Lord Ted /Alan Lee

It’s always interesting to read a biography – or autobiography – of someone one knows well  to see if it chimes with your impressions and what bits of their life you know which have not been revealed.

Alan Lee’s biography was published in 1995 after Ted Dexter resigned as Chairman of Selectors after a run of straight defeats. He sees Dexter not as aloof nor arrogant- though a poor man-manager – but shy.

I have to say I have never found him that. As an administrator he certainly had vision: he campaigned for the 4 day county match which eventually came to pass, introduced the A side which eased the entry into Test cricket of luminaries like Mike Atherton and Graham Thorpe and was prepared to take on the county chairmen. Whilst the early 90s we had a plethora of excellent batsmen – Mike Gatting, David Gower, Graham Gooch, Allan Lamb and Ian Botham – the England team never really achieved, there was poor behaviour on and off the field.

The MCC began to lose its moral authority over the game to the sub-continent which with the IPL then also had the financial clout.

The game of cricket is very different today but dare I say it might be a better one with a long term strategic thinker like Dexter.

The real problem for him was however not the cricketers but the media who painted him as an dotty, privileged ass.

At that time there was little respect for our national sporting leaders. Men like Bobby Robson who managed successfully domestically and internationally were pilloried and  called a “ plonker”. When Ted ‘s wife Sue, who everyone who has met likes enormously, was upset by vindictive comments when she did her shopping in Ealing he decided  enough was enough.

What is not in doubt is the prowess of Dexter on the pitch. He was one of the game’s hardest hitters. I can only think of Viv Richards as being more explosive at the crease though I never saw another Caribbean hard hitter, Everton Weekes.

At his best Ted could and did take the fight to the opposition and here we all think of his swashbuckling 70 at Lords in 1963 in  the greatest Test ever when he put the Windies attack of Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith to the sword.

As captain of both Sussex and England he carried and conveyed his distant reputation but most speak well of him, even difficult characters like John Snow and Geoff Boycott.

He made a successful marriage to a beautiful and deeply nice person in Sue and is still a man of genuine faith, a regular church goer.

When he lived in Nice he was for many years treasurer of the local Anglican church.

He was always supportive of his youngest brother who had Down’s syndrome and appreciative of his elder brother John who ran a successful Italian insurance brokerage.

Ted is arguably the greatest golfing cricketer. The biography makes it clear that he never contemplated a golfing career but his greatest achievement on the golf course was to hold Gary Player in his prime to an eighteen hole tie without having to use the six shots that the South African, who won trophies in 4 decades, gave him.

I did enjoy this biography, a reprint covering the next 23 years of his life would be appreciated.