John Ernest Emburey (born 20 August 1952) is a former English

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 ...

er who played for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It ...

, Western Province,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

and

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 ...

. According to cricket writer Colin Bateman, Emburey's participation in two

South African rebel tours 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 banned South Africa from competitive international cricket throughou ...

"cost him six lost years as far as Test cricket was concerned... and, more significantly, probably an extended run as England captain, a job for which he was better suited than some who held the position post-

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 ...

Playing career

Emburey was a right arm spin bowler and a slightly eccentric but useful lower-order batsman with the style of a grafter. He was more notable as an economical performer than a "demon" spin bowler, but on his day could leave the best batsmen groping outside off-stump. One of his dangerous balls was his arm ball outswinger. Emburey was named a

Wisden Cricketer 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 1984. Emburey played an understated but significant role in England's storied victory in

the Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first ...

in 1981, notably in the important fourth Test 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 ...

, where he contributed runs and wickets as England took the lead in the series for the first time. According to the ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' report on the match, while

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 on ...

"was again named Man of the Match ... Emburey would have been the choice of many". In all Emburey featured in four Ashes series won by England, in 1978–9, 1981, 1985, and 1986-7 (as well as in two defeats in 1989 and 1993). He also played for England (on the losing side) in the 1987

Cricket world cup The Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Men's Cricket World Cup) is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), ...

final. Emburey was briefly made England Test captain in 1988, the notorious "

Summer of four captains The West Indian cricket team played 16 first-class cricket matches in England in 1988, under the captaincy of Viv Richards. They enjoyed considerable success during the tour, while England endured a "disastrous summer" of continuous change. E ...

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 ...

was sacked after the first Test match 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 Greate ...

and Emburey was appointed for two matches, both of which were lost. Emburey too was fired and was replaced by

Chris Cowdrey Christopher Stuart Cowdrey (born 20 October 1957) is a former English cricketer. Cowdrey played for Kent, Glamorgan and England as an all-rounder. He is the eldest son of the cricketer and life peer, Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge. ...

for the fourth Test. Cowdrey lasted just one match, replaced in turn by

Graham Gooch Graham Alan Gooch, (born 23 July 1953) is a former English first-class cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, ...

. While not a successful Test captain, Emburey had some successes captaining England in one-day international cricket, leading them to victory (in the absence of Gatting and Botham) in the Sharjah Cup in 1986–7. Emburey was the only cricketer to go on both the England rebel tours to

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 coun ...

in 1981/2 and 1989/90; the rebels were banned from

Test 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), ...

matches because of the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

régime, although it both cases Emburey was eventually restored to the England test team (respectively in 1985 and 1993). Emburey said of his decision to join the second rebel tour: "In hindsight it was a mistake. But at the time my decision was purely monetary. I'd lost my benefit money in a building society in Australia." According to Graham Gooch's published tour diary, Emburey had dressed up as a member of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cat ...

at a fancy dress party on tour just before the news of the first rebel tour broke. Later in his Test career, Emburey tended to be picked for single Tests in England, as happened in 1993 against Australia, when statistically, he was the leading all rounder in the country, and 1995 against the West Indies. Broadly from 1987 his bowling was less effective in test cricket, although his batting became more successful; from February 1987 his Test wickets averaged almost twice as much as they had before. At county level, Emburey's

career coincided with that of

Phil Edmonds Philippe-Henri Edmonds (born 8 March 1951) is a former cricketer who represented England at international level and Middlesex at county level. After retiring he became a successful, albeit controversial, corporate executive. Edmonds played mo ...

. The right and left arm spin combination was a powerful contribution towards Middlesex's successes in the 1980s. They also combined at England level, although the pair also sometimes competed for the same place in the Test team. A highlight of Emburey's Middlesex career was taking 12 wickets in a single day in a championship 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 ...

in 1980. He scored the winning runs from the last ball as Middlesex won the final of the

NatWest Bank 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 counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. La ...

in 1984, and was man of the match when Middlesex won 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 ...

final in 1986 (in both cases defeating

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 ...

). Between 1977 and 1993, the County won 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 b ...

outright five times, with one shared title in 1977. Emburey holds the dubious distinction of being the highest England Test run-scorer never to have made a Test century. Emburey held the batting record for the highest innings made entirely from boundaries. Despite his chronic lack of footwork, he scored 46 for the England XI against

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/ Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

in 1986–87, with ten fours and a six. Whilst not the most agile in the field, he seldom dropped anything, pulling off many a stunning catch, often at gully, and had an excellent arm in the deep.

Coaching and other activities

Emburey coached the England A cricket team to a 3–0 win in India in 1995, and was considered for the position of manager for the senior side, but lost out to David Lloyd (whom he assisted for two test series in the

and

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 ...

). He subsequently coached

Northamptonshire County Cricket Club Northamptonshire 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 Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northa ...

from 1996 but was sacked in 1998 after a string of poor results. In 2001, he became coach for

Middlesex County Cricket Club Middlesex 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 Middlesex which has effectively been subsumed within the ceremonial ...

, but was sacked in 2008. In 2007, after

Greg Chappell Gregory Stephen Chappell (born 7 August 1948) is a former cricketer who represented Australia at international level in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI). The second of three brothers to play Test cricket, Chappell was the pre-eminen ...

left his position as India head coach, Emburey was shortlisted for the job, but declined it. In February 2008, he signed on as the coach of the

Ahmedabad Rockets Ahmedabad Rockets was one of the nine teams played in the defunct Indian Cricket League. It was captained by former Australian international batsman Damien Martyn. The team represents Ahmedabad, the largest city in the state of Gujarat. The team d ...

, one of the expansion teams in the second season of the

Indian Cricket League The Indian Cricket League (ICL) was a private cricket league funded by Zee Entertainment Enterprises that operated between 2007 and 2009 in India. Its two seasons included tournaments between four international teams (World XI, India, Pakistan ...

. As of May 2018, he works as a scout for the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and County Cricket Board, ...

Personal life

Politically, Emburey is a Conservative, and once appeared on stage at a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

conference in the 1980s alongside England teammate

Bill Athey Charles William Jeffrey Athey (born 27 September 1957) is a retired English first-class cricketer, who played for England, and first-class cricket for Gloucestershire, Yorkshire and Sussex; he also played a solitary one-day game for Worcester ...

. In May 2014, he stated that he had

skin cancer Skin cancers are cancers that arise from the skin. They are due to the development of abnormal cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. There are three main types of skin cancers: basal-cell skin cancer (BCC) ...

, attributing it to playing cricket without

sunscreen Sunscreen, also known as sunblock or sun cream, is a photoprotective topical product for the skin that mainly absorbs, or to a much lesser extent reflects, some of the sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation and thus helps protect against sunbur ...

or a hat. He is married, with a wife and two daughters.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Emburey, John 1952 births Living people English cricket coaches Middlesex cricket coaches Presidents of Middlesex County Cricket Club England One Day International cricketers England Test cricketers English cricketers of 1969 to 2000 England Test cricket captains Berkshire cricketers English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Middlesex cricketers Northamptonshire cricketers Western Province cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year People from Peckham Indian Cricket League coaches Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup Test and County Cricket Board XI cricketers D. B. Close's XI cricketers D. H. Robins' XI cricketers Young England cricketers