West Indian cricket team in England in 1976 the West Indian get on top they are magnificent cricketers, but if they’re down, they grovel. And I intend, with the help of Closey and a few others, to make them grovel.” The insensitive comments only inflamed the racial and colonial implications surrounding the 1976 series. The remark was particularly provocative coming from Greig, the white South African-born captain of England. West Indian bowler, Michael Holding recalled how the comment “Smacked of racism and Apartheid. He got our backs up and made us more determined.” Greig claimed the word "grovel" was used only as a response to the way the
Tony Greig 158. The incident was controversial – some believing it a black stain on his character, others prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. For his part, Greig claimed that his actions were not premeditated, that his back was to the play and he was unaware that proceedings were over. If his actions had been premeditated, they would have been rather reckless given the risk of stirring up the notoriously volatile Trinidadian crowd. England convincingly lost the Test and Greig failed with bat and ball. It was a measure of his resolve and determination as a cricketer that he