Mike Brearley is well known as a former English cricketer. He became captain of the England men’s cricket team where his record is unsurpassed. It’s widely agreed he was among the greatest England captains ever. But after retiring from cricket he went on to become a fine and prolific writer. Not so rare, you might perhaps say. And he retained his links with the sport as President of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 2007-08. But unusually he also built a third career as a psychoanalyst, later serving as President of the British Psychoanalytical Society. Innovative as both thinker and doer, he should be appreciated for his fine all round game.
Early years
John Michael Brearley was born on 28th
April 1942, in Harrow, Middlesex, North West London. His father, Horace, had
once played cricket for Yorkshire, and also played for Middlesex twice in 1949. The
family had moved to Ealing in West London. Horace taught maths and cricket at
City of London School. As a boy Mike would go along to watch his father play
for his club, Brentham, whose ground was in the still countrified space between
Hanwell and Greenford. When he was six he wrote proudly of his dad scoring 50
in a match there. Writing later he said “Horace
was warm and affectionate… encouraging and supportive”. I met Horace once
(he was a 1980s friend of my mother), and agree. A lovely man. I think Mike was
lucky to have him as a father.
At City of London School Mike set new batting records,
and was even called on by Brentham when only 13. In his last four years at
school, he easily topped the historic averages, in 1959 scoring 1,015 runs, five
centuries and an average of 84.58. In his last two years he was influenced by
Jim Sims, in charge of coaching for Middlesex Young Amateurs. Sims was sure
he’d play for Middlesex, but not sure he’d play for England. In 1960 he
appeared for Middlesex 2nd XI.
In 1961 Mike Brearley went to St John’s College,
Cambridge. There he picked up where he'd left off, making 76 for the University against
Surrey’s top bowlers on his first class debut, playing as a wicketkeeper, and
batting well against Yorkshire and the Australians. He scored a century against
Oxford and was University captain for his last two years, the first to lead the
side in successive seasons that century. With another hundred at Lords in 1964,
he reached a record Cambridge aggregate of 4,068. While still at University he
was chosen for the MCC tour to South Africa in 1964-65. This would have later
repercussions.
A young captain
He’d played for Middlesex in several matches while at
Cambridge, often opening the batting with Mike Smith. His university cricket
record alone would be a career standout for most people. But Brearley
simultaneously reached the highest academic level, achieving a first in Classics
and 2.1 in Moral Sciences - “not quite a
century in each innings, more like a hundred in the first and seventy in the
second”, is his analogy. Incredibly, he added to his glittering
achievements when coming joint top in that year’s Civil Service exams.
He was chosen to captain the MCC under-25 side touring
Pakistan in 1966-67, where he made 312 not out against North Zone. It would be
his highest first class cricket score. He ended the tour with nearly 800 runs
from six matches with an average of 132. During this period he was also working on research in philosophy back at St John’s, and teaching at Newcastle University
and at the University of California. He kept his career options open while
riding two pretty demanding horses. But it did mean limiting his cricket
activities in 1969 and 1970.
Taking a stand
The D’Oliveira-South Africa controversy from 1968-70
was a real challenge. In 1965 Brearley had stayed in South Africa after the
tour, “visiting the real South Africa,
seeing places where cricketers seldom go”. This helped him form opinions he
expressed when the question of Basil D’Oliveira’s selection for the proposed
England tour arose.
The details of this furore are admirably set out in
Brearley’s brilliant book of reminiscences, events and characters, “On Cricket”. He seconded, and spoke
for, David Sheppard’s resolution critical of the committee at MCC’s special
meeting in December 1968. Until South Africa took firm steps towards non-racial
cricket there should be no more England tours. At age 26, with his career ahead
of him, this was a brave stance. But it was the right one, as would be proved. Disappointed with the MCC, he
later wrote “I still believe cricket
failed the biggest test that confronted it”.
It’s maybe hard to imagine the ways and culture of
cricket 50 years ago. A hierarchy with feudal roots expected obedience from
those it ruled. The Gentleman v Player divide was still strong. And if current
revelations of racism in Yorkshire and Scottish cricket are worrying, the ECB
at least seems to be trying to tackle the problems. Not so the MCC in those days.
Captain of Middlesex and England
Brearley began playing cricket full time again in 1971
on being made Middlesex captain. The county was desperate to arrest what had
been a near suicidal decline. His batting, by this stage a subject of some
criticism, gradually progressed but it was not until 1973, when he was already 31,
that he finally scored a County Championship century. But the Middlesex side
under his captaincy improved immediately and in 1971 finished sixth. Cricket
bible Wisden perceptively observed, “Brearley’s
enthusiastic leadership, and specifically his ability to persuade the best out
of each member of his team, proved the significant factor”.
In 1975 Brearley, continuing his batting improvement,
averaged 53 for Middlesex. The next year, aged 34, he made his full England Test
debut. It was the series where Tony Greig absurdly said he would make the West
Indies ‘grovel’. Brearley scored 40 at Lord’s but little else and was replaced
by a recalled John Edrich at Old Trafford, where he and 45 year old Brian Close
were infamously bombarded by the Windies bowlers. Meanwhile as his batting blossomed, he led Middlesex to the 1976 Cricket County Championship. As widely expected,
he was named vice-captain to Greig for the 1976/77 tour of India, followed by
the Centenary Test in Australia. He played all six Tests that winter. At the
start of 1977’s Ashes series he averaged 68.
The Packer Episode
By this time the ‘Packer Circus’ - World Series
Cricket - had burst on the scene. Greig joined it, was stripped of the England
captaincy and Brearley took the reins. But not the whip. He ensured there was
no ill will to the four Packer ‘rebels’ - Greig, Amiss, Knott and Woolmer - and
he kept the four onside by insisting on their share of a negotiated team bonus.
The Ashes came home to England, who won the Test series 3-0. Brearley had shown
real leadership in getting some awkward if talented players to perform - even the grouchy
Boycott ended his self-imposed exile for the third Test.
Wisden commended Brearley for the handling of his
bowlers and his field placing, calling him “a
totally different animal from the volatile Greig,.. led his men with quiet
efficiency. He is clearly a master in the art of cricket”. It would have
been hard to disagree.
Brearley was re-appointed as captain for the winter
tours of Pakistan and New Zealand. Sadly, he broke his arm, missing the final
Test in Pakistan and all of the New Zealand series. In his absence Boycott assumed
his longed for role as captain, but failed. In summer 1978 Brearley resumed his
captaincy with home wins against Pakistan and New Zealand. Next up was the
1978/79 Ashes series which England won 5-1, facing a weakened Aussie side, followed
by 1979’s World Cup summer. England lost to the Windies in the final. Brearley
and Boycott, set a target of 287 in 60 overs, batted nearly 40 overs for only 129, so later
batters had too much to do. Three Tests against India followed.
By the 1979/80 Australian summer the Packer storm had
abated. England were back there for a three match series not given Ashes
status. Brearley riled many of the locals by declining some Packer innovations in the
One Day Internationals, by winding up a TV audience with a cuddly toy marsupial
and, for some reason, by growing a beard. They called him The Ayatollah. He seemed to be not unduly worried by
the hostility he faced. He played and captained well, but Australia won all
three games comfortably.
Standing aside, then recalled
By 1980 Brearley turned 38 and was reluctant to tour
again. With successive series against the Windies in prospect, it was decided
to appoint a successor right away. The baton passed to Ian Botham who began his
stint as captain. Botham’s cricketing strength was in playing not leading, and
his limitations were soon exposed. England lost the series, with five drawn
games, but analysing the results suggests that had Brearley played, maintaining
his average, it would have made all the difference. His experience would have
brought fielding pressure and some dropped slip catches might well have been
avoided (he was a top class slip fielder).
After the Lord’s Test in the 1981 Ashes series,
Brearley was recalled to lead England. The team’s performance under his
captaincy is the stuff of legends. Botham and Willis both put in incredible
Headingley stints and Botham doubled up at Edgbaston and against a demoralised
Aussie side at Old Trafford. There’s no point in repeating the well-known day
by day, blow by blow details. England won the Ashes almost miraculously against
the odds. Botham’s feats with bat and ball, plus Brearley’s captaincy, were
decisive.
Assessments of others
Some detractors maintained that Brearley was merely a
good captain, not a great one, and succeeded because of factors beyond his
control. They say Kerry Packer and Ian Botham were the key to his reputation.
In other words, they think Brearley was just lucky. Former skipper Ray
Illingworth said “The statistics suggest
he is one of the great England captains, the luckiest would be nearer the
truth”. Dennis Lillee was also unimpressed, with “I don’t overrate him as a captain”.
Others had some churlish assessments, too, some of them apparently based more on social or political grounds. They either saw him parachuted in as a privileged university amateur, avoiding the ‘hard graft’ of county cricket, or thought him too liberal (and thus maybe not authoritarian enough) in his outlook. Hard to reconcile the two, though. If anyone were critical it would likely be Boycott, who said “I have no hesitation in saying he was the best captain I played under”. Or maybe Botham, “Brearley was without doubt the best captain I ever played under, a man with a billion dollar cricketing brain”.
Clearly luck is needed in any sport. But the cliché is
you can make your own luck. Despite his generally defensive batting, Brearley
always sought to better his team’s position. A brilliant man-manager, he could
also get inside opponents’ heads, applying his intellectual power. In his final
match at Lord’s in 1982 Middlesex needed points to win the title. Deciding the
wicket would turn later on he spotted the long retired Titmus who’d dropped in
to see old friends. Was he available? Borrowing some kit, Titmus played, taking
three wickets in the final innings as the spinners bowled Surrey out. A stunning coup de
main.
With Middlesex as champions, Mike Brearley retired
from cricket aged 40. He was able to
quit at the top. He captained the international side in 31 of his 39 Tests,
winning 18 and losing only four. A quite brilliant record.
Post cricket
Brearley avoided the familiar broadcasting and media
career path, apart from occasional articles for The Times. He studied to become
a professional psychoanalyst and psychotherapist. Registered with the BPC he
has always regarded cricket as a help in this area, not a hindrance. He has
talked of the higher place needed to be ‘in the zone’ as if referring to
Plato’s higher plane of existence. He has referred to the ‘sensory intuition’
needed of a captain and the agony of decision-making. Psychoanalysis is clearly
inseparable from the game of cricket in his mind. And, in turn, he says he sees
psychoanalysis running parallel with philosophy.
Brearley earned his living as a psychoanalyst and
motivational guru for many years. And he’s still writing. His highly successful
“The Art of Captaincy” was first
published in 1985 and revised since. It’s a classic. Mike Atherton, a later
England captain, turned journalist, wrote “The
best book on captaincy written by an expert”. The advice on man-management
in particular has been widely commended. Brearley has since written several others,
including Spirit of Cricket, On Form
and On Cricket. The latter, published
in 2018, has a detailed and enlightening section on the D’Oliviera/MCC episode.
Writing the more recent books was in his mind for a while. At last he had the
chance to get the work done.
Brearley in the round
Australian fast bowler Rodney Hogg once famously
described Brearley as having “a degree in
people”. A fair description. Elected President of the MCC from 2007-08, Brearley
went on to serve as President of the British Psychoanalytical Society from
2008-10. He has an OBE, and in 1998 became an Honorary Fellow of his former
college, St John’s Cambridge. In 2006 he was also awarded an honorary doctorate
by Oxford Brookes University.
The last of my series on British figures who might be more
appreciated, Brearley is the only one still alive (he’s now 80), and the only
one I ever saw in the flesh - at Lord’s captaining Middlesex and England. I
admired him as that rare being, a huge intellect who embraced rather than disdained
sport. And as a highly successful international sportsman who used his intelligence
and learning on a wider professional stage. With clearly a deep
understanding of what cricket is all about - more than most playing or writing about it - he speaks well of Ben Stokes, England's current excellent captain. He has upheld the strategic complexities and
nuances of the longer game, which survives huge commercial and media pressure to
simplify it to the point of distortion. Britain, and the wonderful global game
of cricket, can be truly proud of him.
Mike Brearley has long been married to Mana Sarabhai, a
Gujarati from Ahmedabad. She’s the niece of Dr Vikram Sarabhai, hailed as the
father of Indian space research. The pair first met when Brearley was on tour
in India. From a cricketing family she’s also a gifted silversmith. They spend three months each year in India. Their two children are adults. He's kept his family out of the public gaze and wisely says they “will find their own paths”.
My main sources are Mike Brearley’s own books,
especially “On Cricket”2018
Plus in particular three excellent articles: Wisden
Almanack - Mike Brearley, from school
prodigy to purposeful leader, Terry Cooper 2020; Mike Brearley - England’s Greatest Captain?, Martin Chandler 2012
Cricket Web, and The mind of Mike
Brearley, Paul Edwards January 2019, Cricket Monthly
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