GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 137
May 2014
T20 and all that stuff
When I go to watch cricket these days I seek out a county match where I can sit in reasonable comfort with a chum or two and absorb six hours play whilst chatting about anything that takes our fancy. This precludes international matches where the mindless congregate in their thousands and even worse T20 events which require more travelling than playing time.
However, when it comes to watching at home T20, of late, has proved pretty good value and there has been a shit load of it available – Big Bash, Ram Slam, World T20, and the IPL. On television most of the really irritating elements are removed and the journey to my sitting room is not excessive.
After many hours of study I consider myself to be something of an expert and I proffer these observations, which I suggest will have an effect on the game everywhere:
1. Batsmen now tend to advance on the quicks to facilitate driving and they hook/pull/slog if the bowler sees them in time and digs it in.
2. That is except for those batsmen who stand deep in the crease. I still don’t know how they achieve this without hitting their wicket. When I saw Owais do this in an England game at the Oval he trod on his stumps. They also take guard outside the off stump and stand square on so that the stumps are obscured for the bowler. The theory is that their left leg is already out of the way for the various drives/slogs if the ball is pitched up and they are opened up to slap the shorter ball over the offside.
3. This technique also counters the Yorker in that it changes its length for the bowler. Many batsmen in this deep crease position hit the would be Yorker by getting under it after it pitches.
4. In this series of matches the successful bowlers were those who took pace off the ball. Except for those who were crap anyway. First in this group was Dernbach who has had the longest career for a failure of all time. He started off in the World T20 by bowling properly as he first did for Surrey several years back. But in no time he was back to spraying it all over the place at varying paces. He has a shitload of lamentable records to his name including most runs conceded, highest runs per over, most wides etc. He surely cannot continue to be selected? Or do we have to have a joke bowler in the side. Is it considered to be England’s contribution to the general fun?
5. I have always doubted the speedgun technology for the speed of bowlers delivery and suspect that there is a guy in a flat cap who sits on the midwicket boundary and assesses the speed along the lines of “shit that was quick it must be over ninety mph”. His cousin has now been given a job assessing how far sixes travel. If they plop over the line which has been measured as seventy metres from the wicket I can see that this is a fairly accurate measure but these guys, or rather their bats, nowadays hit it much further. In many cases they come to rest a long way above the ground in the top tier of stands. In such cases is the lateral measurement assessed to this point or is a calculation made on the trajectory to where it would have landed if allowed to proceed unimpeded to the ground, halfway down the high street? No our cardboard speedgun man’s cousin has been employed and he says “shit that was a big hit-must be 92 metres”.
6. Sixes are now colour coded on the basis of the spurious technology employed in 5 above. With the red zone being reserved for hits in excess of ninety metres. Since this has no scoreboard impact in that they all count as just six, it seems pretty pointless. Or perhaps this is the initial step in getting T20 qualified for the next Olympics when batting will be treated as something akin to shot putting or discus throwing?
7. Fielding has now reached quite extraordinary feats of athleticism. The diving and sliding has now reached manic proportions and clearly does save runs but with it comes an injury cost which the highly paid individual must consider whether it is worth it if it puts his career on the line. When one has been out injured for a few months and someone has taken your place no one can remember or care how your injury was sustained.
8. Experts make crap predictions. The pundit consensus was that the wickets in Bangla Desh would be slow turners. It is true that slow bowlers dominated but many of the wickets were considered quick and the pace men did not succeed because the batsmen generally like pace on the ball.
9. There is a group of gym honed guys around now who hit the ball very hard. They are no doubt aided by the magnificent blades they wield. Who knows how many more runs The Great Jack Morgan would have scored with one of these weapons? But I doubt whether he would have been inclined to do the gym work necessary to be able to wield one. These guys include: Finch, Warner, Maxwell, Watson, White, Bailey, Gayle, Bravo, Samuels, Sammy, Russell, Hales, Lumb, Bresnan, McCullum, Guptill, Perera MD, Perera MK, Mathews, de Villiers, Miller and Morkel A. When these guys make good contact the ball disappears.
10. The T20 World Cup was dominated by spinners and they are the top bowlers in the history of the competition. But not ordinary guys who turn it one-way. These guys are wizards of mystery who can bowl googlies, doozras and carrom balls in addition to the orthodox deliveries they purvey. The batsmen usually cannot read them and end up guessing which way the ball will turn. Even this is less than a 50:50 chance as they also bowl straight on deliveries and sliders as well. Few of them are big turners of the ball and they generally rely on the uncertainty that they create. The leg spinners generally bowl googlies and use the orthodox leg spinner as a variation. All of this applies to Badree, Ashwin, Razzaq, Ajmal, Herath, Mendis, Senanayake and others but not to Narine. Nobody has a clue what Narine bowls and maybe he doesn’t himself. His delivery is flipped from the front of the fingers and can go in any direction but his control is remarkable. He rarely goes for many. The one thing for certain about him is his hairstyle that is now a more modest version of earlier extravagance.
11. The stats are getting much more advanced. Commentators can now draw on how the batsman has previously scored his runs - with what shots and against which types of bowling. They also calculate historical scoring rates by batsman for the first ten balls faced, the second ten and so on. It is as well that these micro techniques weren’t around when we were playing.
Out and About with the Professor
King George VI towards the end of his life – a life predictably truncated by 40 years of chain-smoking – suffered, so it seems, from the cold. He was fortunate, of course, to live in Westminster, rather than some of the more frozen outposts of his dominions (although the trips to Balmoral may have been a bit of a trial). The hi-tech solution of the time to this regal affliction was to devise a suit with wires sewn into the fabric, connected to a battery. A sort of bespoke, three-piece, mobile electric blanket.
I was musing on this recently to a chum – a chum of a somewhat geeky disposition, it must be said – and lo and behold, a week or so later, the postman arrived bearing a package containing a rather similar garment. Not, of course, a whistle, but a fully wired-up “fleece”; and what could be more handy for a day on the North-East Terrace (Upper) in April? Instead of the usual blanket and scarves, I sat there in smug Duracell comfort to watch Yorkshire thrash the living daylights out of Northants. It is a truly marvellous invention and a must-have for all cricket watchers at this time of year…and not just watchers; had they been around 40 years ago I would have been very tempted to take the field wearing one. Who has not frozen half to death in the outfield in April? Doubtless these days the batteries would be felt to impede the compulsory fielding slide.
Northants won five games last season but on this showing it is hard to see them doing so again. Their bowling was decidedly thin: Hall’s famously bustling action is looking increasingly arthritic as he approaches his 40th year and Middlebrook’s off-breaks were no better than when he left Yorkshire ten or more years’ ago. One suspects they will miss Copeland’s wickets. I read about various suggested replacements…but one needs to arrive soon.
Mind you, a big bonus for the Northants bowlers was the presence of Messrs Gould and Benson at either end, both of whom seem to come from the Douglas Miller school of umpiring. As a result anyone struck on the pads was in grave danger of an early departure. Yorkshire only lost nine wickets for the whole game but eight of them were LBW. Sidebottom, in particular, looked aggrieved. He was as far forward as a 6’3’’ man can go and still have both legs connected. It didn’t deter the Gunner. Unless they can ensure that these two are officiating at all their matches – or that Douglas can be lured on to the First Class panel – the Northants bowlers might struggle this season. By comparison the Yorkshire quartet of Sidebottom, Brooks, Patterson and Plunkett looks pretty useful and, presumably, immune from Test call-ups. They lack a quality spin bowler of course (who doesn’t?); Rashid now seems to be a No.5 who bowls a bit and Rafiq is in the Stiffs. It may be that Williamson does a fair amount of bowling this year.
Still the good folk of Headingley were very happy with a home win first-up of an innings and plenty and there was even a degree of optimism in the air…
…an unusual and, frankly, slightly unnerving sign.
As for me, I will reserve my judgement and replenish my batteries.
Middlesex Matters
The Great Jack Morgan was out of hibernation for the season’s opener at Lords
Following the horrible thrashing at Hove, Middlesex brought in Gareth Berg and Ollie Rayner to replace Neil Dexter and Toby Roland-Jones for the Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Lord's starting on 13 April. I heard a rumour that Dexter's absence was related to imminent fatherhood, but there was no official information about this. Chris Read won the toss for Notts and decided to bat first on the usual greenish Lord's track on a fine and bright morning.
Ex-Lancashire man Steve Mullaney was the rock on which the Notts innings was based, but he was totally outshone by England's Jimmy Taylor, who hit an impressive 62 from 84 balls with 13 fours in a third wicket partnership of 81 with Mullaney. The latter was finally dismissed for 52 off 172 balls with 5 fours and a six, but then the Australian born, South African educated Riki Wessels (son of Kepler) was joined by keeper Read and 86 were added in 82 minutes before Read fell for 40 off 67 balls with 7 fours and Wessels soon followed for 58 off 109 balls with 7 fours and a six. Australian Test seamer (and colleague of Chris Rogers at Victoria) Peter Siddle batted well for 40 from 35 balls with 5 fours and a six and guided the visitors to a total of 326 all out early on day 2. Steve Finn (5 for 91) and James Harris (4 for 80) took the wickets and the credit for Middlesex, but neither would have got top marks for accuracy.
326 is a difficult score to assess until one has seen how the other team does in reply and the Notts score suddenly looked very useful as Middlesex slumped to 19 for 2. However, a wonderful stand of 203 in 193 minutes between Sam Robson and Eoin Morgan transformed the match and put the home team in complete control until Morgan nicked one to the keeper for 86 off 133 balls with 12 fours. Keeper John Simpson often looks a good player without producing the runs of which he appears capable, but on this occasion he again looked good and, this time, played the sort of untroubled innings that often eludes him. He had put on a valuable 94 for the fifth wicket with Robson, before the latter finally departed for a brilliant 163 off 310 balls with 22 fours, as fluent an innings as one had ever seen from him. This left the stage clear for Simpson to dominate the remainder of the innings as he reached a thoroughly deserved 108* (only his third first class century in his 69th match) off 202 balls with 17 fours and a six and steered Middlesex to a total of 439, a lead of 113. Only nine Middlesex wickets fell in the innings because Berg, who bowled 20 overs in the Notts innings, disappeared from the match with no explanation offered to the crowd. 6'5" Andy Carter had the best figures of the visiting bowlers (3 for 74), but probably the best bowler was the 6'6" heavyweight Luke Fletcher, who took 2 for 57 in his 23 overs.
Finn and Tim Murtagh soon had Notts in trouble in their second innings and though most of their batsmen got a start (eight made it into double figures), none could go on to build a major innings. Skipper Read did best with 8 fours in his 44 from 52 balls while Michael Lumb (37), Wessels (34) and Taylor (33) looked capable of better things. However, Murtagh (5 for 61) and Finn (4 for 82) polished off the Notts second innings for 224, leaving Middlesex to chase only 112 to win with most of the last day to get them. Middlesex needed only 69 minutes and 18.2 overs to sprint to an emphatic victory by 10 wickets with skipper Rogers leading the way with 63* off 50 balls with 13 fours and Robson giving sound support on 41*. Siddle's bowling was a big disappointment for Notts as he contributed 29 overs of lethargic medium pace for 113 runs and not one wicket in the match. A Man of the Match award would probably have gone to Robson (204 runs for once out), but several other home players would have run him close: Simpson (who also held five catches behind the stumps to add to his ton), Morgan and Rogers with the bat and Finn (9 for 173), Murtagh (6 for 127) and Harris (5 for 135) with the ball.
One would not want to be too critical of Finny, fighting his way back to his best and already with 15 for 253 this season, but he would probably not be happy with his economy rate of 4.1 runs per over, Harris (3.46) was also a little expensive and Murtagh (2.75) would be my nomination as the bowler of the match. The match was played in glorious spring sunshine throughout, there was a very respectable crowd present on all four days and some chaps were even seen to remove their shirts. Middlesex took 23 points (to add to the embarrassing solitary point that they brought away from Hove) from the match and Notts 4.
Middlesex have reverted to wearing the old-style wool sweaters, which do not take a number, so one can no longer identify each player by a glance at their back; instead one has to revert to the old technique of trying to recognise each player by their physical characteristics and style of running etc, a method hindered by the universal modern fashion of cap or sunhat wearing. What is the point of numbers on shirts if they cannot be read when the players are wearing sweaters? How about numbers on strides?
Kennington Club Matters
Paddy Carlin is freeloading again
I arrived in time for the first over which perfectly encapsulated the current state of county cricket in our multi cultural Britain of today. Two Australians (Hogan and Allenby) bowling to a South African (Meaker), and, remarkably, an Englishman at the other end - Zafar Shahaan Ansari. The day’s cast revealed eight Englishmen, four Welshmen, four South Africans, three Aussies, one Irishman, one Scotsman and one Zimbabwean. Astonishingly only two were alumni of Millfield.
Tim Tremlett took eighteen from a Graham Wagg over which included a six into the hallowed seats of the Kennington Club where I was the only spectator. Graeme Smith wore different coloured trousers to his teammates – a brilliant white which looked as if he had just finished a shift at the bakery. He batted for fifteen minutes and really is ugly to watch. I think that it is getting worse as he shovels his way up the wicket and tries to turn the ball to leg each time. Will the county bowlers work him out? One for the statisticians- there were five wicket keepers playing – Davies, Burns, Wilson, Wallace and Cooke.
Wright Matters
Steve Wright sent me this
I went to Richard Briance’s Diamond Wedding Anniversary in Chichester over the weekend. Of the old Bush squad, David Jukes, David Perrin and me were there with our other halves. Except for Robin Syrett who was wandering around like a lost soul, everybody else seemed to be Chichester connections.
Dickie was captain at the Bush from 1965-1967 and then went up to Kettering for 2 or 3 years before “settling” in Chichester where he and later his son David Briance played. David was a very good player. He went on a number of tours including the MCC tour to Argentina (I don’t know the year).A very nice evening.
Now to business, I have to tease Bill a little more don’t I?
I almost choked on my cornflakes while reading the latest edition of Googlies. With the exception of English cricket I thought that all was well with the world (assuming you forget about The Ukraine and the missing Malaysian plane). It was then that I read the vitriolic comments from Bill Hart which gave me a severe bout of indigestion and left me upset and shaken for the rest of the day. How would you like to read someone referring to you as a twat while you were eating your breakfast?
All that I am guilty of is offering my sincere congratulations to Bill for the amount of work he was putting into his research into the 1973 South Hampstead 2nd X1 score book. I felt that Bill’s vital work and the long hours that it must have entailed should not pass unrecognised. However it seems that Bill has completely misunderstood my comments. It could be that he is in a state of permanent exhaustion from playing 3 or 4 rounds of golf every week. At his age I should have thought that this would have been an ordeal rather than a pleasure. Perhaps he is unable to pick things up as quickly as he once could. So, I would like to congratulate Bill once more and offer a few suggestions as to where Bill’s historic work could lead.
We all know the success that JK Rowling has had with her Harry Potter books. Well, I see an even more glorious publishing future for Bill. Let’s start with a title for his forthcoming book. How about “ South Hampstead 2nd X1 1973 -----The Glory Year.”? I accept that this is not a particularly catchy title but it does get over a lot of information to someone browsing the airport bookshops looking for an exciting read on the plane.
Following the success that this blockbuster is sure to have it could be followed up with a “motion picture” or in Bill’s case a “slow motion picture”. I must confess to being a bit stuck as to who the stars of this film would be as most of those appearing in The Great Escape are unfortunately no longer with us. Tom Cruise is an obvious choice, perhaps Bruce Willis and Arnold Swarzenegger could have a cameo role playing Bill. We (I say we because I’m already getting excited about this) could perhaps fit Tony Williams in somewhere as this would add a nice touch of realism although I do appreciate that he would probably need a stunt double.
I’m sure that this film would smash all box office records, particularly in North London and would set Bill up nicely to write a prequel (I think every successful book breeds a prequel these days Bill) and don’t worry I have a working title for this book as well, ----“ South Hampstead 2nd X1 1972—the making of a great side”.
I feel quite tired myself now. I think I will go and have a lie down or perhaps join Bill in a round of golf. I’m sure that he would be happy to play with me.
Jones Matters
Denis Jones sent me this
Further to your last issue, and the passing away of Arthur Gates, I would like to thank Jim Revier for his good words about Paddington, and hope I do not appear to be overly self-centred in my words below about Arthur, which are from a slightly different perspective than normal.
Throughout most of the 1950’s the Gates and the Jones families lived almost directly opposite each other, in Ormiston Grove, Shepherds Bush. Occasionally, around a dozen or more of the local youngsters would gradually come together during summer evenings, or school-holidays, to play typical innocent street-games of the time. More usually, though, it would just be Arthur and myself playing cricket in the middle of the road with an old tennis-ball, or kicking a football of some kind, with various front-garden fences as our goals, or sometimes the end-of-terrace wall in Halsbury Road!
Arthur’s kindly-natured father made a set of stumps specially for us, and they saw plenty of action not only in Ormiston Grove, but also on Sundays when we played our kids games together at Paddington matches. Arthur really was very tolerant of me being almost 3 years his junior, and would often give up his wicket after batting for a while, whereas I was always keen to make the most of it when it was my turn to have an innings. I have no doubt that Arthur’s bowling skills first developed from all those times he spent bowling at me!
Knees and elbows grazed and bleeding from falls in the street, or legs and arms scratched and stung from searching for lost balls in prickly nettles. All would be forgotten the following day at the prospect of another game after school-time, but when the Jones family moved to Kingsbury in 1960 our street-games were abruptly and conclusively ended. By this time Arthur was in his early teens, and making some early appearances for Paddington between sharing scoring duties with the inimitable Ernie Perrone; our days of two little boys playing together outside the boundary lines had also had their day.
Arthur and I played only a few games together for Paddington before he went to play for Shepherds Bush, and it was destined that afterwards our paths should rarely cross. However, I was fortunate to have him as a good childhood playmate. We were also both lucky to have parents who were sensible in their approach to when and where their children should play, to have very understanding neighbours in Ormiston Grove, and to live there when very few cars used the road!!
Maybe some of your readers will be provoked to recall memories of their own good playmates - any of the Hugh Hefner variety should provide an accompanying photo!
And then this During one of far-too-many visits to the local hospital last year, I was told that I needed to stay in for overnight observation. Feeling fairly dejected (or as others may say, utterly pissed off), I was then led to a ward where the only other occupant was a lean, dark-skinned, and grey-haired man, of something around 80 years of age. I said hello to him, and he introduced himself as Evan.
A few moments passed as I busied myself around my allocated bed, and then Evan said that he recognised me. Having met countless people during my work in financial services, I asked whether he might have been one of the many hundreds of policyholders with whom I may have dealt.
No, he said, it was almost certainly connected to sport, and playing cricket. After telling him I had been involved in club cricket for most of my life, Evan said that he had played for Uxbridge, but it was virtually all at their ‘old’ ground, as he had an intense dislike for their new ground, which I knew Uxbridge had been playing at since the early 1970’s. Trying to think of Uxbridge players prior to that time, I told Evan that the only two I could really remember from those days were Alan Blumire, and Ollie Hope. ‘I am Ollie Hope’ was his amazing reply!
I had no visual recollection of Ollie, and I could hardly believe that he should recognise me from well over 40 years earlier, when we may have shared after-match drinks on a couple of occasions in the cosy old-fashioned Uxbridge clubhouse. Evan then explained that it was actually Alan Blumire, in his Captain’s capacity (Alan also skippered Paddington for a few seasons), who had given him the name of Ollie, refusing to use either of his given Christian names of Evan or Oliver. Strangely enough, I cannot recall ever batting directly against Ollie, but he was renown amongst the Paddington club because he had taken all 10 of our wickets with his fast bowling just a season or two before I started playing.
Ollie told me that he had played a couple of times for his native Barbados before coming to the UK, and working at the Uxbridge RAF base. He said he also played for Eastcote before taking up umpiring, and even preferred this role to playing at the ‘new’ Uxbridge ground. I can certainly understand his feelings of disappointment over their move from the cosy ‘Cricket Field Road’ to the bland modernity of what is now known as ‘Gatting Way’.
I lived and worked near to Uxbridge for much of the 1970’s, and played a handful of games for them one season when it was mutually convenient. I barely troubled the scorer, but was lucky enough to be an occasional teammate of some good blokes and cricketers. Meeting Ollie, and being able to swap stories of these guys, and the many other characters we met during our cricketing days, was quite some consolation for an otherwise unpleasant experience. Enjoying a post-match drink and chat with the opposition had come up with an unexpected benefit many years after I stopped playing!
Miller Matters
Douglas Miller sent me this
My good friend Robin Brodhurst flatters me as ever. However, I don’t concur with his wish to see the end of independent umpires. As one who stands in a league (the Thames Valley), I am aware of many colleagues who share my preference for always knowing that, whatever decision one may make, there will be no accusation of impartiality, as opposed to incompetence. This is something that club umpires widely appreciate when they come onto the panel. It has also been of interest to me to hear Mike Smith speak of his belief that South African umpires of his day subconsciously hoped that their own side would do well. In India he found that the umpiring was just plain poor, and you could ask Jim Parks what he thought about the officials when he went on Donald Carr’s tour to Pakistan.
My greatest objection to home-appointed umpires comes from having analysed lbw decisions across Test cricket. In the days of home umpires I found that the incidence of a visiting batsman being given out lbw(as a proportion of all dismissals) was 55% higher than with a home player in India, 65% higher in Pakistan and 182% higher in Sri Lanka. Whatever the vagaries of cricket and the limitations of such figures, there is a strong prima facie case of bias!
My fear would be that, if we removed independent umpires, all countries would be clamouring to have their own officials in charge. There is plenty of evidence from what I see on TV that the top Indian umpires are not very good at the moment. Yet, given the power of India in world cricket, would BCCI not be insisting on their own officials? There are also stories with more than a grain of substance that officials in some countries – I am thinking particularly of Pakistan – have been placed under pressure to ensure an outcome that will reflect well on their country. In some parts of the West Indies, where my analysis found no evidence of home bias, umpires giving decisions unfavourable to the home team have needed police protection for themselves and their families.
It is much to Imran Khan’s credit that he was one of the prime instigators of neutral umpires. Long may they continue. It may be sad for English umpires that they can never aspire to stand in a Test at Lord’s, but it is a small price to pay in the wider context.
And also this
On a point of information I believe that the Great Jack may be wrong about how many are crammed into the dressing room. When I was in the pavilion there were photographs on display to help the attendant recognize the players and hangers on with access to the dressing room. There were about 14 players but more of the others. Why not set a competition to see who is able to say what they all do?
In the 1990s, the Atherton era, they travelled with a manager, a coach, a physio and a scorer-cum-accountant. Now they travel without a scorer, but still rack up about 18. Mike Griffith was saying the other day that he feels they are in a sort of balloon of their own, detached from reality. This rings true to me having seen them abroad. It works against thinking for yourself in the middle, I fear.
The Great Jack Morgan gleaned more from this year’s Wisden
My Wisden arrived today and just having a quick flick through, I noticed a couple of facts re your concern about the numbers involved in the Eng set-up. In 2013, 34 players represented Eng (I think this is a record) in 14 Tests, 21 ODIs and 7 T20s.While the number of personnel involved in Eng’s tour of Oz in 2013/14 was 49 inc 30 players and 19 coaches and other non-playing personnel! Astonishing, isn't it? And look what a success the 49 of them made of it! Can you imagine the scale of the disaster if they had only had 48 out there?
Carlin Matters
Paddy Carlin sent me this
To enter belatedly into the KP debate I find myself reluctantly in the great man’s corner. There have been many instances in test and other cricket where a player of great ability shows selfish and arrogant tendencies but this is rarely a reason for dropping them. Players like W.G., Hammond, Compton, Boycott and many others would hardly have played at all should that have been the case. KP is clearly England’s best batsman-even in the recent series he easily topped the averages and you only had to see the Aussies’ glee at his dismissals to see how important his wicket was. However, in mitigation we are told that the dressing room will be much stronger now but will this compensate for the playing side being weaker? I doubt it.
For the new season, with league fixtures now featuring only the leading Herts clubs, WGCCC will be strengthened by an overseas left arm quick bowler who has played for Queensland and is reputed to propel the ball at 80mph plus. The batting will be complemented by the regular presence of Owais Shah who is scheduled to play 80% of matches. To counter balance this, teaching and university commitments will take away two regular players from last season for six weeks.
I await the call with the Professor to strengthen the England dressing room. His erudition and experience would be a major asset and I could have available a ready supply of gel, shampoo, clean towels and endless energy drinks. On the field we would be no use at all but batting at ten and eleven we could renew the partnership that once was at one and two until as before I was out.
Sledging Matters
Eric Tracey sent me a long extract from Wisden by Martin Crowe that shed light on some of the unreported activities that had taken place during this winter’s Ashes series. Perhaps there is a case for the stump mikes to be turned up so that the television audience can be treated to the unpleasantness that accompanies the play. There would soon be an outcry and the players would have to modify their behaviour.
www.googliesandchinamen.com
I have added hundreds more pictures to the Googlies website including the 2008 SH Lord’s reunion, the Googlies contributors lunch in Southend and a new section covering IFA cricket outings. All of the back editions of Googlies are available on the website together with a large collection of photographs covering St Clement Danes, South Hampstead, Old Danes Gatherings and other topics. The South Hampstead scorecards from 1961 to 1975 for both 1st and 2nd XIs, as transcribed by Bill Hart and Alan Cox, have now been posted and I will be happy to add any material that you would like to contribute.
Old Danes Gathering
There will be an Old Danes Gathering on Friday 25 July at Shepherds Bush CC from 2pm. Let me know if you plan to attend and I will add you to the lists which I will circulate periodically.
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 137
May 2014
T20 and all that stuff
When I go to watch cricket these days I seek out a county match where I can sit in reasonable comfort with a chum or two and absorb six hours play whilst chatting about anything that takes our fancy. This precludes international matches where the mindless congregate in their thousands and even worse T20 events which require more travelling than playing time.
However, when it comes to watching at home T20, of late, has proved pretty good value and there has been a shit load of it available – Big Bash, Ram Slam, World T20, and the IPL. On television most of the really irritating elements are removed and the journey to my sitting room is not excessive.
After many hours of study I consider myself to be something of an expert and I proffer these observations, which I suggest will have an effect on the game everywhere:
1. Batsmen now tend to advance on the quicks to facilitate driving and they hook/pull/slog if the bowler sees them in time and digs it in.
2. That is except for those batsmen who stand deep in the crease. I still don’t know how they achieve this without hitting their wicket. When I saw Owais do this in an England game at the Oval he trod on his stumps. They also take guard outside the off stump and stand square on so that the stumps are obscured for the bowler. The theory is that their left leg is already out of the way for the various drives/slogs if the ball is pitched up and they are opened up to slap the shorter ball over the offside.
3. This technique also counters the Yorker in that it changes its length for the bowler. Many batsmen in this deep crease position hit the would be Yorker by getting under it after it pitches.
4. In this series of matches the successful bowlers were those who took pace off the ball. Except for those who were crap anyway. First in this group was Dernbach who has had the longest career for a failure of all time. He started off in the World T20 by bowling properly as he first did for Surrey several years back. But in no time he was back to spraying it all over the place at varying paces. He has a shitload of lamentable records to his name including most runs conceded, highest runs per over, most wides etc. He surely cannot continue to be selected? Or do we have to have a joke bowler in the side. Is it considered to be England’s contribution to the general fun?
5. I have always doubted the speedgun technology for the speed of bowlers delivery and suspect that there is a guy in a flat cap who sits on the midwicket boundary and assesses the speed along the lines of “shit that was quick it must be over ninety mph”. His cousin has now been given a job assessing how far sixes travel. If they plop over the line which has been measured as seventy metres from the wicket I can see that this is a fairly accurate measure but these guys, or rather their bats, nowadays hit it much further. In many cases they come to rest a long way above the ground in the top tier of stands. In such cases is the lateral measurement assessed to this point or is a calculation made on the trajectory to where it would have landed if allowed to proceed unimpeded to the ground, halfway down the high street? No our cardboard speedgun man’s cousin has been employed and he says “shit that was a big hit-must be 92 metres”.
6. Sixes are now colour coded on the basis of the spurious technology employed in 5 above. With the red zone being reserved for hits in excess of ninety metres. Since this has no scoreboard impact in that they all count as just six, it seems pretty pointless. Or perhaps this is the initial step in getting T20 qualified for the next Olympics when batting will be treated as something akin to shot putting or discus throwing?
7. Fielding has now reached quite extraordinary feats of athleticism. The diving and sliding has now reached manic proportions and clearly does save runs but with it comes an injury cost which the highly paid individual must consider whether it is worth it if it puts his career on the line. When one has been out injured for a few months and someone has taken your place no one can remember or care how your injury was sustained.
8. Experts make crap predictions. The pundit consensus was that the wickets in Bangla Desh would be slow turners. It is true that slow bowlers dominated but many of the wickets were considered quick and the pace men did not succeed because the batsmen generally like pace on the ball.
9. There is a group of gym honed guys around now who hit the ball very hard. They are no doubt aided by the magnificent blades they wield. Who knows how many more runs The Great Jack Morgan would have scored with one of these weapons? But I doubt whether he would have been inclined to do the gym work necessary to be able to wield one. These guys include: Finch, Warner, Maxwell, Watson, White, Bailey, Gayle, Bravo, Samuels, Sammy, Russell, Hales, Lumb, Bresnan, McCullum, Guptill, Perera MD, Perera MK, Mathews, de Villiers, Miller and Morkel A. When these guys make good contact the ball disappears.
10. The T20 World Cup was dominated by spinners and they are the top bowlers in the history of the competition. But not ordinary guys who turn it one-way. These guys are wizards of mystery who can bowl googlies, doozras and carrom balls in addition to the orthodox deliveries they purvey. The batsmen usually cannot read them and end up guessing which way the ball will turn. Even this is less than a 50:50 chance as they also bowl straight on deliveries and sliders as well. Few of them are big turners of the ball and they generally rely on the uncertainty that they create. The leg spinners generally bowl googlies and use the orthodox leg spinner as a variation. All of this applies to Badree, Ashwin, Razzaq, Ajmal, Herath, Mendis, Senanayake and others but not to Narine. Nobody has a clue what Narine bowls and maybe he doesn’t himself. His delivery is flipped from the front of the fingers and can go in any direction but his control is remarkable. He rarely goes for many. The one thing for certain about him is his hairstyle that is now a more modest version of earlier extravagance.
11. The stats are getting much more advanced. Commentators can now draw on how the batsman has previously scored his runs - with what shots and against which types of bowling. They also calculate historical scoring rates by batsman for the first ten balls faced, the second ten and so on. It is as well that these micro techniques weren’t around when we were playing.
Out and About with the Professor
King George VI towards the end of his life – a life predictably truncated by 40 years of chain-smoking – suffered, so it seems, from the cold. He was fortunate, of course, to live in Westminster, rather than some of the more frozen outposts of his dominions (although the trips to Balmoral may have been a bit of a trial). The hi-tech solution of the time to this regal affliction was to devise a suit with wires sewn into the fabric, connected to a battery. A sort of bespoke, three-piece, mobile electric blanket.
I was musing on this recently to a chum – a chum of a somewhat geeky disposition, it must be said – and lo and behold, a week or so later, the postman arrived bearing a package containing a rather similar garment. Not, of course, a whistle, but a fully wired-up “fleece”; and what could be more handy for a day on the North-East Terrace (Upper) in April? Instead of the usual blanket and scarves, I sat there in smug Duracell comfort to watch Yorkshire thrash the living daylights out of Northants. It is a truly marvellous invention and a must-have for all cricket watchers at this time of year…and not just watchers; had they been around 40 years ago I would have been very tempted to take the field wearing one. Who has not frozen half to death in the outfield in April? Doubtless these days the batteries would be felt to impede the compulsory fielding slide.
Northants won five games last season but on this showing it is hard to see them doing so again. Their bowling was decidedly thin: Hall’s famously bustling action is looking increasingly arthritic as he approaches his 40th year and Middlebrook’s off-breaks were no better than when he left Yorkshire ten or more years’ ago. One suspects they will miss Copeland’s wickets. I read about various suggested replacements…but one needs to arrive soon.
Mind you, a big bonus for the Northants bowlers was the presence of Messrs Gould and Benson at either end, both of whom seem to come from the Douglas Miller school of umpiring. As a result anyone struck on the pads was in grave danger of an early departure. Yorkshire only lost nine wickets for the whole game but eight of them were LBW. Sidebottom, in particular, looked aggrieved. He was as far forward as a 6’3’’ man can go and still have both legs connected. It didn’t deter the Gunner. Unless they can ensure that these two are officiating at all their matches – or that Douglas can be lured on to the First Class panel – the Northants bowlers might struggle this season. By comparison the Yorkshire quartet of Sidebottom, Brooks, Patterson and Plunkett looks pretty useful and, presumably, immune from Test call-ups. They lack a quality spin bowler of course (who doesn’t?); Rashid now seems to be a No.5 who bowls a bit and Rafiq is in the Stiffs. It may be that Williamson does a fair amount of bowling this year.
Still the good folk of Headingley were very happy with a home win first-up of an innings and plenty and there was even a degree of optimism in the air…
…an unusual and, frankly, slightly unnerving sign.
As for me, I will reserve my judgement and replenish my batteries.
Middlesex Matters
The Great Jack Morgan was out of hibernation for the season’s opener at Lords
Following the horrible thrashing at Hove, Middlesex brought in Gareth Berg and Ollie Rayner to replace Neil Dexter and Toby Roland-Jones for the Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Lord's starting on 13 April. I heard a rumour that Dexter's absence was related to imminent fatherhood, but there was no official information about this. Chris Read won the toss for Notts and decided to bat first on the usual greenish Lord's track on a fine and bright morning.
Ex-Lancashire man Steve Mullaney was the rock on which the Notts innings was based, but he was totally outshone by England's Jimmy Taylor, who hit an impressive 62 from 84 balls with 13 fours in a third wicket partnership of 81 with Mullaney. The latter was finally dismissed for 52 off 172 balls with 5 fours and a six, but then the Australian born, South African educated Riki Wessels (son of Kepler) was joined by keeper Read and 86 were added in 82 minutes before Read fell for 40 off 67 balls with 7 fours and Wessels soon followed for 58 off 109 balls with 7 fours and a six. Australian Test seamer (and colleague of Chris Rogers at Victoria) Peter Siddle batted well for 40 from 35 balls with 5 fours and a six and guided the visitors to a total of 326 all out early on day 2. Steve Finn (5 for 91) and James Harris (4 for 80) took the wickets and the credit for Middlesex, but neither would have got top marks for accuracy.
326 is a difficult score to assess until one has seen how the other team does in reply and the Notts score suddenly looked very useful as Middlesex slumped to 19 for 2. However, a wonderful stand of 203 in 193 minutes between Sam Robson and Eoin Morgan transformed the match and put the home team in complete control until Morgan nicked one to the keeper for 86 off 133 balls with 12 fours. Keeper John Simpson often looks a good player without producing the runs of which he appears capable, but on this occasion he again looked good and, this time, played the sort of untroubled innings that often eludes him. He had put on a valuable 94 for the fifth wicket with Robson, before the latter finally departed for a brilliant 163 off 310 balls with 22 fours, as fluent an innings as one had ever seen from him. This left the stage clear for Simpson to dominate the remainder of the innings as he reached a thoroughly deserved 108* (only his third first class century in his 69th match) off 202 balls with 17 fours and a six and steered Middlesex to a total of 439, a lead of 113. Only nine Middlesex wickets fell in the innings because Berg, who bowled 20 overs in the Notts innings, disappeared from the match with no explanation offered to the crowd. 6'5" Andy Carter had the best figures of the visiting bowlers (3 for 74), but probably the best bowler was the 6'6" heavyweight Luke Fletcher, who took 2 for 57 in his 23 overs.
Finn and Tim Murtagh soon had Notts in trouble in their second innings and though most of their batsmen got a start (eight made it into double figures), none could go on to build a major innings. Skipper Read did best with 8 fours in his 44 from 52 balls while Michael Lumb (37), Wessels (34) and Taylor (33) looked capable of better things. However, Murtagh (5 for 61) and Finn (4 for 82) polished off the Notts second innings for 224, leaving Middlesex to chase only 112 to win with most of the last day to get them. Middlesex needed only 69 minutes and 18.2 overs to sprint to an emphatic victory by 10 wickets with skipper Rogers leading the way with 63* off 50 balls with 13 fours and Robson giving sound support on 41*. Siddle's bowling was a big disappointment for Notts as he contributed 29 overs of lethargic medium pace for 113 runs and not one wicket in the match. A Man of the Match award would probably have gone to Robson (204 runs for once out), but several other home players would have run him close: Simpson (who also held five catches behind the stumps to add to his ton), Morgan and Rogers with the bat and Finn (9 for 173), Murtagh (6 for 127) and Harris (5 for 135) with the ball.
One would not want to be too critical of Finny, fighting his way back to his best and already with 15 for 253 this season, but he would probably not be happy with his economy rate of 4.1 runs per over, Harris (3.46) was also a little expensive and Murtagh (2.75) would be my nomination as the bowler of the match. The match was played in glorious spring sunshine throughout, there was a very respectable crowd present on all four days and some chaps were even seen to remove their shirts. Middlesex took 23 points (to add to the embarrassing solitary point that they brought away from Hove) from the match and Notts 4.
Middlesex have reverted to wearing the old-style wool sweaters, which do not take a number, so one can no longer identify each player by a glance at their back; instead one has to revert to the old technique of trying to recognise each player by their physical characteristics and style of running etc, a method hindered by the universal modern fashion of cap or sunhat wearing. What is the point of numbers on shirts if they cannot be read when the players are wearing sweaters? How about numbers on strides?
Kennington Club Matters
Paddy Carlin is freeloading again
I arrived in time for the first over which perfectly encapsulated the current state of county cricket in our multi cultural Britain of today. Two Australians (Hogan and Allenby) bowling to a South African (Meaker), and, remarkably, an Englishman at the other end - Zafar Shahaan Ansari. The day’s cast revealed eight Englishmen, four Welshmen, four South Africans, three Aussies, one Irishman, one Scotsman and one Zimbabwean. Astonishingly only two were alumni of Millfield.
Tim Tremlett took eighteen from a Graham Wagg over which included a six into the hallowed seats of the Kennington Club where I was the only spectator. Graeme Smith wore different coloured trousers to his teammates – a brilliant white which looked as if he had just finished a shift at the bakery. He batted for fifteen minutes and really is ugly to watch. I think that it is getting worse as he shovels his way up the wicket and tries to turn the ball to leg each time. Will the county bowlers work him out? One for the statisticians- there were five wicket keepers playing – Davies, Burns, Wilson, Wallace and Cooke.
Wright Matters
Steve Wright sent me this
I went to Richard Briance’s Diamond Wedding Anniversary in Chichester over the weekend. Of the old Bush squad, David Jukes, David Perrin and me were there with our other halves. Except for Robin Syrett who was wandering around like a lost soul, everybody else seemed to be Chichester connections.
Dickie was captain at the Bush from 1965-1967 and then went up to Kettering for 2 or 3 years before “settling” in Chichester where he and later his son David Briance played. David was a very good player. He went on a number of tours including the MCC tour to Argentina (I don’t know the year).A very nice evening.
Now to business, I have to tease Bill a little more don’t I?
I almost choked on my cornflakes while reading the latest edition of Googlies. With the exception of English cricket I thought that all was well with the world (assuming you forget about The Ukraine and the missing Malaysian plane). It was then that I read the vitriolic comments from Bill Hart which gave me a severe bout of indigestion and left me upset and shaken for the rest of the day. How would you like to read someone referring to you as a twat while you were eating your breakfast?
All that I am guilty of is offering my sincere congratulations to Bill for the amount of work he was putting into his research into the 1973 South Hampstead 2nd X1 score book. I felt that Bill’s vital work and the long hours that it must have entailed should not pass unrecognised. However it seems that Bill has completely misunderstood my comments. It could be that he is in a state of permanent exhaustion from playing 3 or 4 rounds of golf every week. At his age I should have thought that this would have been an ordeal rather than a pleasure. Perhaps he is unable to pick things up as quickly as he once could. So, I would like to congratulate Bill once more and offer a few suggestions as to where Bill’s historic work could lead.
We all know the success that JK Rowling has had with her Harry Potter books. Well, I see an even more glorious publishing future for Bill. Let’s start with a title for his forthcoming book. How about “ South Hampstead 2nd X1 1973 -----The Glory Year.”? I accept that this is not a particularly catchy title but it does get over a lot of information to someone browsing the airport bookshops looking for an exciting read on the plane.
Following the success that this blockbuster is sure to have it could be followed up with a “motion picture” or in Bill’s case a “slow motion picture”. I must confess to being a bit stuck as to who the stars of this film would be as most of those appearing in The Great Escape are unfortunately no longer with us. Tom Cruise is an obvious choice, perhaps Bruce Willis and Arnold Swarzenegger could have a cameo role playing Bill. We (I say we because I’m already getting excited about this) could perhaps fit Tony Williams in somewhere as this would add a nice touch of realism although I do appreciate that he would probably need a stunt double.
I’m sure that this film would smash all box office records, particularly in North London and would set Bill up nicely to write a prequel (I think every successful book breeds a prequel these days Bill) and don’t worry I have a working title for this book as well, ----“ South Hampstead 2nd X1 1972—the making of a great side”.
I feel quite tired myself now. I think I will go and have a lie down or perhaps join Bill in a round of golf. I’m sure that he would be happy to play with me.
Jones Matters
Denis Jones sent me this
Further to your last issue, and the passing away of Arthur Gates, I would like to thank Jim Revier for his good words about Paddington, and hope I do not appear to be overly self-centred in my words below about Arthur, which are from a slightly different perspective than normal.
Throughout most of the 1950’s the Gates and the Jones families lived almost directly opposite each other, in Ormiston Grove, Shepherds Bush. Occasionally, around a dozen or more of the local youngsters would gradually come together during summer evenings, or school-holidays, to play typical innocent street-games of the time. More usually, though, it would just be Arthur and myself playing cricket in the middle of the road with an old tennis-ball, or kicking a football of some kind, with various front-garden fences as our goals, or sometimes the end-of-terrace wall in Halsbury Road!
Arthur’s kindly-natured father made a set of stumps specially for us, and they saw plenty of action not only in Ormiston Grove, but also on Sundays when we played our kids games together at Paddington matches. Arthur really was very tolerant of me being almost 3 years his junior, and would often give up his wicket after batting for a while, whereas I was always keen to make the most of it when it was my turn to have an innings. I have no doubt that Arthur’s bowling skills first developed from all those times he spent bowling at me!
Knees and elbows grazed and bleeding from falls in the street, or legs and arms scratched and stung from searching for lost balls in prickly nettles. All would be forgotten the following day at the prospect of another game after school-time, but when the Jones family moved to Kingsbury in 1960 our street-games were abruptly and conclusively ended. By this time Arthur was in his early teens, and making some early appearances for Paddington between sharing scoring duties with the inimitable Ernie Perrone; our days of two little boys playing together outside the boundary lines had also had their day.
Arthur and I played only a few games together for Paddington before he went to play for Shepherds Bush, and it was destined that afterwards our paths should rarely cross. However, I was fortunate to have him as a good childhood playmate. We were also both lucky to have parents who were sensible in their approach to when and where their children should play, to have very understanding neighbours in Ormiston Grove, and to live there when very few cars used the road!!
Maybe some of your readers will be provoked to recall memories of their own good playmates - any of the Hugh Hefner variety should provide an accompanying photo!
And then this During one of far-too-many visits to the local hospital last year, I was told that I needed to stay in for overnight observation. Feeling fairly dejected (or as others may say, utterly pissed off), I was then led to a ward where the only other occupant was a lean, dark-skinned, and grey-haired man, of something around 80 years of age. I said hello to him, and he introduced himself as Evan.
A few moments passed as I busied myself around my allocated bed, and then Evan said that he recognised me. Having met countless people during my work in financial services, I asked whether he might have been one of the many hundreds of policyholders with whom I may have dealt.
No, he said, it was almost certainly connected to sport, and playing cricket. After telling him I had been involved in club cricket for most of my life, Evan said that he had played for Uxbridge, but it was virtually all at their ‘old’ ground, as he had an intense dislike for their new ground, which I knew Uxbridge had been playing at since the early 1970’s. Trying to think of Uxbridge players prior to that time, I told Evan that the only two I could really remember from those days were Alan Blumire, and Ollie Hope. ‘I am Ollie Hope’ was his amazing reply!
I had no visual recollection of Ollie, and I could hardly believe that he should recognise me from well over 40 years earlier, when we may have shared after-match drinks on a couple of occasions in the cosy old-fashioned Uxbridge clubhouse. Evan then explained that it was actually Alan Blumire, in his Captain’s capacity (Alan also skippered Paddington for a few seasons), who had given him the name of Ollie, refusing to use either of his given Christian names of Evan or Oliver. Strangely enough, I cannot recall ever batting directly against Ollie, but he was renown amongst the Paddington club because he had taken all 10 of our wickets with his fast bowling just a season or two before I started playing.
Ollie told me that he had played a couple of times for his native Barbados before coming to the UK, and working at the Uxbridge RAF base. He said he also played for Eastcote before taking up umpiring, and even preferred this role to playing at the ‘new’ Uxbridge ground. I can certainly understand his feelings of disappointment over their move from the cosy ‘Cricket Field Road’ to the bland modernity of what is now known as ‘Gatting Way’.
I lived and worked near to Uxbridge for much of the 1970’s, and played a handful of games for them one season when it was mutually convenient. I barely troubled the scorer, but was lucky enough to be an occasional teammate of some good blokes and cricketers. Meeting Ollie, and being able to swap stories of these guys, and the many other characters we met during our cricketing days, was quite some consolation for an otherwise unpleasant experience. Enjoying a post-match drink and chat with the opposition had come up with an unexpected benefit many years after I stopped playing!
Miller Matters
Douglas Miller sent me this
My good friend Robin Brodhurst flatters me as ever. However, I don’t concur with his wish to see the end of independent umpires. As one who stands in a league (the Thames Valley), I am aware of many colleagues who share my preference for always knowing that, whatever decision one may make, there will be no accusation of impartiality, as opposed to incompetence. This is something that club umpires widely appreciate when they come onto the panel. It has also been of interest to me to hear Mike Smith speak of his belief that South African umpires of his day subconsciously hoped that their own side would do well. In India he found that the umpiring was just plain poor, and you could ask Jim Parks what he thought about the officials when he went on Donald Carr’s tour to Pakistan.
My greatest objection to home-appointed umpires comes from having analysed lbw decisions across Test cricket. In the days of home umpires I found that the incidence of a visiting batsman being given out lbw(as a proportion of all dismissals) was 55% higher than with a home player in India, 65% higher in Pakistan and 182% higher in Sri Lanka. Whatever the vagaries of cricket and the limitations of such figures, there is a strong prima facie case of bias!
My fear would be that, if we removed independent umpires, all countries would be clamouring to have their own officials in charge. There is plenty of evidence from what I see on TV that the top Indian umpires are not very good at the moment. Yet, given the power of India in world cricket, would BCCI not be insisting on their own officials? There are also stories with more than a grain of substance that officials in some countries – I am thinking particularly of Pakistan – have been placed under pressure to ensure an outcome that will reflect well on their country. In some parts of the West Indies, where my analysis found no evidence of home bias, umpires giving decisions unfavourable to the home team have needed police protection for themselves and their families.
It is much to Imran Khan’s credit that he was one of the prime instigators of neutral umpires. Long may they continue. It may be sad for English umpires that they can never aspire to stand in a Test at Lord’s, but it is a small price to pay in the wider context.
And also this
On a point of information I believe that the Great Jack may be wrong about how many are crammed into the dressing room. When I was in the pavilion there were photographs on display to help the attendant recognize the players and hangers on with access to the dressing room. There were about 14 players but more of the others. Why not set a competition to see who is able to say what they all do?
In the 1990s, the Atherton era, they travelled with a manager, a coach, a physio and a scorer-cum-accountant. Now they travel without a scorer, but still rack up about 18. Mike Griffith was saying the other day that he feels they are in a sort of balloon of their own, detached from reality. This rings true to me having seen them abroad. It works against thinking for yourself in the middle, I fear.
The Great Jack Morgan gleaned more from this year’s Wisden
My Wisden arrived today and just having a quick flick through, I noticed a couple of facts re your concern about the numbers involved in the Eng set-up. In 2013, 34 players represented Eng (I think this is a record) in 14 Tests, 21 ODIs and 7 T20s.While the number of personnel involved in Eng’s tour of Oz in 2013/14 was 49 inc 30 players and 19 coaches and other non-playing personnel! Astonishing, isn't it? And look what a success the 49 of them made of it! Can you imagine the scale of the disaster if they had only had 48 out there?
Carlin Matters
Paddy Carlin sent me this
To enter belatedly into the KP debate I find myself reluctantly in the great man’s corner. There have been many instances in test and other cricket where a player of great ability shows selfish and arrogant tendencies but this is rarely a reason for dropping them. Players like W.G., Hammond, Compton, Boycott and many others would hardly have played at all should that have been the case. KP is clearly England’s best batsman-even in the recent series he easily topped the averages and you only had to see the Aussies’ glee at his dismissals to see how important his wicket was. However, in mitigation we are told that the dressing room will be much stronger now but will this compensate for the playing side being weaker? I doubt it.
For the new season, with league fixtures now featuring only the leading Herts clubs, WGCCC will be strengthened by an overseas left arm quick bowler who has played for Queensland and is reputed to propel the ball at 80mph plus. The batting will be complemented by the regular presence of Owais Shah who is scheduled to play 80% of matches. To counter balance this, teaching and university commitments will take away two regular players from last season for six weeks.
I await the call with the Professor to strengthen the England dressing room. His erudition and experience would be a major asset and I could have available a ready supply of gel, shampoo, clean towels and endless energy drinks. On the field we would be no use at all but batting at ten and eleven we could renew the partnership that once was at one and two until as before I was out.
Sledging Matters
Eric Tracey sent me a long extract from Wisden by Martin Crowe that shed light on some of the unreported activities that had taken place during this winter’s Ashes series. Perhaps there is a case for the stump mikes to be turned up so that the television audience can be treated to the unpleasantness that accompanies the play. There would soon be an outcry and the players would have to modify their behaviour.
www.googliesandchinamen.com
I have added hundreds more pictures to the Googlies website including the 2008 SH Lord’s reunion, the Googlies contributors lunch in Southend and a new section covering IFA cricket outings. All of the back editions of Googlies are available on the website together with a large collection of photographs covering St Clement Danes, South Hampstead, Old Danes Gatherings and other topics. The South Hampstead scorecards from 1961 to 1975 for both 1st and 2nd XIs, as transcribed by Bill Hart and Alan Cox, have now been posted and I will be happy to add any material that you would like to contribute.
Old Danes Gathering
There will be an Old Danes Gathering on Friday 25 July at Shepherds Bush CC from 2pm. Let me know if you plan to attend and I will add you to the lists which I will circulate periodically.
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