Mike Selvey

Mike Selvey

Personal information
Full name	Michael Walter William Selvey
Born	25 April 1948 (1948-04-25) (age 63) Chiswick, Middlesex, England
Batting style	Right-hand bat
Bowling style	Right-arm fast-medium
International information
National side	English
Career statistics
Competition	Tests	First-class
Matches	3	278
Runs scored	15	2405
Batting average	7.50	12.65
100s/50s	–/–	–/4
Top score	5*	67
Balls bowled	492	45474
Wickets	6	772
Bowling average	57.16	26.66
5 wickets in innings	–	38
10 wickets in match	–	4
Best bowling	4/41	7/20
Catches/stumpings	1/–	79/–
Source: [1],

Mike Selvey (born Michael Walter William Selvey, 25 April 1948, Chiswick, Middlesex, England)^[1] is an English former Test and county cricketer, and now a cricket writer and commentator. Selvey played in three Tests for England between 1976 and 1977. His county cricket commitments included service to Surrey, Middlesex and Glamorgan.^[1]

Life and career

Selvey played for Surrey and Cambridge University before joining Middlesex in 1972, where he spent the majority of his playing career.

Selvey made a dramatic debut in Test cricket against the West Indies at Old Trafford in 1976, when he opened the bowling and took the wickets of Roy Fredericks, Viv Richards and Alvin Kallicharran for only six runs in his first 20 balls.^[1] He took 4 for 41 in that innings, and 6 for 152 in the match, but still ended on the losing side as England were beaten by 425 runs.

He only played two more Tests and failed to take a single wicket in either of them^[1], in part due to Alan Knott dropping a routine chance from Roy Fredericks in his second test at the Oval in the same year, the West Indies went on to make 687 as England were blunted by Viv Richards' 291^[2]

Despite his exclusion from international cricket after 1976, Selvey was a key part of a Middlesex attack that won the county championship outright 3 times (1976, 1980 & 1982) while Selvey played for Middlesex and shared the title once, in 1977. In addition to their first-class successes, Selvey won 2 Gillette cups in front of his home crowd in 1977^[3] (taking 12-4-22-2) and in 1980 in the London derby final, with Selvey once again bowling a tight spell to restrict the opposition (12-5-17-2 on this occasion). Selvey took 101 first-class wickets for Middlesex in the 1978 season, a feat that has not been matched by any Middlesex fast bowler since.

Selvey features in Mike Brearley's The Art of Captaincy and is quoted by Brearley as lamenting his notable skills as an into-the-wind bowler by remarking that his nose seemed to get flatter every year, as he would inavriably be asked to bowl into the wind whilst Wayne Daniel and Vince van der Bijl bowled downhill with the wind behind them.

In 1983 he moved to become captain of Glamorgan, but persistent injuries forced him to retire after only a season and a half.^[1]

He subsequently became a summariser on BBC Radio's Test Match Special, beginning his TMS career in 1984 in India, a role he continued with until being dropped from the team in 2008. Shortly after his retirement from playing cricket, Selvey became cricket correspondent for The Guardian newspaper and still performs this role today.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Bateman, Colin (1993). If The Cap Fits. Tony Williams Publications. p. 144. ISBN 1-869833-21-X. 
2. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/discussion/comment-permalink/11004804
3. ^ http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/37/37540.html

External links

• Player profile: Mike Selvey from ESPNcricinfo
• Mike Selvey at CricketArchive
• Mike Selvey Guardian Profile and Articles
• Mike Selvey Test Match Special Profile

Persondata
Name	Selvey, Mike
Alternative names	Selvey, Michael Walter William
Short description	English Test and County cricketer, journalist and broadcaster
Date of birth	25 April 1948
Place of birth	Chiswick, Middlesex, England
Date of death
Place of death