11 May,2021 05:30 PM IST | Mumbai | Clayton Murzello
Tony Cozier on the job. PIC/GETTY IMAGES
With due respect to the current lot of distinguished commentators, I miss listening to the likes of Richie Benaud, Frank Tyson, Tony Greig and his namesake Tony Cozier. The last mentioned passed away this very day (May 11) in 2016 in Barbados at the age of 75.
His behind-the-microphone skills got a boost when Australian business tycoon Kerry Packer decided to sign him for World Series Cricket. From then on, (although he started his commentary career long before 1977-78) Cozier was a regular voice emerging from the Channel Nine commentary box.
Like Benaud, he commentated on players who ended up being colleagues in the box - Greig, Ian and Greg Chappell, Rod Marsh, Max Walker and several others. And like Benaud again, he earned the respect of players.
Cozier's distinctive voice spread across eras. Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards, Richie Richardson, Brian Lara...he was the leading Caribbean voice when these men stamped their authority on West Indies cricket.
Some great men sought his counsel on important issues. When Cozier passed away, Lara revealed that he had a chat with him after losing 0-5 to South Africa in 1998. Cozier advised him on how West Indies cricket could be pulled back on track.
One couldn't get enough of Cozier the commentator especially when the cricket was gripping. My departed friend Kiran Ashar, the former Mumbai wicketkeeper-batsman, was an admirer too. Kiran treasured his small cassette collection of Cozier's narrations and was thrilled to be in Australia with the Cricket Club of India team in 1981-82, a tour which coincided with West Indies' Test and triangular series Down Under. Cozier was part of the commentary team for that series.
Cozier was also an achiever on the literary front. As a kid, I read all what he wrote in Sportsweek magazine and had the pleasure of meeting him in 1987 when I worked for a sports bookshop, The Marine Sports. Cozier was known to the establishment since he edited the West Indies Cricket Annual year after year (1970 to 1991) and wanted to visit the Dadar shop.
My then boss Theodore Braganza sent me to pick him up from The President hotel in Cuffe Parade. I was awestruck while travelling with him in a taxi but mustered up courage to ask him if he could organise for Gordon Greenidge and Viv Richards to sign their autobiographies for me. Cozier willingly agreed and the autographed copies were kept for me at the hotel reception the following day. My joy knew no bounds.
We met next in 1994 when Courtney Walsh's team toured India. He was happy to learn that I had become a cricket writer. Cozier continued to write for Mid-day.
We shared press box space during the Dambulla leg of the one-day triangular series and I remember him returning to tap away on his keypad after every commentary session below the press box. He did both jobs without a fuss and provided no indication of the normal deadline pressure pressmen have to endure.
It was a tour on which he enjoyed the company of old friends Ian and Greg Chappell. Greg was coaching the Indian team then. Ex-fast bowler Colin Croft was part of the media entourage as well and so was Cozier's photographer mate Gordon Brooks.
No amount of words can be adequate to highlight Cozier's contribution to the game of cricket. He was modest about it and I see no reason why the International Cricket Council cannot honour him posthumously in their Hall of Fame.
