In his report of the match, Christopher Martin-Jenkins wrote, ‘Ian Greig bowled medium-fast to a sensible line and length on test debut against Pakistan at Birmingham in the first test of the series. Although he was flattered a little by his figures, since three of his wickets were tail-enders, including the nightwatchman Tahir Naqqash, he nevertheless is a less ordinary bowler than he looks.
Ian Greig had a good quality action, his control is better than that of his illustrious brother. He is less theatrical, steadier, and less sparkling. It was Ian Greig who Zaheer Abbas after that, a prolific player, made an ominously solid get-looking 40. Ian Grieg’s figures were 4 for 53, which, by coincidence, were the same as Tony’s figures in the second innings of his debut Test match.
He bowled only four over’s in the second innings as England went on to win a fine match by 113 runs. There was no question that he would be in the party for the second-test match at Lord’s. The game at Lord’s proved to be one of the great events in Pakistan Test history.
Mohsin Hassan Khan scored 200, and, on the last afternoon, he and Javed Miandad scored 77 in under an hour to take their side to a famous victory, their first at Lord’s. England’s troubles began before the match started when Greig arrived to find that Bob Willis was unable to play because of a stiff neck and that Geoff Miller had gone down with chicken pox.
Robin Jackman came in for Bob Willis, but there was a dreadful sameness about the England attack —Robin Jackman, Ian Botham, Derek Pringle, Ian Greig, and the spinner Eddie Hemmings. Ian Botham was really the only one above medium pace at that time.
Ian Greig says that the instructions that were given were that they should primarily adopt a defensive attitude and that the bowlers should maintain a line of attack outside the off stump. That was not something that he was accustomed to doing, but although he found it difficult, he was the most economical of the England bowlers, his 13 overs costing 42 runs.
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