Name:

Brearley, Mike

Date of Birth:

28-04-1942

Place of Birth:

Harrow

Career:

Test: 1976 - 1981
ODI: 1977 - 1980
First Class: 1963 - 1983

Teams:

England (Country)
Middlesex (Regional)

Botham: Brearley was an amazing captain to play under

Mike Brearley: "Degree in people" brought out the genius in his captaincy

Michael Brearley was born on 28 April 1942 at Harrow, Middlesex.

He was a right hand opening batsman and top class slip fielder who made his first class debut for Cambridge University in 1963. While still at Cambridge he was chosen for the MCC tour to South Africa in 1964–65, and to captain the MCC Under-25 side in Pakistan in 1966–67. He then went onto play and captain Middlesex, winning 4 county championships.

Brearley made his test debut against the West Indies in 1976 and then captained England in 31 of his 39 Test matches, taking over from Tony Greig following the Packer crisis in 1977.

He won 17 tests and lost only 4 under his captaincy. His greatest achievement was in 1981 where he motivated Ian Botham to new heights and won the Ashes back with a 3-1 come-from-behind win against the odds, after taking over a demotivated team 1-0 down in the 3rd Test at Headingley. This is regarded as one of the greatest feats of psychology of all time in the sporting arena.

Brearley's excellent man-management skills was famously described by Australian paceman Rodney Hogg as having "a degree in people". Ian Botham referred to him as the best captain he played under.

Brearley was awarded an OBE in 1978 and was the President of the MCC in 2007.

Source: CricketCrowd Staff Reporter