by Arunabha Sengupta
On one hand there were those majestic cover drives and the Gloucestershire roots that merged together into a heady concoction. No one more equipped to carry forward the mantle of Wally Hammond
But on the other hand his second coming had so much to do with those later years in Worcestershire.
In many ways, the man’s magic lies in his incredible run that started when he was 39. The second saga that put his admirable earlier deeds in shade and the selectorial nonsense to shame. All that happened well after he moved to Worcestershire.
Besides, the classical elegance of his play perhaps did need the cathedral and the river in the backdrop.
He had not done badly in the 55 Tests he played till 1962-63. 3107 runs at 41.98 with six hundreds. Yet, Graveney knew that his initial promise had remained unfulfilled. As Frank Keating put it “The batsmanship of Our Tom was of the orchard rather than the forest, blossom susceptible to frost but breathing in the sunshine.” His early successes were many and laced with elegance and grace, but punctuated by ordinary efforts when England needed him most.
Ashes failures hurt the most. Apart from a dogged century, extracted perhaps by the hawk-like eyes of skipper Len Hutton, he had never performed against them … till then.
He was sidelined in the early 1960s, when in spite of the presence of Ted Dexter, Colin Cowdrey and Ken Barrington he knew that he was as good as anyone in the land.
It was for his failures against Australia—that singular anachronistic benchmark that still form the yardstick for the English selector and press—that he was dropped. The Australian captain of that era, Richie Benaud, later said, “Tom missed out a lot. He would never have been out of an Australian side during my Test career.”
And then came the recall. At the age of 39. To face Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith in the summer of 1966.
“Heh, Graveney, haven’t they got a pension scheme in this country?” asked an unkind West Indian spectator as he retrieved a ball from the outfield.
But, then he came out at No 3 at Lord’s and played a majestic innings of 96. The In the following Test at Nottingham, he blasted 11 fours and a six to score 109, rescuing the England innings from 13 for three, and adding 168 with Colin Cowdrey. It could not prevent West Indies from winning, but Graveney was not done yet.
In the final Test at The Oval he was absolutely regal in his brilliance. He spent six hours at the crease, once again reviving England from yet another collapse. From 166 for seven, he put on 217 with wicketkeeper John Murray before being run out for 165. It was a breath-taking effort and won England the Test match.
The drives through the off and forcing shots towards the on were as crunchy and effortless as ever. When Hall or Griffith sent one rearing for his eyebrow, he plonked his left foot down the pitch hooked them with élan off the front-foot. Graveney was back in the forefront of cricket.
There followed 151 against Bedi, Chandrasekhar and Prasanna at Lord’s , 118 at Port of Spain against his favourite West Indian attack, a 105 at Karachi a few months shy of 42, an OBE and becoming vice-captain to Colin Cowdrey. Against the 1968 Australians he hit 96 at Edgbaston, a thoughtful 63 in the final thriller at The Oval, and in the fourth Test at Leeds, in the absence of Cowdrey, he led England for the first time.
He was seriously considered as a candidate for captaincy in 1969 against West Indies, but finally the selectors opted for Ray Illingworth.
From the day of his unexpected recall, Graveney had scored 1775 in 24 Tests at 49.30 with five hundreds. The second phase of his career soared to the heights that the first had always promised but never really scaled.
Yet, he knew that his purple patch would not last forever. Time was busy breathing down his neck and his days were numbered. To secure his future, he travelled down to Luton during the rest day of the Manchester Test, to take part in a match between Tom Graveney XI and Bobby Simpson XI. It was played for his benefit, and earned him £1000. This triggered the problem that ensured his final dismal departure from Test cricket. The morning after the match saw Graveney’s 42nd birthday and marked three years of his recall to the England side. At breakfast chairman of selectors Alec Bedser informed the batsman that he was reporting him to the disciplinary committee. The TCCB banned him for three Tests. Graveney never played for England again.
4882 runs in 79 Tests with 11 centuries, the average hauled up to 44.38 by his late revival. It could indeed have been better, if his cricketing days had not ended this abruptly, or if he had not – as some of the selectors in the fifties maintained — “treated Test cricket like festival matches” in his earlier days.
Besides, Graveney played a leading role in getting a not-so-young overseas player with enormous talent recruited by Worcestershire. With him he enjoyed many a partnership for the county, and later played side by side for England. In doing so, he played a defining role in not just reshaping cricket but also an important bit of world history. Basil D’Oliveira did consider Graveney as a senior and mentor.
Tom Graveney was born on 16 June 1927.