It is said that a cricket captain winning the toss should bat first nine times out of 10, and that on the 10th occasion he should think about fielding first — and then bat anyway.
The Gillette Cup final between Warwickshire and Worcestershire at Lord’s on September 3, 1966, broke all conventions.
Like so many one-day finals at the tail of the season, the damp weather conditions suited seam bowling and as soon as the Warwickshire captain, Mike Smith, had won the toss, the only domestic one-day trophy at the time was as good as heading to Edgbaston.
“It was a huge occasion for me,” recalls Neal Abberley, the Warwickshire middle-order batsman. “It was my first final playing in front of a full house at Lord’s, and once we got their big guns, Basil D’Oliveira and Tom Graveney, out cheaply we were in a very strong position.”
Worcestershire managed only 155 for eight in their 60 overs. Man of the match Bob Barber (66) and Dennis Amiss (44) took advantage of the improving batting conditions to help Warwickshire to a comfortable five-wicket victory. “I scratched around for three not out,” says Abberley, who watched Alan Smith hit the winning runs
1 Neal Abberley He had his best season with the bat in 1966 when he scored 1,315 first-class runs and won a place on the MCC Under-25 tour to Pakistan. He played for Warwickshire from 1964 until 1979 and scored more than 10,000 runs as an opening or middle-order batsman. After retiring he became chief coach and is still at Edgbaston, coaching at the cricket centre
2 Roger Edmonds The 12th man in the final, Edmonds was a Birmingham-born medium-pace and off-break bowler who played 78 first-class games for Warwickshire in six seasons. He featured in the second-round win against Glamorgan. When he retired he became a schoolteacher and moved to the Buxton area in Derbyshire
3 Billy Ibadulla Born in Lahore, Khalid Ibadulla played in four Tests for Pakistan, with one century, and had a distinguished career with Warwickshire as an opening batsman and a medium-pace and off-spin bowler. He scored more than 17,000 first-class runs and took 462 wickets. His spell at Edgbaston began in 1954 and he retired 18 summers later. A first-class umpire for a while, he coaches in Dunedin, New Zealand, where he played a big part in the development of Glenn Turner. He was awarded an Order of Merit in the Queen’s Birthday honours last year for his contribution to coaching
4 Tom Cartwright An outstanding medium-pace bowler, Cartwright showed how accuracy and seam movement in the right conditions could win a match. His 12 overs in the final cost only 16 runs for three wickets. He took 1,536 wickets at 19.11 and scored 13,710 runs at an average of 21.32 in his career. Cartwright was unlucky to play only five times for England. He withdrew injured from the MCC touring party to South Africa in 1968 and his replacement by Basil D’Oliveira led to the cancellation of the tour and South Africa’s ban from international cricket. After 17 years at Warwickshire in which he played in 353 games, he became Somerset’s player-coach in the 1970s and helped develop Ian Botham as a bowler. He then became the national coach in Wales. Cartwright has retired and lives in Neath
5 Dennis Amiss A calm, determined batsman, he scored more than 1,000 runs in a summer on 23 occasions after making his debut for Warwickshire in 1960 at 17. He played in 547 first-class matches for the county and won 50 caps for England before he signed for the Packer series and said goodbye to his Test career. He notched 3,612 Test runs at an average of 46.30. He is chief executive at Warwickshire
6 Alan Smith A flurry of shots from Smith late in the innings took Warwickshire to victory in the final. He had made his debut for the county in 1958 and was a crucial member of the team with the bat and as wicketkeeper. He was keeping in a match against Essex in 1965 when he came on to bowl and took a hat-trick. He captained Warwickshire from 1968 until 1974 and played in six Tests for England. He was secretary of Warwickshire for 11 years before being appointed the first chief executive of the Test and County Cricket Board. He retired to the Cotswolds in 1996
7 Rudi Webster A right-arm fast-medium bowler who was born in Barbados, Webster represented Scotland before joining Warwickshire in 1962. He played in 60 first-class matches in five seasons and later played for Otago in New Zealand. A sports psychologist and writer on the subject, he managed the West Indies team in the Kerry Packer era and recently founded the official West Indies Cricket Academy at St George’s University in Grenada
8 David Brown A cheerful fast-medium bowler who used all of his 6ft 4in to make the ball bounce on any surface, Brown first played for Warwickshire in 1961 and finished 21 years later while manager of the team. A Test bowler for England, he was chairman of the Cricketers’ Association. He trains horses at his Furnace Mill Stud in the Wye Forest, which he started when still a player. He bred Bolshoi, the winner of the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot in 1998
9 Mike Smith The Warwickshire and England captain enjoyed a wonderful sporting career. MJK, as he was known by his initials, first played for the county in 1956 and was captain for 10 years until 1967. He made his last of 50 Test appearances against Australia in 1972, and when he finally went into cricket administration, he had scored 39,832 first-class runs at 41.84. A rugby union international at fly-half for England, he was chairman of Warwickshire for 13 years and an International Cricket Council match referee. After 53 years as a player and administrator, he recently retired
10 Jack Bannister A right-arm fast-medium pace bowler, he first played for Warwickshire in 1950 and in 18 years with the county took 1,198 wickets. His best bowling figures were 10 for 41 against Combined Services. He also took nine for 35 for Warwickshire against Yorkshire. He is a commentator and writer
11 Bob Barber A talented right-arm wrist-spinner and attacking left-handed opening batsman, he began his career with his native Lancashire before joining Warwickshire in 1963. Barber enjoyed successful tours to South Africa and Australia, where he scored 185 for England in Sydney in one of his 28 Tests. He then made good money out of toilet-cleaning tablets. He lives in Switzerland oThe obscured player in the picture behind Dennis Amiss is John Jameson, who spent 17 years with Warwickshire. One of the highlights was his 240 not out against Gloucestershire at Edgbaston in 1974. He added an unbeaten 465 for the second wicket with Rohan Kanhai, a first-class record at the time. He played in four Tests for England. A former umpire, Sussex coach and cricket secretary at MCC, Jameson is a pitch liaison officer
