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 Dexter in 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Edward Ralph Dexter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1935-05-15)15 May 1935 Milan, Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 25 August 2021(2021-08-25) (aged 86) Wolverhampton, England[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-armmedium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Batsman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Tom Longfield (father-in-law) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut (cap 388) | 24 July 1958 v New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 22 August 1968 v Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1956–1958 | Cambridge University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1957–1968 | Sussex | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1957–1965 | MCC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:CricketArchive,17 September 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Edward Ralph Dexter,CBE (15 May 1935 – 25 August 2021[2]) was anEngland internationalcricketer.[3]
An aggressive middle-order batsman of ferocious power and aright-arm medium bowler, he captainedSussex andEngland in the early 1960s.[4] He captained England in 30 test matches out of his 62 test match appearances.
He was known by the nicknameLord Ted. He is credited for his instrumental role in the formation of the modernICC Player Rankings system.[5] In June 2021, he was inducted into theICC Cricket Hall of Fame as one of the special inductees to mark the inauguralICC World Test Championship final.[6][7]
Dexter was born in Milan in Italy, where his father Ralph Dexter ran a successful underwriting agency.[8] He along with his family moved to England when he was aged three just before the start of World War II.[2]
Few batsmen, or writers, announce themselves as Dexter did when batting forSussex againstSurrey atthe Oval last summer. His first ball, from the pavilion end, was slightly over-pitched on middle and leg. Feet moved fractionally, head hardly at all, but the bat swung the ball for six over long leg and they fetched it back from the seats under thegasholder.
Dexter was educated at Norfolk House,Beaconsfield, andRadley College, where he played in the first XI from 1950 to 1953, initially as awicket-keeper and as captain in 1953, and was nicknamed "Lord Ted" by his coachIvor Gilliat for his aloof self-confidence.[2] His cricket coach at Radley was B H Smithson, father of England cricketerGerald Smithson. While Dexter was head boy at Radley,Peter Cook, English comedian, satirist, writer and actor, was among those younger boys upon whom 'a big & strong' Dexter inflictedcorporal punishment.[10] He did hisnational service as asecond lieutenant in the11th Hussars during theMalayan Emergency in 1953–55 and was awarded the Malaya Campaign Medal. Dexter then enteredJesus College, Cambridge in October 1955, where he played golf and rugby in addition to winning his cricketBlue and playing in theUniversity Match in 1956, 1957 and (as captain) 1958.
He first came to notice as a bowler taking 5/8 and 3/47 for theGentlemen in 1957 and joinedSussex County Cricket Club in the same year. He made his Test debut in 1958 againstNew Zealand, made 52 andE. W. Swanton thought that he should have been picked forPeter May'sMCC tour of Australia in 1958–59.[11] In the end he was flown fromParis (where his wife was working as a model) to reinforce May's injury-struck team. Dexter arrived in the middle of the tour, did not have time to acclimatize and although he did well in the tour matches he failed in the Tests. Continuing on the tour toNew Zealand he made 141, his maiden Test century. After an indifferent summer againstIndia the decision to take him to theCaribbean in 1959–60 was much criticised, but "Lord Ted" made his name thrashing the fast bowlersWes Hall andCharlie Griffith with his powerful drives. He hit 132 not out in the First Test, 110 in the Fourth Test, made 526 runs (65.75), topping the England batting averages, and was aWisden Cricketer of the Year in 1961.
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Few hundreds have filled such a yawning gap...Dexter so dominated a stand withBarrington that more than two-thirds of the 161 runs came from his masterful bat before he was stumped trying to liftSimpson's leg-break on to some distant fairway.
On his return Dexter was made captain ofSussex, which he held until he retired in 1965. He had a quiet home Test season againstSouth Africa, but in the First Test atEdgbaston in the1961 Ashes series England started their second innings needing 321 runs to avoid an innings defeat. Dexter made 180, the biggest century for England against Australia sincethe war and studded with 31 cracking boundaries, but typically he wasstumped in the last minutes of the match trying to hitBobby Simpson for six so he could make a double century. In the famous Fourth Test atOld Trafford he played a spectacular innings of 76 in 84 minutes to take England to 106 runs from victory with 9 wickets in hand andthe Ashes in sight, but his dismissal set off an England collapse and the series was lost.
Ted was a man of moods, often caught up in theories, keen when the action was hot, seemingly uninterested when the game was dull...a big-time player, one who responded to atmosphere, liked action and enjoyed the chase and gamble. Maybe this was the reason he was drawn tohorse racing; a dull day stalking the covers might be enlivened for him by thoughts of how his money was faring on the 3:15 atAscot orGoodwood.
WithPeter May andColin Cowdrey declining to tour India and Pakistan in 1961–62 Dexter was chosen to lead the MCC team. With a weakened team (Fred Trueman andBrian Statham also refused to tour) Dexter beatPakistan 1–0 but lost toIndia 2–0,[14] their first series victory over England. He made 712 Test runs (71.20) on the tour, including his highest Test score of 205 atKarachi, and another 446 runs (89.20) whenPakistan toured England in 1962 and were beaten 4–0.Peter May finally declared his retirement in 1962 and the selectors had to choose who would captain theEnglish cricket team in Australia in 1962–63. Dexter captained England in the First and Second Tests against Pakistan, winning two big victories, butColin Cowdrey was put in charge for the Third Test. Cowdrey had been May's affable vice-captain, had a shrewd cricket brain and was seen as his natural successor, but had inherited his cautious tactics and theMarylebone Cricket Club was crusading for "brighter cricket". Cowdrey withdrew from the finalGentleman v Players match atLord's because ofkidney stones even though he had been appointed captain, which usually indicated the selectors' intentions. Dexter was put back in charge (and drew againstFred Trueman's Players), but found another rival in the old Sussex captainthe ReverendDavid Sheppard, who was willing to take asabbatical from hischurch mission in theEast End in order to tour Australia. Sheppard made 112 for the Gentlemen and was chosen for the tour, but Dexter was confirmed as captain for the remainder of the home series and the forthcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand with Cowdrey as vice-captain. The general opinion was that England had a good batting side, but their bowling was unvaried, would struggle to dismiss Australia and that the tourists would be lucky to avoid another defeat.[15][16][17]
After his thunderous Melbourne display Dexter was a magnet; the first thing people wanted to know about a team selection was: "Is Dexter playing?"...Batting againstSouth Australia, he lifted the ball onto the high roof of themembers stand – a tremendous hit. Some of his drives along the ground just could not be stopped, even when they went straight to a fieldsman.
- Tom Goodman[18]
He made 481 runs (48.10), the most runs by an England captain in Australia, and this remains a record. The team manager wasBernard Fitzalan-Howard, 16th Duke of Norfolk,KG,GCVO,PC,Earl Marshal andChief Butler of England, and it was joked that "Lord Ted" could only be controlled by a duke. In fact, the Duke was the President ofSussex County Cricket Club, had been instrumental in Dexter's appointment as county captain, shared his interests inhorse racing andgolf and was very popular with the Australian public. In the tour match between theMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and an Australian XI Dexter hit 102 in 110 minutes, including 2 sixes and 13 fours. John Woodcock ofThe Times wrote "I doubt if it is possible to hit a cricket ball any harder than Dexter did today. Melbourne is a huge ground and no one who hits a six here is likely to forget it. Against Veivers, an off-spinner, Dexter twice cleared the sight screen, once by a good 20 yards."[19] At theAdelaide Oval Dexter included "a six from a gigantic hit onto the roof of the stand – one of the biggest hits ever seen at the ground."[20] He was the main draw in the England team and over a million spectators came to see the tourists, the most since1936–37. The tour returned a record profit for theMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) of£24,000, beating the£17,000 of1946–47.[21] Dexter continued his good run of form to equalPatsy Hendren's England record of six consecutive Test 50s (85 and 172 against Pakistan and 70, 99, 93 and 52 against Australia), which he soon shared withKen Barrington and more recentlyAlastair Cook. His powerful innings enlivened the First and Second Tests and gave England a 1–0 lead in the series. Australia came back to win the Third Test atSydney, where Dexter had preferred to keep hisfast bowling attack from the Second Test even whenFred Trueman volunteered to stand down in favour of a second spinner toFred Titmus. In the end the unsupported Titmus took 7/79 in the first innings and Australia won by 8 wickets,E. W. Swanton and others thought that if eitherDavid Allen orRay Illingworth had been in the team England would have wonthe Ashes. Even so, the match might have been saved if Dexter had not conceded 27 runs off 26 balls so that the teams would not have to return the next day to finish the game. The last few overs were played in the rain and it rained for most of the fifth day, so England might have wonthe Ashes. Dexter's negative field placings and lack of urgency failed to regainthe Ashes and the painful draws in the Fourth and Fifth Tests particularly spoilt the atmosphere, asRichie Benaud was determined to hold ontothe Ashes and Dexter was content to draw a series in Australia. In mitigation the Adelaide pitch was flat as a pancake. The Sydney ground was so saturated in the days before the match that mowing was impossible before the start. The "square" was like one large bunker and the outfield like a meadow. Barely a ball reached the boundary. Benaud was an advocate of "go ahead" captaincy and Dexter for "brighting up" cricket and their reputations were unfairly tarnished.[22][23][24][25]
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Ted Dexter elected to lead from the front. We had a disastrous start, withCharlie Griffith blasting out both our openers very cheaply, and Ted unleashing one of his finest displays of controlled aggression I have ever witnessed. His 70 was electrifying. He stood up and hit the quick bowlers all over the show for an hour.
As captain againstFrank Worrell'sWest Indian cricket team in England in 1963 Dexter was able to loosen up afterthe Ashes and they played an exciting Test series. After losing the First Test, in the Second Test at Lord's England's first innings rested heavily on Dexter's hard-hitting 70 off 75 balls when he took on the West Indianfast bowlersCharlie Griffith andWes Hall in an innings that was remembered by all who saw it. In the second inningsColin Cowdrey came out to bat with abroken arm with victory, defeat or a tie still possible in the last two balls, butDavid Allen blocked them for a draw. England levelled the series in the Third Test thanks to Dexter (4/38 and 1/7) andFred Trueman (5/75 and 7/44), but lost the last two Tests and the series. In 1964 Dexter was again in charge in the rain-soaked1964 Ashes series. Famously in the decisive Third Test atHeadingley he removed the off-spinnerFred Titmus after he had taken three wickets to reduce Australia to 187/7, still 81 runs behind England. Dexter took the new ball and gave it toFred Trueman who bowled a series of bouncers whichPeter Burge hooked and pulled to 160, hoisting Australia to 389 and a 7 wicket win. Although the change made sense as the new batsmanNeil Hawke was fragile againstfast bowling and Trueman, the greatest wicket-taker in the world at the time, was playing on his home ground Dexter was heavily criticised for a decision which obviously lost the series. In the Fourth Test Australia made 656/8, but thanks to a stand of 246 betweenKen Barrington (256) and Dexter (174) England reached 611 and avoided defeat. It was the first time that two teams had made 600 runs in an innings in a Test, and their fortunes gripped the cricketing nation, but the inevitable draw meant that Australia retainedthe Ashes. As some consolation Dexter led Sussex to the finals of theGillette Cup in 1963 and 1964, and won both, the first trophies in the county's history.
Above all we had Dexter's captaincy. One-day cricket was his kind of game: it was instant and aggressive and its atmosphere brought out the best in him. He really became involved, more so than in county games. He even made a marked difference to our one day performances when he returned for a season ofSunday League games in the early 1970s.
Dexter declared himself unavailable for the1964–65 tour of South Africa as he contestedJim Callaghan'sCardiff South East seat for theConservative Party in the1964 General Election.[27] Finding himself free to tour after his defeat he was made vice-captain toM. J. K. Smith, who won the series and continued as captain. His cricket career was virtually ended by an accident in 1965. HisJaguar car ran out of petrol in westLondon, and he was pushing it to safety when it pinned him to a warehouse door, breaking his leg.[28][29][30] He left Sussex and played occasional Sunday games with theInternational Cavaliers, and made 104 when they defeated the1966 West Indians by 7 wickets.[31] He returned briefly in 1968, making 203 not out in his comeback match againstKent, but failing in the1968 Ashes series. He playedSunday League games for Sussex in 1971 and 1972.[32]
If you are going to lose, you might as well lose good and proper and try to sneak a win.
- Ted Dexter[33]
Dexter retired from cricket to concentrate on other interests in 1968, remaining a journalist, becoming abroadcaster and founding aPR company.[34] In the late 1980s he joinedBob Willis to find newfast bowlers for English cricket. Sponsored by a brewery, application forms were sent to pubs to encourage young men, but most were filled in by jokers and drunks and only a few potential candidates were discovered. These were trained withjavelin throwing and other exercises to strengthen their back and arm muscles, but the only bowler in the scheme who played first-class cricket had been signed up byWarwickshire before its inception. The plan therefore failed even though it generated much publicity and showed a certain amount of imagination and initiative.
In 1987, Dexter had the idea of developing a ranking system for Test cricketers. He developed the system with statisticians Gordon Vince andRob Eastaway, and it was launched as the Deloittes Ratings. The Ratings steadily gained credibility, and were formally adopted by theInternational Cricket Council in 2003, and have become the officialICC Player Rankings. In an article inThe Cricketer magazine in 2005, Dexter was quoted as saying: "The rankings idea was my biggest contribution to cricket. Much better than being known for hitting a couple of extra-cover drives."[35] Former cricketer and analystSimon Hughes in his bibliography titledAnd God Created Cricket noted that Dexter's ideas had shaped modern cricket.[4]
In 1989 he succeededPeter May asChairman of the England Cricket Selectors, receiving a modest £18,000 pay to compensate for his lost newspaper contract, the first chairman to be paid.[36] "Dexter was soon in action, initially by way of press conferences and then, as the season developed, by lightning visits to the county grounds. These he made, despite an operation to a heel that put him for a while on crutches, by motorbike and car, a demonstration of enthusiasm and interest that was impressive."[36] After the chaos of 1988 – the so-calledSummer of Four Captains – he wanted the toughMike Gatting as captain, but was vetoed byOssie Wheatley and his status was immediately undermined. Instead the more relaxedDavid Gower was appointed for the six-Test series. Dexter tackled the role with energy and enthusiasm, but the shine soon wore off asAllan Border's1989 Australians beat England 4–0 to regainthe Ashes, their first series victory in England since1975. His cause was not helped by the announcement of theMike Gatting'srebel tour of South Africa in the middle of the series, which removed more than fifteen England players from contention.[37] Admittedly England were already 2–0 down in the series and none of these players had shown any talent so far in the summer, but it was an indication of the division and demoralisation of English cricket. In the First Test atHeadingley Dexter selected fourfast bowlers and no spinners for the team, advised Gower to put Australia in to bat, only to see them make 601/7 and win by 210 runs.[33] For the Second Test he wrote an inspirational hymn for the England cricketers to sing called "Onward Gower's Soldiers" (to the tune of "Onward, Christian Soldiers") and appointed a teamchaplain, but remained aloof from the players and seldom visited the dressing room. At the end of the summer he told the press that he couldn't think of any mistakes he had made and later joked that the "lines ofVenus were in the wrong juxtaposition", which was incorrectly interpreted by the press as a genuine belief inNew Age mysticism. The lackadaisical Gower was fired at the end of the summer and the more painstakingGraham Gooch was made captain until 1993, despite Dexter having called his previous appointment as captain as "being hit in the face by a dead fish".[33]
Dexter's tenure as Chairman of Selectors coincided with a poor period in English cricket, but there were some successes; these included the first Test victory over the West Indies for 16 years in 1990, victories over New Zealand and India in the run-laden summer of 1990, and the 2–2 draw with theWest Indies in 1991. Against this England suffered two further series defeats to Australia (3–0 in 1990–91 and4–1 in 1993), and were heavily defeated3–0 in India in 1992–93, after Gower was controversially dropped from the team. Dexter resigned under a cloud at the end of 1993, but his overhaul of the antiquated structure of English cricket and forward-looking reforms such as the change from three- to four-day county cricket had a significant impact.Richie Benaud commented that the structures he put in place "will be of great of benefit to English cricket in years to come. Equally, I'm in no doubt that others will take the credit for it."[33] He also became president of theMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC), and was chairman of the MCC's cricket committee until 2003, when he was replaced byTony Lewis.[38] He was also Chairman of the MCC's "England Committee", which was an administrative role and was awarded theCBE in the2001 New Year Honours.[39]
Dexter's power amazed everyone who had not had the joy of watching him in other innings in England and in Perth. He took chances – thank goodness for those who look on batting as a challenge! – but he made superb strokes, with his driving tremendous in power and placement. Sometimes, in fact, the placement didn't matter so much because the power sent the ball through men recognized as outstanding fielders. Once such stroke, a cover-drive, was through Thomas's legs just as he got his hands there. I felt glad that the ball went between his legs and that his hands were not behind it. Not evenJehu drove more furiously than Dexter, and a direct hit on the leg or hands might well have put this accomplished fieldsman out of action.
Ted Dexter was a cavalier batsman in the old amateur style and a ferocious strokemaker, but was known as being moody and mercurial. As a batsman he could leave the hands of the fielders team bruised and reddened with his powerful drives and cuts. To see "Lord Ted" thrashing the fast bowling was one of the most thrilling sights in cricket and he could make any run chase look possible. His great fault was that he seldom gave a bowling attack due respect and got himself out with rash strokes. Though more a batsman than a bowler he couldseam andswing the ball, was a useful third paceman even at Test level and was an excellent fielder anywhere. Dexter was a naturalone-day player, where his big hitting, tidy bowling, keen fielding and lively captaincy gave Sussex their first two trophies – the inauguralGillette Cup in 1963 and again in 1964. He devised innovative field placings for limited overs games and his 'ideas changed the game forever. It is no exaggeration to say that Dexter was the man who shaped modern cricket'.[41] In first-class matches he bored easily and his strokes of genius were in the end outweighed by his mistakes. As captain he had "more theories thanCharles Darwin",[42] sometimes shifting fielders on a whim and was hailed as a genius if a wicket fell as a result. He wasdictatorial on the field, rarely consulting with his bowlers about field placings and pulling them off by saying "You've had enough now. Get down tothird man"[43][44]
Dexter married Susan Longfield on 2 May 1959[1]. She was the daughter of a formerKent cricketerTom Longfield, whom he met at a party atCambridge University while still anundergraduate and decided to marry on sight.[28] She worked as a model and she joined her husband on thetour of Australia in 1962–63, where she generated considerable press interest and earned more than any of the cricketers.[45]Fred Trueman recalled; "Ted Dexter's wife arrived in Australia. Ted's wife was a looker and a model. She is a very lovely lady, but on hearing of her arrival, when Ted faced the press, the majority of questions posed were about his wife...during an England cricket team press conference!".[45] They had a son Thomas and a daughter Genevieve.
Dexter was a talented golfer, an amateur champion, and some believe could have achieved success in that sport if he had not chosen cricket.[28][46] In Australia in 1962–1963 he played a foursome withNorman Von Nida,Jack Nicklaus andGary Player (withColin Cowdrey as his caddy) and they offered to take him to America to become a tournament golfer, but Dexter declined.[47][48] He also went on to win thePresident's Putter three times in his career.
Dexter ownedJaguar cars,Norton motorbikes,[49]greyhounds,race horses and in 1970 piloted hisAztec BPA-23Pommies Progress to Australia with his family to coverthe Ashes as a journalist, covering 12,000 miles and making 24 stops.[50]
Dexter launched his own PR company, which ran for many years and briefly became a television cricket commentator, alongside Richie Benaud and Denis Compton. He wrote a weekly column on cricket forThe Observer, and then, more lucratively, for theSunday Mirror.[51]
His fondness forhorse racing exceeded even that ofGary Sobers andBrian Close. He carried a then rareportable television to watch races in cricket dressing rooms and oncedeclared aSussex innings fromBrighton Racecourse.
He co-wrote with Clifford Makins the crime novelTestkill (1976) where an Australian bowler is murdered during play at a Test match against England at Lord's.
In December 2012, onBBC One'sAntiques Roadshow, Dexter appeared withPaul Atterbury, a life-long fan. Dexter talked about his father'sMilitary Cross, which had subsequently been stolen.[52]
Dexter died on 25 August 2021 at the age of 86 in Wolverhampton due to an age-related illness. He left a widow Susan (whom he married in 1959), a son, daughter and several grandchildren.[53] In a statement following his death,Marylebone Cricket Club described him as "one of England's greatest ever cricketers".[54] England players wore black armbands as a tribute during the second day of thethird test match of the series between India and England at Headingley.[55]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | English national cricket captain 1961/2-1963 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | English national cricket captain 1964 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Sussex county cricket captain 1960–1965 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
