There is so much pressure to make money in the game: Dennis Amiss

Dennis Amiss has seen both sides of the coin. He was an accomplished cricketer, who was involved in the administration as well. He headed the Warwickshire county and was part of England and Wales Cricket Board. The former England opener, who was one of the first few to use helmet, says that business background is essential to succeed as an administrator in England. Excerpts:

You are a cricketer-turned administrator. Are you aware Dilip Vengsakar lost to a politician in the Mumbai Cricket Association election?
I was not aware of Vengsarkar’s defeat. I’m very sorry for Vengsarkar. I know he was involved in the MCA administration and I feel sad that he could not win the election, but I don’t know the overall context. It is a little bit easier in this country. There are some cricketers in the other counties as well. It is about acquiring business, marketing skills into the job.

You have to have some other skills to be a successful administrator. I was very lucky that I had both cricketing and business backgrounds. I could bring that into administration that I’ve done in Warwickshire and England and Wales Cricket Board.

It is not easy because here they are looking for business-oriented people to run the counties. There is so much pressure to make money in the game. If you don’t, your club is going to suffer. The chairman and chief executive have to have these backgrounds.
 
Do you mean to say cricketing background is not needed?
It helps, but business, marketing and management skills are more important to be a successful administrator.  I don’t know if Vengsarkar has a business background. But you need contacts in high places. You cannot take away the contacts from the politicians. It was difficult for us to put up a stand together without the help of the contacts.
 
You were one of the players who introduced helmet to the game. Do you think cricket would not have survived if there were no helmets?
Yes. We realised it was getting difficult for batsmen with bowlers bowling at 95 mph. So, we brought the helmets in. I took the helmets to the World Series cricket (the Kerry Packer series) in Australia. It was difficult to face 18 fast bowlers bowling over 95 miles per hour. I knew players like Tony Greig, Alan Knott and Keith Fletcher would take it. David Hooks had his jaw broken in the World Series. He was out for six weeks.

He came back and borrowed my helmet. The first ball he faced from Andy Roberts was a bouncer. He hit it for a six and he could do that because of the helmet. Richie Benaud said that is a great moment in cricket. That is when the helmets took off. But for a long time, there used to be only one helmet in the team. Gradually, everybody started having it. The game has changed. It will be difficult to play without the confidence that a helmet brings in.
 
What about the current series. Will it be 0-4?
England are the best team at the moment. With due respects to the Indian team, only one or two guys in their side are in the best of form. We are on top of our form.  India have quality batsmen in Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid but they have got the added pressure to rise up to the expectations. I’m sure Tendulkar will achieve the 100th century. That will be one of the greatest milestones of the game.
 
You were an accomplished opener. Who do you think are all-time greatest openers?
Sunil Gavaksar was a good opener but for me Geoff Boycott and John Edrich were the best openers ever. Virender Sehwag is a fine player but currently, Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook are the best opening pair in the world. Twenty20 has changed the approach of the openers.
 
Best bowlers you have faced?
Dennis Lillee and Michael Holding. Then there were, of course, Bishen Bedi and B Chadrasekhar.