 Brearley pictured standing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | John Michael Brearley | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1942-04-28)28 April 1942 (age 83) Harrow,Middlesex, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Brears, Scagg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right armmedium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Horace Brearley (father) Mana Sarabhai (spouse) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut (cap 465) | 3 June 1976 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 27 August 1981 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 38) | 2 June 1977 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 22 January 1980 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1961–1983 | Middlesex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1961–1968 | Cambridge University | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Source:Cricinfo,8 February 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
John Michael BrearleyOBE (born 28 April 1942) is a retired English first-classcricketer who captainedCambridge University,Middlesex, andEngland to three successive Ashes series wins. He was the captain of the English squad which finished asrunners-up at the1979 Cricket World Cup.
Brearley captained the international side in 31 of his 39Test matches, winning 18 and losing only 4.[1] He was the President of theMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 2007–08. Since his retirement from professional cricket he has pursued a career as apsychoanalyst,psychotherapist (registered with the BPC), motivational speaker, and writer, serving as President of theBritish Psychoanalytical Society 2008–10. In 2015, an article in theBleacher Report ranked Brearley as England's greatest-ever cricket captain.[2]
Brearley was born inHarrow,Middlesex, England,[3] and was educated at theCity of London School (where his fatherHorace, himself a first-class cricketer, was a master). While atSt John's College, Cambridge, Brearley excelled at cricket (he was then awicketkeeper/batsman). After making 76 on hisfirst-class debut as a wicketkeeper,[4] he played forCambridge University between 1961 and 1968 (captaining the side in 1964), first as an undergraduate in the Classical and Moral Sciencestripos, and then as a postgraduate.
While still at Cambridge, he was chosen for theMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) tour to South Africa in 1964–65, and to captain theMCC Under-25 side in Pakistan in 1966–67, where he scored 312 not out against North Zone[5] (his highest first-class score) and 223 against the Pakistan Under-25 side.[6] He ended the tour with 793 runs from six matches at an average of 132.
From 1961 onwards, he played forMiddlesex County Cricket Club, often opening theinnings withMichael Smith. As captain between1971 and1982, he led Middlesex toCounty Championships in 1976, 1977 (jointly withKent), 1980 and 1982;[7] and he appeared inFree Foresters' very last first-class fixture, in1968, keeping wicket and scoring 91.[8]
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In part because of his pursuit of an academic career as a lecturer in philosophy at theUniversity of Newcastle-upon-Tyne,[9] which limited his cricketing activity in1969 and1970, Brearley was not selected for England until the age of 34 in 1976. His record in Test cricket as abatsman was modest (he averaged 22.88 in 66 Testinnings, without a century), but he was an outstanding captain. He made his highest test score of 91 on tour against India in February 1977.[10] Having previously kept wicket, he was also a fine slip catcher, usually at first slip. He took over as captain of England later in 1977.
His management skills (he was once described byRodney Hogg as having "a degree in people") drew the best from the players in his team, although he was fortunate to be able to call on the services ofBob Willis,David Gower andIan Botham at their peak. Brearley was captain during the infamousaluminium bat incident in 1979, when he objected toDennis Lillee's use of a metal bat instead of one made of willow.[11] On the same tour, he caused controversy at the end of an international one-day match against the West Indies at the Sydney Cricket Ground when he ordered all his fielders, including the wicketkeeper, to the boundary with three runs required off the last ball (this was legal under the rules of the time).[12]
In all, Botham and Willis took 262 wickets during the 31 test matches that Brearley captained.[13] The importance of Willis in particular to England led Brearley into further controversies regarding the bowling of short-pitched deliveries at recognisedtailend batsmen, during Pakistan's tour of England in 1978,[14] and more briefly, during England's 1978–9 tour of Australia.[15] Brearley himself had been an innovator regarding cricket equipment himself, wearing a 'skull cap' under his England cap in 1977 (in the days before players wore helmets). It consisted of a plastic protector with two side pieces protecting his temples. It was later popularised by the Indian batsmanSunil Gavaskar.[16][17]
Brearley captained England to the final of the1979 Cricket World Cup, scoring 53 in the semi-final against New Zealand[18] and 64 in the final against the West Indies.[19] However, his opening partnership of 129 withGeoff Boycott in the final used up 38 of 60 allotted overs; although it was recognised that a potent pace attack ofAndy Roberts,Michael Holding,Colin Croft andJoel Garner needed to be countered, the speed of the partnership greatly added to the pressure on the rest of the order. Garner bowled a spell of 5 wickets for 4 runs to induce a drastic collapse and hand the West Indies the match and the World Cup by 92 runs.[20]
Having passed the England captaincy toIan Botham in 1980 (losing his Test place in the process), Brearley returned as captain following Botham's resignation for the third Test againstAustralia atHeadingley in1981,[21] going on to win the match and two of the remaining three matches of the series to winthe Ashes 3–1.
His leadership benefited from Botham's recovered form following his winless captaincy record and his nosedive in form (he had made apair in the second Test atLord's) to take a first-innings 6 for 95 and score 50 and 149 not out in the third Test at Headingley, bowl a spell of 5 wickets for 1 run in the fourth Test atEdgbaston, score 118 from 102 balls in the fifth Test atOld Trafford, and take a10-wicket match haul (6 for 125 and 4 for 128) in the sixth Test atthe Oval.[22] In spite of his limited reputation as an international batsman, Brearley also made an important if less high-profile contribution to the fourth test, scoring more runs than any other batsman (61) in a match which England won by 29 runs.[23]
Brearley opposed sporting links withapartheid South Africa, seconding a motion to the MCC in 1968 calling for the cessation of tours until there was progress towards non-racial cricket. He seconded the motion fromDavid Sheppard to the MCC, calling for the England tour to South Africa to be cancelled, and was a supporter ofJohn Arlott who campaigned inThe Guardian for the same objective.[24][25]
He is now apsychoanalyst,psychotherapist (registered with theBPC), motivational speaker, and part-time cricket journalist forThe Times. He was appointed anOBE in 1978, and publishedThe Art of Captaincy in 1985. He published another book,On Form, in 2017.[26] In 1998, he became an Honorary Fellow of his Cambridge college,St. John's[27] and in 2006 was awarded an honorary doctorate byOxford Brookes University.[28]
Brearley succeededDoug Insole as President of MCC on 1 October 2007, and choseDerek Underwood to succeed him at the end of his term.[29] He was president of theBritish Psychoanalytical Society, 2008–10.[30]
In June 2024 Brearley was quoted inThe Cricket Paper "Both the ICC's deal with Aramco and the MCC's with JP Morgan are disturbing. There is currently so much 'rowing back' from recognising the huge dangers of climate change and the need for us to be proactive on the edge of this abyss. We all have to make some sacrifices in order to do this...The CEO of Aramco recently said 'we should abandon the fantasy of phasing out oil and gas' I find this remark chilling. We in cricket should not align ourselves with such views".
Brearley has been married twice.[31][32] He is married to ManaSarabhai, who is fromAhmedabad,India and whose father was a psychoanalyst.[32] They have two children together.[33]
Brearley lives in London.[34]
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| Preceded by | English national cricket captain 1977–1980 (Geoffrey Boycott deputised 1977/78) 1981 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Middlesex county cricket captain 1971–1982 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Marylebone Cricket Club President 2007–2008 | Succeeded by |
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