Few sights in English cricket were as captivating as Ted Dexter in full cry, punishing fast bowling with a blend of elegance, audacity, and classical command. To many experts, Dexter was the finest English batsman of his generation. For sheer style, he had virtually no equal; for counterattacking brilliance when the chips were down, he was the man you wanted walking out at No. 3. In a crisis, Dexter could overshadow even the likes of Peter May and Colin Cowdrey. His strokeplay fused technical purity with aristocratic flair, his full‑bladed driving—off either foot—executed with a mastery few have ever matched. At his best, Dexter seemed to sit beside the Gods of Olympus.
An athletic six‑footer, he embodied a passing age. His majestic batting thrilled crowds, while his aristocratic bearing added glamour to a nation uncertain of its place in the post‑imperial world. When he unfurled those commanding back‑foot drives, he was simply debonair.
Though capable of long, disciplined innings—six of his nine Test hundreds exceeded 140—it was his contemptuous counterattacking power that shook spectators. In county cricket, he was the one batsman who consistently dominated Derek Underwood, repeatedly scoring hundreds for Sussex against Kent. In 1968, returning from semi‑retirement, he blasted a devastating 203 that immediately won back his Test place.
Dexter played 62 Tests between 1958 and 1968, the last two coming unexpectedly after a three‑year absence caused by a bizarre car accident that left him with a serious leg injury. His Test average of 47.89—exceeded by only a dozen Englishmen at the time of his passing—speaks to his class. He captained England in more than half his Tests, earning admiration from opponents such as Richie Benaud.
Early Life
Born in Milan, Dexter was the son of Ralph Dexter, who had established an underwriting agency there. One of three brothers, he also had three half‑sisters from his mother Elise’s previous marriage. His education was privileged: prep schools in Scotland, Wales, and England; Radley College, where he was head boy and earned the nickname “Lord Edward” for his hauteur; and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he began two degrees but completed neither, preferring sport and leisure to academics. “I distinguished myself by failing to attend a single lecture,” he later remarked.
National Service followed, including a posting to Malaya as a second lieutenant—an experience he found largely dull.
Highlights of an International Career
His breakthrough came at Cambridge when he launched Robin Marlar for a mighty straight six—an early sign of the power and audacity that would define him. Selected for England in 1958, he made a half‑century on debut but was omitted from the Ashes squad. An injury crisis soon led to an SOS: Dexter was tracked down in Paris, where he was working temporarily, and had to announce his engagement to fashion model Susan Longfield before departing.
His journey to join the team was chaotic—fog delays, mechanical trouble in Bahrain, and a throat infection. Unsurprisingly, he began the tour as 12th man, a role for which he was wholly unsuited; he preferred oyster lunches to carrying drinks. He failed in both Tests as England lost 4–0 but responded with a commanding 141 against New Zealand in Christchurch.
His place remained uncertain until the 1960 West Indies tour, where an unbeaten 136 in Barbados sealed his position. In Port‑of‑Spain, he produced one of his greatest innings—77 against the ferocious pace of Wes Hall—a knock many still consider a masterpiece. His dominance evoked memories of Len Hutton’s classical authority.
After Peter May’s retirement, Dexter took over the captaincy for a gruelling five‑month tour of India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, scoring his only Test double‑hundred in Karachi. He retained the role for the 1962–63 Ashes tour, where he rated his 52 in a successful run chase at Melbourne as the finest innings of his career. His consistency was remarkable: 70, 99, 83, and 52 at No. 3.
Dexter also produced heroic rearguard efforts—180 at Edgbaston in 1961 and 174 at Manchester in 1964—both against Australia, both saving England from certain defeat.
His most famous innings, however, was the 70 he smashed off 73 balls at Lord’s in 1963, after England were 0 for 1 against Hall and Griffith. It was a cavalier assault of hooks and drives that reduced two of the world’s fastest bowlers to cannon fodder. His dazzling 76 at Old Trafford against Australia was cut from the same cloth.
Assessment as a Cricketer
Dexter’s tendency to over‑theorise his game sometimes curbed his natural instincts, limiting his statistical output—much like Cowdrey. Despite his charisma and commanding presence, he never quite received the recognition he deserved.
He finished with 4,502 Test runs at 47.89, with a highest score of 205, and took 66 wickets at 34.93. Garfield Sobers rated him the best and most stylish English batsman of his era, ahead of May and Cowdrey, and often placed him among the greatest batsmen he had seen. Sobers admired Dexter’s classical technique, especially his ability to counter top‑class spin with the middle of the bat rather than pads.
John Woodcock ranked him 24th among the 100 greatest cricketers of all time—above May, Cowdrey, and Barrington. In my view, even without averaging 50, Dexter was a truly great batsman—one of the finest ever at No. 3 and one of the best against high‑quality pace. In many ways, he was a reincarnation of Wally Hammond: a superb slip fielder, a useful bowler, and a batsman of majestic command.
In retirement, Dexter remained forthright, unafraid to criticise trends he felt harmed the game. His commentary and selection judgments were astute, and his down‑to‑earth manner endeared him to many.
Other Interests and Post‑Retirement Life
Dexter was a polymath of sport and leisure. He was a champion amateur golfer, twice winning the President’s Putter at Rye. He flew planes, owned racehorses and greyhounds, modelled clothes, ran a PR firm, wrote and broadcast on cricket, stood as a Conservative candidate in Cardiff in the 1970s, and served as professional chairman of the England committee from 1989 to 1993.
He rated Gordon Greenidge and Martin Crowe as the most technically correct batsmen he ever saw.
---
*Freelance journalist
Comments
Post a Comment
NOTE: Hateful, abusive comments won't be published. -- Editor