J. G. Greig

Canon (Colonel) John Glennie Greig (24 October 1871 – 24 May 1958) was an English soldier, cricketer and Roman Catholic priest who played most of his cricket in India.[1]

J. G. Greig
Personal information
Full name
John Glennie Greig
Born(1871-10-24)24 October 1871
Mhow, British India
Died24 May 1958(1958-05-24) (aged 86)
Milford-on-Sea, Hampshire, England
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm slow
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1893/94–1920/21Europeans
1901–1922Hampshire
1902/03Bombay
FC debut18 August 1894 Europeans v Parsees
Last FC27 May 1922 Hampshire v Somerset
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 125
Runs scored 7,348
Batting average 36.37
100s/50s 15/32
Top score 249*
Balls bowled 6,550
Wickets 138
Bowling average 23.46
5 wickets in innings 8
10 wickets in match 2
Best bowling 7/35
Catches/stumpings 102/–
Source: CricInfo, 11 September 2020

Life and career

Born in Mhow near Indore in 1871, Greig lived in India until 1921. In his time, he was the finest batsman to play for the Europeans in the annual Bombay Presidency (later Pentangular) tournaments. He possessed a slight physique but strong wrists and was a useful right arm slow bowler. In India, he was affectionately called "Jungly" Greig. He was promoted to captain 19 November 1901,[2] and later became Aide-de-camp to the Governor of Bombay.

Greig made his first-class cricket debut for the Europeans against the Parsees in the Bombay Presidency match of 1893/4. In the next year, he carried his bat for 79 runs out of 190 against the same opponents. His 184 five years later was the highest ever individual score made in India and in 1898 in Poona, he took 13 for 58 against the Parsees.

Against the touring Oxford Authentics in 1902 he scored 204, the first double hundred made on Indian soil. In December 1915 in a match styled India v England, he hit 216 which resulted in a win of an innings and 263 runs for England. Greig served as a selector when the All India side was chosen for their first official tour to England in 1911.

At Hampshire, he was a player, secretary and the president. He first represented them in 1901 when he was on leave from the army. The highest of his ten Hampshire hundreds was 249 not out against Lancashire at Liverpool in 1901. He began the 1905 season with a century in each innings against Worcestershire and 66 against the Australians. But he was injured midway through his innings of 187 in the return match against Worcestershire and played little cricket thereafter in the season. With 804 runs at 50.25, he finished fifth in the batting averages.

His last game for Hampshire was in 1921 when he became the secretary of the county cricket club. He served in that position till 1930 and became the President in 1945 and 1946.

Greig came to India as a captain in the army. By the time he returned he had become a colonel. He later became a Roman Catholic and was ordained as a priest in 1935. In 1947, he was made an honorary canon of the diocese of Portsmouth. Cricket historian Vasant Raiji considers his contributions to Indian cricket as of a same class as that of Ranji to English cricket.

References

  • Vasant Raiji, India's Hambledon Men
  • Mihir Bose, A History of Indian Cricket, 1990 edition
  • Wisden Obituary
  1. John Greig, CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 September 2020. (subscription required)
  2. "No. 27414". The London Gazette. 7 March 1902. p. 1668.
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