Graham Roy Dilley (18 May 1959 – 5 October 2011)
/ref> was an English international 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, whose main role was as a fast bowler
Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...
. He played first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
for Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...
and Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Worcestershire. Its Vitality Blast T20 team has been rebranded ...
s, and appeared in 41 Test matches and 36 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 ...
(ODIs) for the England cricket team
The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. Engla ...
.
Dilley is perhaps best remembered for his tail-end batting with Ian Botham
Ian Terence Botham, Baron Botham, (born 24 November 1955) is an English cricket commentator, member of the House of Lords, a former cricketer who has been chairman of Durham County Cricket Club since 2017 and charity fundraiser.
Hailed as one ...
in England's second innings against Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
at Headingley
Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...
in 1981, reaching his highest Test score of 56 in an eighth-wicket partnership of 117 runs.
Early life
Dilley was born and raised in Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and
is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...
, Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
and was educated at Dartford High School. He played his early cricket for Dartford Cricket Club
Dartford Cricket Club is one of the oldest cricket clubs in England with origins which date from the early 18th century, perhaps earlier. The earliest known match involving a team from Dartford took place in 1722, against London, but the club's ...
at Hesketh Park and trained as a diamond cutter at Hatton Garden
Hatton Garden is a street and commercial zone in the Holborn district of the London Borough of Camden, abutting the narrow precinct of Saffron Hill which then abuts the City of London. It takes its name from Sir Christopher Hatton, a favourit ...
before embarking on a cricketing career with Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...
. He first played for the Kent Second XI in 1976, aged 17.
He was married and divorced twice and had four children, including Chris Pennell
Chris Pennell (born 26 April 1987) is an English rugby union player. He currently plays for Worcester Warriors in the Aviva Premiership and also for the Dallas Jackals of Major League Rugby (MLR). He plays as a fullback or wing if needed. He ...
, who has played rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
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 ...
and Worcester Warriors
Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in Administration (law), administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top ...
, whilst his youngest son, Jonathan, has played cricket for both Gloucestershire and Worcestershire Second XIs. Kent cricketer Graham Johnson was a brother-in-law.
Early cricket career
A fast bowler with Dilley made his first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
debut for Kent at the age of 18 in 1977, against Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
. He failed to take a wicket, and was not selected again until the following season when was again wicketless against the touring Pakistanis, but again failed to take a wicket. Seven wickets in his third first-class match, against Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
, followed, although he took only one wicket in two further matches later in the season. He was, however, selected for England Young Cricketers against their West Indian counterparts.
In 1979, Dilley played 31 senior games for Kent, including taking four wickets for the cost of 41 runs (4/41) in a World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
warm-up match against the New Zealanders
New Zealanders ( mi, Tāngata Aotearoa), colloquially known as Kiwis (), are people associated with New Zealand, sharing a common history, culture, and language (New Zealand English). People of various ethnicities and national origins are citiz ...
. He finished with 49 first-class wickets at an average
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...
of 23.48 runs per wicket.
England selection
The 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 ...
selectors, looking for a young fast bowler for that winter's tour of Australia, took the bold decision to include the 20-year-old Dilley in the squad. He made his international debut in a 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 ...
against West Indies on 24 November 1979 at 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 ...
during the 1979/80 Australian Tri-Series
The Australian Tri-Series was an annual one day international (ODI) cricket tournament held in Australia, and contested by Australia and two touring teams.
The series was the primary format for international one-day cricket throughout most of t ...
, a triangular tournament that also featured Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. Dilley opened the bowling and took his first wicket in his third over.
A fortnight later, Dilley appeared in his first Test match 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)
...
, making him the youngest cricketer to play for England in 30 years. England captain Mike Brearley
John Michael Brearley (born 28 April 1942) is a retired English first-class cricketer who captained Cambridge University, Middlesex, and England.
He captained the international side in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 18 and losing only 4. ...
showed confidence in his young bowler and he again opened the bowling. He took two wickets on debut. Australia finished their innings on 244 all out. In England's reply Dilley scored an unbeaten 38 runs, the second-highest score of the innings as England were all out for 228. He batted for 206 minutes, facing 57 balls. The game featured a memorable item on the second-innings scorecard:
:Lillee c Willey b Dilley 19
Although he also played in the second Test, he was replaced by John Lever
John Kenneth Lever (born 24 February 1949) is an English former international cricketer who played Test and One Day International cricket for England. Lever was a left-arm fast-medium bowler who predominantly swung the ball into right-handed ...
for the third and final match of the series. Dilley took only seven wickets on that tour – "£7,000 for seven wickets" as the tour manager Alec Bedser
Sir Alec Victor Bedser (4 July 1918 – 4 April 2010) was a professional English cricketer, primarily a medium-fast bowler. He is widely regarded as one of the best English cricketers of the 20th century.
Bedser played first-class cricket fo ...
commented.
In 1980, Dilley was not selected until the third Test against West Indies, at Old Trafford
Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
. Rain intervened, as it was to do in the fourth and fifth Tests as well, and all were drawn, but Dilley's eleven wickets, in the three innings he was able to bowl in, made sure of his place to face the same opponents in the Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
that winter. He took ten wickets on the tour, enough to retain his place for the 1981 Ashes series.
Dilley began the 1981 Ashes series strongly, taking 12 wickets in the first two Tests, and was retained for the third Test at Headingley
Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...
. This game is best remembered for England's sensational victory after following on, and for the heroics of Ian Botham
Ian Terence Botham, Baron Botham, (born 24 November 1955) is an English cricket commentator, member of the House of Lords, a former cricketer who has been chairman of Durham County Cricket Club since 2017 and charity fundraiser.
Hailed as one ...
and Bob Willis
Robert George Dylan Willis (born Robert George Willis; 30 May 1949 – 4 December 2019) was an English cricketer, who represented England between 1971 and 1984. A right-handed fast bowler, Willis is regarded by many as one of the greatest fa ...
, but Dilley played his part as well, albeit as a batsman. Coming to the crease in the second innings with England at 135/7, 92 runs in arrears, Dilley had no orders from his captain, Mike Brearley, when he joined Botham at the crease. Botham said, "Right then, let's have a bit of fun", and the two men put on 117 in just 80 minutes before Dilley (56 runs from 75 balls) was bowled by Terry Alderman
Terence Michael Alderman (born 12 June 1956) is a former Australia cricket team, Australian international cricketer who played primarily as a right-arm fast-medium bowler.
He began his first-class cricket career in 1974 with Western Australia i ...
. England eventually established a lead of 130, and Dilley then held a boundary catch to dismiss Rod Marsh in Australia's second innings, England going on to dismiss Australia for 111, winning by 18 runs.
Despite his part in the win at Headingley, Dilley did not play in the fourth Test, nor in the two that followed, being replaced variously by John Emburey
John Ernest Emburey (born 20 August 1952) is a former English first-class cricketer who played for Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Western Province, Berkshire and England.
According to cricket writer Colin Bateman, Emburey's participation in two S ...
, Paul Allott and Mike Hendrick
Michael Hendrick (22 October 1948 – 26 July 2021) was an English cricketer, who played in thirty Tests and twenty-two One Day Internationals for England from 1973 to 1981. He played for Derbyshire from 1969 to 1981, and for Nottinghamshire f ...
. He did get picked for the subsequent 1981/2 India tour, having pulled out of Graham Gooch's rebel tour
The South African rebel tours were a series of seven cricket tours staged between 1982 and 1990. They were known as the rebel tours because the international cricketing bodies Sporting boycott of South Africa, banned South Africa from competitiv ...
of South Africa, something he later regretted for financial reasons.[Steen R (2011]
The star who might have been
CricInfo
ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...
, 7 October 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
Injury and recovery
Despite being in and out of the side, Dilley's future as an international player seemed reasonably bright by 1983, and he played a full part in England's 1983 Cricket World Cup
The 1983 Cricket World Cup (officially the Prudential Cup '83) was the 3rd edition of the Cricket World Cup tournament. It was held from 9 to 25 June 1983 in England and Wales and was won by India. Eight countries participated in the event. En ...
campaign. Following the tournament, a neck injury forced him out of the game for a year, and although he returned to county cricket in 1985, there was some doubt as to his long-term prospects. A decent performance that winter for Natal
NATAL or Natal may refer to:
Places
* Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil
* Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa
** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843)
** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...
in South Africa helped in his rehabilitation and in 1986 Dilley took 63 first-class wickets and earned a recall to the England side.
Between 1986 and 1988, Dilley took 83 Test wickets at an average
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...
of 26.43 runs per wicket. Generally regarded as England's foremost strike bowler, he developed significant pace and outswing from a long, wide run up, approaching the wicket at an angle of almost 45 degrees. Perhaps his most significant success came in 1986/87 when he took 5/68 in the first innings of the first Test at Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
to help his team to a victory that set them on their way to an Ashes win. Later on that tour, Dilley helped England to further success in winning the Benson & Hedges Challenge and the World Series Cup
The Australian Tri-Series was an annual one day international (ODI) cricket tournament held in Australia, and contested by Australia and two touring teams.
The series was the primary format for international one-day cricket throughout most of t ...
, taking his best 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 Cup ...
figures of 4/23 in a match against the West Indies (a performance which won him the 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 ...
award). He also won the 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 ...
award for another one-day international performance against the West Indies that winter in which he took 4/46.
In the drawn series against 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 ...
the following winter Dilley produced his career-best Test match innings bowling figures, taking 6/38 including the first five wickets to fall at Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
. He was fined £250 in the same match for swearing at the umpire, comments which were clearly picked up by the stump microphone
A stump microphone, informally known as a stump mic, is a microphone embedded in a cricket stump. It was originally developed by Kerry Packer for World Series Cricket in the 1970s.Proudman, Dan (10 June 2014).Gary Gilmour: Charisma at the crease. ...
. He took a further five-wicket haul
In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman.
Takin ...
at Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, and finished the series with 15 wickets at an average of 14.
Later career
For the 1987 season, Dilley moved to Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
. His new county were about to begin the most successful period in their history, winning four trophies in the next three years. Despite further injury problems, he proved a key bowler as Worcestershire won the 1988 and 1989 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 ...
s; it was during this period that he wrote, with team-mate Graeme Hick
Graeme Ashley Hick (born 23 May 1966) is a Zimbabwean-born former England cricketer who played 65 Test matches and 120 One Day Internationals for England. He was born in Rhodesia, and as a young man played international cricket for Zimbabwe. H ...
, an account of one of the title-winning seasons, entitled ''Hick'n'Dilley Circus''.
Dilley recorded his best match figures in a Test match 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 ...
in 1988, match figures of 9/128 (comprising 5/55 and 4/73) against the West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
, although England lost the match. However, Dilley's international career was beginning to wind down by the end of that season, and his final Test was at Edgbaston
Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre.
In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...
in the 1989 Ashes series. He made certain that he would not be picked again by accompanying Mike Gatting
Michael William Gatting (born 6 June 1957) is an English former cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex (1975–1998; captain 1983–1997) and for England from 1977 to 1995, captaining the national side in twenty-three Test ma ...
on the rebel tour
The South African rebel tours were a series of seven cricket tours staged between 1982 and 1990. They were known as the rebel tours because the international cricketing bodies Sporting boycott of South Africa, banned South Africa from competitiv ...
to South Africa that winter. Unusually he finished on the winning side only twice in his 41 Test matches (the Headingley test of 1981 and that at Brisbane in 1986), the 1980s being a lean time for English cricket.
He continued to play for his county and in the 1991 season came sixth in the first-class bowling averages in domestic cricket (among bowlers who had taken a minimum of twenty wickets), taking 37 wickets at 22.24, also helping Worcestershire to win the Benson and 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 ...
.
However recurring injury problems led to his retirement at the end of the 1992 season.
Post-retirement
Dilley's move to Worcestershire denied him the financial security of a benefit season and he found employment after retirement as a coach, firstly for the England women's cricket team
The England women's cricket team represents England and Wales in international women's cricket. Since 1998, they have been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by the Women's Cricket Association ...
, and then accompanying the men's side on their tour to India in 2001/02. He also worked in a coaching capacity for Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
and Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. His last position was as head coach for Loughborough University Centre of Cricketing Excellence
Loughborough MCC University (previously known as Loughborough University Centre of Cricketing Excellence) is a cricket coaching centre based at Loughborough University in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England, and the name under which the univer ...
, where he was director of cricket for 11 years. At Loughborough he coached, among others, Monty Panesar
Mudhsuden Singh "Monty" Panesar (born 25 April 1982) is a former English international cricketer. A left-arm spinner, Panesar made his Test cricket debut in 2006 against India in Nagpur and One Day International debut for England in 2007. In E ...
, James Anyon
James Edward Anyon (born 5 May 1983) is a former cricketer who played for Sussex.
Anyon was born in Lancaster, Lancashire, and was educated in Lancashire before going to Loughborough University, where Warwickshire spotted him playing for the ...
, Ruel Brathwaite, James Adams and Rob Taylor.
Death
Dilley died in a hospice at Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
on 5 October 2011, aged 52, just one week after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Other symptoms may include pain when swallowing, a hoarse voice ...
. A memorial service was held in Worcester Cathedral
Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified ...
on 9 November 2011.
References
External links
Graham Dilley: Sultan of swing and Ashes hero
''Daily Telegraph
Daily or The Daily may refer to:
Journalism
* Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks
* ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times''
* ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
'' profile of Dilley by former England teammate Derek Pringle
Derek Raymond Pringle (born 18 September 1958) is an English former Test and One Day International cricketer for England, and is now a cricket journalist.
Life and career
Pringle was born in Nairobi, Kenya. His father Donald Pringle, who had ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dilley, Graham
1959 births
2011 deaths
Cricketers at the 1983 Cricket World Cup
England One Day International cricketers
England Test cricketers
English cricket coaches
English cricketers
English cricketers of 1969 to 2000
Kent cricketers
KwaZulu-Natal cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Sportspeople from Dartford
Worcestershire cricketers