John Michael Brearley was born on 28 April 1942 and is a retired English first-class cricketer who captained Cambridge University, Middlesex, and England.
18 Facts About Mike Brearley
2.
Mike Brearley captained the international side in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 18 and losing only 4.
3.
Mike Brearley is married to Mana Sarabhai who is from Ahmedabad, India and they have two children together.
4.
Mike Brearley was born in Harrow, Middlesex, England and was educated at the City of London School.
5.
In part because of his pursuit of an academic career as a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which limited his cricketing activity in 1969 and 1970, Mike Brearley was not selected for England until the age of 34 in 1976.
6.
Mike Brearley's record in Test cricket as a batsman was modest, but he was an outstanding captain.
7.
Mike Brearley made his highest test score of 91 on tour against India in February 1977.
8.
Mike Brearley took over as captain of England later in 1977.
9.
Mike Brearley was captain during the infamous aluminium bat incident in 1979, when he objected to Dennis Lillee's use of a metal bat instead of one made of willow.
10.
Mike Brearley himself had been an innovator regarding cricket equipment himself, wearing a 'skull cap' under his England cap in 1977.
11.
Mike Brearley captained England to the final of the 1979 Cricket World Cup, scoring 53 in the semi-final against New Zealand and 64 in the final against the West Indies.
12.
Mike Brearley's leadership benefited from Botham's recovered form following his winless captaincy record and his nosedive in form to take a first-innings 6 for 95 and score 50 and 149 not out in the third Test at Headingley, bowl a spell of 5 wickets for 1 run in the fourth Test at Edgbaston, score 118 from 102 balls in the fifth Test at Old Trafford, and take a 10-wicket match haul in the sixth Test at the Oval.
13.
In spite of his limited reputation as an international batsman, Mike Brearley made an important if less high-profile contribution to the fourth test, scoring more runs than any other batsman in a match which England won by 29 runs.
14.
Mike Brearley opposed sporting links with apartheid South Africa, seconding a motion to the MCC in 1968 calling for the cessation of tours until there was actual progress towards non-racial cricket.
15.
Mike Brearley seconded the motion from David Sheppard to the MCC, calling for the England tour to South Africa to be cancelled, and was a supporter of John Arlott who campaigned in The Guardian for the same objective.
16.
Mike Brearley is a psychoanalyst, psychotherapist, motivational speaker, and part-time cricket journalist for The Times.
17.
Mike Brearley was appointed an OBE in 1978, and published The Art of Captaincy in 1985.
18.
Mike Brearley succeeded Doug Insole as President of MCC on 1 October 2007, and chose Derek Underwood to succeed him at the end of his term.