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Mike Selvey
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<h2 id="life-and-career">Life and career</h2> <p>Selvey was educated at Honeywell Primary School, <a href="/facts/Battersea_Grammar_School/HTXTk0TC">Battersea Grammar School</a>, the <a href="/facts/University_of_Manchester/PwJzEj8h">University of Manchester</a> and <a href="/facts/Emmanuel_College,_Cambridge/KaaabaoW">Emmanuel College, Cambridge</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> He played cricket for Surrey and <a href="/facts/Cambridge_University_Cricket_Club/NR13sJrG">Cambridge University</a> before joining Middlesex in 1972, where he spent the majority of his playing career. </p><p>Selvey made his Test debut against the <a href="/facts/West_Indies_cricket_team/cAg3txg4">West Indies</a> at <a href="/facts/Old_Trafford_(cricket)/qREaxcR2">Old Trafford</a> in 1976, when he opened the <a href="/facts/Bowling_(cricket)/pztWTkkg">bowling</a> and took the <a href="/facts/Wicket/Ix69vfln">wickets</a> of <a href="/facts/Roy_Fredericks/M1uW6FJa">Roy Fredericks</a>, <a href="/facts/Viv_Richards/BgQtKyhd">Viv Richards</a> and <a href="/facts/Alvin_Kallicharran/4bctehWD">Alvin Kallicharran</a> for only six <a href="/facts/Run_(cricket)/AEtLvPc9">runs</a> in his first 20 balls.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> He took <a href="/facts/Bowling_analysis/jW6RwQoH">4 for 41</a> in that <a href="/facts/Innings/fjYUtyyD">innings</a>, and 6 for 152 in the match, but still ended on the losing side as England were beaten by 425 runs. </p><p>He only played two more Tests and failed to take a single wicket in either,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> in part due to <a href="/facts/Alan_Knott/U0XjDF9Y">Alan Knott</a> dropping a routine chance from Roy Fredericks in Selvey's second Test at the Oval in the same year; the West Indies went on to make 687.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p><p>Despite playing no international cricket after 1977, Selvey was a key part of a Middlesex attack that won the <a href="/facts/County_Championship/xIrQqmhI">County Championship</a> outright three times (1976, 1980 and 1982) and shared the title once (1977). He was also in the Middlesex teams that won two <a href="/facts/Gillette_Cup_(England)/Y8UK1zUr">Gillette Cups</a>, in 1977<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> (when his figures were 12-4-22-2) and in 1980 in a London derby final against Surrey, when he again bowled a tight spell (12-5-17-2) to restrict the opposition. Selvey took 101 first-class wickets for Middlesex in the 1978 season, a feat that has not been matched by any Middlesex fast bowler since. </p><p>Selvey features in <a href="/facts/Mike_Brearley/4mRwPAs2">Mike Brearley</a>'s <i><a href="/facts/The_Art_of_Captaincy/FGIyFTmM">The Art of Captaincy</a></i> and is quoted by Brearley as lamenting his notable skills as an into-the-wind bowler by remarking that his nose seemed to get flatter every year, as he would invariably be asked to bowl into the wind whilst <a href="/facts/Wayne_Daniel/UvdNUK14">Wayne Daniel</a> and <a href="/facts/Vince_van_der_Bijl/GXyA3SuW">Vince van der Bijl</a> bowled downhill with the wind behind them. </p><p>In 1983 he moved to Glamorgan as <a href="/facts/Captain_(cricket)/xUhx8TaP">captain</a>, but persistent injuries forced him to retire after only a season and a half.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> </p><p>Shortly after his retirement from playing cricket, Selvey became cricket correspondent of <i><a href="/facts/The_Guardian/H84wwJYM">The Guardian</a></i> newspaper.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> He retired on 23 September 2016 after 31 years in the role. </p><p>He also joined <a href="/facts/BBC_Radio/xGSYXsyQ">BBC Radio</a>'s <i><a href="/facts/Test_Match_Special/fJwEyq6m">Test Match Special</a></i> as a summariser, beginning with England's 1984 tour to India; he continued with this role until being dropped from the team in 2008. Selvey has since become a summariser and guest on <a href="/facts/Talksport/pXel7mhp">Talksport</a>. </p> <h2 id="publications">Publications</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=TyVXAAAACAAJ"><i>The Ashes Surrendered: The Guardian Book of the 1989 Ashes Series</i></a>, Queen Anne Press, 1989</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/20105.html">Mike Selvey</a> at <a href="/facts/ESPNcricinfo/8td80KUS">ESPNcricinfo</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/mikeselvey">Mike Selvey</a> <i>Guardian</i> Profile and Articles</li> <li><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/2976313.stm">Mike Selvey</a> <i>Test Match Special</i> Profile</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Bateman, Colin (1993). If The Cap Fits. Tony Williams Publications. p. 144. ISBN 1-869833-21-X. <a href="1-869833-21-X" target="_blank">1-869833-21-X</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Bateman, Colin (1993). If The Cap Fits. Tony Williams Publications. p. 144. ISBN 1-869833-21-X. <a href="1-869833-21-X" target="_blank">1-869833-21-X</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Board of Directors". <a href="https://www.middlesexccc.com/type/board-of-directors/mike-selvey" target="_blank">https://www.middlesexccc.com/type/board-of-directors/mike-selvey</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>SELVEY, Michael Walter William, Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, 2017 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2016) <a href="http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U34348" target="_blank">http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U34348</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Bateman, Colin (1993). If The Cap Fits. Tony Williams Publications. p. 144. ISBN 1-869833-21-X. <a href="1-869833-21-X" target="_blank">1-869833-21-X</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Bateman, Colin (1993). If The Cap Fits. Tony Williams Publications. p. 144. ISBN 1-869833-21-X. <a href="1-869833-21-X" target="_blank">1-869833-21-X</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"For cricket, read life: Andrew Strauss admits his 'sliding door' moment". The Guardian. London. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/discussion/comment-permalink/11004804" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/discussion/comment-permalink/11004804</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"The Home of CricketArchive". <a href="https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/37/37540.html" target="_blank">https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/37/37540.html</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Bateman, Colin (1993). If The Cap Fits. Tony Williams Publications. p. 144. ISBN 1-869833-21-X. <a href="1-869833-21-X" target="_blank">1-869833-21-X</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Bateman, Colin (1993). If The Cap Fits. Tony Williams Publications. p. 144. ISBN 1-869833-21-X. <a href="1-869833-21-X" target="_blank">1-869833-21-X</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>