Today is the birthday of Greg Matthews, a superb cricketer and a hipster long before Colin Miller or Andre Russell.
In the Madras tied Test, Matthews got 44, 5/103, 27*, and 5/146 – one of the greatest all-round performances in history.
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In the Madras tied Test, Matthews got 44, 5/103, 27*, and 5/146 – one of the greatest all-round performances in history.
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But more than that it was his strategy to combat extreme heat that made him popular.
While a dehydrated Dean Jones lost weight, ran a high temperature, and vomited on the ground, Matthews fielded in *two sweaters*.
The theory was astonishing.
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While a dehydrated Dean Jones lost weight, ran a high temperature, and vomited on the ground, Matthews fielded in *two sweaters*.
The theory was astonishing.
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"Nomadic herders in the desert wore woollen coats because they kept the cool air in, thus acting as a kind of air-conditioner."
While bowling he handed a sweater to the umpire but bowled in a cap.
Mark Taylor once said that Merv Hughes was "more mainstream than" Matthews.
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While bowling he handed a sweater to the umpire but bowled in a cap.
Mark Taylor once said that Merv Hughes was "more mainstream than" Matthews.
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There cannot be a greater compliment.
But before I go into his oddities, let us not forget the quirk in Matthews' career.
Matthews was an off-spinner who fielded brilliantly and a handy batsman.
But these roles were reversed in Test cricket.
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But before I go into his oddities, let us not forget the quirk in Matthews' career.
Matthews was an off-spinner who fielded brilliantly and a handy batsman.
But these roles were reversed in Test cricket.
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He finished with 61 wickets at 48.22 and 1,849 runs at 41.08.
His batting average was marginally less than Mark Waugh's, but more than of Graeme Wood, Kim and Phil Hughes, David Hookes, Geoff Marsh, Greg Blewett, and Matthew Elliott.
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His batting average was marginally less than Mark Waugh's, but more than of Graeme Wood, Kim and Phil Hughes, David Hookes, Geoff Marsh, Greg Blewett, and Matthew Elliott.
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He is *still* the only one to do the 5,000 run-300 wicket double in the Sheffield Shield.
But there was way, way more to him than that.
When he scored a hundred against a rampant Hadlee at Brisbane, he ran towards his girlfriend, who seated outside the square-leg boundary.
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But there was way, way more to him than that.
When he scored a hundred against a rampant Hadlee at Brisbane, he ran towards his girlfriend, who seated outside the square-leg boundary.
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"I was going to jump the fence and put one on her".
She had to send him back.
The next year he was heckled and harrassed in the New Zealand tour for no apparent reason.
The customs officer at Auckland announced a warning when he landed: "We won’t put up with him, you know."
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She had to send him back.
The next year he was heckled and harrassed in the New Zealand tour for no apparent reason.
The customs officer at Auckland announced a warning when he landed: "We won’t put up with him, you know."
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The fans catcalled him, booed him, pelted him with eggs, even threw a toilet seat at him.
There were crank calls. They asked whether he was a homosexual.
"I suppose I am paying the price for my style of individuality after they watched me on TV in the series at home."
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There were crank calls. They asked whether he was a homosexual.
"I suppose I am paying the price for my style of individuality after they watched me on TV in the series at home."
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His teammates were barely better.
He would go to a disco, not drink with "the boys". His eating habits, hairstyle, apparel were all different.
He often ended up having breakfast alone, in a different table from the team.
There was more.
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He would go to a disco, not drink with "the boys". His eating habits, hairstyle, apparel were all different.
He often ended up having breakfast alone, in a different table from the team.
There was more.
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When matches got tense, he played air guitar or sang or even danced on the ground.
He once refused to walk when Tony Crafter once gave him LBW in a Test match. He had to write an apology.
He made his disapproval of tobacco usage public.
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He once refused to walk when Tony Crafter once gave him LBW in a Test match. He had to write an apology.
He made his disapproval of tobacco usage public.
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He was fined promptly, for Benson & Hedges were the sponsors of the national cricket side.
Was Matthews right or wrong? I wonder.
He argued with Ian McDonald and Bobby Simpson over a steak (of all things) at Sharjah and was fined A$1,000.
And finally, a Mark Taylor story.
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Was Matthews right or wrong? I wonder.
He argued with Ian McDonald and Bobby Simpson over a steak (of all things) at Sharjah and was fined A$1,000.
And finally, a Mark Taylor story.
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"I was sitting in the dressing-room after a practice session when Greg Matthews walked in, leather shoes in hand. 'There you are, man, they're yours,' he said, plonking them down. They fitted like a glove — my first decent pair of black shoes.
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"Knowing Moey, they would almost certainly have been imported Italian leather."
How can you NOT love a man like that?
How can you NOT love a man like that?
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