Dermot Alexander Reeve OBE (born 2 April 1963) is an English former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er, best known as an unorthodox

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and, most recently,

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

of the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

side,

Central Districts The Central Stags, formerly known as Central Districts, are a first-class cricket team based in central New Zealand. They are the men's representative side of the Central Districts Cricket Association. They compete in the Plunket Shield firs ...

. Reeve played in three

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

and 29

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

s (ODI) for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He played English

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...

for

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

and

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. He is a former Hong Kong sports personality of the year, gained for his cricketing efforts in that country.

Early life

Reeve was born in Hong Kong in 1963 to parents who were working in the territory as teachers. His mother, Monica, later served as a scorer for a number of England Test matches. He also played for KJS football team alongside captain of the team Steven Markbreiter, who now coaches the Hong Kong based team Sai Kung Bulldogs.

Domestic career

Reeve first played cricket in England as a member of the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

Young Cricketers – an academy of up and coming young players between the ages of 18 and 20, who are based at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

. He signed for

in June of the 1983 English season, and took 42 wickets in the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

at 29.35 apiece. He was given little opportunity with the bat, batting at number 10, but performed the duties of night watchman. This helped Reeve show his batting ability when, as night watchman, he made his maiden first class hundred against Surrey at Guildford. He remained with Sussex for six seasons, his most successful being 1987 when he managed a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of over 40, and took 42 wickets at an average of . His lack of a high enough batting position at Sussex led to his move to

in 1988, and it was here that he gained his greatest successes. In the batsman-friendly summer of 1990 his average was 54 runs. He also made his highest first-class score of 202 not out (against an attack including

Curtly Ambrose Sir Curtly Elconn Lynwall Ambrose KCN (born 21 September 1963) is an Antiguan former cricketer who played 98 Test matches for the West Indies. Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, he took 405 Test wickets at a ...

), and two other centuries on the way to a total of 1,412 runs. He averaged over 40 runs for Warwickshire during his time at the Midlands club proving the move a good decision and helping him gain international selection. Reeve was made captain in 1993, and in 1994 led the county to an unprecedented domestic treble; winning the County Championship, the

AXA Equity and Law League Axa S.A. (styled as ''AXA'' or GIG in the Middle East) is a French multinational insurance company. The head office is in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. It also provides investment management and other financial services. The Axa ...

, and the

Benson & Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Englan ...

- though they were defeated in the final of the

NatWest Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class cricket, first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scott ...

. This achievement came alongside well-publicised differences of opinion with Warwickshire's star batsman,

Brian Lara Brian Charles Lara, (born 2 May 1969) is a Trinidadian former international cricketer, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He topped the Test batting rankings on several occasions and holds several cricketing reco ...

, vividly described a few years later by Reeve in his book ''Winning Ways''. He was known for his inventive cricket brain and once held the bat left handed and swept

Ravi Shastri Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri (born 27 May 1962) is the former head coach of the India national cricket team, a cricket commentator and former captain of Indian Cricket Team. As a player, he played for the India national cricket team between 19 ...

against Glamorgan - today known as the switch hit. One of his improvisations against left-arm spinner, Rajesh Maru, of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

was to drop his bat to avoid being caught out by the close fielders. Warwickshire retained their Championship and NatWest Trophy crowns the following season (1995). In this year Reeve completed an unusual hat-trick when he was named

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

in the final of the

, the same award he had won in 1986 (when winning the final with Sussex) and in 1989 (with Warwickshire). Reeve left Warwickshire halfway through the 1996 season. Reeve made over £400,000 tax free during his benefit year with Warwickshire. Reeve was named as one of the

Wisden Cricketers of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1996, and received the OBE for services to cricket that same year. He moved on to become coach to

(for whom he also played several games in

one-day cricket Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket or white ball cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day. There are a number of formats, including List A cricket (8-hour games), Twenty ...

in 1998), and also began to work as a cricket commentator for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

Television.

International cricket

Reeve played for

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

at the

1982 ICC Trophy The 1982 ICC Trophy was a limited-overs cricket tournament held in England between 16 June and 10 July 1982. It was the second ICC Trophy tournament to be staged, with matches between the 16 participating teams played over 60 overs a side and w ...

, averaging 34.50 with the bat and 15.71 with the ball. He returned to international cricket in 1991, playing for

. Reeve played only three

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

for England, but his improvising style was better suited to

s and he made 29 appearances in this form of the game, appearing in both the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and 1996 World Cups, playing (on the losing side) in the final in the former tournament. However, he never scored highly in ODIs, and his batting average would have been considerably lower, but for his high proportion of not-out innings. Perhaps his most important international innings was a rapid 25 not out at the end of the England innings in the 1992 World Cup semi-final against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, a match which England won narrowly. Reeve returned to Hong Kong in 1994 as part of the England squad which won the

Hong Kong Sixes The Hong Kong Cricket Sixes is a Six-a-side international cricket tournament held at the Kowloon Cricket Club comprising between eight and twelve teams. Organised by Cricket Hong Kong, it is sanctioned by the International Cricket Council. The t ...

tournament.

TV commentator and controversy

Following his retirement from cricket, Reeve was involved with the Channel 4 broadcasting coverage of cricket from the start when the channel won the rights from the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

to show England Tests in the UK. Duties included fronting the studio discussions with pundits, commentary, introducing and presenting awards after televised matches, and interviewing both present and past players. His broadcasting appearances featured a repertoire of

impersonation An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for impersonating someone: *Entertainment: An entertainer impersonates a celebrity, generally for entertainment, and makes fun of ...

s of cricketing personalities, such as

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

and

Geoff Boycott Sir Geoffrey Boycott (born 21 October 1940) is a former Test cricketer, who played cricket for Yorkshire and England. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's m ...

. In May 2005, Reeve admitted that he had an addiction to

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

, and had used the drug prior to commentating on the 2004 first Test between England and

at Lord's. Reeve duly quit Channel Four after working for five years as part of their commentary team. He also admitted to using

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

whilst he was an active player for Warwickshire but only out of season. In more recent years, Reeve has worked as a commentator on the

BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

show ''

Test Match Special ''Test Match Special'' (also known as ''TMS'') is a British sports radio programme, originally, as its name implies, dealing exclusively with Test cricket matches, but currently covering any professional cricket. It broadcasts on BBC Radio 4 LW ( ...

''. He also commentated on the Indian Premier League (IPL) English-language television coverage. Following his cocaine revelations in 2005, Reeve's family built a new life in Australia and New Zealand. Their assets included a $3 million waterfront mansion at Clontarf. Further scandal was to follow Reeve at the end of 2009, when he was exposed as a seller of

Donald Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has bee ...

"signatures" on plain card which were later confirmed by the Bradman Museum to be poor copies of the legendary player's signature.

New Zealand

Reeve relocated with his family to New Zealand in 2006, and was named as coach of the Central Districts States Team in July 2008. Despite leading the side to the

Plunket Shield New Zealand has had a domestic first-class cricket championship since the 1906–07 season. Since the 2009–10 season it has been known by its original name of the Plunket Shield. History The Plunket Shield competition was instigated in Octob ...

four-day final in 2008–09, before winning the 2009–10 Twenty20 competition, his tenure as coach was at times controversial - one particular incident seeing him fined and censured for accusing England international

Ravi Bopara Ravinder Singh Bopara (born 4 May 1985) is an English cricketer who plays for Sussex County Cricket Club in one day cricket. Originally a top-order batsman, his developing medium pace bowling has made him a batting all rounder in the one day ...

ball-tampering In the sport of cricket, ball tampering is an action in which a fielder illegally alters the condition of the ball. The primary motivation of ball tampering is to interfere with the aerodynamics of the ball to aid swing bowling. Definition Und ...

during a domestic one-day match. On 7 April 2010, he ended his stint as coach of the by mutual consent to spend time with his family, now living in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia.

Indian Premier League

He served as an assistant coach for the

Pune Warriors India Pune Warriors India were a franchise Twenty20 cricket team that represented the city of Pune in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team was one of two IPL franchises from the Indian state of Maharashtra, the other being Mumbai Indians. It was ...

in the

2011 Indian Premier League The 2011 Indian Premier League season, abbreviated as IPL 4 or the IPL 2011, was the fourth season of the Indian Premier League, the top Twenty20 cricket league in India. The tournament was hosted in India and the opening and closing ceremonies ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reeve, Dermot 1963 births Living people English cricket coaches English cricket commentators Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup England One Day International cricketers England Test cricketers People from Kowloon Hong Kong cricketers Somerset cricketers Sussex cricketers Warwickshire cricketers Warwickshire cricket captains Wisden Cricketers of the Year Officers of the Order of the British Empire Doping cases in cricket Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers English cricketers Hong Kong cricket coaches Coaches of the Hong Kong national cricket team Indian Premier League coaches