GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 130
October 2013
A very long season
Best thing about the 2013 Aussies – They wore proper sweaters in the test matches.
Strangest experience of the season – Chesney Hughes made 270 for Derbyshire at Headingley and then his side lost by an innings.
Best opening partnership in the County Championship- Rogers and Robson.
Worst middle order in the Championship – Denly, Malan, Dexter, Simpson & Berg.
Most vulnerable international opener – Watson, but then strangely, Best international innings of the season – Test: Watson, ODI: Watson
Best T20 innings of the season: Aaron Finch
World’s best bowler, but only when conditions suit – James Anderson
Third rate wicket keepers – Jos Buttler moves to the top of the list of those favoured by England ahead of Craig Kieswetter. The second rate keepers continue to be ignored-Davies, Mustard,Reid, Jones, Ambrose, Wallace. The only first rate keeper, Foster, is off the radar.
Press effect – The press talked Carberry into the test squad on the back of a few ODI and T20 innings. He ranked the 42nd best batsman in div 2 of the County Championship and on this has been lined up to open in the Ashes down under.
It’s harder than it looks: 1 – The Aussies conceded 178 to Joe Root at Lord’s but the bowlers took note of the coaches and analysts thereafter and started to bowl the right length to him to keep him quiet and inevitably got him out for low and slow scores. Nick Compton can continue to feel aggrieved.
It’s harder than it looks: 2 – The Aussies also think that they have worked Trott out and I think they have worked Cook out, who like Root only scored extremely slowly.
Disgrace Matters – England treated the ODI series against Australia like Premiership Managers treat the League Cup, or whatever it is called these days, by fielding a string of reserves and deservedly losing. Those buying expensive tickets to watch this fare should start a class action to demand a full refund.
Law Change Required – I thought that if the ball went over the boundary the batsman scored four or six but I was wrong. Fielders now can palm the ball back from over the boundary as long as they are airborne and a second fielder can take the catch. Impressive gymnastics but nonsense. If the ball goes over the rope its a boundary.
Tailender of the season – Steve Finn's two ducks in a day at Derby which lasted a total of seven balls.
Slash Breaks – For once Ian Botham is right and the ridiculous use of substitute fielders must be stopped. If a fielder leaves the field a substitute should not be allowed on for the rest of that session.
Out and About with the Professor
It would be difficult, I think, to describe Leeds as a city of breath-taking beauty. Indeed it would be difficult to describe Leeds as a city of beauty of any sort. However, according to Alan Bennett, had the 1960s not occurred, Leeds would have had a collection of architecture to rival Venice. If we can forgive on this one occasion such an egregious hyperbole from the master of the mundane, the plain truth remains that the 1960s did indeed occur (I was there and remember it…well, some of it) and so the city resembles a job lot of buildings encircled by an inscrutable “Loop” ring-road which is far easier to enter than to exit (I have known people who have done the entire “loop” before they could get out…sometimes more than once).
However Leeds does have some things going for it: it has a splendid municipal art gallery, a stunning Victorian library, three excellent theatres, numerous places to eat and drink, several venues where (so-I-am-told) you can watch young women take their clothes off, and, of course, three famous sports stadia. I visited all of these (the stadia) in the month of September with varying enjoyment.
The Leeds rugby league team is called the “Rhinos”. They play in a somewhat run down stadium that backs on to the cricket ground and is in sore need of refurbishment. The east end has been developed but the west still has open terraces where you can stand in the rain and snow and lean against the old-style rusty crush barriers. Rugby League was invented in Yorkshire – at a pub in Huddersfield apparently – but I have always found it a rather static and predictable game: a series of tackles and then a kick, followed by another series of tackles and a kick, and so on and so on until someone makes a mistake or nods off with boredom. Still there is no mistaking the size and ferocity of the players and it is definitely a game to watch rather than play. The Leeds team are apparently quite good and at present stand third in the “Super League” - the self-effacing name of the Rugby League league, (I suppose they couldn’t call it “League²”). The most recent win was a nail biting affair against St Helens (other peoples nails, not mine) which Leeds won by a single point thanks in a large part to the efforts of a huge and terrifying man who goes by the good old traditional Yorkshire name of Kylie Leuluai.
Elland Road is the home, of course, of the much-loved Leeds United who have charmed and delighted football fans for several decades, as indeed have their spectators. I was there for the visit of the high-flying Superhoops who are looking for a prompt return back to the Premiership. The game was a fairly close affair with the Ranger’s mid-field combination of Barton and O’Neil providing a touch more control than their opposite numbers and the late introduction of Hoilett giving some much need directness. But the revelation was Clint Hill. Our man Clint seems to have been around forever although the programme notes recorded his admitting to being in his 35th year. He plays what readers of this journal would recognise as left-back and he does what left-backs are supposed to do: kick right-wingers and hoof the ball up field. Except that, for significant parts of the game, he was fashionably, if incongruously, deployed on the left wing. In truth Mr Hill isn’t a very good left-winger but the fact that he was there at all is credit to his fitness. He also got the only goal of the game from the un-left-back position of about two yards out. The Leeds crowd tried to gee-up their side with their chanting. Their repertoire is, in truth, a little limited. Mostly they just shout “Leeds!” in endless repetition: “Leeds, Leeds, Leeds…” (you get the idea). They do sometimes switch to the more lyrical: “We are Leeds, we are Leeds, we are Leeds….” sung (sic) to the tune of Souza’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever” (I’m not sure he would have approved). There was also lusty booing of the loathsome Joey Barton every time he touched the ball which seemed fair enough. So a 1-0 win and the Rangers march on to the nirvana which is the Premiership…their rightful home I’m sure all would agree.
The third venue was of course the Headquarters of the North which is Headingley cricket ground where I joined a few dozen hardy souls on a freezing cold day to watch the visit of Middlesex. I had a good look round for The Great Jack Morgan but deduced he had stayed sensibly safe and warm in the Home Counties. Actually I arrived about 4 minutes late (thanks to the aforementioned “Loop”) and so missed the fall of the first two Yorkshire wickets, but a combination of skill (Williamson) and luck (Gale) restored the position, assisted by the fact that the Middlesex second string bowlers were nothing like as effective as the openers: Helm bowling too short and Berg too wide. Indeed Williamson flagged through an over from Berg without really needing to move. The outstanding bowler was Murtagh who went passed the bat time after time and could have had half-a-dozen wickets before lunch. Yorkshire lost wickets steadily the following day to end up at 210 all out which seemed a long way short of a decent score until, that is, Middlesex batted. With the single exception of Robson none of them seemed to have any idea how to play the Yorkshire seamers.
That a score of 210 can yield a first inning s lead of 82 is remarkable enough but it wasn’t really needed. Yorkshire scored reasonably quickly in their second innings and were able to set Middlesex a target of 270-odd for an unlikely fourth day win. Except for a brief partnership when Rogers was nerdling and Malan whacking it always looked beyond them, Yorkshire’s seamers again proving too good for what, sadly, looked quite a poor Middlesex side.
And what of Yorkshire? I think it would be fair to say that second place in the Championship was a very creditable outcome. To expect them to win the title having just been promoted last year with Derbyshire (look what happened to them) and without three star players for almost all the season was decidedly over-ambitious. Durham looked about the best side that I saw and thrashed Yorkshire at Scarborough. So well done to them, the only sadness is that so few people in the nation know or care about such things any more.
Of the individual players, Ballance obviously had a very successful season resulting in his call up to the Test squad. He has always given the ball a fair old biff, in the modern manner, but this season he seems to have added some judgement to the deliveries he attacks and so has ended up with 1250 Championship runs from 21 innings. Gale, the Yorkshire captain, also got over the 1000 mark and Rashid had a very decent season with the bat to make up for his pretty poor 29 wickets at 47 apiece. Yorkshire’s seamers dominated the bowling with Sidebottom proving again a very useful performer at this level and the unsung Patterson being the other principal wicket taker. Patterson is an interesting case because he has looked to be on the fringe of the side almost every year for some time now but he has seen off other quick bowlers like Hannon-Dalby and Shahzad and held his place when Plunkett and Brooks were signed. He is now central to the team’s performance.
I have heard no talk of new signings for next year although if England take four Yorkshire players they will have to do something about the batting. I presume that Williamson will not be available for much of the season although I haven’t checked New Zealand’s fixtures. If so and without Balance, Root and Bairstow they will need some imports. Still, a satisfactory season.
Middlesex Matters-1
The Great Jack Morgan gives us the skinny
Middlesex brought in Chris Rogers (who resumed the captaincy), Dawid Malan, James Harris and Ravi Patel for Adam Voges (now with Australia), Eoin Morgan and Steve Finn (both now with England) and Toby Roland-Jones (no information, but rumoured to be unfit) for the Championship match against relegation threatened Somerset at Lord's starting on 28 August. Marcus Trescothick chose to bat first on a wicket that looked drier than most that we have seen at HQ in recent years and it was interesting that Middlesex included a second spinner for this one, but Somerset relegated George Dockrell, their second spinner, to twelfth man duties. Ex-England openers Trescothick (64 off 105 balls with 10 fours and a six) and Nick Compton (31 with 5 fours) got Somerset off to a good start with 79 for the first wicket which was continued by 22 year old ex-Durham University man Chris Jones (58 off 100 balls with 7 fours) and ex-England ODI keeper Craig Kieswetter from Johannesburg (31) before the visitors surprisingly slumped to 211 for 7.
However, this saw the entrance of Indian Test player Piyush Chawla, a 24 year old leg spinning allrounder from Uttar Pradesh, who boasted a batting average of nearly 32 with 4 centuries and 25 fifties, so why was he batting at no 9 below, for example, Lewis Gregory whose career average was 11.75 with a highest score of 48? Chawla joined 21 year old Alex Barrow from Frome, who was already batting well and the pair quickly transformed the match, putting on 107 for the eighth wicket in good time before Barrow left for 65 off 123 balls with 6 fours. Chawla was now going extremely well and got good support from 36 year old Alfonso Thomas from Cape Town (batting at 10 despite a career average of nearly 25) and this pair added a further 99 for the ninth wicket before Chawla finally departed for a terrific 112 off 170 balls with 12 fours and 4 sixes. Thomas went on to a more than useful 54* with 8 fours as the Somerset innings finally closed on 449 on the second afternoon. For Middlesex, the main seamers had made very little impression on the Somerset batsmen, but Neil Dexter picked up 3 for 57 with his dibbly-dobblers and Ravi Patel's left arm spin collected 4 for 89.
The wicket was good, the weather was great, the Somerset bowling looked weak as only Thomas had much of a reputation (419 first class wickets at 27 before this season) in county cricket and estimates of the sort of score that Middlesex might accrue varied between 350 and 700! The reality, however, was two pathetic collapses (106 and 164) that saw the home team (still seen as Championship contenders in some quarters) lose by a thoroughly convincing innings and 179 runs half an hour after lunch on day 3. This is going to be hard, but I am going to try to find something kind to say about the Middlesex batting performance: in the first innings, really only Ollie Rayner's 34* with 4 fours and a six (Ollie had been averaging 9 prior to the recent game at Derby) deserves anything other than the harshest criticism, though James Harris's 12 helped Rayner put on 47 for the eighth wicket, the only substantial resistance of the innings, but there was a slight improvement second time around.
Sam Robson has hit a poor patch recently, but in the second innings he showed his usual sound technique and determination so it was a surprise when he was out for 29 with 4 fours; Dawid Malan has had a wretched season in the Championship (he has yet to record a fifty) so his fighting 33 with 5 fours (sharing a stand of 50 for the third wicket with Robson) almost counts as a success; Neil Dexter was out first ball in the first innings, but showed a lot of grit in his second effort, making Middlesex's top score of the match, 35* with 7 fours; and James Harris again hung around usefully, making 22 with 4 fours and sharing an eighth wicket stand of 40 with Dexter. That is all the praise I can offer I'm afraid and some of our batsmen were pathetic. I was particularly surprised by the form of Chris Rogers who fought so stoutly in the Test series, but who clearly found Somerset's “second team” attack more of a problem than the likes of Anderson and Broad, while Joe Denly has been in poor form for quite a while and must surely be due for a rest; the middle of the batting has often come to Middlesex's rescue in the past, but there was nothing from John Simpson and Gareth Berg on this occasion.
I must, however praise Somerset's "unknown" attack: 21 year old Gregory from Plymouth bowled with skill and enthusiasm to collect a career best 5 for 38 in the second innings (and 7 for 52 in the match); 21 year old Craig Meschede (also from Jo'burg) bowled well and deserved his match figures of 5 for 66 (including a career best 3 for 25 in the first innings), while Chawla claimed 3 tail enders for 8 in the first innings. England ODI new boy, 19 year old Jamie Overton from Barnstaple (and twin brother of Craig, also on the Somerset staff and whom some had believed to be the better prospect), is big (6'5"), quick and bouncy, but also fairly erratic and expensive with a tendency to bowl no-balls (many more than were actually called according to those with a better view than mine, an opinion that was supported by visiting fans and the radio commentator apparently): he was probably the weakest of the visiting bowlers on this occasion. I must not neglect to congratulate Trescothick on his batting, his captaincy and, in particular, some excellent catching at second slip, which saw him account for five second innings victims. Finally, it was interesting (well, I thought so anyway) that Middlesex found it necessary to use seven on-field twelfth men in less than two and a half days, while Somerset got by with only the services of Dockrell. Middx 2 points, Somerset 23; it was Somerset's second win of the season.
Carlin Matters
Paddy Carlin sent me this
A crazy County Championship in which it seemed any county with reasonable luck beat any other, with the exception of Surrey. To my neutral ear the mutterings in the Kennington Club from the regularsthere were amusing as relegation became a certainty. “Smith never fit”, “Players are always injured these days”, Amla “Absolutely a waste of time”, “Why do they play three wicket keepers?”, Player of the season Ponting who only played a few games and Highlight of the season “Adams being sacked”. Bitterness indeed. Also a lot of moaning about players allowed to leave the club. Can you believe that this goes back for ten years to include Murtagh! But they do have a point about Laurie Evans who had a marvellous season at Warwickshire. Comparisons were made that the combined salaries of Smith, Ponting and Amla were in excess of the total payroll of Durham, perhaps there is a moral to be drawn here?
In 2013 Surrey beat Derbyshire, who beat Yorkshire, who beat Middlesex, who beat Surrey. It seemed like this all season. Don’t make any predictions for next season.
In the Surrey Middlesex match I saw a remarkable performance by Ollie Rayner who took fifteen wickets plus some catches. It must be added that the Oval had prepared a dry , near unplayable pitch looking for a result for their two veteran spinners, Keedy and Batty. It rebounded on them. Earlier this season WGCCC 2nd XI reported a pitch Watford Town CC where slow deliveries were regularly bouncing over the keeper’s head. At the Oval Rayner found an area from which the ball bounced five or six feet high. Both keepers struggled and the bye count was high but it was tremendous fun to see three short legs and a short mid wicket preying on the batsmen. Rayner was close to unplayable but the shorter Batty could not extract the same turn and bounce.
In the Yorkshire match Sibley looked for the early part of the innings one of the worst openers around as he played and missed consistently. It just shows the importance of luck as he went on to his record breaking double century. He could be a fixture in the opening slot. The other awful looking batsman in this match was Alex Lees who has been selected for the Lions winter tour.
Middlesex Matters-2
The Great Jack Morgan gives us more
Middlesex called up Corey Collymore for Tim Murtagh (playing for Ireland against England) for the Championship match against Surrey at the Oval starting on September 3rd, though it was surprising that there were not more changes after the recent debacle against Somerset. The pitch looked dry and straw coloured, both teams included two front line spinners and when Chris Rogers chose to bat on winning the toss, Middlesex were the happier team. However, opening bowlers Tim Linley from Leeds and Jade Dernbach from Johannesburg caused some early problems and the visitors looked shaky on 24 for 2, but a fine stand of 93 for the third wicket between Rogers and Dawid Malan settled things down before a risky call by Malan saw his captain run out for a typically gritty 55 off 89 balls with 11 fours. It was good to see Malan finally finding some form as he reached 50 for the first time in the Championship this season before falling for 61. Neil Dexter settled in to play a long and determined innings and it was crucial that he did because Gary Keedy, the slow left armer from Wakefield who had spent most of his career at Lancashire, soon began to make inroads into the middle of the batting order. Wickets began to fall steadily, but Dexter batted with skill and concentration to finish with 90* (the highest score of the match) from 224 balls with 9 fours as the lower order collapsed around him and Middlesex were all out for 294.
Keedy had had to rush back from a Second XI match at Coventry to replace Zafar Ansari, who had been injured in the warm up, and he finished with 3 for 61, while Dernbach claimed 3 for 63. This was a slightly disappointing total for Middlesex and it looked no better as 23 year old Rory Burns (38 off 90 balls with 5 fours) and the South African Test player from Durban, Hashim Amla, put on 70 for the second wicket against the Middlesex seamers, but the situation changed rapidly as the "spin twins" Ollie Rayner and Ravi Patel entered the stage. Ravi seemed to bowl fairly well, but it was Ollie who claimed the glory as Surrey sank from 72-1 to 145 all out. Rayner took a career best 8 for 46 off 19.4 overs and the 2 wickets that did not fall to his bowling fell to his catching, so he dismissed all ten batters, surely a rare occurrence? Surrey avoided the follow on only because a vicious spinning and lifting delivery from Rayner fizzed past the batsman but also keeper John Simpson and went for four byes.
Unable to enforce the follow on, Middlesex needed quick runs because the forecast for day 4 was appalling. Skipper Rogers led the way with 32 off 39 balls with 5 fours and Malan achieved his second fifty of the match (and the season) off 93 balls before being very unlucky to be adjudged lbw as the snick could be clearly heard from the perimeter. Joe Denly disappeared from the match on day two with no explanation offered, but he batted at no 8 on day three and added a fluent 31 off 21 balls with 5 fours and Rayner hit 28 off 24 balls with 5 fours before Middlesex declared slightly later than expected (in view of the weather forecast) on 235 for 9, setting Surrey 385 to win. Skipper Gareth Batty (3 for 86 with his off-spin) and 38 year old Keedy did nearly all the bowling in the second innings and Keedy excelled himself by taking 6 for 101 (9 for 162 in the match), making it hard to see how Ansari could have done better and clearly putting a question mark over Surrey's decision to release him at the end of this season.
Left handed openers Burns and former Loughborough University man Arun Harinath looked untroubled in putting on 44 for the first wicket, but once Rayner and Patel were introduced, it was a question of whether anyone could stay with Amla long enough to give them the chance of a rain assisted draw. It was ex-England ODI keeper Steve Davies (38 off 118 balls with 6 fours) who hung around to worry Middlesex as he and 30 year old Amla added 86 for the fifth wicket. This stand caused Middlesex to give 14 overs to the deadly leg spinning pair of Denly and Malan before the new ball was taken, but of course, it was Ollie who was the crucial factor, firstly by catching Davies off Collymore and then by wrapping up the Surrey innings. Amla batted exceptionally calmly and well to reach 84 off 192 balls with 6 fours before he became another of Rayner's victims. Wickets were suddenly tumbling in a flurry, the extra half hour was claimed and 188 for 4 quickly became 212 for 9, but Dernbach and Keedy only had to hang on a few more minutes until the close and the draw might be their's because of the awful weather expected on day four. England T20 bowler Jade, however, decided that an all out assault on Rayner was required and he hit a quickfire 22 off 17 balls with four clean, powerful drives to the boundary, 2 fours and 2 sixes. However, it looked likely that he would miscue one soon and, of course, one inevitably looped up to our specialist cover fielder (Collymore) and Middlesex had won by 146 with a day to spare.
Rayner finished with 7 for 72, giving him a brilliant 15 for 118 in the match, but many of us were mystified by Dernbach's tactics as the three points for the draw, which might have been obtained simply by batting through to the close, would surely have been valuable in Surrey's fight to avoid relegation. On day four, we had a wet morning, but the afternoon was dry and sunny and there would surely have been three or four hours' play, so is Dernbach a better weather forecaster than the professionals? Or was it that he simply did not give a stuff? Of the 39 wickets that fell in the match, 30 fell to spin, 30 were caught (though only two by a keeper, while Rogers caught five, Vikram Solanki four, Sam Robson, Rayner and Harinath three each) and only one was bowled. While Robson was making a seven ball duck in fourteen minutes (this included several minutes clearing spectators from in front of the sightscreen at the pavilion end, on which he does not insist at Lord's) on day one, his younger brother Angus was making his debut for the dreadful Leicestershire side at Bristol and did slightly better as his duck lasted for eleven balls and sixteen minutes; Sam improved in the second innings with 18, but Gus excelled himself with a creditable 49. Middlesex 21 points, Surrey 3 and this took Middlesexx back to third place in the table, but left Surrey at the bottom of the pile with an important match at Taunton next week.
“That” Monday in Durham Matters
Steve Caley sent me this
I was flying back from London to Dar es Salaam on that day. I left before play started but the plane had a stop over at Arusha (Kilimanjaro) so I logged on with some trepidation to check the score – we were now two hours ahead of UK. Manic depression, 164-2 or somewhere close and it seemed to be going one way at a rate of knots. An hour on the ground, another 45 mins to Dar – immigration, visa, customs, taxi and into the hotel. Phone “home” to say I had arrived safely and just asked in some fear for the latest score as I thought they may not make it before close of play. When told it was all over and England had won by a stretch I sort of began to hyperventilate and had to open up cricinfo to check I was not being fed a line. So, it was true and I guess I am one (of many) who will say “I was not there” although I had been at Lords and did see the coup de grace ball where Marais Erasmus seemed to decide that a day’s golf on the Monday would be a good idea.
Middlesex Matters-3
The Great Jack Morgan gives us more
Middlesex replaced Corey Collymore and Ravi Patel with Tim Murtagh and quickish left arm over local boy Gurjit Sandhu for the Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Lord's starting on 11 September. Chris Rogers won the toss and asked Notts to bat first on a pitch that looked as if it might assist the seamers more than the arid surface encountered at the Oval last week. This impression turned out to be incorrect, however, as Steve Mullaney, the ex-Lancashire allrounder now converted into an opener by Notts, looked in little trouble as he batted throughout the shortened first day. His main ally on day one was England T20 regular Michael Lumb (not in slogging mode in the Championship) who contributed 54 off 171 balls with 7 fours to a second wicket stand of 118. Lumb's fellow England T20 opener, Alex Hales (from Hillingdon), has had a miserable season in the Championship, is no longer an automatic selection and found himself sharing twelfth man duties in this match with another man to have worn an England shirt, Yorkshireman Ajmal Shahzad. When play was abandoned for the day in the seventieth over, Notts had reached only 161 for 2.
Mullaney finally departed before lunch on day two for a praiseworthy 125 off 254 balls with 13 fours and by this time, England Test player Samit Patel (47 off 65 balls with 7 fours) had already begun to improve the scoring rate. When he was joined by Australian ODI batsman David Hussey in a stand of 60 for the fifth wicket, the rate improved further and then further still when New Zealand Test player Andre Adams, one of the best hitters in the game, was promoted from number ten to number seven. Adams hit his first ball for six and another 60 were quickly added for the sixth wicket before Hussey fell for an excellent 67 off 64 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes. Ex-England keeper Chris Read then joined in the fun and 73 more were rapidly added for the seventh wicket before Adams departed on the stroke of tea for a belligerent 80 off 76 balls including five sixes, at which point skipper Read declared on 430 for 7.
I thought Middlesex bowled pretty well in this match, especially on the first day, but no one emerged with better figures than Gareth Berg's 2 for 78 or James Harris's 2 for 88. Captain Rogers immediately took control of the Middx reply and had raced on to 67 not out as the home team reached 96 for 0 at the close of day two. Unfortunately, some dismal weather dominated proceedings for the next four sessions and there was no more cricket until after lunch on day four. The match had been ruined, but both teams needed to grab as many bonus points as possible in order to keep clear of the relegation zone in Notts's case and to stay in the prize money places in Middlesex's case. Sam Robson kept Rogers company as they put on 151 before both fell within one run of each other, Rogers for a superb 108 off 155 balls with 12 fours and a six and Robson for a fighting 41. Sam had a brilliant first half of the season, but has struggled in recent weeks and this was his highest score since mid-July.
Joe Denly usually looks a good player before getting himself out for very disappointing scores, but on this occasion he again looked a good player and went on to an admirable 63 off 76 balls with nine fours; this was also his best effort since mid-July. John Simpson took over from Denly and his 51* off 74 balls with 6 fours guided Middlesex to their fourth batting point as Middlesex ended on 353 for 7. Opening bowler Adams completed an excellent allround performance by picking up 4 for 98 in the Middlesex innings. It is always slightly depressing when a match finishes before it has even reached its half way point, but the very good wicket, some slow play on day one and, of course, the long spells of wet weather meant that this could not be avoided on this occasion. Middlesex 8 points, Notts 9. Middlesex are third in the table, but Notts have been overtaken by Somerset, have slipped to seventh and are still not safe.
Match Report
King Cricket encourages readers to submit match reports that do not mention the cricket. Ged submitted the following
Early season, I always try to take in a day of county cricket with my old friend, Charley “The Gent” Malloy. It helps us both to get over the winter withdrawal symptoms. Before long, we were tucking in to salmon bagels (honey roasted salmon, not the more common smoked variety) and washing it down with a very quaffable Kiwi Riesling. During the afternoon, we ate some cashews (bye bye Riesling), Parma ham sandwiches (hello cheerful Aussie red wine), several varieties of fruit and some flapjack-inspired biscuits.
Spending time at cricket with Charley is a bit like being on an unstructured television quiz show, just without the quiz master confirming or stating the answers. And without the chance of prizes. “What role did Sir Pel-Ham Warner have in the bodyline incident?” asked Chas. Unsure, I chose to turn the question around. “His name is pronounced Plum, not Pel-ham, Chas,” I replied. This naturally started a debate about whether Plum is a nickname or an actual correct pronunciation of the name Pelham.
I quoted the name Leveson-Gower, which should be pronounced “loosen gore” in evidence for my point. Sadly, Chas was unaware of this correct pronunciation too. Seemingly, the Surrey fans all around us were similarly unaware, despite HDG’s role in the history of their club. The Middlesex contingent with whom we were sitting at that hour were similarly perplexed, being of the MCCC variety rather than MCC. We saw Posh Margaret in the distance and waved at her – she’d have known – but she was too far away to join in this discussion.
“But why?” asked Chas. “It’s daft pronunciation. Or daft spelling.” “Because extremely posh people want to make people like us feel inadequate whenever possible,” I replied. “One way of doing that is to have ridiculously pronounced names which, in order to avoid embarrassment, require you either to be born an insider or to do a great deal of studying. It’s a relic of a bygone, oppressive era; one of those ridiculous, upper-class English things.” The Middlesex and Surrey masses seated around us in the Upper Compton gave me a little whoop of subversive appreciation. Charley then changed the subject again by asking a question about Zander de Bruyn. In unison, the surrounding Middlesex and Surrey fans cried out: “It’s pronounced de-brain, not de-bruin.” One fan even muttered: “Doesn’t that geezer know anything about cricket?”
Miller Matters
Douglas Miller sent me this
As I have done in the past, I am e-mailing all and sundry from my address book to draw attention to a book I have written and which was published in June. The book, ‘M.J.K. Smith: No Ordinary Man’, tells the story of the only man in the past hundred years to have played both cricket and rugby for England. It has been written at Mike Smith’s instigation and with his full assistance. In softback with 170pp and amply illustrated , the book is available at £10 for hand delivery or £12 posted – with cheques payable to myself, from Piper’s Loft, Whiteleaf, Princes Risborough, Bucks, HP27 0LT. I have a number of copies signed by Mike Smith for those who may wish one.
Website Matters
I have created a Googlies website:
www.googliesandchinamen.com
Every edition of G&C has been uploaded to the site unedited. Unfortunately the software was unable to accommodate the photos. However, I have created photo pages on which many of the photos which have appeared in Googlies are included along with many which have not. I see this as a work in progress and will be happy to include any photos that you would like to submit. In due course I plan to upload the SHCC and Shepherds Bush CC Centenary Books and the scorebook work carried out by Bill Hart and Alan Cox. Please let me know if there is other material that can be included. There is a facility on the site which enables you to sign up for notifications when the site has been updated.
Old Danes Matters
I have heard from a few Old Danes who are in favour of a Gathering at Shepherds Bush in 2014. I believe the date would be Friday 1 August. I would welcome the views of others but if you say you want one please ensure that you plan to attend.
Googlies and Chinamen
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 130
October 2013
A very long season
Best thing about the 2013 Aussies – They wore proper sweaters in the test matches.
Strangest experience of the season – Chesney Hughes made 270 for Derbyshire at Headingley and then his side lost by an innings.
Best opening partnership in the County Championship- Rogers and Robson.
Worst middle order in the Championship – Denly, Malan, Dexter, Simpson & Berg.
Most vulnerable international opener – Watson, but then strangely, Best international innings of the season – Test: Watson, ODI: Watson
Best T20 innings of the season: Aaron Finch
World’s best bowler, but only when conditions suit – James Anderson
Third rate wicket keepers – Jos Buttler moves to the top of the list of those favoured by England ahead of Craig Kieswetter. The second rate keepers continue to be ignored-Davies, Mustard,Reid, Jones, Ambrose, Wallace. The only first rate keeper, Foster, is off the radar.
Press effect – The press talked Carberry into the test squad on the back of a few ODI and T20 innings. He ranked the 42nd best batsman in div 2 of the County Championship and on this has been lined up to open in the Ashes down under.
It’s harder than it looks: 1 – The Aussies conceded 178 to Joe Root at Lord’s but the bowlers took note of the coaches and analysts thereafter and started to bowl the right length to him to keep him quiet and inevitably got him out for low and slow scores. Nick Compton can continue to feel aggrieved.
It’s harder than it looks: 2 – The Aussies also think that they have worked Trott out and I think they have worked Cook out, who like Root only scored extremely slowly.
Disgrace Matters – England treated the ODI series against Australia like Premiership Managers treat the League Cup, or whatever it is called these days, by fielding a string of reserves and deservedly losing. Those buying expensive tickets to watch this fare should start a class action to demand a full refund.
Law Change Required – I thought that if the ball went over the boundary the batsman scored four or six but I was wrong. Fielders now can palm the ball back from over the boundary as long as they are airborne and a second fielder can take the catch. Impressive gymnastics but nonsense. If the ball goes over the rope its a boundary.
Tailender of the season – Steve Finn's two ducks in a day at Derby which lasted a total of seven balls.
Slash Breaks – For once Ian Botham is right and the ridiculous use of substitute fielders must be stopped. If a fielder leaves the field a substitute should not be allowed on for the rest of that session.
Out and About with the Professor
It would be difficult, I think, to describe Leeds as a city of breath-taking beauty. Indeed it would be difficult to describe Leeds as a city of beauty of any sort. However, according to Alan Bennett, had the 1960s not occurred, Leeds would have had a collection of architecture to rival Venice. If we can forgive on this one occasion such an egregious hyperbole from the master of the mundane, the plain truth remains that the 1960s did indeed occur (I was there and remember it…well, some of it) and so the city resembles a job lot of buildings encircled by an inscrutable “Loop” ring-road which is far easier to enter than to exit (I have known people who have done the entire “loop” before they could get out…sometimes more than once).
However Leeds does have some things going for it: it has a splendid municipal art gallery, a stunning Victorian library, three excellent theatres, numerous places to eat and drink, several venues where (so-I-am-told) you can watch young women take their clothes off, and, of course, three famous sports stadia. I visited all of these (the stadia) in the month of September with varying enjoyment.
The Leeds rugby league team is called the “Rhinos”. They play in a somewhat run down stadium that backs on to the cricket ground and is in sore need of refurbishment. The east end has been developed but the west still has open terraces where you can stand in the rain and snow and lean against the old-style rusty crush barriers. Rugby League was invented in Yorkshire – at a pub in Huddersfield apparently – but I have always found it a rather static and predictable game: a series of tackles and then a kick, followed by another series of tackles and a kick, and so on and so on until someone makes a mistake or nods off with boredom. Still there is no mistaking the size and ferocity of the players and it is definitely a game to watch rather than play. The Leeds team are apparently quite good and at present stand third in the “Super League” - the self-effacing name of the Rugby League league, (I suppose they couldn’t call it “League²”). The most recent win was a nail biting affair against St Helens (other peoples nails, not mine) which Leeds won by a single point thanks in a large part to the efforts of a huge and terrifying man who goes by the good old traditional Yorkshire name of Kylie Leuluai.
Elland Road is the home, of course, of the much-loved Leeds United who have charmed and delighted football fans for several decades, as indeed have their spectators. I was there for the visit of the high-flying Superhoops who are looking for a prompt return back to the Premiership. The game was a fairly close affair with the Ranger’s mid-field combination of Barton and O’Neil providing a touch more control than their opposite numbers and the late introduction of Hoilett giving some much need directness. But the revelation was Clint Hill. Our man Clint seems to have been around forever although the programme notes recorded his admitting to being in his 35th year. He plays what readers of this journal would recognise as left-back and he does what left-backs are supposed to do: kick right-wingers and hoof the ball up field. Except that, for significant parts of the game, he was fashionably, if incongruously, deployed on the left wing. In truth Mr Hill isn’t a very good left-winger but the fact that he was there at all is credit to his fitness. He also got the only goal of the game from the un-left-back position of about two yards out. The Leeds crowd tried to gee-up their side with their chanting. Their repertoire is, in truth, a little limited. Mostly they just shout “Leeds!” in endless repetition: “Leeds, Leeds, Leeds…” (you get the idea). They do sometimes switch to the more lyrical: “We are Leeds, we are Leeds, we are Leeds….” sung (sic) to the tune of Souza’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever” (I’m not sure he would have approved). There was also lusty booing of the loathsome Joey Barton every time he touched the ball which seemed fair enough. So a 1-0 win and the Rangers march on to the nirvana which is the Premiership…their rightful home I’m sure all would agree.
The third venue was of course the Headquarters of the North which is Headingley cricket ground where I joined a few dozen hardy souls on a freezing cold day to watch the visit of Middlesex. I had a good look round for The Great Jack Morgan but deduced he had stayed sensibly safe and warm in the Home Counties. Actually I arrived about 4 minutes late (thanks to the aforementioned “Loop”) and so missed the fall of the first two Yorkshire wickets, but a combination of skill (Williamson) and luck (Gale) restored the position, assisted by the fact that the Middlesex second string bowlers were nothing like as effective as the openers: Helm bowling too short and Berg too wide. Indeed Williamson flagged through an over from Berg without really needing to move. The outstanding bowler was Murtagh who went passed the bat time after time and could have had half-a-dozen wickets before lunch. Yorkshire lost wickets steadily the following day to end up at 210 all out which seemed a long way short of a decent score until, that is, Middlesex batted. With the single exception of Robson none of them seemed to have any idea how to play the Yorkshire seamers.
That a score of 210 can yield a first inning s lead of 82 is remarkable enough but it wasn’t really needed. Yorkshire scored reasonably quickly in their second innings and were able to set Middlesex a target of 270-odd for an unlikely fourth day win. Except for a brief partnership when Rogers was nerdling and Malan whacking it always looked beyond them, Yorkshire’s seamers again proving too good for what, sadly, looked quite a poor Middlesex side.
And what of Yorkshire? I think it would be fair to say that second place in the Championship was a very creditable outcome. To expect them to win the title having just been promoted last year with Derbyshire (look what happened to them) and without three star players for almost all the season was decidedly over-ambitious. Durham looked about the best side that I saw and thrashed Yorkshire at Scarborough. So well done to them, the only sadness is that so few people in the nation know or care about such things any more.
Of the individual players, Ballance obviously had a very successful season resulting in his call up to the Test squad. He has always given the ball a fair old biff, in the modern manner, but this season he seems to have added some judgement to the deliveries he attacks and so has ended up with 1250 Championship runs from 21 innings. Gale, the Yorkshire captain, also got over the 1000 mark and Rashid had a very decent season with the bat to make up for his pretty poor 29 wickets at 47 apiece. Yorkshire’s seamers dominated the bowling with Sidebottom proving again a very useful performer at this level and the unsung Patterson being the other principal wicket taker. Patterson is an interesting case because he has looked to be on the fringe of the side almost every year for some time now but he has seen off other quick bowlers like Hannon-Dalby and Shahzad and held his place when Plunkett and Brooks were signed. He is now central to the team’s performance.
I have heard no talk of new signings for next year although if England take four Yorkshire players they will have to do something about the batting. I presume that Williamson will not be available for much of the season although I haven’t checked New Zealand’s fixtures. If so and without Balance, Root and Bairstow they will need some imports. Still, a satisfactory season.
Middlesex Matters-1
The Great Jack Morgan gives us the skinny
Middlesex brought in Chris Rogers (who resumed the captaincy), Dawid Malan, James Harris and Ravi Patel for Adam Voges (now with Australia), Eoin Morgan and Steve Finn (both now with England) and Toby Roland-Jones (no information, but rumoured to be unfit) for the Championship match against relegation threatened Somerset at Lord's starting on 28 August. Marcus Trescothick chose to bat first on a wicket that looked drier than most that we have seen at HQ in recent years and it was interesting that Middlesex included a second spinner for this one, but Somerset relegated George Dockrell, their second spinner, to twelfth man duties. Ex-England openers Trescothick (64 off 105 balls with 10 fours and a six) and Nick Compton (31 with 5 fours) got Somerset off to a good start with 79 for the first wicket which was continued by 22 year old ex-Durham University man Chris Jones (58 off 100 balls with 7 fours) and ex-England ODI keeper Craig Kieswetter from Johannesburg (31) before the visitors surprisingly slumped to 211 for 7.
However, this saw the entrance of Indian Test player Piyush Chawla, a 24 year old leg spinning allrounder from Uttar Pradesh, who boasted a batting average of nearly 32 with 4 centuries and 25 fifties, so why was he batting at no 9 below, for example, Lewis Gregory whose career average was 11.75 with a highest score of 48? Chawla joined 21 year old Alex Barrow from Frome, who was already batting well and the pair quickly transformed the match, putting on 107 for the eighth wicket in good time before Barrow left for 65 off 123 balls with 6 fours. Chawla was now going extremely well and got good support from 36 year old Alfonso Thomas from Cape Town (batting at 10 despite a career average of nearly 25) and this pair added a further 99 for the ninth wicket before Chawla finally departed for a terrific 112 off 170 balls with 12 fours and 4 sixes. Thomas went on to a more than useful 54* with 8 fours as the Somerset innings finally closed on 449 on the second afternoon. For Middlesex, the main seamers had made very little impression on the Somerset batsmen, but Neil Dexter picked up 3 for 57 with his dibbly-dobblers and Ravi Patel's left arm spin collected 4 for 89.
The wicket was good, the weather was great, the Somerset bowling looked weak as only Thomas had much of a reputation (419 first class wickets at 27 before this season) in county cricket and estimates of the sort of score that Middlesex might accrue varied between 350 and 700! The reality, however, was two pathetic collapses (106 and 164) that saw the home team (still seen as Championship contenders in some quarters) lose by a thoroughly convincing innings and 179 runs half an hour after lunch on day 3. This is going to be hard, but I am going to try to find something kind to say about the Middlesex batting performance: in the first innings, really only Ollie Rayner's 34* with 4 fours and a six (Ollie had been averaging 9 prior to the recent game at Derby) deserves anything other than the harshest criticism, though James Harris's 12 helped Rayner put on 47 for the eighth wicket, the only substantial resistance of the innings, but there was a slight improvement second time around.
Sam Robson has hit a poor patch recently, but in the second innings he showed his usual sound technique and determination so it was a surprise when he was out for 29 with 4 fours; Dawid Malan has had a wretched season in the Championship (he has yet to record a fifty) so his fighting 33 with 5 fours (sharing a stand of 50 for the third wicket with Robson) almost counts as a success; Neil Dexter was out first ball in the first innings, but showed a lot of grit in his second effort, making Middlesex's top score of the match, 35* with 7 fours; and James Harris again hung around usefully, making 22 with 4 fours and sharing an eighth wicket stand of 40 with Dexter. That is all the praise I can offer I'm afraid and some of our batsmen were pathetic. I was particularly surprised by the form of Chris Rogers who fought so stoutly in the Test series, but who clearly found Somerset's “second team” attack more of a problem than the likes of Anderson and Broad, while Joe Denly has been in poor form for quite a while and must surely be due for a rest; the middle of the batting has often come to Middlesex's rescue in the past, but there was nothing from John Simpson and Gareth Berg on this occasion.
I must, however praise Somerset's "unknown" attack: 21 year old Gregory from Plymouth bowled with skill and enthusiasm to collect a career best 5 for 38 in the second innings (and 7 for 52 in the match); 21 year old Craig Meschede (also from Jo'burg) bowled well and deserved his match figures of 5 for 66 (including a career best 3 for 25 in the first innings), while Chawla claimed 3 tail enders for 8 in the first innings. England ODI new boy, 19 year old Jamie Overton from Barnstaple (and twin brother of Craig, also on the Somerset staff and whom some had believed to be the better prospect), is big (6'5"), quick and bouncy, but also fairly erratic and expensive with a tendency to bowl no-balls (many more than were actually called according to those with a better view than mine, an opinion that was supported by visiting fans and the radio commentator apparently): he was probably the weakest of the visiting bowlers on this occasion. I must not neglect to congratulate Trescothick on his batting, his captaincy and, in particular, some excellent catching at second slip, which saw him account for five second innings victims. Finally, it was interesting (well, I thought so anyway) that Middlesex found it necessary to use seven on-field twelfth men in less than two and a half days, while Somerset got by with only the services of Dockrell. Middx 2 points, Somerset 23; it was Somerset's second win of the season.
Carlin Matters
Paddy Carlin sent me this
A crazy County Championship in which it seemed any county with reasonable luck beat any other, with the exception of Surrey. To my neutral ear the mutterings in the Kennington Club from the regularsthere were amusing as relegation became a certainty. “Smith never fit”, “Players are always injured these days”, Amla “Absolutely a waste of time”, “Why do they play three wicket keepers?”, Player of the season Ponting who only played a few games and Highlight of the season “Adams being sacked”. Bitterness indeed. Also a lot of moaning about players allowed to leave the club. Can you believe that this goes back for ten years to include Murtagh! But they do have a point about Laurie Evans who had a marvellous season at Warwickshire. Comparisons were made that the combined salaries of Smith, Ponting and Amla were in excess of the total payroll of Durham, perhaps there is a moral to be drawn here?
In 2013 Surrey beat Derbyshire, who beat Yorkshire, who beat Middlesex, who beat Surrey. It seemed like this all season. Don’t make any predictions for next season.
In the Surrey Middlesex match I saw a remarkable performance by Ollie Rayner who took fifteen wickets plus some catches. It must be added that the Oval had prepared a dry , near unplayable pitch looking for a result for their two veteran spinners, Keedy and Batty. It rebounded on them. Earlier this season WGCCC 2nd XI reported a pitch Watford Town CC where slow deliveries were regularly bouncing over the keeper’s head. At the Oval Rayner found an area from which the ball bounced five or six feet high. Both keepers struggled and the bye count was high but it was tremendous fun to see three short legs and a short mid wicket preying on the batsmen. Rayner was close to unplayable but the shorter Batty could not extract the same turn and bounce.
In the Yorkshire match Sibley looked for the early part of the innings one of the worst openers around as he played and missed consistently. It just shows the importance of luck as he went on to his record breaking double century. He could be a fixture in the opening slot. The other awful looking batsman in this match was Alex Lees who has been selected for the Lions winter tour.
Middlesex Matters-2
The Great Jack Morgan gives us more
Middlesex called up Corey Collymore for Tim Murtagh (playing for Ireland against England) for the Championship match against Surrey at the Oval starting on September 3rd, though it was surprising that there were not more changes after the recent debacle against Somerset. The pitch looked dry and straw coloured, both teams included two front line spinners and when Chris Rogers chose to bat on winning the toss, Middlesex were the happier team. However, opening bowlers Tim Linley from Leeds and Jade Dernbach from Johannesburg caused some early problems and the visitors looked shaky on 24 for 2, but a fine stand of 93 for the third wicket between Rogers and Dawid Malan settled things down before a risky call by Malan saw his captain run out for a typically gritty 55 off 89 balls with 11 fours. It was good to see Malan finally finding some form as he reached 50 for the first time in the Championship this season before falling for 61. Neil Dexter settled in to play a long and determined innings and it was crucial that he did because Gary Keedy, the slow left armer from Wakefield who had spent most of his career at Lancashire, soon began to make inroads into the middle of the batting order. Wickets began to fall steadily, but Dexter batted with skill and concentration to finish with 90* (the highest score of the match) from 224 balls with 9 fours as the lower order collapsed around him and Middlesex were all out for 294.
Keedy had had to rush back from a Second XI match at Coventry to replace Zafar Ansari, who had been injured in the warm up, and he finished with 3 for 61, while Dernbach claimed 3 for 63. This was a slightly disappointing total for Middlesex and it looked no better as 23 year old Rory Burns (38 off 90 balls with 5 fours) and the South African Test player from Durban, Hashim Amla, put on 70 for the second wicket against the Middlesex seamers, but the situation changed rapidly as the "spin twins" Ollie Rayner and Ravi Patel entered the stage. Ravi seemed to bowl fairly well, but it was Ollie who claimed the glory as Surrey sank from 72-1 to 145 all out. Rayner took a career best 8 for 46 off 19.4 overs and the 2 wickets that did not fall to his bowling fell to his catching, so he dismissed all ten batters, surely a rare occurrence? Surrey avoided the follow on only because a vicious spinning and lifting delivery from Rayner fizzed past the batsman but also keeper John Simpson and went for four byes.
Unable to enforce the follow on, Middlesex needed quick runs because the forecast for day 4 was appalling. Skipper Rogers led the way with 32 off 39 balls with 5 fours and Malan achieved his second fifty of the match (and the season) off 93 balls before being very unlucky to be adjudged lbw as the snick could be clearly heard from the perimeter. Joe Denly disappeared from the match on day two with no explanation offered, but he batted at no 8 on day three and added a fluent 31 off 21 balls with 5 fours and Rayner hit 28 off 24 balls with 5 fours before Middlesex declared slightly later than expected (in view of the weather forecast) on 235 for 9, setting Surrey 385 to win. Skipper Gareth Batty (3 for 86 with his off-spin) and 38 year old Keedy did nearly all the bowling in the second innings and Keedy excelled himself by taking 6 for 101 (9 for 162 in the match), making it hard to see how Ansari could have done better and clearly putting a question mark over Surrey's decision to release him at the end of this season.
Left handed openers Burns and former Loughborough University man Arun Harinath looked untroubled in putting on 44 for the first wicket, but once Rayner and Patel were introduced, it was a question of whether anyone could stay with Amla long enough to give them the chance of a rain assisted draw. It was ex-England ODI keeper Steve Davies (38 off 118 balls with 6 fours) who hung around to worry Middlesex as he and 30 year old Amla added 86 for the fifth wicket. This stand caused Middlesex to give 14 overs to the deadly leg spinning pair of Denly and Malan before the new ball was taken, but of course, it was Ollie who was the crucial factor, firstly by catching Davies off Collymore and then by wrapping up the Surrey innings. Amla batted exceptionally calmly and well to reach 84 off 192 balls with 6 fours before he became another of Rayner's victims. Wickets were suddenly tumbling in a flurry, the extra half hour was claimed and 188 for 4 quickly became 212 for 9, but Dernbach and Keedy only had to hang on a few more minutes until the close and the draw might be their's because of the awful weather expected on day four. England T20 bowler Jade, however, decided that an all out assault on Rayner was required and he hit a quickfire 22 off 17 balls with four clean, powerful drives to the boundary, 2 fours and 2 sixes. However, it looked likely that he would miscue one soon and, of course, one inevitably looped up to our specialist cover fielder (Collymore) and Middlesex had won by 146 with a day to spare.
Rayner finished with 7 for 72, giving him a brilliant 15 for 118 in the match, but many of us were mystified by Dernbach's tactics as the three points for the draw, which might have been obtained simply by batting through to the close, would surely have been valuable in Surrey's fight to avoid relegation. On day four, we had a wet morning, but the afternoon was dry and sunny and there would surely have been three or four hours' play, so is Dernbach a better weather forecaster than the professionals? Or was it that he simply did not give a stuff? Of the 39 wickets that fell in the match, 30 fell to spin, 30 were caught (though only two by a keeper, while Rogers caught five, Vikram Solanki four, Sam Robson, Rayner and Harinath three each) and only one was bowled. While Robson was making a seven ball duck in fourteen minutes (this included several minutes clearing spectators from in front of the sightscreen at the pavilion end, on which he does not insist at Lord's) on day one, his younger brother Angus was making his debut for the dreadful Leicestershire side at Bristol and did slightly better as his duck lasted for eleven balls and sixteen minutes; Sam improved in the second innings with 18, but Gus excelled himself with a creditable 49. Middlesex 21 points, Surrey 3 and this took Middlesexx back to third place in the table, but left Surrey at the bottom of the pile with an important match at Taunton next week.
“That” Monday in Durham Matters
Steve Caley sent me this
I was flying back from London to Dar es Salaam on that day. I left before play started but the plane had a stop over at Arusha (Kilimanjaro) so I logged on with some trepidation to check the score – we were now two hours ahead of UK. Manic depression, 164-2 or somewhere close and it seemed to be going one way at a rate of knots. An hour on the ground, another 45 mins to Dar – immigration, visa, customs, taxi and into the hotel. Phone “home” to say I had arrived safely and just asked in some fear for the latest score as I thought they may not make it before close of play. When told it was all over and England had won by a stretch I sort of began to hyperventilate and had to open up cricinfo to check I was not being fed a line. So, it was true and I guess I am one (of many) who will say “I was not there” although I had been at Lords and did see the coup de grace ball where Marais Erasmus seemed to decide that a day’s golf on the Monday would be a good idea.
Middlesex Matters-3
The Great Jack Morgan gives us more
Middlesex replaced Corey Collymore and Ravi Patel with Tim Murtagh and quickish left arm over local boy Gurjit Sandhu for the Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Lord's starting on 11 September. Chris Rogers won the toss and asked Notts to bat first on a pitch that looked as if it might assist the seamers more than the arid surface encountered at the Oval last week. This impression turned out to be incorrect, however, as Steve Mullaney, the ex-Lancashire allrounder now converted into an opener by Notts, looked in little trouble as he batted throughout the shortened first day. His main ally on day one was England T20 regular Michael Lumb (not in slogging mode in the Championship) who contributed 54 off 171 balls with 7 fours to a second wicket stand of 118. Lumb's fellow England T20 opener, Alex Hales (from Hillingdon), has had a miserable season in the Championship, is no longer an automatic selection and found himself sharing twelfth man duties in this match with another man to have worn an England shirt, Yorkshireman Ajmal Shahzad. When play was abandoned for the day in the seventieth over, Notts had reached only 161 for 2.
Mullaney finally departed before lunch on day two for a praiseworthy 125 off 254 balls with 13 fours and by this time, England Test player Samit Patel (47 off 65 balls with 7 fours) had already begun to improve the scoring rate. When he was joined by Australian ODI batsman David Hussey in a stand of 60 for the fifth wicket, the rate improved further and then further still when New Zealand Test player Andre Adams, one of the best hitters in the game, was promoted from number ten to number seven. Adams hit his first ball for six and another 60 were quickly added for the sixth wicket before Hussey fell for an excellent 67 off 64 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes. Ex-England keeper Chris Read then joined in the fun and 73 more were rapidly added for the seventh wicket before Adams departed on the stroke of tea for a belligerent 80 off 76 balls including five sixes, at which point skipper Read declared on 430 for 7.
I thought Middlesex bowled pretty well in this match, especially on the first day, but no one emerged with better figures than Gareth Berg's 2 for 78 or James Harris's 2 for 88. Captain Rogers immediately took control of the Middx reply and had raced on to 67 not out as the home team reached 96 for 0 at the close of day two. Unfortunately, some dismal weather dominated proceedings for the next four sessions and there was no more cricket until after lunch on day four. The match had been ruined, but both teams needed to grab as many bonus points as possible in order to keep clear of the relegation zone in Notts's case and to stay in the prize money places in Middlesex's case. Sam Robson kept Rogers company as they put on 151 before both fell within one run of each other, Rogers for a superb 108 off 155 balls with 12 fours and a six and Robson for a fighting 41. Sam had a brilliant first half of the season, but has struggled in recent weeks and this was his highest score since mid-July.
Joe Denly usually looks a good player before getting himself out for very disappointing scores, but on this occasion he again looked a good player and went on to an admirable 63 off 76 balls with nine fours; this was also his best effort since mid-July. John Simpson took over from Denly and his 51* off 74 balls with 6 fours guided Middlesex to their fourth batting point as Middlesex ended on 353 for 7. Opening bowler Adams completed an excellent allround performance by picking up 4 for 98 in the Middlesex innings. It is always slightly depressing when a match finishes before it has even reached its half way point, but the very good wicket, some slow play on day one and, of course, the long spells of wet weather meant that this could not be avoided on this occasion. Middlesex 8 points, Notts 9. Middlesex are third in the table, but Notts have been overtaken by Somerset, have slipped to seventh and are still not safe.
Match Report
King Cricket encourages readers to submit match reports that do not mention the cricket. Ged submitted the following
Early season, I always try to take in a day of county cricket with my old friend, Charley “The Gent” Malloy. It helps us both to get over the winter withdrawal symptoms. Before long, we were tucking in to salmon bagels (honey roasted salmon, not the more common smoked variety) and washing it down with a very quaffable Kiwi Riesling. During the afternoon, we ate some cashews (bye bye Riesling), Parma ham sandwiches (hello cheerful Aussie red wine), several varieties of fruit and some flapjack-inspired biscuits.
Spending time at cricket with Charley is a bit like being on an unstructured television quiz show, just without the quiz master confirming or stating the answers. And without the chance of prizes. “What role did Sir Pel-Ham Warner have in the bodyline incident?” asked Chas. Unsure, I chose to turn the question around. “His name is pronounced Plum, not Pel-ham, Chas,” I replied. This naturally started a debate about whether Plum is a nickname or an actual correct pronunciation of the name Pelham.
I quoted the name Leveson-Gower, which should be pronounced “loosen gore” in evidence for my point. Sadly, Chas was unaware of this correct pronunciation too. Seemingly, the Surrey fans all around us were similarly unaware, despite HDG’s role in the history of their club. The Middlesex contingent with whom we were sitting at that hour were similarly perplexed, being of the MCCC variety rather than MCC. We saw Posh Margaret in the distance and waved at her – she’d have known – but she was too far away to join in this discussion.
“But why?” asked Chas. “It’s daft pronunciation. Or daft spelling.” “Because extremely posh people want to make people like us feel inadequate whenever possible,” I replied. “One way of doing that is to have ridiculously pronounced names which, in order to avoid embarrassment, require you either to be born an insider or to do a great deal of studying. It’s a relic of a bygone, oppressive era; one of those ridiculous, upper-class English things.” The Middlesex and Surrey masses seated around us in the Upper Compton gave me a little whoop of subversive appreciation. Charley then changed the subject again by asking a question about Zander de Bruyn. In unison, the surrounding Middlesex and Surrey fans cried out: “It’s pronounced de-brain, not de-bruin.” One fan even muttered: “Doesn’t that geezer know anything about cricket?”
Miller Matters
Douglas Miller sent me this
As I have done in the past, I am e-mailing all and sundry from my address book to draw attention to a book I have written and which was published in June. The book, ‘M.J.K. Smith: No Ordinary Man’, tells the story of the only man in the past hundred years to have played both cricket and rugby for England. It has been written at Mike Smith’s instigation and with his full assistance. In softback with 170pp and amply illustrated , the book is available at £10 for hand delivery or £12 posted – with cheques payable to myself, from Piper’s Loft, Whiteleaf, Princes Risborough, Bucks, HP27 0LT. I have a number of copies signed by Mike Smith for those who may wish one.
Website Matters
I have created a Googlies website:
www.googliesandchinamen.com
Every edition of G&C has been uploaded to the site unedited. Unfortunately the software was unable to accommodate the photos. However, I have created photo pages on which many of the photos which have appeared in Googlies are included along with many which have not. I see this as a work in progress and will be happy to include any photos that you would like to submit. In due course I plan to upload the SHCC and Shepherds Bush CC Centenary Books and the scorebook work carried out by Bill Hart and Alan Cox. Please let me know if there is other material that can be included. There is a facility on the site which enables you to sign up for notifications when the site has been updated.
Old Danes Matters
I have heard from a few Old Danes who are in favour of a Gathering at Shepherds Bush in 2014. I believe the date would be Friday 1 August. I would welcome the views of others but if you say you want one please ensure that you plan to attend.
Googlies and Chinamen
is produced by
James Sharp
Broad Lee House
Combs
High Peak
SK23 9XA
Tel & fax: 01298 70237
Email: [email protected]
