Editing Ted Dexter (section)

==Administration 1989–2003==

<blockquote>
''If you are going to lose, you might as well lose good and proper and try to sneak a win.''
:Ted Dexter<ref name="p150, Freddi">{{Cite book |last=Freddi |first=Chris |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/59629943 |title=The Guinness book of cricket blunders |date=1996 |publisher=Guinness Publishing |isbn=0-85112-624-3 |location=Enfield |pages=150–151 |oclc=59629943 |access-date=26 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826072422/https://www.worldcat.org/title/guinness-book-of-cricket-blunders/oclc/59629943 |archive-date=26 August 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>
</blockquote>
Dexter retired from cricket to concentrate on other interests in 1968, remaining a journalist, becoming a [[Sports presenter|broadcaster]] and founding a [[public relations|PR]] company.<ref>{{cite press release |title=ICC expresses sadness at the passing of Ted Dexter |url=https://www.icc-cricket.com/media-releases/2232540 |publisher=[[International Cricket Council]] |date=26 August 2021 |access-date=30 August 2021 |language=en}}</ref> In the late 1980s he joined [[Bob Willis]] to find new [[fast bowling|fast bowlers]] for English cricket. Sponsored by a brewery, application forms were sent to pubs to encourage young men, but most were filled in by jokers and drunks and only a few potential candidates were discovered. These were trained with [[javelin throw]]ing and other exercises to strengthen their back and arm muscles, but the only bowler in the scheme who played first-class cricket had been signed up by [[Warwickshire County Cricket Club|Warwickshire]] before its inception. The plan therefore failed even though it generated much publicity and showed a certain amount of imagination and initiative.

In 1987, Dexter had the idea of developing a ranking system for Test cricketers. He developed the system with statisticians Gordon Vince and [[Rob Eastaway]], and it was launched as the Deloittes Ratings. The Ratings steadily gained credibility, and were formally adopted by the [[International Cricket Council]] in 2003, and have become the official [[ICC Player Rankings]].  In an article in ''The Cricketer'' magazine in 2005, Dexter was quoted as saying: "The rankings idea was my biggest contribution to cricket.  Much better than being known for hitting a couple of extra-cover drives."<ref>Wisden Cricketer Magazine "As easy as 1,2,3?", Simon Lister, January 2005</ref> Former cricketer and analyst [[Simon Hughes (cricketer)|Simon Hughes]] in his bibliography titled ''And God Created Cricket'' noted that Dexter's ideas had shaped modern cricket.<ref name=":0" />

In 1989 he succeeded [[Peter May (cricketer)|Peter May]] as [[England and Wales Cricket Board|Chairman of the England Cricket Selectors]], receiving a modest £18,000 pay to compensate for his lost newspaper contract, the first chairman to be paid.<ref name="p6, Eager and Ross">Eager and Ross, p. 6</ref> "Dexter was soon in action, initially by way of press conferences and then, as the season developed, by lightning visits to the county grounds. These he made, despite an operation to a heel that put him for a while on crutches, by motorbike and car, a demonstration of enthusiasm and interest that was impressive."<ref name="p6, Eager and Ross" /> After the chaos of 1988 – the so-called [[West Indian cricket team in England in 1988|Summer of Four Captains]] – he wanted the tough [[Mike Gatting]] as captain, but was vetoed by [[Ossie Wheatley]] and his status was immediately undermined. Instead the more relaxed [[David Gower]] was appointed for the six-Test series. Dexter tackled the role with energy and enthusiasm, but the shine soon wore off as [[Allan Border]]'s [[1989 Ashes series|1989 Australians]] beat England 4–0 to regain [[the Ashes]], their first series victory in England since [[Australian cricket team in England in 1975|1975]]. His cause was not helped by the announcement of the [[Mike Gatting]]'s [[England XI in South Africa in 1989–90|rebel tour of South Africa]] in the middle of the series, which removed more than fifteen England players from contention.<ref>Eager and Ross, p. 81</ref> Admittedly England were already 2–0 down in the series and none of these players had shown any talent so far in the summer, but it was an indication of the division and demoralisation of English cricket. In the First Test at [[Headingley Cricket Ground|Headingley]] Dexter selected four [[fast bowlers]] and no spinners for the team, advised Gower to put Australia in to bat, only to see them make 601/7 and win by 210 runs.<ref name="p150, Freddi" /> For the Second Test he wrote an inspirational hymn for the England cricketers to sing called "Onward Gower's Soldiers" (to the tune of "[[Onward, Christian Soldiers]]") and appointed a team [[chaplain]], but remained aloof from the players and seldom visited the dressing room. At the end of the summer he told the press that he couldn't think of any mistakes he had made and later joked that the "lines of [[Venus]] were in the wrong juxtaposition", which was incorrectly interpreted by the press as a genuine belief in [[New Age]] mysticism. The lackadaisical Gower was fired at the end of the summer and the more painstaking [[Graham Gooch]] was made captain until 1993, despite Dexter having called his previous appointment as captain as "being hit in the face by a dead fish".<ref name="p150, Freddi" />

Dexter's tenure as Chairman of Selectors coincided with a poor period in English cricket, but there were some successes; these included the first Test victory over the West Indies for 16 years in 1990, victories over New Zealand and India in the run-laden summer of 1990, and the 2–2 draw with the [[West Indian cricket team in England in 1991|West Indies in 1991]]. Against this England suffered two further series defeats to Australia ([[1990–91 Ashes series|3–0 in 1990–91]] and [[1993 Ashes series|4–1 in 1993]]), and were heavily defeated [[English cricket team in India in 1992–93|3–0 in India in 1992–93]], after Gower was controversially dropped from the team. Dexter resigned under a cloud at the end of 1993, but his overhaul of the antiquated structure of English cricket and forward-looking reforms such as the change from three- to four-day county cricket had a significant impact. [[Richie Benaud]] commented that the structures he put in place "will be of great of benefit to English cricket in years to come. Equally, I'm in no doubt that others will take the credit for it."<ref name="p150, Freddi" /> He also became president of the [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] (MCC), and was chairman of the MCC's cricket committee until 2003, when he was replaced by [[Tony Lewis]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lewis takes over from Dexter on MCC committee &#124; England Cricket News &#124; Cricinfo.com |url=http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/england/content/story/134024.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707180521/http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/england/content/story/134024.html |archive-date=7 July 2012 |access-date=26 September 2009 |publisher=Content-uk.cricinfo.com}}</ref> He was also Chairman of the MCC's "England Committee", which was an administrative role and was awarded the [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] in the [[2001 New Year Honours]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dexter awarded CBE |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/dexter-awarded-cbe-87088 |date=29 December 2000 |access-date=30 August 2021 |website=ESPNcricinfo |language=en}}</ref>