John Lever is unfortunately remembered for the infamous Vaseline controversy of 1976-77. It is seldom remembered that he emerged from the series with 26 wickets at 14.61 and a strike rate of 34.5, and played a crucial role in England winning the series.
Lever was the ubiquitous swing bowler England has been producing since time immortal. When the conditions assisted him in the first half of the summers he got wickets by the bucketful. And when they became more conducive he kept toiling, eventually finishing with 1,722 wickets at 24 over a 23-year-long career. With Trevor Bailey and Keith Boyce he formed a much-feared trio for Essex, often having to bowl into the wind.
He also had 73 Test wickets. Of English left-arm seamers only Bill Voce (98) and Ryan Sidebottom (79) have more, and both have inferior averages and strike rates. Curiously, he played 12 series, and in 8 of them he played exactly 1 Test apiece.
He took a special liking to India, taking 45 wickets from 10 Tests against them at 22 (his other 11 Tests fetched him a mere 28). On Indian soil his 37 wickets came at less than 20.
Moving the ball prodigiously he ran through North Zone on that infamous 1976-77 tour, taking 4 for 51 and 3 for 8 before Tony Greig took him off. Soon afterwards he got his Test cap in the Delhi Test.
The ball had to be changed by the 11th over. Then Lever swung it as such bizarre angles that from 43 for no loss India slumped to 49 for 4 in 12 balls. The next morning they were shot out for 122. Lever finished with 7 for 46. He added 3 for 24 in the second innings, and added a first-innings 53 for good measure. He had never taken a ten-wicket haul in First-Class cricket till then.
In the third Test Lever bowled with gauze dripped in Vaseline on his forehead to counter the extreme heat and humidity of Madras. Once again India collapsed, Lever finishing with 5 for 59, moving the ball tremendously. However, he had dropped the strop of gauze next to the stumps while bowling. The ‘misbehaving’ ball was analysed, and Vaseline was found on it.
There were allegations from Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi — not at Lever but at “somebody higher up”. Lever was made a scapegoat, and his father suffered a heart-attack; Lever maintained that the two events were “linked”.
He later went on a rebel tour to South Africa and received a three-year ban. However, he played for Natal in the winters along with his Essex stints in summer. With 98 wickets (third on the chart) in 1983 and 106 in 1984 (second) he played crucial roles in Essex’s consecutive Championship titles. He played a role in clinching the 1986 title as well, and was awarded with a Test recall, at 37. He took 6 wickets but never played again.
He was awarded an MBE in 1990. He later taught physical education at Bancroft’s School, Woodford Green, London, and became Middlesex bowling coach.
Abhishek Mukherjee
Career | M | In | R | NO | HS | Avg | BF | SR | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s | Ct | St |
Test | 21 | 31 | 306 | 5 | 53 | 11.76 | 1198 | 25.54 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
ODIs | 22 | 11 | 56 | 4 | 27* | 8.000 | 152 | 36.84 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
T20s | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
World Cup | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Career | M | B | R | W | Avg | EC | SR | 5WI | 10WM | BBI | BBM |
Test | 21 | 4101 | 1951 | 73 | 26.72 | 2.854 | 56. | 3 | 1 | 7/46 | 10/70 |
ODIs | 22 | 1086 | 713 | 24 | 29.70 | 3.939 | 45.25 | 0 | 0 | 4/28 | 4/29 |
T20s | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
World Cup | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 4/29 |
Test Debut
India v England at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi, December 17, 1976
Last Test
England v India at Headingley, Leeds, June 19, 1986
ODI Debut
England v West Indies at North Marine Road, Scarborough, August 26, 1976
Last ODI
Sri Lanka v England at Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo, February 14, 1982
Of English left-arm seamers, John Lever has the best numbers. Of English seamers of the era, he was fourth. Unfortunately, he is ...
John Lever, playing his first Test match, made a rogue replacement ball swing prodigiously and captured seven first innings wickets at ...
On this day 66 years ago, one of the most ebullient characters of Indian cricket and the greatest left-arm spinner produced by the ...
The Dhoni-Sehwag rift may have been true or blown out of proportion by the media. However, far from being unique, discords such ...
04 Mar, 2021 09:30 IST
Narendra Modi Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
West Indies vs Sri Lanka - 1st T20I
04 Mar, 2021 03:30 IST
Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua
West Indies vs Sri Lanka - 2nd T20I
06 Mar, 2021 03:30 IST
Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua
West Indies vs Sri Lanka - 3rd T20I
08 Mar, 2021 03:30 IST
Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua
New Zealand vs Australia - 5th T20I
07 Mar, 2021 08:30 IST
Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui
New Zealand vs Australia - 3rd T20I
03 Mar, 2021 11:30 IST
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
New Zealand vs Australia - 4th T20I
05 Mar, 2021 11:30 IST
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe - 1st Test
02 Mar, 2021 11:30 IST
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe - 2nd Test
10 Mar, 2021 11:30 IST
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
West Indies vs Sri Lanka - 1st ODI
10 Mar, 2021 19:00 IST
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua
West Indies vs Sri Lanka - 2nd ODI
12 Mar, 2021 19:00 IST
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua
West Indies vs Sri Lanka - 3rd ODI
14 Mar, 2021 23:00 IST
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua
New Zealand vs Australia - 3rd T20I
03 Mar, 2021 11:30 IST | 06:00 GMT
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
04 Mar, 2021 09:30 IST | 04:00 GMT
Narendra Modi Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
New Zealand vs Australia - 4th T20I
05 Mar, 2021 11:30 IST | 06:00 GMT
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
New Zealand vs Australia - 5th T20I
07 Mar, 2021 08:30 IST | 03:00 GMT
Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui
12 Mar, 2021 19:00 IST | 13:30 GMT
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
New Zealand vs Australia - 2nd T20I
New Zealand beat Australia by 4 runs
India beat England by 10 wickets
New Zealand vs Australia - 1st T20I
New Zealand beat Australia by 53 runs
India beat England by 317 runs
Pakistan vs South Africa - 3rd T20I
Pakistan beat South Africa by 4 wickets