Ian Alexander Greig (born 8 December 1955) is a former professional

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, who played in two

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), ...

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 ...

in 1982. He is the younger brother of former England captain and cricket commentator

Tony Greig Anthony William Greig (6 October 194629 December 2012) was a South African-born Test cricket captain turned commentator. Greig qualified to play for the England cricket team by virtue of his Scottish parentage. He was a tall () all-rounder w ...

and the uncle of

Durham UCCE Durham MCC University (previously known as Durham University Centre of Cricketing Excellence) is a cricket coaching centre based at Durham University in Durham, County Durham, England, and the name under which the university's cricket team plays ...

player

Will Hodson William Greig Hodson (born 6 November 1982) is an English cricketer. Hodson is a right-handed batsman who bowls right-arm off break. He was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire. While studying for his degree at Durham University, Hodson made a sing ...

Early life and education

Greig was born in

Queenstown, Eastern Cape Queenstown, officially Komani, is a town in the middle of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, roughly halfway between the smaller towns of Cathcart and Sterkstroom on the N6 National Route. The town was established in 1853 and is curr ...

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 ...

. He was educated at

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eight ...

, Edinburgh, Queen's College, Queenstown, and

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...

. Although a South African, Greig was allowed to play for England because his father was Scottish. Whilst at Cambridge, Greig played both

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 ...

and cricket. He represented

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

the Varsity Match The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of Oxford University RFC, Oxford and Cambridge University R.U.F.C., Cambridge in England. The event began in 1872 with the first men's match, with interruptions ...

in 1977 and 1978, and won

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

for cricket in 1977, 1978 and 1979.

Cricket career

Greig played one-day cricket as an

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 ...

for

Sussex County Cricket Club Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Sussex. Its limited overs team is called the Sussex Sharks. The c ...

in 1979 before making his first-class debut for the team in 1980. His career with Sussex lasted until 1985. His most successful season for Sussex was in 1981, when he scored 911 runs (average 30.36), and took 76 wickets at 19.32. In 1982, the English selectors chose him as a replacement for the injured

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 ...

to face

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in two test matches. Sussex released Greig, and others, in 1985 as part of cost-cutting measures, and he emigrated to Australia. However, he joined

Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South London ...

, and captained the team between 1987 and 1991. Greig's highest score of 291 came in 1990 in a total of 707 at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

;

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

replied with 863,

Neil Fairbrother Neil Fairbrother (born Neil Harvey Fairbrother; 9 September 1963) is an English former cricketer who played 75 One Day International matches and 10 Test matches as a batsman for England. Fairbrother, named by his mother after her favourite playe ...

top-scoring with 366, the highest-ever score at The Oval.

Later life

Greig's current position is coach of the 1st XI team at the

Anglican Church Grammar School The Anglican Church Grammar School (ACGS), formerly the Church of England Grammar School and commonly referred to as Churchie, is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located in East Brisbane, an inner suburb of Brisbane, ...

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 ...

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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Greig, Ian 1955 births South African people of British descent White South African people Living people England Test cricketers English cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Border cricketers Sussex cricketers Surrey cricketers Surrey cricket captains Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers People educated at George Watson's College British Universities cricketers People from Queenstown, South Africa Cricketers from the Eastern Cape Alumni of Queen's College Boys' High School