The Twelfth Man 2014

! 28 bowled!me!out!every!ball.!!I!would!like!to!tell! you!that!the!innings!was!a!classic!knock!but!I! kept!getting!my!left!leg!out!of!the!way!and!hit! the!ball.!We!bowled!them!out!cheaply!on!the! first!day!and!we!had!to!bat!for!a!lot!of!time,!it! was!decided!that!I!would!be!the!nightwatchman! and!then!we!lost!a!wicket!late!on.”! He!spoke!about!Glenn!McGrath!and!Shane! Warne.!!“McGrath!knew!he!was!a!great!bowler! but!Warne!was!the!most!insecure!person!I’ve! known.!We!had!to!keep!telling!him!that!he!was!a! great!bowler.”! “I!wanted!to!play!for!Australia!since!I!was!seven,! every!time!someone!asked!what!I!was!going!to! do,!I’d!tell!them!I!am!going!to!play!for! Australia.!!When!I!couldn’t!get!in!the!Australian! team!I!knew!it!was!time!for!me!to!retire.”! After!he!retired!Gillespie!coached!in!Zimbabwe! and!then!he!got!the!job!at!Yorkshire.!!“They!had! struggled!in!2011!and!it!was!made!clear!to!me! that!the!emphasis!would!be!on!positive!cricket.!I! believe!that!Andrew!Gale!is!one!of!the!best! captains!in!county!cricket!on!how!to!win!games.”! After!gaining!promotion!in!his!first!year,! Yorkshire!looked!to!be!on!the!verge!of!winning!the! County!Championship!until!they!lost!to!Durham!at! Scarborough.!!“At!Scarborough!we!didn’t!play! good!cricket!against!Durham!and!they!did.!!They! had!the!belief!that!they!could!win!from!whatever! position!they!were!in.!!A!marvelous!evening!in!the! company!of!‘Dizzie’!and!Dave.! NW! November!14 th !–!David!Tossell! Tonight’s!guest,!David!Tossell,!has!been!a!sports! journalist!for!more!than!three!decades.!Currently! head!of!European!Public!Affairs!for!the!NFL! (National!Football!League)!and!formerly!executive! sports!editor!of!the!Today!newspaper,!he!is!the! author!of!12!sports!books.!Four!of!his!books!have! been!shortMlisted!in!the!British!Sports!Book! Awards:! Bertie!Mee!!!!!!!!!!!(Best!Biography!2006)! Grovel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(Best!Cricket!Book!2008)! Nobody!Beats!Us!(Best!Rugby!Book!2010)! Tony!Greig!!!!!!!!!!!(Best!Cricket!Book!2012)! ! He!has!also!been!shortMlisted!twice!for!the! MCC/Cricket!Society!Book!of!the!Year.! David!gave!us!some!background!on!his!main! subject,!South!AfricanMborn!Tony!Greig,!who!was! commentating!on!Channel!4!when!asked!to!make!a! contribution/foreword!to!David’s!book! Grovel ,!and! later,!very!helpful!with!information!etc!for!his!book! on!Tony!himself.! Tony’s!background!was!very!interesting.!His!father! was!an!RAF!war!hero!officer!of!World!War!Two! with!over!50!missions!over!enemy!territory.!Tony! suffered!from!epilepsy,!which!was!a!major!obstacle! for!him!to!overcome!and!he!did!not!let!it!hold!him! back!when!he!came!to!play!for!Sussex!in!1970.!He! gave!himself!three!years!to!make!it!in!county! cricket!and!by!1972!he!was!in!the!England!squad.! As!an!allMrounder!he!was!superbly!accomplished! and!probably!the!best!catcher!of!a!cricket!ball!in!the! world.! Tony!proved!himself!on!all!fronts!when!appointed! captain!and!became!one!of!the!first!Test!captains!to! be!media!savvy.!This!makes!it!ironic!that!he!made! his!infamous!quote!of!!‘making!the!West!Indies! grovel’!when!they!later!put!England!to!the!sword! trouncing!us!in!the!series.!England!and!Greig!did! recover!in!the!next!series!when!they!beat!India!on! the!sub!continent,!followed!by!the!wonderful! occasion!of!the!Centenary!Test.! Next!came!the!Packer!circus!and!Tony!was! instrumental!in!facilitating!things!on!this!side!of!the! world.!Tony!felt!that!cricketers!were!getting!a!raw! deal!and!took!a!lot!of!criticism!after!Packer,!which! no!doubt!helped!in!his!decision!to!move!to! Author!David!Tossell!with!WCLS!Treasurer,!Brian! Sanderson,!in!November !