Justin Greaves is enjoying the finest Test series of his career. Yet, for all the runs and wickets, one question I always think of every time he walks onto the field: Who exactly is Justin Greaves?
He has always stood out to me as an anomalous player. A misfit who more often than not fits perfectly in any team he plays.
Who exactly Justin Greaves is? Greaves possesses what I would call a fortunate identity crisis. You ask five people about him – everybody has a different description for him.
Greaves isn’t difficult to understand because he lacks identity. He is difficult to understand because he possesses too many identities. He spent the entire 2012 U19 World Cup batting at No. 8. Yet he made his ODI debut series opening the innings. In his international career, he has batted at every position from No. 2 to No. 9, except for No. 5. Sometimes he bowls as the second-change, the other times he is used as the seventh bowler. He has a long range of where he can be slotted in. This range makes him one of the most flexible players for any captain to use. Every captain uses him differently. Kraigg Brathwaite liked to use him as a conventional all-rounder. Shai Hope likes to send him in the top order occasionally. Whether he is master of any trade or not is for cricket pundits to decide, but he certainly seems to be the jack of all.
A Misfit in the Age of Specialists
Modern-day cricket places a lot of emphasis on players that specialize in certain aspects. Shivam Dube and Heinrich Klaasen specialize in hitting spin bowlers. Players like Steve Smith and Joe Root are entrusted to hang around at the crease and push the opposition bowlers to desperation.
Even the all-rounders are preferred if they specialize in something. Will Jacks specializes as a quick-scoring opener who can also provide you 4 overs. Hardik Pandya takes care of bashing the spin and keeping the scoreboard ticking in the middle overs. Teams no longer just pick the best XI. They assemble a collection of specialists whose skills complement one another.
Where does Greaves fit in this blueprint? He isn’t picked because he is the world’s best new-ball bowler. Nor is he selected for being an elite finisher or a middle-order enforcer. At first glance, he appears to be a cricketer without a standout skill, a misfit in an era obsessed with specialization. He is picked as a problem-solver.
Can he open the innings in Test and soften the ball to make it easier for specialist batters? Yes.
Can he go after 4 wickets and stabilize the innings by knocking the ball around? Yes.
Can he bowl 5 wicket-maidens in a row? Yes.
Can he go smash 3 sixes and disrupt the bowler’s rhythm? Yes.
Does his presence in the crease throw the opposition off guard? Yes.
No matter what question you ask, somehow the usual answer is ‘yes’.
Was he ever considered West Indies’ next cricket superstar?
Never. In fact he spent most of his U19 days playing in the shadow of fellow Barbadian players like Jason Holder and Carlos Brathwaite, who were better fits in the definition of a “West Indian Player”.
Legendary commentator Ian Bishop described him as a ‘nice, utility player’ rather than a trademark explosive Caribbean player. It wasn’t intended as the highest compliment, but perhaps no phrase captures Greaves better. He had to earn his spot in the team. In fact, Greaves had to wait another two years after representing West Indies at the 2012 Under-19 World Cup to make his first-class debut. His international debut took eight more years.
The Caribbean Problem
Since lifting the 2016 T20 World Cup, Windies became obsessed with power. Explosive batters and attacking spin bowlers became the cornerstone of their game, often at the expense of technical assurance and tactical flexibility.
Think of famous West Indian players in the last decade – Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Andre Russell, Devendra Bishoo, Sunil Narine.
In the process, they overlooked the vital role of a player who restores sanity when things start to fall apart.
Jason Holder embodied that role for years. He wasn’t the biggest hitter or the quickest bowler, but he was the team’s stabilizer, the man who quietly did whatever the situation demanded. With Holder no longer a regular presence, Greaves has emerged as the latest custodian of that responsibility.
What makes him so difficult to replace?
Replace him with a specialist batter and you lose overs of dependable and accurate seam bowling.
Replace him with a bowler and you lose batting depth.
Replace him with another all-rounder and you soon realise very few offer Greaves’ flexibility.
The Future
Is Greaves going to be the next Caribbean star? The next face of Windies Cricket? Only time will tell.
Modern cricket keeps producing specialists. 32-year-old Justin Greaves keeps proving there is still room for the generalist. He has started to show his true colours as a lower middle-order batter. He has proved his role as a third-change bowler. If in near future he can prove himself to be an even worthy opening bowler, he is certainly going to be very difficult to replace.
That being said, age is definitely not in his favour. In a sport where players usually retire in their late 30s, West Indies Cricket will surely start looking for his replacements in the coming few years. But for now, buy some popcorn and watch him make Pakistani batters dance on his tune.
Cricket has always celebrated specialists because they are easy to identify. Bowlers take wickets. Batters score runs. Finishers hit sixes. And so on. But every great team needs one player who acts as a cement that binds these specialist bricks. They might not become the face of their teams, yet without them the entire structure begins to wobble. Justin Greaves is that rare cricketer.
~ Written by Aniket Wajpe
