Jack Bannister on Dennis Amiss, scorer of 102 centuries whose innings at Edgbaston is about to end...
Dennis Amiss steps down in April 2006 as Warwickshire's chief executive, thus ending an association with the club of nearly 50 years.
It is a long and winding road from a first appearance in a Docker Shield final at Edgbaston in 1957 at the age of 14 to the number one administrative boss of a Test match ground. The Amiss journey has been full of twists and turns, triumphs and disappointments, in which he has ridden out the occasional storm.
There have been more gifted batsmen in Warwickshire's history but no one with more determination to maximise every ounce of ability given by Mother Nature. He knew what he wanted - to play for his country - but progress to his first cap against the West Indies at the Oval in 1966 was, at times, agonisingly slow.
He scored a century against the tourists a fortnight before the final Test and his selection borders on the unique. Has there ever been a batsman play for England before he has scored a county championship century? Amiss had logged several after his first-class debut in 1960 but never one in the championship until his eighth season in 1968.
He managed to score 17 against the West Indies and passed 50 only once in his first nine Tests by which time he averaged 19. The England selectors deserve credit for persevering with him because he scored his first Test century in his 15th match, and ten more before he finished himself at that level after 50 appearances, by signing for Kerry Packer's World Series in 1977.
The split in international cricket lasted for more than two years before peace broke out, with Amiss the unwitting catalyst in the negotiations. Several counties with Packer England players reneged on an informal agreement not to re-employ their players until they were available for England all the year round.
Warwickshire, under the chairmanship of Cyril Goodway, stood firm in a year where the more runs he scored in county cricket (he topped 2,000), the more intractable Goodway became. County members requisitioned an extraordinary meeting to be held at the Locarno Ballroom in Hurst St to force the issue. Only at the last minute did Amiss plead with the members to call off the meeting.
The central negotiating point was that Warwickshire said Amiss would be offered another contract if Packer opened negotiations. The entrepreneur, equally stubborn, insisted that he would only negotiate if Amiss was offered another contract. The Professional Cricketers' Association became involved and, a few months later, Packer returned his players to official international cricket.
The Amiss highlights for England were "my two double hundreds against the West Indies at the Oval and Kingston." His unbeaten 262 in the Caribbean remained his highest score in a first-class career which produced 43,423 runs to leave him seventh in the list of batsmen with the highest aggregate.
Never really comfortable against genuine pace - who is? - he learned how to cope in an unusual way. Most batsmen move across their stumps, as the ball is bowled, to get into line but Amiss took this to the extreme by shifting across when the Michael Holdings of this world were still a few yards away from the crease.
Father Vic, himself a fine club cricketer, was so unimpressed with such unorthodoxy that, when Amiss proudly rang him from the Oval to ask him, "what do you think now? " stunned his son with "that is the worst double hundred I've ever seen!"
His 100th century, however, caused a change in playing conditions. It came in a dead match against Lancashire under the captaincy of Clive Lloyd, who agreed to play out the final half hour to give Amiss his big chance, even though the match was a certain draw. That is no longer possible with stumps drawn after the first 30 minutes of the final hour unless a result is possible.
History- making Brian Lara was unaware of this at 5.29pm when on 497 against Durham in June 1994. Partner Keith Piper fortunately realised and so, with two balls to go, went down and told Lara. Result? A four off the next ball as he overtook Hanif Mohammad to write a new page in history.
Amiss's final two first-class innings came in 1987 at Scarborough against Yorkshire when, as reported by this correspondent, innings number 1,138 and 1,139 produced this statistical symmetry - four runs from four balls in four minutes.
He is still one of the few cricketers to have a higher batting average for country than club - 46.31 for England and 42.86 in first-class cricket.
Between 1987 and 1994 he worked away from cricket but maintained Warwickshire links as chairman of cricket for three years. He assumed his chief excutive role following the death of David Heath and had an unfortunate start when his first Test match in charge against the West Indies was the most controversial in the club's history.
A poor pitch made batting a lottery for home batsmen against the fearsome fast bowlers - the first ball from Curtly Ambrose exploded over the head of a dumbstruck Michael Atherton and hit the sightscreen first bounce. The match lasted for 172 overs - the shortest Test in England for 80 years - and three batsmen suffered broken bones.
Amiss says: "It was a nightmare, and I wasn't surprised to get an official letter from A C Smith on behalf of the Test & County Cricket Board warning Warwickshire that our Test future would be in jeopardy unless we prepared better pitches.
"We all worked hard to help Steve Rouse and things soon improved."
So why retire now? "My contract was up in 2003 when I was 60 and I was prepared to go then but the club offered me a three-year extension which expires next April. I inherited a first class administration and am confident I can hand over the same sort of set-up when I go."
So. Is this the end of such a long relationship with Warwickshire?
"No, I shall still be available in a consultancy basis concerning various projects, including the pavilion where we keep running into a brick wall regarding a firm date to start much-needed modernisation. It is a listed building and it is one of my few disappointments that we have not been able to upgrade it."
Proudest moments in the last 11 years?
"The triple in 1994 leading to eight trophies in my time in charge. Off the field, the three major developments completed - the Edgbaston Cricket Centre and the RES Wyatt stand, together with the Eric Hollies stand. The Cricket Centre has a restaurant, conference facilities and a variety of net surfaces for pace and spin."
Disappointments, other than the pavilion?
"The fact we haven't had a pop concert yet and also the authorities' refusal to allow us to erect permanent lights, although we certainly have not given up on that."
Amiss has followed a long line of Warwickshire officials who are members of key committees at Lord's. He is presently chairman of the International Team Management Group which deals with all matters relating to the national team. As with chairman of selectors, David Graveney, his role does not seem to be anything other than delegating most things to coach Duncan Fletcher, whose overall automonous authority grows ever stronger.
Amiss followed Brian Bolus, whose approach was more hands-on and certainly caused problems with the England think tank, and the more softly-softly approach is better suited to Amiss, who has never been a table-thumper.
All credit to the young snotty-nosed 14-year-old I first saw at Edgbaston 48 years ago, who then developed slowly through the 1960s to make himself one of England's most successful batsmen. There was a lot of Geoff Boycott about him, with an inner strength and massive determination which other players might misinterpret occasionally.
But, both knew what they wanted and usually got it.
Cricket is more than a game - more a way of life with many ups and downs. Amiss has experienced both.
From one ex-Warwickshire player to another, one former cricket administrator to a current one and, from a friend, enjoy the rest of it Dennis.
