GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 103
July 2011
Caption Competition
1. Geoff Boycott: Blah, blah blah, that’s the way son. Don Bradman learned to play with a stump and a golf ball. Blah, blah, blah….
2. Alastair Cook: Yes Sir Ian, We all know what you would do with it.
Out and About with the Professor
It was an exciting e-mail to receive. The Secretary of Harrogate Cricket Club had written to all members to say that Yorkshire were due to play, once again, at Harrogate. This was news! It has been more than a decade since Yorkshire played at what is still called: “The County Ground”, having taken the decision to focus all home games on Headingley and Scarborough. This decision, which seems to have been echoed all around the county circuit, was principally a financial one – the argument being that if Headingley, in particular, was to retain the status of a Test match venue it had to have the income streams to support it. The loss of a county game for Harrogate, Middlesbrough, Bradford, etc., wrecked their finances but…it was thought to be a price worth paying.
The ensuing years have been something of a struggle for Harrogate. While the playing surface still looks very good, the “infra-structure” has begun to look very impoverished. The thousand or so plastic seats bolted to some low concrete terraces have started to crumble and disintegrate; the perimeter fence has collapsed in some places and the old wooden pavilion while full of “character” was also increasingly full of rot and splinters. On the playing side, only the Yorkshire League’s policy of “no relegation” has saved the team in a number of years.
But things are looking up! The season before last a mysterious fire gutted the old pavilion. The neighbours who saw two men running away from the blaze were unable to identify either the secretary or the treasurer and a combination of the insurance money and the usual fund raising activities have resulted in the construction of a brand new building. And very fine it looks. The Club have eschewed both the Headingley “steel and green glass” and the “Tesco village clock” schools of architecture and have built a modern confident looking building which is due to open shortly. Most of the old plastic seats and much of the terracing has been removed and the ground is starting to look very smart. Even the rusting old “Leyland Gates” (Maurice being the Club’s most famous son) are being scrubbed and painted (or whatever you do to rusting gates).
And now Yorkshire are back!
Well, in truth, there isn’t a county game being played at Harrogate, nor a one-dayer, nor even a 20/Twenty. It was true that Yorkshire were actually playing, but only to practice and even then only a mix of professionals and Academy players.
Still I felt the need to look in.
They all did the silly warm-ups we have seen so often and then each had about four overs batting and bowling in the middle. Young Barney Gibson kept wicket tidily enough although when you saw him in conversation with the 6’7’’ Hannon-Dalby you wondered if his neck would ever recover.
The players I spoke to thought the exercise was just about worthwhile – better than having a net, but they would all rather have been playing in a match of some sort which I would not have thought would be difficult to arrange. Most of the players who batted were very severe on a couple of the young Yorkshire spinners and hit them hard and straight down the ground. Unfortunately, this is the precise location of the new pavilion. While no damage was done the workman were, for a while, under something of a barrage but they bore it with the good humour characteristic of so many people in this part of the world – they merely suggested that it would be nice to actually get the windows fitted in before the cricketers broke them. Seemed reasonable enough to me.
Hart/Wright Matters
I received the following from Bill Hart
I have waited for the statutory cooling off period before penning a reply to Googlies 102. I have taken counselling from my wife, indulged myself with some Oriental meditation, and even tried to think like Wallis. All of this was to no avail. I must reply. My submission lies below, I realise that you have editorial rights, but I hope it is printed in its entirety.
"I realise, of course, that Steve Wright's outburst in Googlies 102 was stimulated by the Editor, and therefore before attempting a reply, I checked my comments as reported in Googlies 101.
From personal experience, I know that J.Sharp Esq. does tend to "ginger things up" in order to provoke a reaction. However, although the remark was made privately with no expectation of publication, nothing significant needs to be changed. The only change would be that I said "bowl at middle & leg" rather than at him. I never bowled at a batsman in my life.
In my opinion, David Jukes, if allowed to settle was a dangerous hitter, but unlike David Hays of Finchley, or our own, Len Stubbs, his batting was not fundamentally sound. He had an eye like a "Shite-hawk" and could hit the ball really hard, However, if the attack was directed at middle & leg, with pace and a full length, he gave himself room with a shuffle to leg, and was usually out.
Looking into our records, which I realise Steve decries, it can be seen that between 1966 (David's first appearance against South Hampstead) and 1975, his scores were 42, 7, 7, 14, 6, 18*, 7, 0, 12, 3, & 55*. this could fairly be described as " a promising first appearance, and a good knock in 1975, but overall nothing to shout about".
Sheperds Bush was one of my favourite fixtures. I liked the ground, and the team was full of personality, ranging from Bob Talbot, in my earliest days, through Chris Langhorne, Carl Goldsmith, Keith Jones, Peter Minor & Roy Cutler etc. They were a very pleasant crowd, and yet, I am ashamed to admit that I do not remember Steve Wright at all.
I played in all about a dozen times against the Bush. I believe that, contrary to Steve Wright's statement, a number of their batsmen were dis-comforted by pace. If they weren't then they gave a damned good impression of someone who was.
If Steve really thinks that ex-South Hampstead players spend their time congratulating each other, then Jim Sharp can quickly put him right. There can be no more self-critical group. It is a pity that he did not stick to his original plan to write about "cheating", then South Hampstead would not even have been involved.
Finally, Steve's sneering comments about Terry Cordaroy have no place in "Googlies". It is invidious to compare two such different players, but I know who I'd rather have playing on my side." Well there, for better or worse, it is.
The Great Jack Morgan also responded to Steve’s article
“That was a nice article from SVW, but I do not think that R Reed and M Josephs played in '69, when we had the likes of Peter Mailey in the team. 1970 would be my guess for that one, but Steve knows me better than to think that I would be involved in any 20 over frivolities!”
To assist Bill’s recall I include a picture of Steve taken at Lord’s in 2008 with Dave Perrin
England Matters
Watching Trott bat at Cardiff reminded me of watching Cordaroy score a hundred in a Wednesday match at South Hampstead- technically sound but not particularly challenging. South Hampstead members from the early seventies would have been reminded of George Bottrill who came to the club via the Essendine connection. Jayarwardene kept wicket wearing a black T shirt under his outer shirt. George used to scamper around Milverton Road wearing an earlier version underneath a polyester white Marks and Spencer dress shirt.
I went to the first day at Lord’s with the Professor. It was another hot day-remember them?-and we were tucked away at the back of the Mound Stand and caught none of the sun all day. It big a problem with applying for test tickets that you cannot be very specific about where you want to sit. However, there was a tricky sequence of events which began to unfold at the toss. Dilshan won the toss and put England in which seemed a bizarre and cowardly decision but which almost came off but ultimately backfired. This brought the prolific Cook to the crease with the out of form Strauss. The latter was quickly trapped by Walagedara. It has now been decided that he can’t play left armers. But my worst fears were realised as Trott came out to join Cook and the prospect of the two having a net all day became a distinct possibility. Lakmal had other ideas and mixed prodigious leg cutters with the odd inswinger and soon had Trott LBW to one of the latter. KP strode in and there wasn’t time for Dilshan to turn to his slow left armer, Herath, as he played a half hearted push at a wide one and became Lakmal’s second victim. 28 for 3 made it look as if Dilshan had seen something in the wicket but it was really poor batting combined with the fact that modern batsmen are so spoiled with perfect conditions that they have little technique to deal with any deviation in the air or of the wicket.
Bell joined Cook and our technically best equipped batsman had several scares against Lakmal’s leg cutters. They survived till after lunch but then Bell succumbed to Walagedara caught at slip where he had dallied before lunch. Morgan found himself coming in much earlier than he can possibly have anticipated and immediately asserted himself tonking Herath for six. He is changing the way test match cricket is played. He is such a good player and so self confident that he dictates straight away.
Net runs matters. Cook dropped Paranavitana on 9, which takes his 96 down to 40 odd whilst Prior dropped Dilshan on 80 which takes his 120 odd down to about 7. One of the commentators said that Cook was good at short leg. He must be confusing him with someone else. He gets just about everything wrong there. He is also crap elsewhere. His drop noted here was at slip. Why was Trott not fielding there? Knight reckons he is Warwicks first choice slipper.
Kandamby skippered the Sri Lankans in the Twenty20 match and decided to insert England. Lumb and Kieswetter slogged deliveries up in the air which brought KP and Morgan to the crease together. Interestingly Morgan was made V captain for this match and looks to be having a secure furure in all forms of the international game. These two looked very good and looked to be taking England to a respectable total (say 175). But Morgan holed out in the deep, unusually for him finding the fielder, and then KP fell to his nemesis the slow left armer, in this instance Jayasuriya. What followed was pathetic with no one able to play any sort of innings required on the occasion. The total of 136 was woefully short and Woakes kicked off the SL innings by spraying it all over the place. Is a medium pacer any good at all if he has no control? Strangely when Jayasuriya crashed Dernbach to mid off he had had hardly any of the strike and Jayawardene had got the bulk of the 40 scored including an impressive straight six. England’s bowling looked very mediocre and Broad retired to the outfield leaving Morgan to run things in the middle. Surely this wasn’t the plan at the outset? Sangakkara was the perfect foil for the exquisite Jayawardene and SL strolled to victory over a humiliated England side. If this is any indication of the ODI series to come the ongoing low level of England in one day cricket will be reinforced.
The weird situation with Yardy gave the England selectors a tricky problem. They had to pretend that Samit was complying with their ridiculous fitness regime. Why? Because the only alternative is Blackwell who also disqualifies himself from selection. Samit appeared in kit that must only be one size down from Mark Cosgrove’s and clearly his selection is a compromise that the England set up would have preferred not to make.
Middlesex Matters
The Great Jack Morgan gives us his monthly update
Yet another very green track was served up for the Championship match against Kent at Lord's. This was more understandable, given the unsettled June weather, than those produced in the droughts of April and May and at least Middlesex had the sense to bowl on it rather than bat as they had against Glamorgan. It was impossible to banish the thought that these seamers' wickets are being produced because Middlesex have a strong pace attack, but are devoid of spin. Given the helpful nature of the wicket, it was surprising that it took half an hour for the first wicket to fall, but then Corey Collymore took two in two balls, then Steve Finn took two in two balls, then Tim Murtagh took two more (and also later repeated the two in two balls trick) and suddenly Kent were 22 for 6. Azhar Mahmood, making one of his occasional appearances and batting at 8, led a minor revival, but when he was last out for 32 off 41 balls, the visitors had been routed for 87 with Murtagh taking 5 for 27. The Middlesex pace bowlers had used the conditions skilfully, but Kent, with some of their absentees now back in the side, should have done a lot better than this spineless effort.
The Middlesex openers did not look entirely at ease, but Scott Newman (22) and Sam Robson (40, with 7 fours) battled through to 54 before the wickets started to tumble in a collapse almost as comprehensive as Kent's. Finny (18* off 14 balls) was the only other batsman to reach double figures as he managed to lift the total up to the dizzy heights of 153 all out (a lead of 66), with Azhar again taking the leading role with 6 for 36. Three more Kent wickets fell before the close and 23 wickets falling on the first day was as many as many of us could remember. The game had started at noon because of the ludicrous decision to schedule a night match in Canterbury on the previous evening and so it was ten past eight and distinctly cool before play ended for the day.
Six more wickets went down before lunch on day 2, but Azhar was still there and he had now been joined by ex-Middlesex man Simon Cook. Simon had looked like becoming a genuine allrounder in his Middx days, but his batting went backwards after he joined Kent. On this occasion, however, batting at no 11, he batted superbly, assisted by the ridiculous Middlesex tactics of persisting in giving a single to Azhar so that they could attack the vulnerable tailender, even after Cooky had started crashing the ball to the boundary and was rapidly catching up with Azhar's score. The total had reached 232, the partnership was 92 and both players had gone to 50 before Cooky fell for 51 (with 8 fours and the highest score of the match at that point), leaving Azhar, enjoying a terrific match, on 50*.
Murtagh was the best bowler with match figures of 9 for 110 and is now clearly the club's leading wicket taker this season, while Collymore took 5 for 69 and Finn 5 for 81 (in 33 overs, more than anyone else in the match). This left Middlesex a target of 167, which might have been tricky, but the pitch had clearly eased and Robson and Newman began to look comfortable as they put on 120 for the first wicket before Joe Denly, bowling the first over of spin in the match at 5.25pm on day 2, despatched Newman for 45. Within a couple of minutes, the players were off the pitch because of the strengthening rain and we all had to come back for day 3, well, some of us did. Kent decided to employ their spin twins Denly and Rob Key plus the little seen medium pace of James Goodman on Tuesday morning (to be fair to Goodman, he swung the ball more than anyone else had done in the match), so it was no surprise that Middlesex took only 23 minutes to score the 47 they needed to win by 9 wickets. Sam Robson finished on 94* off 121 balls with 12 fours and a six, giving him a match aggregate of 134 for once out, easily the highest of the match. Robbo is now top of the Middx averages and is looking like a permanent fixture in the team with everyone else fighting for the remaining batting places.
The pitch was officially rated as "below average", but there was no points deduction and neither were any points deducted for slow over rates, which was surprising given the large red numbers displayed on the scoreboards for both teams: are these numbers of any relevance? As I left the ground on Tuesday morning, I could have sworn that I heard the roar of When Johnny Comes Marching Home being belted out from the home dressing room, but what relevance could a song from the American Civil War in the 1860s have to a Middx victory in 2011... it must have been my imagination, I suppose? Middx 19 points Kent 3.
T20 Matches
Kent v Middlesex
Kent were 21 for 6 in this match presumably as a result of weather effects on the conditions. Middlesex still contrived to lose! Langeveldt played the critical innings. Can he have ever done so before? The Middlesex batting is looking very flimsy and they may have the weakest line up around. Malan hasn’t got a run for weeks and Rogers seems to be injured. Newman who was dropped now seems the most likely to contribute, albeit from a non opening role.
Glamorgan v Essex
I got home during the nineteenth over of Glamorgan’s innings bowled by Bopara. He had already gone for six off the first ball and two more were to follow. Big overs make such a difference in this form of the game. This over saw Glamorgan progress from 114 for 5, woefully inadequate, to 136 for 6, something to keep them in the game. When Essex batted Bopara had no idea how to play graham Wagg and soon departed. Owais immediately looked a class above anything else on display. He played the seamers with ease and his footwork against the slower bowlers was masterful. He clubbed a couple of his enormous sixes and was involved in two trademark run outs. I can’t remember why England dropped him. He remains a class act. He eventually hit a full toss to the only fielder in the ring on the off side where after Essex almost imploded but eventually got home with one ball to spare.
The Welsh Wizard distinguished himself by bowling in shades despite the fact that the sun had gone down. Glamorgan fielded Jones of Hants in their side, apparently on loan. I know that this happens in soccer but who decides whether it is unfair? Strauss is playing for Somerset next week. Why should the Indians tolerate this?
Surrey v Middlesex
Surrey scored 163 for 5 and in reply Middlesex lost only three wickets but fell 21 runs short. Middlesex coach Richard Scott commented afterwards: "Generally I'm pleased, we competed as well as we could. I think all the lads gave it their all but we just came up short in the end." This seems to mean that Middlesex are just not good enough. What is he going to do about it?
Somerset v Glamorgan
Glamorgan won the toss and it is hard to know how many they would have had to score to win. Perhaps if they had got as many as the feeble Gloucester line up got at Uxbridge it would have been interesting. In the event they got more than often seemed likely, 166 for 8, but this was woefully inadequate as Somerset won at a canter with three overs to spare. Trego opened and set the tone by hitting the first ball of the innings, bowled by the Welsh Wizard, out of the ground. When he went for thirty odd Banger took over and played sublimely. Kieswetter’s absence meant that Buttler kept wicket and there was room to include Meschede who somewhat surprisingly batted at three. However, all was revealed as he matched Banger for tempo and scored his 53 from 28 deliveries and hit four effortless sixies. Buttler came in with only a handful required but scored off each ball he faced and when the scores were level he struck an enormous six over extra cover. How this lot would play on a green surface or a turner who knows but at Taunton they look fabulous. Earlier Peterson had impressed briefly. I had not seen him bat before and he showed some real class until he was bowled, a la KP, by Kartik’s arm ball.
Hampshire v Sussex
This was a great match. Hampshire got off to a flier with Afridi opening the batting but got bogged down against the spinners. Then Rana Naved and Umar Gul gave a masterclass in bowling at the death so that Hampshire finished with a below par looking 126 for 8. Nash took nine off Mascarenas’ opening over and then Vincent got a five from a ricochet after he deliberately ran into the line of a throw. Sussex looked home and dry at 52 for 1 but then quality leg spin at both ends in the form of Afridi and Imran Tahir were introduced. In seven overs between them they took 6 for 23. By the time Cork returned to take the final two wickets Sussex’ goose was well and truly cooked.
Kia Oval Matters
The Great Jack reports from south of the river
I volunteered for more Glamorgan watching at the Oval after last week's stint at Lord's. Captain Alviro Petersen won the toss and proceeded to dominate the first day with a very fine innings and he found the perfect partner in Mike Powell (99) in a terrific stand of 225 for the third wicket. From 329 for 2, however, things started to go wrong: Tim Linley changed the complexion of the innings by taking three quick wickets early on day 2 and as Jade Dernbach and Chris Jordan joined in the fun (all three pace bowlers ended with three wickets), Glamorgan slumped to 419 all out, with Petersen (who was to take no further part in the match) ninth out for 210. The total should have been a lot higher, but it was still a challenging total for Surrey to match, despite the absence of Glamorgan's two best bowlers at Lord's, Jimmy Harris and Graham Wagg.
The visitors pace attack had a very inexperienced look to it as three 22 year olds Will Owen (4 first class matches before this season), Chris Ashling (also 4 first class matches before this season) and left armer Alex Jones (on his first class debut) formed the spearhead; they did well, however, as the hosts fell to 51 for three before a fine stand of 90 between Mark Ramprakash (67) and Steve Davies (77) got Surrey back into it, but after that there was a good looking 42 from Tom Maynard and not much else as Surrey slipped to a disappointing 284 all out. Ashling excelled himself with 4 for 47 and Owen backed him up with 3 for 85. Glamorgan had a significant lead of 135 and if they could build on this quickly, they would give themselves an excellent chance of winning.
The first serious rain for about three months, however, hindered their plans, but Gareth Rees was a revelation as he hit 126 off 173 balls, dominating a stand of 185 with Powell (67*) for the second wicket. Glamorgan batted on and on, however, and completely killed the game by setting Surrey 395 in 44 overs, ridiculous! Why teams decide to kill off matches instead of giving themselves a chance of winning is totally beyond me. Surrey did provide some entertainment, however, by rattling up 194-1 in 35 overs with openers Jason Roy (scoring his maiden first class century with 106* off 109 balls with 14 fours and a six) and skipper Rory Hamilton-Brown (68 off 64 balls with 10 fours and a six) enjoying themselves in an opening stand of 150. Glamorgan 10 points Surrey 7.
Middlesex IIs Matters
The Great Jack Morgan knows how to have a good time
Somerset won the toss and chose to bowl first and this seemed to be working well with Sam Robson, Adam London and Josh Davey back in the dressing room with only 73 on the board, but there was little wrong with the pitch and skipper Dan Housego and 17 year old James Kettleborough (no relation) cashed in with a splendid stand of 243 for the fourth wicket. Housego reached his century off 141 balls, but Kettleborough got there slightly quicker in 138 balls. Housego eventually went for 151, with Kettleborough following for 117 and after the declaration at 371 for 8 after 82 overs (medium pacer James Haggett taking 3 for 51), there was time for left arm seamer Gurjit Sandhu to nip out both openers before the close. Two more wickets followed quickly in the morning, but South African Travis Townsend was in no trouble at all and 16 year old keeper James Regan helped him to add 62 for the fifth wicket before allrounder Adam Dibble joined Townsend in a long stand worth 148 for the sixth wicket. Dibble fell for 61, but Townsend, who had made 137 in his only game for Glamorgan 2s last season, finished with a classy 127 before the visitors declared after 95 overs at 308 for 8, conceding a lead of 63. Sandhu bowled better than I had seen him do previously and finished with 3 for 73.
Middlesex needed to build on their lead quickly and this was accomplished impressively by openers Adam London (70) and Sam Robson (91) with a stand of 145 for the first wicket, but wickets then fell regularly until the declaration at 237 for 7. Skipper Housego (37*) was the only other batsman to reach double figures and Josh Davey recorded his third duck in three innings against Somerset in four days. Saqlain Mushtaq (rumoured to be in contention for a first team place in the currently spinless Somerset side with Murali Kartik away at the IPL) had not impressed in the first innings, but he found considerable turn on the third morning, finishing with 4 for 43 and he was well supported by 19 year old slow left armer Jack Leach with 3 for 25. Somerset quickly lost two wickets as they set off in pursuit of 302 to win in 60 overs and although Calum Haggett and Craig Meschede put on 69 for the third wicket, it looked unlikely that the visitors could chase down the runs. It did look likely that Middlesex could win however when Somerset fell to 127 for 6, but Meschede was still there and he was joined by Leach in a stubborn stand of 64 for the seventh wicket which ensured the draw. Meschede became the fourth centurion of the match shortly before falling to Andy Laws for 105 and the game ended with Somerset on 213 for 7 off 61 overs.
Josh Davey finally got something from the week with two wickets and off-spinner Laws also collected two wickets and could easily have had more in an impressive spell of 20-10-32-2. If there had been a second spinner in the Middlesex side (actually there was, but he was keeping wicket), they might well have won. There were an astonishing 127 extras in this match, caused by some wayward bowling as well as novice wicket keeping and Adam did tolerably well to keep the number of byes down to 34 compared to the 51 conceded by his opposite number.
I found the performances of the newcomers in this match rather encouraging. Seamer Tom Helm looked quite useful, Kettleborough obviously looked more than useful, but we have plenty of good young batters, so I found the sight of a home-grown spinner emerging in the shape of Laws possibly the most encouraging of all. It is too soon to speculate about his chances of first team cricket, but it is pleasant just to have someone we can keep an eye on. He did not have much opportunity with the bat (8* and 2* at no 9), but one had the impression that he could also turn out to be able to bat. When Ravi returns from university, we will have a balanced home produced spin attack... in the 2s at any rate.
I braved the horrors of the M25 to see the 3-dayer between Middx 2s and a weak-looking Kent side at the Brunton Memorial Ground at Radlett. The ground looks pleasant enough, but it is spoiled by i) the ugly pylons disfiguring the countryside; ii) the noisy trains roaring past; iii) the lack of seats; iv) the absolutely useless scoreboard, which kept breaking down so that we were never sure of the score; and v) the free teamsheet, which now costs 20 pence! Tom Scollay won the toss and decided to bowl first on a track that looked as if it might give some assistance to the seamers. This did not appear to have worked initially as 17 year old opener Dan Bell-Drummond made a good looking 69 and, assisted by captain James Goodman (36), he had led Kent to 105 for 1 shortly before lunch. However, wickets then fell regularly and Calum McLeod (25) and Tyler Griffin (24) were the only other batsmen to reach double figures as Kent were all out for 171 (later mysteriously increased to 176). Robbie Williams was the star bowler with 4 for 57 in 19 overs, while Tom Parsons (2 for 21) and Gurjit Sandhu (2 for 13) gave good support. When Middx batted, Sam Robson was in brilliant form, but the side had slumped to 106 for 5 before he found a reliable partner in off-spinner Andy Laws, batting at 7, who contributed a valuable 32 to the sixth wicket stand of 110 and Williams also helped to add 64 for the seventh wicket before Robbo fell for 170 (off 242 balls) out of 280 with 21 fours and 2 sixes. This was the signal for Williams (enjoying a fine match) to reveal his batting skills as he took over the dominant role, adding 57 for the eighth wicket with Sandhu (19) and 51 for the ninth with the promising Harry Podmore (29), before Robbie fell for a fine 80 (off 131 balls with 11 fours and a six) and Middx were all out for 388, a lead of 217. The best of the visiting bowlers were off-spinner Ally Neale (4 for 56) and pace bowler Andy Sutton (3 for 112). Kent again made a decent start to their innings through Bell-Drummond (34) and Australian Will Prowse (61), who had played for Middx in the recent three-dayer at the Rose Bowl. However, the best partnership of their second innings was the impressive 121 put on by the stubborn fifth wicket pair of McLeod (86) and Griffin (51), which kept the result in doubt, but from 247 for 4, they collapsed to 294 all out (Williams 3 for 91, Parsons 3 for 90), leaving Middx just 78 to win. It took Middx just over an hour to knock off the runs to win by 9 wickets in an entertaining session featuring 6 fours and 4 sixes: Middx 83-1 (Robson 50* off 50 balls, Scollay 23* off 18 balls).
Lord Ray Matters
I received the following from Lord Ray
Having seen Pietersen make 70-odd today (well, some of it today), I now predict that the career of the PPS as a Test cricketer is over. It was inevitable that he would make some runs eventually but the manner of their making was significant. His foot movements bear no relation to the line of the ball nor, come to that, do they have sufficient to do with the length. Worse, though, is the fact that he is still playing so far out in front of the left leg. I cannot claim to have made a close study of him when he was actually getting runs but I suspect that he must then have been playing the ball far more under the head - we exclude the sweep here, of course - and this is essential if you hope to survive when playing across the line. His runs today notwithstanding, he has not eliminated the things that have caused problems for him. The penny must drop even with the selectors and we shall soon see the last of him as a Test cricketer.
Cricketer Matters
The Great Jack Morgan is not happy with changes in the magazine
The Cricketer is going downhill. Their England's Got Talent piece on how youngsters are now thriving in county cricket would have been more convincing if they had not used Leicestershire as their main example. Leics are just terrible: they are bottom of Division Two and getting worse even as I write, collapsing to 48 all out and losing to Northants by an innings and 155! Equally nonsensical was Benj Moorhead's Middx report: he makes Dan Housego look like an idiot as he quotes him saying "Fraser explained that there were guys a bit more experienced than me. But I was back in the team for the game against Essex" when Gus, Dan, Dan's dad and the whole world knew that the reason he was out was that Strauss had to play, but Straussy was not available for the Essex game, so Dan was back in! And Richard Scott "top man"? What crap! And what is this nonsense about Twits twitting and the worst of the Twits too... even the best of the Twits would be too dreadful to tolerate.
Old Danes Gathering
The fifth annual Old Danes Gathering will be held on Friday 29 July at Shepherds Bush CC from 2pm. This has been a popular opportunity to meet old faces and renew acquaintances. Over a hundred alumni have attended the previous events and you are encouraged to contact others and bring along your own core party. There will be a bar open all afternoon and food will be available. Some have to travel considerable distances and wives, partners and guests will be most welcome.
Football Matters
Andrew Baker recruits his Ladies team from across the globe but suffers from Kolpak restrictions, work permit and immigrant status problems like other businesses. Here are two of his summer signings hoping that they will be able to make the short crossing across the Mersey to realize their ambitions with Andrew.
Googlies and Chinamen
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 103
July 2011
Caption Competition
1. Geoff Boycott: Blah, blah blah, that’s the way son. Don Bradman learned to play with a stump and a golf ball. Blah, blah, blah….
2. Alastair Cook: Yes Sir Ian, We all know what you would do with it.
Out and About with the Professor
It was an exciting e-mail to receive. The Secretary of Harrogate Cricket Club had written to all members to say that Yorkshire were due to play, once again, at Harrogate. This was news! It has been more than a decade since Yorkshire played at what is still called: “The County Ground”, having taken the decision to focus all home games on Headingley and Scarborough. This decision, which seems to have been echoed all around the county circuit, was principally a financial one – the argument being that if Headingley, in particular, was to retain the status of a Test match venue it had to have the income streams to support it. The loss of a county game for Harrogate, Middlesbrough, Bradford, etc., wrecked their finances but…it was thought to be a price worth paying.
The ensuing years have been something of a struggle for Harrogate. While the playing surface still looks very good, the “infra-structure” has begun to look very impoverished. The thousand or so plastic seats bolted to some low concrete terraces have started to crumble and disintegrate; the perimeter fence has collapsed in some places and the old wooden pavilion while full of “character” was also increasingly full of rot and splinters. On the playing side, only the Yorkshire League’s policy of “no relegation” has saved the team in a number of years.
But things are looking up! The season before last a mysterious fire gutted the old pavilion. The neighbours who saw two men running away from the blaze were unable to identify either the secretary or the treasurer and a combination of the insurance money and the usual fund raising activities have resulted in the construction of a brand new building. And very fine it looks. The Club have eschewed both the Headingley “steel and green glass” and the “Tesco village clock” schools of architecture and have built a modern confident looking building which is due to open shortly. Most of the old plastic seats and much of the terracing has been removed and the ground is starting to look very smart. Even the rusting old “Leyland Gates” (Maurice being the Club’s most famous son) are being scrubbed and painted (or whatever you do to rusting gates).
And now Yorkshire are back!
Well, in truth, there isn’t a county game being played at Harrogate, nor a one-dayer, nor even a 20/Twenty. It was true that Yorkshire were actually playing, but only to practice and even then only a mix of professionals and Academy players.
Still I felt the need to look in.
They all did the silly warm-ups we have seen so often and then each had about four overs batting and bowling in the middle. Young Barney Gibson kept wicket tidily enough although when you saw him in conversation with the 6’7’’ Hannon-Dalby you wondered if his neck would ever recover.
The players I spoke to thought the exercise was just about worthwhile – better than having a net, but they would all rather have been playing in a match of some sort which I would not have thought would be difficult to arrange. Most of the players who batted were very severe on a couple of the young Yorkshire spinners and hit them hard and straight down the ground. Unfortunately, this is the precise location of the new pavilion. While no damage was done the workman were, for a while, under something of a barrage but they bore it with the good humour characteristic of so many people in this part of the world – they merely suggested that it would be nice to actually get the windows fitted in before the cricketers broke them. Seemed reasonable enough to me.
Hart/Wright Matters
I received the following from Bill Hart
I have waited for the statutory cooling off period before penning a reply to Googlies 102. I have taken counselling from my wife, indulged myself with some Oriental meditation, and even tried to think like Wallis. All of this was to no avail. I must reply. My submission lies below, I realise that you have editorial rights, but I hope it is printed in its entirety.
"I realise, of course, that Steve Wright's outburst in Googlies 102 was stimulated by the Editor, and therefore before attempting a reply, I checked my comments as reported in Googlies 101.
From personal experience, I know that J.Sharp Esq. does tend to "ginger things up" in order to provoke a reaction. However, although the remark was made privately with no expectation of publication, nothing significant needs to be changed. The only change would be that I said "bowl at middle & leg" rather than at him. I never bowled at a batsman in my life.
In my opinion, David Jukes, if allowed to settle was a dangerous hitter, but unlike David Hays of Finchley, or our own, Len Stubbs, his batting was not fundamentally sound. He had an eye like a "Shite-hawk" and could hit the ball really hard, However, if the attack was directed at middle & leg, with pace and a full length, he gave himself room with a shuffle to leg, and was usually out.
Looking into our records, which I realise Steve decries, it can be seen that between 1966 (David's first appearance against South Hampstead) and 1975, his scores were 42, 7, 7, 14, 6, 18*, 7, 0, 12, 3, & 55*. this could fairly be described as " a promising first appearance, and a good knock in 1975, but overall nothing to shout about".
Sheperds Bush was one of my favourite fixtures. I liked the ground, and the team was full of personality, ranging from Bob Talbot, in my earliest days, through Chris Langhorne, Carl Goldsmith, Keith Jones, Peter Minor & Roy Cutler etc. They were a very pleasant crowd, and yet, I am ashamed to admit that I do not remember Steve Wright at all.
I played in all about a dozen times against the Bush. I believe that, contrary to Steve Wright's statement, a number of their batsmen were dis-comforted by pace. If they weren't then they gave a damned good impression of someone who was.
If Steve really thinks that ex-South Hampstead players spend their time congratulating each other, then Jim Sharp can quickly put him right. There can be no more self-critical group. It is a pity that he did not stick to his original plan to write about "cheating", then South Hampstead would not even have been involved.
Finally, Steve's sneering comments about Terry Cordaroy have no place in "Googlies". It is invidious to compare two such different players, but I know who I'd rather have playing on my side." Well there, for better or worse, it is.
The Great Jack Morgan also responded to Steve’s article
“That was a nice article from SVW, but I do not think that R Reed and M Josephs played in '69, when we had the likes of Peter Mailey in the team. 1970 would be my guess for that one, but Steve knows me better than to think that I would be involved in any 20 over frivolities!”
To assist Bill’s recall I include a picture of Steve taken at Lord’s in 2008 with Dave Perrin
England Matters
Watching Trott bat at Cardiff reminded me of watching Cordaroy score a hundred in a Wednesday match at South Hampstead- technically sound but not particularly challenging. South Hampstead members from the early seventies would have been reminded of George Bottrill who came to the club via the Essendine connection. Jayarwardene kept wicket wearing a black T shirt under his outer shirt. George used to scamper around Milverton Road wearing an earlier version underneath a polyester white Marks and Spencer dress shirt.
I went to the first day at Lord’s with the Professor. It was another hot day-remember them?-and we were tucked away at the back of the Mound Stand and caught none of the sun all day. It big a problem with applying for test tickets that you cannot be very specific about where you want to sit. However, there was a tricky sequence of events which began to unfold at the toss. Dilshan won the toss and put England in which seemed a bizarre and cowardly decision but which almost came off but ultimately backfired. This brought the prolific Cook to the crease with the out of form Strauss. The latter was quickly trapped by Walagedara. It has now been decided that he can’t play left armers. But my worst fears were realised as Trott came out to join Cook and the prospect of the two having a net all day became a distinct possibility. Lakmal had other ideas and mixed prodigious leg cutters with the odd inswinger and soon had Trott LBW to one of the latter. KP strode in and there wasn’t time for Dilshan to turn to his slow left armer, Herath, as he played a half hearted push at a wide one and became Lakmal’s second victim. 28 for 3 made it look as if Dilshan had seen something in the wicket but it was really poor batting combined with the fact that modern batsmen are so spoiled with perfect conditions that they have little technique to deal with any deviation in the air or of the wicket.
Bell joined Cook and our technically best equipped batsman had several scares against Lakmal’s leg cutters. They survived till after lunch but then Bell succumbed to Walagedara caught at slip where he had dallied before lunch. Morgan found himself coming in much earlier than he can possibly have anticipated and immediately asserted himself tonking Herath for six. He is changing the way test match cricket is played. He is such a good player and so self confident that he dictates straight away.
Net runs matters. Cook dropped Paranavitana on 9, which takes his 96 down to 40 odd whilst Prior dropped Dilshan on 80 which takes his 120 odd down to about 7. One of the commentators said that Cook was good at short leg. He must be confusing him with someone else. He gets just about everything wrong there. He is also crap elsewhere. His drop noted here was at slip. Why was Trott not fielding there? Knight reckons he is Warwicks first choice slipper.
Kandamby skippered the Sri Lankans in the Twenty20 match and decided to insert England. Lumb and Kieswetter slogged deliveries up in the air which brought KP and Morgan to the crease together. Interestingly Morgan was made V captain for this match and looks to be having a secure furure in all forms of the international game. These two looked very good and looked to be taking England to a respectable total (say 175). But Morgan holed out in the deep, unusually for him finding the fielder, and then KP fell to his nemesis the slow left armer, in this instance Jayasuriya. What followed was pathetic with no one able to play any sort of innings required on the occasion. The total of 136 was woefully short and Woakes kicked off the SL innings by spraying it all over the place. Is a medium pacer any good at all if he has no control? Strangely when Jayasuriya crashed Dernbach to mid off he had had hardly any of the strike and Jayawardene had got the bulk of the 40 scored including an impressive straight six. England’s bowling looked very mediocre and Broad retired to the outfield leaving Morgan to run things in the middle. Surely this wasn’t the plan at the outset? Sangakkara was the perfect foil for the exquisite Jayawardene and SL strolled to victory over a humiliated England side. If this is any indication of the ODI series to come the ongoing low level of England in one day cricket will be reinforced.
The weird situation with Yardy gave the England selectors a tricky problem. They had to pretend that Samit was complying with their ridiculous fitness regime. Why? Because the only alternative is Blackwell who also disqualifies himself from selection. Samit appeared in kit that must only be one size down from Mark Cosgrove’s and clearly his selection is a compromise that the England set up would have preferred not to make.
Middlesex Matters
The Great Jack Morgan gives us his monthly update
Yet another very green track was served up for the Championship match against Kent at Lord's. This was more understandable, given the unsettled June weather, than those produced in the droughts of April and May and at least Middlesex had the sense to bowl on it rather than bat as they had against Glamorgan. It was impossible to banish the thought that these seamers' wickets are being produced because Middlesex have a strong pace attack, but are devoid of spin. Given the helpful nature of the wicket, it was surprising that it took half an hour for the first wicket to fall, but then Corey Collymore took two in two balls, then Steve Finn took two in two balls, then Tim Murtagh took two more (and also later repeated the two in two balls trick) and suddenly Kent were 22 for 6. Azhar Mahmood, making one of his occasional appearances and batting at 8, led a minor revival, but when he was last out for 32 off 41 balls, the visitors had been routed for 87 with Murtagh taking 5 for 27. The Middlesex pace bowlers had used the conditions skilfully, but Kent, with some of their absentees now back in the side, should have done a lot better than this spineless effort.
The Middlesex openers did not look entirely at ease, but Scott Newman (22) and Sam Robson (40, with 7 fours) battled through to 54 before the wickets started to tumble in a collapse almost as comprehensive as Kent's. Finny (18* off 14 balls) was the only other batsman to reach double figures as he managed to lift the total up to the dizzy heights of 153 all out (a lead of 66), with Azhar again taking the leading role with 6 for 36. Three more Kent wickets fell before the close and 23 wickets falling on the first day was as many as many of us could remember. The game had started at noon because of the ludicrous decision to schedule a night match in Canterbury on the previous evening and so it was ten past eight and distinctly cool before play ended for the day.
Six more wickets went down before lunch on day 2, but Azhar was still there and he had now been joined by ex-Middlesex man Simon Cook. Simon had looked like becoming a genuine allrounder in his Middx days, but his batting went backwards after he joined Kent. On this occasion, however, batting at no 11, he batted superbly, assisted by the ridiculous Middlesex tactics of persisting in giving a single to Azhar so that they could attack the vulnerable tailender, even after Cooky had started crashing the ball to the boundary and was rapidly catching up with Azhar's score. The total had reached 232, the partnership was 92 and both players had gone to 50 before Cooky fell for 51 (with 8 fours and the highest score of the match at that point), leaving Azhar, enjoying a terrific match, on 50*.
Murtagh was the best bowler with match figures of 9 for 110 and is now clearly the club's leading wicket taker this season, while Collymore took 5 for 69 and Finn 5 for 81 (in 33 overs, more than anyone else in the match). This left Middlesex a target of 167, which might have been tricky, but the pitch had clearly eased and Robson and Newman began to look comfortable as they put on 120 for the first wicket before Joe Denly, bowling the first over of spin in the match at 5.25pm on day 2, despatched Newman for 45. Within a couple of minutes, the players were off the pitch because of the strengthening rain and we all had to come back for day 3, well, some of us did. Kent decided to employ their spin twins Denly and Rob Key plus the little seen medium pace of James Goodman on Tuesday morning (to be fair to Goodman, he swung the ball more than anyone else had done in the match), so it was no surprise that Middlesex took only 23 minutes to score the 47 they needed to win by 9 wickets. Sam Robson finished on 94* off 121 balls with 12 fours and a six, giving him a match aggregate of 134 for once out, easily the highest of the match. Robbo is now top of the Middx averages and is looking like a permanent fixture in the team with everyone else fighting for the remaining batting places.
The pitch was officially rated as "below average", but there was no points deduction and neither were any points deducted for slow over rates, which was surprising given the large red numbers displayed on the scoreboards for both teams: are these numbers of any relevance? As I left the ground on Tuesday morning, I could have sworn that I heard the roar of When Johnny Comes Marching Home being belted out from the home dressing room, but what relevance could a song from the American Civil War in the 1860s have to a Middx victory in 2011... it must have been my imagination, I suppose? Middx 19 points Kent 3.
T20 Matches
Kent v Middlesex
Kent were 21 for 6 in this match presumably as a result of weather effects on the conditions. Middlesex still contrived to lose! Langeveldt played the critical innings. Can he have ever done so before? The Middlesex batting is looking very flimsy and they may have the weakest line up around. Malan hasn’t got a run for weeks and Rogers seems to be injured. Newman who was dropped now seems the most likely to contribute, albeit from a non opening role.
Glamorgan v Essex
I got home during the nineteenth over of Glamorgan’s innings bowled by Bopara. He had already gone for six off the first ball and two more were to follow. Big overs make such a difference in this form of the game. This over saw Glamorgan progress from 114 for 5, woefully inadequate, to 136 for 6, something to keep them in the game. When Essex batted Bopara had no idea how to play graham Wagg and soon departed. Owais immediately looked a class above anything else on display. He played the seamers with ease and his footwork against the slower bowlers was masterful. He clubbed a couple of his enormous sixes and was involved in two trademark run outs. I can’t remember why England dropped him. He remains a class act. He eventually hit a full toss to the only fielder in the ring on the off side where after Essex almost imploded but eventually got home with one ball to spare.
The Welsh Wizard distinguished himself by bowling in shades despite the fact that the sun had gone down. Glamorgan fielded Jones of Hants in their side, apparently on loan. I know that this happens in soccer but who decides whether it is unfair? Strauss is playing for Somerset next week. Why should the Indians tolerate this?
Surrey v Middlesex
Surrey scored 163 for 5 and in reply Middlesex lost only three wickets but fell 21 runs short. Middlesex coach Richard Scott commented afterwards: "Generally I'm pleased, we competed as well as we could. I think all the lads gave it their all but we just came up short in the end." This seems to mean that Middlesex are just not good enough. What is he going to do about it?
Somerset v Glamorgan
Glamorgan won the toss and it is hard to know how many they would have had to score to win. Perhaps if they had got as many as the feeble Gloucester line up got at Uxbridge it would have been interesting. In the event they got more than often seemed likely, 166 for 8, but this was woefully inadequate as Somerset won at a canter with three overs to spare. Trego opened and set the tone by hitting the first ball of the innings, bowled by the Welsh Wizard, out of the ground. When he went for thirty odd Banger took over and played sublimely. Kieswetter’s absence meant that Buttler kept wicket and there was room to include Meschede who somewhat surprisingly batted at three. However, all was revealed as he matched Banger for tempo and scored his 53 from 28 deliveries and hit four effortless sixies. Buttler came in with only a handful required but scored off each ball he faced and when the scores were level he struck an enormous six over extra cover. How this lot would play on a green surface or a turner who knows but at Taunton they look fabulous. Earlier Peterson had impressed briefly. I had not seen him bat before and he showed some real class until he was bowled, a la KP, by Kartik’s arm ball.
Hampshire v Sussex
This was a great match. Hampshire got off to a flier with Afridi opening the batting but got bogged down against the spinners. Then Rana Naved and Umar Gul gave a masterclass in bowling at the death so that Hampshire finished with a below par looking 126 for 8. Nash took nine off Mascarenas’ opening over and then Vincent got a five from a ricochet after he deliberately ran into the line of a throw. Sussex looked home and dry at 52 for 1 but then quality leg spin at both ends in the form of Afridi and Imran Tahir were introduced. In seven overs between them they took 6 for 23. By the time Cork returned to take the final two wickets Sussex’ goose was well and truly cooked.
Kia Oval Matters
The Great Jack reports from south of the river
I volunteered for more Glamorgan watching at the Oval after last week's stint at Lord's. Captain Alviro Petersen won the toss and proceeded to dominate the first day with a very fine innings and he found the perfect partner in Mike Powell (99) in a terrific stand of 225 for the third wicket. From 329 for 2, however, things started to go wrong: Tim Linley changed the complexion of the innings by taking three quick wickets early on day 2 and as Jade Dernbach and Chris Jordan joined in the fun (all three pace bowlers ended with three wickets), Glamorgan slumped to 419 all out, with Petersen (who was to take no further part in the match) ninth out for 210. The total should have been a lot higher, but it was still a challenging total for Surrey to match, despite the absence of Glamorgan's two best bowlers at Lord's, Jimmy Harris and Graham Wagg.
The visitors pace attack had a very inexperienced look to it as three 22 year olds Will Owen (4 first class matches before this season), Chris Ashling (also 4 first class matches before this season) and left armer Alex Jones (on his first class debut) formed the spearhead; they did well, however, as the hosts fell to 51 for three before a fine stand of 90 between Mark Ramprakash (67) and Steve Davies (77) got Surrey back into it, but after that there was a good looking 42 from Tom Maynard and not much else as Surrey slipped to a disappointing 284 all out. Ashling excelled himself with 4 for 47 and Owen backed him up with 3 for 85. Glamorgan had a significant lead of 135 and if they could build on this quickly, they would give themselves an excellent chance of winning.
The first serious rain for about three months, however, hindered their plans, but Gareth Rees was a revelation as he hit 126 off 173 balls, dominating a stand of 185 with Powell (67*) for the second wicket. Glamorgan batted on and on, however, and completely killed the game by setting Surrey 395 in 44 overs, ridiculous! Why teams decide to kill off matches instead of giving themselves a chance of winning is totally beyond me. Surrey did provide some entertainment, however, by rattling up 194-1 in 35 overs with openers Jason Roy (scoring his maiden first class century with 106* off 109 balls with 14 fours and a six) and skipper Rory Hamilton-Brown (68 off 64 balls with 10 fours and a six) enjoying themselves in an opening stand of 150. Glamorgan 10 points Surrey 7.
Middlesex IIs Matters
The Great Jack Morgan knows how to have a good time
Somerset won the toss and chose to bowl first and this seemed to be working well with Sam Robson, Adam London and Josh Davey back in the dressing room with only 73 on the board, but there was little wrong with the pitch and skipper Dan Housego and 17 year old James Kettleborough (no relation) cashed in with a splendid stand of 243 for the fourth wicket. Housego reached his century off 141 balls, but Kettleborough got there slightly quicker in 138 balls. Housego eventually went for 151, with Kettleborough following for 117 and after the declaration at 371 for 8 after 82 overs (medium pacer James Haggett taking 3 for 51), there was time for left arm seamer Gurjit Sandhu to nip out both openers before the close. Two more wickets followed quickly in the morning, but South African Travis Townsend was in no trouble at all and 16 year old keeper James Regan helped him to add 62 for the fifth wicket before allrounder Adam Dibble joined Townsend in a long stand worth 148 for the sixth wicket. Dibble fell for 61, but Townsend, who had made 137 in his only game for Glamorgan 2s last season, finished with a classy 127 before the visitors declared after 95 overs at 308 for 8, conceding a lead of 63. Sandhu bowled better than I had seen him do previously and finished with 3 for 73.
Middlesex needed to build on their lead quickly and this was accomplished impressively by openers Adam London (70) and Sam Robson (91) with a stand of 145 for the first wicket, but wickets then fell regularly until the declaration at 237 for 7. Skipper Housego (37*) was the only other batsman to reach double figures and Josh Davey recorded his third duck in three innings against Somerset in four days. Saqlain Mushtaq (rumoured to be in contention for a first team place in the currently spinless Somerset side with Murali Kartik away at the IPL) had not impressed in the first innings, but he found considerable turn on the third morning, finishing with 4 for 43 and he was well supported by 19 year old slow left armer Jack Leach with 3 for 25. Somerset quickly lost two wickets as they set off in pursuit of 302 to win in 60 overs and although Calum Haggett and Craig Meschede put on 69 for the third wicket, it looked unlikely that the visitors could chase down the runs. It did look likely that Middlesex could win however when Somerset fell to 127 for 6, but Meschede was still there and he was joined by Leach in a stubborn stand of 64 for the seventh wicket which ensured the draw. Meschede became the fourth centurion of the match shortly before falling to Andy Laws for 105 and the game ended with Somerset on 213 for 7 off 61 overs.
Josh Davey finally got something from the week with two wickets and off-spinner Laws also collected two wickets and could easily have had more in an impressive spell of 20-10-32-2. If there had been a second spinner in the Middlesex side (actually there was, but he was keeping wicket), they might well have won. There were an astonishing 127 extras in this match, caused by some wayward bowling as well as novice wicket keeping and Adam did tolerably well to keep the number of byes down to 34 compared to the 51 conceded by his opposite number.
I found the performances of the newcomers in this match rather encouraging. Seamer Tom Helm looked quite useful, Kettleborough obviously looked more than useful, but we have plenty of good young batters, so I found the sight of a home-grown spinner emerging in the shape of Laws possibly the most encouraging of all. It is too soon to speculate about his chances of first team cricket, but it is pleasant just to have someone we can keep an eye on. He did not have much opportunity with the bat (8* and 2* at no 9), but one had the impression that he could also turn out to be able to bat. When Ravi returns from university, we will have a balanced home produced spin attack... in the 2s at any rate.
I braved the horrors of the M25 to see the 3-dayer between Middx 2s and a weak-looking Kent side at the Brunton Memorial Ground at Radlett. The ground looks pleasant enough, but it is spoiled by i) the ugly pylons disfiguring the countryside; ii) the noisy trains roaring past; iii) the lack of seats; iv) the absolutely useless scoreboard, which kept breaking down so that we were never sure of the score; and v) the free teamsheet, which now costs 20 pence! Tom Scollay won the toss and decided to bowl first on a track that looked as if it might give some assistance to the seamers. This did not appear to have worked initially as 17 year old opener Dan Bell-Drummond made a good looking 69 and, assisted by captain James Goodman (36), he had led Kent to 105 for 1 shortly before lunch. However, wickets then fell regularly and Calum McLeod (25) and Tyler Griffin (24) were the only other batsmen to reach double figures as Kent were all out for 171 (later mysteriously increased to 176). Robbie Williams was the star bowler with 4 for 57 in 19 overs, while Tom Parsons (2 for 21) and Gurjit Sandhu (2 for 13) gave good support. When Middx batted, Sam Robson was in brilliant form, but the side had slumped to 106 for 5 before he found a reliable partner in off-spinner Andy Laws, batting at 7, who contributed a valuable 32 to the sixth wicket stand of 110 and Williams also helped to add 64 for the seventh wicket before Robbo fell for 170 (off 242 balls) out of 280 with 21 fours and 2 sixes. This was the signal for Williams (enjoying a fine match) to reveal his batting skills as he took over the dominant role, adding 57 for the eighth wicket with Sandhu (19) and 51 for the ninth with the promising Harry Podmore (29), before Robbie fell for a fine 80 (off 131 balls with 11 fours and a six) and Middx were all out for 388, a lead of 217. The best of the visiting bowlers were off-spinner Ally Neale (4 for 56) and pace bowler Andy Sutton (3 for 112). Kent again made a decent start to their innings through Bell-Drummond (34) and Australian Will Prowse (61), who had played for Middx in the recent three-dayer at the Rose Bowl. However, the best partnership of their second innings was the impressive 121 put on by the stubborn fifth wicket pair of McLeod (86) and Griffin (51), which kept the result in doubt, but from 247 for 4, they collapsed to 294 all out (Williams 3 for 91, Parsons 3 for 90), leaving Middx just 78 to win. It took Middx just over an hour to knock off the runs to win by 9 wickets in an entertaining session featuring 6 fours and 4 sixes: Middx 83-1 (Robson 50* off 50 balls, Scollay 23* off 18 balls).
Lord Ray Matters
I received the following from Lord Ray
Having seen Pietersen make 70-odd today (well, some of it today), I now predict that the career of the PPS as a Test cricketer is over. It was inevitable that he would make some runs eventually but the manner of their making was significant. His foot movements bear no relation to the line of the ball nor, come to that, do they have sufficient to do with the length. Worse, though, is the fact that he is still playing so far out in front of the left leg. I cannot claim to have made a close study of him when he was actually getting runs but I suspect that he must then have been playing the ball far more under the head - we exclude the sweep here, of course - and this is essential if you hope to survive when playing across the line. His runs today notwithstanding, he has not eliminated the things that have caused problems for him. The penny must drop even with the selectors and we shall soon see the last of him as a Test cricketer.
Cricketer Matters
The Great Jack Morgan is not happy with changes in the magazine
The Cricketer is going downhill. Their England's Got Talent piece on how youngsters are now thriving in county cricket would have been more convincing if they had not used Leicestershire as their main example. Leics are just terrible: they are bottom of Division Two and getting worse even as I write, collapsing to 48 all out and losing to Northants by an innings and 155! Equally nonsensical was Benj Moorhead's Middx report: he makes Dan Housego look like an idiot as he quotes him saying "Fraser explained that there were guys a bit more experienced than me. But I was back in the team for the game against Essex" when Gus, Dan, Dan's dad and the whole world knew that the reason he was out was that Strauss had to play, but Straussy was not available for the Essex game, so Dan was back in! And Richard Scott "top man"? What crap! And what is this nonsense about Twits twitting and the worst of the Twits too... even the best of the Twits would be too dreadful to tolerate.
Old Danes Gathering
The fifth annual Old Danes Gathering will be held on Friday 29 July at Shepherds Bush CC from 2pm. This has been a popular opportunity to meet old faces and renew acquaintances. Over a hundred alumni have attended the previous events and you are encouraged to contact others and bring along your own core party. There will be a bar open all afternoon and food will be available. Some have to travel considerable distances and wives, partners and guests will be most welcome.
Football Matters
Andrew Baker recruits his Ladies team from across the globe but suffers from Kolpak restrictions, work permit and immigrant status problems like other businesses. Here are two of his summer signings hoping that they will be able to make the short crossing across the Mersey to realize their ambitions with Andrew.
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