John Lever

John Lever Biography

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

John Lever Batting & Fielding Averages

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	--	--	--		--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

John Lever Bowling Averages

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

John Lever Career statistics

Features ON John Lever

John Lever: A tale of toil, in-swing and Vaseline

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Bishan Singh Bedi: The man who turned left-arm spin bowling into a fine art

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