaway. But everybody had home umpires then.” At least Dexter avoided illness.
“I have never had a single day's problem in India,” he said. “Tom Pearce [the tour manager] told me not to drink alcohol unless I was with him, but if we drank whisky together we would be all right.” A nip every day kept the bugs away. “Actually, it might have been a couple,” he said.
The 1992-93 series was the nadir of his four years in charge of picking the England side. He was lampooned after the loss at Calcutta, when England chose four pace bowlers, for saying that he would commission a report into smog over India by way of response to the defeat.
“Our side was in a terrible state,” he said. “Air India had gone on strike so we did all our travelling by train or bus, and it is a huge place. I invited Graham Gooch to dinner with us first night and halfway through the soup he just conked out, shattered. We were a poor bunch.
“And I did get into terrible trouble about the smog. One night I’d been sitting next to this professor. He told me he was studying the effects of pollution on athletes. A couple of our team had been coughing, so I asked for a copy of it. It sounded interesting. Let me tell you that I haven’t seen that report to this day.”
Dexter is 77 and less steady on his pins. But his style is undimmed by age. A well-cut, sky
blue suit testified to that, and the sea air around his home in Nice in the South of France is helping his health. He comments on the game in a blog that also features fashion tips from his wife, Susan, a former model.
Celebrations were due to continue today with a parade during a break in the third Test. Eden Gardens has changed, he thinks, over the past 50 years.
“But one thing is the same,” he said. “The crowds have always been wonderful. When you play against an India team, you are taking on the whole of India.”
From Milan to Marylebone
• Born in Milan on May 15, 1935
• A beautiful strokemaker, he played 62 Tests for England from 1958-68, scoring 4,502 runs at 47.89 and taking 66 wickets at 34.93
• Chairman of selectors from 1989-93
• Also worked as a journalist and broadcaster
• Stood as the unsuccessful Conservative candidate against James Callaghan in the 1964 General Election
• Married Susan Longfield, a model
• Became president of MCC and was appointed CBE in 2001