GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 144
December 2014
Phil Hughes
Nothing else seems significant this month and it is hard to find anything funny about anything. The following article by Gus Fraser appeared on the Middlesex website
Lord’s Cricket Ground was an extremely sombre place as the light lifted this morning. The greyness of the day was apt as the staff of Marylebone Cricket Club and Middlesex County Cricket Club arrived for work. We were all trying to come to terms with the tragic overnight news that Phillip Hughes had passed away. In respect to Phillip, his family and friends, flags at the ground had been set at half-mast and as the morning progressed floral tributes began to appear at the Grace Gates. Lord’s knows who the good guys in cricket are and Phillip Hughes was certainly one of them.
Phillip was only with Middlesex CCC for a short period of time in 2009 but he made an impression that very few followers and staff of the club will ever forget. He was sensational both on and off the field, and the relationships he formed with many of us have made this tragedy even harder to absorb.
The statistics of his time at Lord’s are there for all to see. In a remarkable 27 day period he scored the small matter of 882 runs for Middlesex CCC. Five hundred and seventy four of these runs were accumulated in three County Championship matches. In five first-class innings he struck three hundreds and two half-centuries, leaving the Club, only to return a short time later with Australia for an Ashes series, with the incredible batting average of 143.5.
But it was his personality away from cricket that I remember more than the savage cuts he sent to the cover boundary. Phillip was the first player I signed for Middlesex, two months after taking up the position of Managing Director of Cricket. He was signed to play for the club whilst Murali Kartik, Middlesex’s designated overseas player, fulfilled his commitments at the Indian Premier League. Despite the decision being criticised at the time, it is a signing I am proud to have made.
Phillip had been recommended to me by Neil D’Costa, his early mentor and manager. D’Costa and I had played Grade Cricket together for Western Suburbs in Sydney in 1994/95 and we had kept in contact. He thought playing county cricket, even if it was only for a month, would help his development. The contract was actually signed before Phillip became the youngest player to score a hundred in each innings of a Test. He completed this remarkable achievement against a strong South African bowling attack in only his second Test.
As I sit here writing this tribute I can still hear D’Costa informing me of what an exceptional young man he was, before telling me that we must look after him. Phillip was only 20 when I picked him up at Heathrow Airport on a cold April morning. As he confidently walked through customs with his green Australian kit bag dragging behind him he was smaller in stature than I imagined but, even then, you could see he had a presence about him.
He was not in any way overawed by the prospect of coming to London on his own to take on the responsibility of playing at the ‘Home of Cricket’ for one of the most prestigious club’s in the country. And by scoring a hundred against Glamorgan in his first innings at Lord’s he highlighted his skill and confidence.
Having spent much of his teenage life mixing with and playing against men in Macksville, a town 300 miles north of Sydney, he was immediately comfortable in my company and we chatted about life at Western Suburbs as we made our way along the M4 to Lord’s. The Middlesex squad were practicing at the time and, after meeting his new team-mates, I dropped him off at his new home, our club flat in West Hampstead.
He quickly fitted into London life and became buddies with a few of our younger players. West Hampstead can be a lively spot and, in an attempt to support D’Costa’s request, I’d regularly ask Phillip how he was and what he’d been up to. With a glint in his eye and a smile on his face he’d always insist he was great, the flat was fine and that he had had a quiet night in. Like most Aussies he was ‘low maintenance’ and in the end we both just ended up laughing when I asked the question.
Even at 20 his attitude to cricket was a lesson to many Middlesex players who had been professionals for several years. He possessed a lovely carefree simple attitude to life but his character was underpinned by a strong work ethic and a fierce desire to score runs and to be the best he could be.
Phillip may have been laid back and easy company off the pitch but on it he was a tremendous competitor. I will never forget him confronting the formidable former South African fast bowler Andre Nel during probably his best innings for Middlesex, the 195 he smashed against Surrey at The Oval.
Nel had taken exception to the hiding he was receiving and bowled a beamer at Hughes. Even now I still have this wonderful vision of the diminutive Hughes following the bear like Nel down the pitch to inform the bowler he was: ‘weak, ******* weak, that is why you quit international cricket to play for Surrey.” Nel did not turn round to take him on.
Judging by the amount of luggage Phillip placed in the back of my car on his return to Sydney I got the feeling he enjoyed his time in London. The clothes shops in Oxford Street definitely took a bit of a hiding and I think he ended up paying more than £1,500 in excess luggage.
I am not a touchy feely sort of person but I hugged him when I dropped him off at Terminal 3. It seemed the natural thing to do. We have spent several enjoyable hours in each other’s company since and even though his international career at times stuttered he never once felt sorry for himself. We always hoped that he would one day return to play for Middlesex CCC again. That, tragically, with many other dreams ended last night.
The Professor
John Adams sent me these notes
I suppose most of us who have played a reasonable amount of cricket have been hit on the head at some time or other. I recall (if that’s the right word) two particular occasions: one a top edge off a ball that was probably too full for the pull shot and the other at short leg where my left eye socket saved a certain boundary. The former produced lots of blood but was sorted out with a few stitches, while the latter had me in hospital for several days until I could see straight again. Both were, of course, many years before helmets became commonplace.
It would also be true, I guess, that most of us have seen a good many umpires hit by the ball. Most often it is a blow to the feet or shins and most often it produces a good deal of hopping around and very little sympathy of any sort. Indeed I’ve sometimes wondered why umpires are not hit more frequently, being (inevitably) a good deal older than the players and often, in the lower grades of cricket, quite elderly. Mercifully it is rarely serious and so the dreadful news this week of both an umpire and a Test player being killed playing the game is a startling reminder of how hard a cricket ball is and the damage it can do.
It’s difficult to imagine an umpire wearing protective gear but it has become the norm for batsmen and is, of course, compulsory at junior level. I imagine most of us can recall the early introduction of protective head-gear – Mike Brearley’s “inset” under his cap comes to mind, with two sort of protective plastic sideburns for the temples. We all recall – and it has been replayed this week - the Gatting injury in the West Indies in the days before the grille was fixed on the front of helmets. There was, for a time, a kind of Perspex visor on the front but that – so I was told – could be difficult to see through. Thus the grilles.
Protective equipment of any sort is always a compromise of some kind – safety versus mobility – is the most obvious, and there have been numerous references this week to “batting in suits of armour”. But that is not the issue. What is at issue is that protective equipment should be designed to do what it says… protect. Last season we had the injury to Broad when the ball went straight through his grille. Surely it is possible to design the thing so that that can’t happen. Now, after the Phil Hughes tragedy, I read that one of the manufacturers is going to consult a medical “expert” to improve the design. Well why – altogether now – didn’t you do that in the first place? Of course the injury is mercifully rare, but surely it is possible to construct a helmet that renders it just about impossible.
I think it is true that players are hit on the head more often these days – and that must be down to the confidence that helmets bring. Well-remembered cases in the past: Ewen Chatfield or Nari Contractor, resulted in serious injury, whereas now it is very common to see a player hit on the head and carry on. That, of course, isn’t an argument for doing away with helmets as I read some daft commentator suggest. What it does mean is that if it happens more frequently then the helmets must do what they are supposed to do.
There has also been quite a lot of comment about the position now of Sean Abbott. Will he be able to get back to top-flight cricket? Will he ever be able to play again, and, if so, will he ever bowl a bouncer? If he can’t, then, in all probability in modern cricket, his career is over. Lever and Griffith both played on, of course, but in neither case was the blow fatal – although very nearly so. It is a heavy burden for, let us remember, a very young man, to carry.
Bill Hart
Bill Hart was the first reader to write to me after Hughes’ death. Bill was as fast as any of the quick bowlers on the London club circuit in the sixties and his excitable temperament has often been referred to in these pages. But playing at South Hampstead he probably never hit anyone above the knee roll.
The tragic news of the death of Phil Hughes will have shocked all cricket lovers, but will it have stimulated the cricketing authorities to ban "intimidatory bowling". I doubt it, because the modern sports spectator seems to want violence for its own sake.
In the world of Rugby Union we see that the word "tackle" has disappeared in favour of "hit". In the world of Soccer every corner, or free-kick near goal, has become a wrestling match, and so on.
In the 1970's when Dennis Lillee & Jeff Thomson re-introduced the tactics of "Larwood & Voce in the 1930's", they did the game a terrible, long-lasting bad service. Somebody was going to be killed! The introduction of helmets has delayed this tragedy, but in my opinion it was bound to happen.
Throughout the time from the 70's to the present day, it has seemed to me to be a degrading experience to see quality batsmen having to duck & dive, in fear of their lives.
I realise that very few of Googlies readers will have any remembrance of me or when I played for South Hampstead. I was an opening bowler, of respectable pace, and thought by some to be "aggressive". However, I can honestly say that I never knowingly bowled at a batsman hoping to hit him, particularly anywhere above the waist. I had a slightly low arm action which prevented too much bounce anyway, but playing for Wembley at the same time, was John Price, later of Middlesex and England, whose arm action was right over the top, and who got bags of lift. No South Hampstead batsmen feared being hit on the head by him, although you might get a rap on the thigh. We both bowled a full length because that's how we had been taught to get wickets.
This tragic situation highlights another example of the cricket authorities being afraid to take action. It is similar to their turning a blind eye to "throwing", as a result of which we have as "the leading Test Match wicket-taker" a man who, in many peoples opinion, never bowled a ball in his life. Normally, when I have had a rant, the editor, Jim Sharp, will make a placatory remark, and all will be well. In this case the problem is too serious, and I hope he will agree with me.
Jim Sharp
I sent the following to Jack Morgan
It was desperately sad that Phil Hughes died, perhaps the more so that he was a sometime Middlesex man. I saw him with you get his first hundred at Lords when he scored about 95 on the off side. I was surprised that he was still only 25 and so was probably a teenager that season? I think he got a thousand in short time and also scored heavily in the one day competition.
Unfortunately there is going to be a lot of crap talked about laws and more protection. Did you ever get hit on the head when batting? I probably did but can’t remember the occasion. Here are some observations:
1. Helmets. We, of course, never used these. I think that I can only recall one head hit whilst batting and that was when Clarke crusted Peach at Edmonton. On the other hand I got hit on the head plenty of times fielding at short leg and keeping wicket.
2. Batting technique. Because of helmets batting technique has changed. In the old days you loosened up a tailender with a short one and then skittled him next ball. Nowadays armed all over tailenders hang around against anybody. The good batters, wearing helmets, rarely duck against bouncers and will hook from in front of their faces.
3. Wickets. We rarely played on tracks where the ball would bounce to head high and if it did it was normally a bad wicket (Edmonton) rather than a fast and true one. Good first class wickets now rarely deviate at all and the bounce is, generally, reliable. Batters as a result feel that they can cope with short pitched bowling.
4. What are we protecting? The helmet technology has been refined to protect the skull and, via the grill, the face. Hughes was apparently hit below the helmet on the back of the head, an area deemed unnecessary to cover. He could equally have been hit full on in the throat, an area which no one protects.
One death is, of course, one too many but short of putting the batsmen in full cover armour there will be, sadly, the occasional disaster. Such is life.
England Matters
I sent the following to Jack Morgan
I only saw bits of the ODI yesterday but some predictable problems emerged:
1. We are constantly subjected to the bleating that these top international sportsmen play too much cricket. Yesterday after a three month rest we were told that they were a little rusty! So we now know that they will be shit in the first couple of matches in a series because they are not match fit and by the last couple will be shit because they have played too much. On this basis we can only expect any sort of satisfactory performance in the third match of any series.
2. England bowled over fifty three overs at Sri Lanka courtesy of an abundance of wides and no balls which just about accounted for the margin of defeat. This is not rustiness but sheer incompetence on the part of bowlers.
3. Sooner or later Cook is going to become an embarrassment to the ODI side. Any runs he eventually scores will be scored too slowly and when he doesn’t get any one can only ask why he is in the side. He certainly brings nothing to the table as captain. He did take an exceptional catch though yesterday.
4. The commentators are talking up Buttler as a keeper. I suspect that this is because they recognise that he is there for the long haul and are trying to justify this flawed selection.
5.
6. Why was Ballance not playing? If he had been selected who would have been left out? Root and Bell are similar players in this form of the game and should probably not both be picked. Morgan and Buttler owe us some runs and the former might not make the World Cup if he doesn’t deliver soon. Bopara, Stokes and Woakes at seven, eight and nine are a very strong trio. Bopara is possibly England’s best batsman in this format and is too low at seven. Stokes is one of the country’s most devastating batsmen at county level and still could be a great allrounder if he could develop any consistency. It’s possible that he is fundamentally a nutter and will never develop. Woakes isn’t worth a place as a bowler and so is a batter at nine. This makes no sense.
Jack replied
You make some valid points about the ODI team, but i) Cooky is not going to be dropped during this tour and probably not until after the WC; ii) Ballance is not playing because he is not even on the tour; and iii) if you are not happy with the likes of Woakesy, you need to have an alternative up your sleeve (I have not seen the match, but I am not happy with Gurney and Stokesy, who was entrusted with only four expensive overs) and with Jordan hopeless in the warm-up, Finny not fit and Broad and Anderson not even on the tour, it is not easy to come up with the answer.
I have read several times that J Taylor has thoroughly earned is recall to the Eng set up because of "sheer weight of runs in all competitions" and similar expressions and Richard Edwards says much the same in today's Indy, so it came as a bit of a surprise to look him up in the Cricketer's (Championship only) averages and see that he managed to average 38 last season, just behind N O'Brien and D Bell-Drummond, almost level with W Tavare, S Northeast and P Collingwood, slightly ahead of S Patel and A Robson and miles away from the leaders A Lyth (67.7), E Joyce (66.6) and J Vince (61). Taylor has usually played pretty well when I have seen him so I have nothing against him, but these figures look fairly ordinary to me. I gather that his one-day figures are much better and that is why he is in the ODI squad, but a Test recall looks a long way off. By the way, the top ten Championship wicket takers look interesting to me: M Footitt 82, S Magoffin 72, J Brooks 68, C Rushworth 64, Saeed Ajmal 63, M Hogan 63, J Patel 59, T Murtagh 58, J Shantry 56, D Stevens 56.
LV Matters
Following Jim Revier’s review of his book I was delighted to hear this month from Luncheon Vouchers himself, Laurie Valentine
I was most grateful to Jim Revier for his support of my account of my sufferings at the Bush. I am a bit doubtful about the emphasis on my fielding at Third Man as it tends to overshadow my being (in the next over) at Mid On, rarely talked about these days. Of course I was not as good in this position as at Third Man.
With regard to the heroics at Hornsey. In the over before hitting the winning all run two, I thought that Barry Stone, my partner, was lbw for to least four of the deliveries. I was not asked to Umpire very often.
I assure Andrew Strauss it wasn't me with his Wife.
This is not in my "book" but I too can truly claim to have hit a six into the old Wasps ground from Wembley Cricket ground, during a game there. I was a bit disappointed to be told that they took absolutely no notice of it, and continued trying to kill each other.
Spoofbooks have reneged on their contract, so the proposed book on “How I tamed the Big Hitters” (based on my experience with Pompom Fellowes-Smith) may never see the day.
David Rayvern Allen
David was a friend of Googlies who purchased some of the early hard back editions. Only last year I made a textile covered diary for him and he purchased other of my books as gifts. Murray Hedgecock wrote this:
The word “genial” comes to mind instantly when thinking of David Rayvern Allen, who died on October 9, aged 76, after a determined struggle with cancer. He was often to be met at Lord’s, strolling between the Pavilion and Library, where he would break into a cheery smile on spotting a friend - and he had many.
Those friends stretched far beyond cricket, into the fields of music and broadcasting. London-born, DRA made the most of his musical talent during National Service, playing piano, cello and oboe with the REME staff band, before taking diplomas at the Royal Academy of Music, and the Guildhall School of Drama and Music.
He combined his cricket and musical interests in 1981 with his first book, A Song for Cricket, a lovingly researched collection of melodies about the Summer Game.
David’s interest in the stage led him to write in 1982 Sir Aubrey: A Biography of C. Aubrey Smith - England Cricketer, West End Actor, Hollywood Film Star. An enlarged edition followed in 1987.
This set him on the path to a series of books on the game, producing in 1985 both The Punch Book on Cricket, and Cricket On The Air - A Selection from Fifty Years of Radio Broadcasts.
While he made a speciality of researching early cricket, his interest in the game was fully up to date. His personal hero was John Arlott: in 1987 they collaborated on Arlott on Wine, and in 1994 David’s authorised biography of Arlott won the Cricket Society Jubilee Literary Award.
In 2004 he tackled the task of assessing the somewhat controversial life of the magisterial E.W.Swanton, publishing under the simple title, Jim. Wisden termed it “an affectionate but not uncritical book” - a proper assessment.
On retirement in 1993 as a full-time radio producer, while continuing as a freelance, DRA found time to become much involved with MCC activities, serving on the Arts & Library Committee from 1999 to 2011, and again from 2012 to his death.
In a highly productive career, David wrote, compiled, edited or contributed to 43 books, mostly on cricket. Typical was his 1987 reminiscent survey of writing on the game before radio, TV and the rest - Cricket's Silver Lining: The 50 Years from the Birth of Wisden to the Beginning of The Great War. In 2004 DRA joined with the ageless Hubert Doggett to edit A Breathless Hush - The MCC Anthology Of Cricket Verse.
At grassroots level, David was an active member of Chorleywood CC, being a vice-president, supporting the project to replace the old pavilion, and helping to produce the club’s 150th anniversary book in 2004.
Red Mist Matters
It wasn’t long ago that we were all marveling at Tendulkar becoming the first batsman to score a double hundred in a one day match. Rohit Sharma has now done it twice and in his most recent effort scored 264, which means that he averaged over five runs an over even off the balls he didn’t face! In fact he hit nine sixes and 33 fours off just 173 balls. His innings was a model of controlled acceleration:
After 20 overs of the innings, he was on 41
50 off 72 balls
100 off 100 balls
150 off 125 balls
200 off 151 balls
250 off 166 balls
264 off 173 balls
And then there is Mizbah ul Haq. In a test match against Australia he equalled Viv Richards’ record for the fastest-ever Test hundred off 56 balls. En route to his hundred, Misbah also took the record for the fastest Test fifty after going three better than Jacques Kallis’s 24-ball effort against Zimbabwe. Misbah hit five sixes and eleven fours.
Purple Patch matters
Younus Khan made four consecutive test match hundreds. He averages over 50 in tests and he ha’s now made Test hundreds against every nation. Only 19 of his 93 Tests have been played truly at home. Not only has Younus scored a hundred against every Test-playing nation, he’s also scored one in every country bar Australia, where he’s only played three matches. Only in South Africa and the West Indies does he average less than 40 and only in the Windies does he average less than 30.
There is no innings so depressing as the captain’s face-saving one-day knock. As the run-rate rises and the chances of victory recede, everyone still has to play out the overs, even though one team can’t win or play for a draw. What we are seeing is one man trying to lead, only being as pretty much everyone else is out, there isn’t really anyone to follow.
Angelo Mathews seems to be finding himself in this sort of position increasingly often. The one-day series against India probably isn’t representative in that Sri Lanka weren’t prepared and didn’t really field their full strength side. Nevertheless, in five matches Mathews delivered 92 not out after arriving with the score reading 64-3; 75 after arriving at 42-3; and 139 not out after arriving at 73-3. Sri Lanka lost all three matches and the other two in the series as well.
Middlesex Matters
I wrote to Jack Morgan: “I trust that you will be letting me know about the latest tweaking of Gus’ grand plan and who he has signed up to implement it. Is it just me that thinks he is getting a soft ride?”
Jack replied sagely
“If we are giving Gus a "soft ride" at present, it is because we have to assume that i) he recognises the need for action; ii) is working diligently to resolve the issues; and iii) will announce his decisions when all the i's and t's have been dotted and crossed. That is his way. He has unloaded four (five if you count Rogers) and has brought in Voges, I cannot believe he is now just sitting on his arse saying "I hope things go better next season".
N Compton is leaving Som and “returning to south west London”: who will he find to play for there? His old club Richmond perhaps? Or Teddington? Or Sunbury? As you know, Lord’s is in NW8 and the Oval is in SE11, so he is keeping his cards close to his chest. Gus never wanted to let him go, of course, so Middlesex must be favourites to sign him I suppose. His first team career with Middlesex was rather disappointing and it did not break my heart when he left as I felt he had badly underachieved. He seems to have put this right now (or was it just the belting tracks at Taunton?) so it would be good to see him getting plenty of runs for Middlesex... not so many that he gets in the England team though! I wonder which bowlers Gus has his eye on?
Middlesex have signed A Voges to replace Rogers for next season because they expect CJLR to be absent playing for Oz, but I am not sure how long his Test career is going to last: can they change their minds if Rogers gets the axe by Oz? Voges looked pretty good last time he played for us, he can catch at slip and his flat slow left arm is not too shabby either. He is 35, two years younger than Rogers and will skipper the Championship side.
Meanwhile the County Club was busy congratulating itself on its season’s achievements at its “Awards Dinner”:
There were some stand out individual performances, which were in need of recognition. Chris Rogers' double tons against Yorkshire and Somerset, and Toby Roland-Jones' 12 wickets against Northants are just a couple of highlights. Below is list of Middlesex's award winners for 2014...
The John Bugden Bowling Award - Toby Roland-Jones
The Geoff Norris Batting Performance Award - Chris Rogers
Players' Player of the Year - Tim Murtagh and Chris Rogers
Player of the Year - Dawid Malan
And here is the win of the season as described by King Crickets Ged:
Middlesex v Yorkshire day four – match report
It was a beautiful sunny day, the London Underground was on strike and I had arranged to work from home. I thought it would be a good idea to head over to Lord’s, catch some of the cricket and catch up with an increasingly large pile of background reading. The office staff more than understood.
I had a conference call scheduled for 10am and a few other bits and pieces of work to get out of the way before heading off. The call went as planned, but a few other bits and pieces came in while I was on the call. By 12.30pm, I realised that any thought of the morning session was futile, other than grabbing a quick bite of lunch at home and listening to that last half hour before lunch on the Internet radio while I ate.
The walk from my front door to the Grace Gate takes me 37 minutes, give or take one minute or so. That makes me 10% faster than Google Maps’ (other route planning apps are available) expectations. Conveniently, if I leave home as soon as the umpires call lunch, I know from experience that I can get to Lord’s on foot just before the resumption.
As I arrived at Lord’s, one of the female stewards said: “Hello, nice to see you. Hurry up, they’re just about ready to start,” as if the officials and players had been waiting for my arrival. I grabbed a seat at the sunny end of the Warner just in time. I soon relocated to the Grandstand for a while, before moving on to catch the end of the session in the Pavilion.
I read some stuff on big data. I also pondered three philosophical questions on ethics in financial services, the answer to all of which, sadly, was almost certainly no. I watched some cricket. I chatted briefly with some Middlesex friends before walking home.
I spent roughly as much time walking as I spent at cricket. It certainly was worth it.
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 144
December 2014
Phil Hughes
Nothing else seems significant this month and it is hard to find anything funny about anything. The following article by Gus Fraser appeared on the Middlesex website
Lord’s Cricket Ground was an extremely sombre place as the light lifted this morning. The greyness of the day was apt as the staff of Marylebone Cricket Club and Middlesex County Cricket Club arrived for work. We were all trying to come to terms with the tragic overnight news that Phillip Hughes had passed away. In respect to Phillip, his family and friends, flags at the ground had been set at half-mast and as the morning progressed floral tributes began to appear at the Grace Gates. Lord’s knows who the good guys in cricket are and Phillip Hughes was certainly one of them.
Phillip was only with Middlesex CCC for a short period of time in 2009 but he made an impression that very few followers and staff of the club will ever forget. He was sensational both on and off the field, and the relationships he formed with many of us have made this tragedy even harder to absorb.
The statistics of his time at Lord’s are there for all to see. In a remarkable 27 day period he scored the small matter of 882 runs for Middlesex CCC. Five hundred and seventy four of these runs were accumulated in three County Championship matches. In five first-class innings he struck three hundreds and two half-centuries, leaving the Club, only to return a short time later with Australia for an Ashes series, with the incredible batting average of 143.5.
But it was his personality away from cricket that I remember more than the savage cuts he sent to the cover boundary. Phillip was the first player I signed for Middlesex, two months after taking up the position of Managing Director of Cricket. He was signed to play for the club whilst Murali Kartik, Middlesex’s designated overseas player, fulfilled his commitments at the Indian Premier League. Despite the decision being criticised at the time, it is a signing I am proud to have made.
Phillip had been recommended to me by Neil D’Costa, his early mentor and manager. D’Costa and I had played Grade Cricket together for Western Suburbs in Sydney in 1994/95 and we had kept in contact. He thought playing county cricket, even if it was only for a month, would help his development. The contract was actually signed before Phillip became the youngest player to score a hundred in each innings of a Test. He completed this remarkable achievement against a strong South African bowling attack in only his second Test.
As I sit here writing this tribute I can still hear D’Costa informing me of what an exceptional young man he was, before telling me that we must look after him. Phillip was only 20 when I picked him up at Heathrow Airport on a cold April morning. As he confidently walked through customs with his green Australian kit bag dragging behind him he was smaller in stature than I imagined but, even then, you could see he had a presence about him.
He was not in any way overawed by the prospect of coming to London on his own to take on the responsibility of playing at the ‘Home of Cricket’ for one of the most prestigious club’s in the country. And by scoring a hundred against Glamorgan in his first innings at Lord’s he highlighted his skill and confidence.
Having spent much of his teenage life mixing with and playing against men in Macksville, a town 300 miles north of Sydney, he was immediately comfortable in my company and we chatted about life at Western Suburbs as we made our way along the M4 to Lord’s. The Middlesex squad were practicing at the time and, after meeting his new team-mates, I dropped him off at his new home, our club flat in West Hampstead.
He quickly fitted into London life and became buddies with a few of our younger players. West Hampstead can be a lively spot and, in an attempt to support D’Costa’s request, I’d regularly ask Phillip how he was and what he’d been up to. With a glint in his eye and a smile on his face he’d always insist he was great, the flat was fine and that he had had a quiet night in. Like most Aussies he was ‘low maintenance’ and in the end we both just ended up laughing when I asked the question.
Even at 20 his attitude to cricket was a lesson to many Middlesex players who had been professionals for several years. He possessed a lovely carefree simple attitude to life but his character was underpinned by a strong work ethic and a fierce desire to score runs and to be the best he could be.
Phillip may have been laid back and easy company off the pitch but on it he was a tremendous competitor. I will never forget him confronting the formidable former South African fast bowler Andre Nel during probably his best innings for Middlesex, the 195 he smashed against Surrey at The Oval.
Nel had taken exception to the hiding he was receiving and bowled a beamer at Hughes. Even now I still have this wonderful vision of the diminutive Hughes following the bear like Nel down the pitch to inform the bowler he was: ‘weak, ******* weak, that is why you quit international cricket to play for Surrey.” Nel did not turn round to take him on.
Judging by the amount of luggage Phillip placed in the back of my car on his return to Sydney I got the feeling he enjoyed his time in London. The clothes shops in Oxford Street definitely took a bit of a hiding and I think he ended up paying more than £1,500 in excess luggage.
I am not a touchy feely sort of person but I hugged him when I dropped him off at Terminal 3. It seemed the natural thing to do. We have spent several enjoyable hours in each other’s company since and even though his international career at times stuttered he never once felt sorry for himself. We always hoped that he would one day return to play for Middlesex CCC again. That, tragically, with many other dreams ended last night.
The Professor
John Adams sent me these notes
I suppose most of us who have played a reasonable amount of cricket have been hit on the head at some time or other. I recall (if that’s the right word) two particular occasions: one a top edge off a ball that was probably too full for the pull shot and the other at short leg where my left eye socket saved a certain boundary. The former produced lots of blood but was sorted out with a few stitches, while the latter had me in hospital for several days until I could see straight again. Both were, of course, many years before helmets became commonplace.
It would also be true, I guess, that most of us have seen a good many umpires hit by the ball. Most often it is a blow to the feet or shins and most often it produces a good deal of hopping around and very little sympathy of any sort. Indeed I’ve sometimes wondered why umpires are not hit more frequently, being (inevitably) a good deal older than the players and often, in the lower grades of cricket, quite elderly. Mercifully it is rarely serious and so the dreadful news this week of both an umpire and a Test player being killed playing the game is a startling reminder of how hard a cricket ball is and the damage it can do.
It’s difficult to imagine an umpire wearing protective gear but it has become the norm for batsmen and is, of course, compulsory at junior level. I imagine most of us can recall the early introduction of protective head-gear – Mike Brearley’s “inset” under his cap comes to mind, with two sort of protective plastic sideburns for the temples. We all recall – and it has been replayed this week - the Gatting injury in the West Indies in the days before the grille was fixed on the front of helmets. There was, for a time, a kind of Perspex visor on the front but that – so I was told – could be difficult to see through. Thus the grilles.
Protective equipment of any sort is always a compromise of some kind – safety versus mobility – is the most obvious, and there have been numerous references this week to “batting in suits of armour”. But that is not the issue. What is at issue is that protective equipment should be designed to do what it says… protect. Last season we had the injury to Broad when the ball went straight through his grille. Surely it is possible to design the thing so that that can’t happen. Now, after the Phil Hughes tragedy, I read that one of the manufacturers is going to consult a medical “expert” to improve the design. Well why – altogether now – didn’t you do that in the first place? Of course the injury is mercifully rare, but surely it is possible to construct a helmet that renders it just about impossible.
I think it is true that players are hit on the head more often these days – and that must be down to the confidence that helmets bring. Well-remembered cases in the past: Ewen Chatfield or Nari Contractor, resulted in serious injury, whereas now it is very common to see a player hit on the head and carry on. That, of course, isn’t an argument for doing away with helmets as I read some daft commentator suggest. What it does mean is that if it happens more frequently then the helmets must do what they are supposed to do.
There has also been quite a lot of comment about the position now of Sean Abbott. Will he be able to get back to top-flight cricket? Will he ever be able to play again, and, if so, will he ever bowl a bouncer? If he can’t, then, in all probability in modern cricket, his career is over. Lever and Griffith both played on, of course, but in neither case was the blow fatal – although very nearly so. It is a heavy burden for, let us remember, a very young man, to carry.
Bill Hart
Bill Hart was the first reader to write to me after Hughes’ death. Bill was as fast as any of the quick bowlers on the London club circuit in the sixties and his excitable temperament has often been referred to in these pages. But playing at South Hampstead he probably never hit anyone above the knee roll.
The tragic news of the death of Phil Hughes will have shocked all cricket lovers, but will it have stimulated the cricketing authorities to ban "intimidatory bowling". I doubt it, because the modern sports spectator seems to want violence for its own sake.
In the world of Rugby Union we see that the word "tackle" has disappeared in favour of "hit". In the world of Soccer every corner, or free-kick near goal, has become a wrestling match, and so on.
In the 1970's when Dennis Lillee & Jeff Thomson re-introduced the tactics of "Larwood & Voce in the 1930's", they did the game a terrible, long-lasting bad service. Somebody was going to be killed! The introduction of helmets has delayed this tragedy, but in my opinion it was bound to happen.
Throughout the time from the 70's to the present day, it has seemed to me to be a degrading experience to see quality batsmen having to duck & dive, in fear of their lives.
I realise that very few of Googlies readers will have any remembrance of me or when I played for South Hampstead. I was an opening bowler, of respectable pace, and thought by some to be "aggressive". However, I can honestly say that I never knowingly bowled at a batsman hoping to hit him, particularly anywhere above the waist. I had a slightly low arm action which prevented too much bounce anyway, but playing for Wembley at the same time, was John Price, later of Middlesex and England, whose arm action was right over the top, and who got bags of lift. No South Hampstead batsmen feared being hit on the head by him, although you might get a rap on the thigh. We both bowled a full length because that's how we had been taught to get wickets.
This tragic situation highlights another example of the cricket authorities being afraid to take action. It is similar to their turning a blind eye to "throwing", as a result of which we have as "the leading Test Match wicket-taker" a man who, in many peoples opinion, never bowled a ball in his life. Normally, when I have had a rant, the editor, Jim Sharp, will make a placatory remark, and all will be well. In this case the problem is too serious, and I hope he will agree with me.
Jim Sharp
I sent the following to Jack Morgan
It was desperately sad that Phil Hughes died, perhaps the more so that he was a sometime Middlesex man. I saw him with you get his first hundred at Lords when he scored about 95 on the off side. I was surprised that he was still only 25 and so was probably a teenager that season? I think he got a thousand in short time and also scored heavily in the one day competition.
Unfortunately there is going to be a lot of crap talked about laws and more protection. Did you ever get hit on the head when batting? I probably did but can’t remember the occasion. Here are some observations:
1. Helmets. We, of course, never used these. I think that I can only recall one head hit whilst batting and that was when Clarke crusted Peach at Edmonton. On the other hand I got hit on the head plenty of times fielding at short leg and keeping wicket.
2. Batting technique. Because of helmets batting technique has changed. In the old days you loosened up a tailender with a short one and then skittled him next ball. Nowadays armed all over tailenders hang around against anybody. The good batters, wearing helmets, rarely duck against bouncers and will hook from in front of their faces.
3. Wickets. We rarely played on tracks where the ball would bounce to head high and if it did it was normally a bad wicket (Edmonton) rather than a fast and true one. Good first class wickets now rarely deviate at all and the bounce is, generally, reliable. Batters as a result feel that they can cope with short pitched bowling.
4. What are we protecting? The helmet technology has been refined to protect the skull and, via the grill, the face. Hughes was apparently hit below the helmet on the back of the head, an area deemed unnecessary to cover. He could equally have been hit full on in the throat, an area which no one protects.
One death is, of course, one too many but short of putting the batsmen in full cover armour there will be, sadly, the occasional disaster. Such is life.
England Matters
I sent the following to Jack Morgan
I only saw bits of the ODI yesterday but some predictable problems emerged:
1. We are constantly subjected to the bleating that these top international sportsmen play too much cricket. Yesterday after a three month rest we were told that they were a little rusty! So we now know that they will be shit in the first couple of matches in a series because they are not match fit and by the last couple will be shit because they have played too much. On this basis we can only expect any sort of satisfactory performance in the third match of any series.
2. England bowled over fifty three overs at Sri Lanka courtesy of an abundance of wides and no balls which just about accounted for the margin of defeat. This is not rustiness but sheer incompetence on the part of bowlers.
3. Sooner or later Cook is going to become an embarrassment to the ODI side. Any runs he eventually scores will be scored too slowly and when he doesn’t get any one can only ask why he is in the side. He certainly brings nothing to the table as captain. He did take an exceptional catch though yesterday.
4. The commentators are talking up Buttler as a keeper. I suspect that this is because they recognise that he is there for the long haul and are trying to justify this flawed selection.
5.
6. Why was Ballance not playing? If he had been selected who would have been left out? Root and Bell are similar players in this form of the game and should probably not both be picked. Morgan and Buttler owe us some runs and the former might not make the World Cup if he doesn’t deliver soon. Bopara, Stokes and Woakes at seven, eight and nine are a very strong trio. Bopara is possibly England’s best batsman in this format and is too low at seven. Stokes is one of the country’s most devastating batsmen at county level and still could be a great allrounder if he could develop any consistency. It’s possible that he is fundamentally a nutter and will never develop. Woakes isn’t worth a place as a bowler and so is a batter at nine. This makes no sense.
Jack replied
You make some valid points about the ODI team, but i) Cooky is not going to be dropped during this tour and probably not until after the WC; ii) Ballance is not playing because he is not even on the tour; and iii) if you are not happy with the likes of Woakesy, you need to have an alternative up your sleeve (I have not seen the match, but I am not happy with Gurney and Stokesy, who was entrusted with only four expensive overs) and with Jordan hopeless in the warm-up, Finny not fit and Broad and Anderson not even on the tour, it is not easy to come up with the answer.
I have read several times that J Taylor has thoroughly earned is recall to the Eng set up because of "sheer weight of runs in all competitions" and similar expressions and Richard Edwards says much the same in today's Indy, so it came as a bit of a surprise to look him up in the Cricketer's (Championship only) averages and see that he managed to average 38 last season, just behind N O'Brien and D Bell-Drummond, almost level with W Tavare, S Northeast and P Collingwood, slightly ahead of S Patel and A Robson and miles away from the leaders A Lyth (67.7), E Joyce (66.6) and J Vince (61). Taylor has usually played pretty well when I have seen him so I have nothing against him, but these figures look fairly ordinary to me. I gather that his one-day figures are much better and that is why he is in the ODI squad, but a Test recall looks a long way off. By the way, the top ten Championship wicket takers look interesting to me: M Footitt 82, S Magoffin 72, J Brooks 68, C Rushworth 64, Saeed Ajmal 63, M Hogan 63, J Patel 59, T Murtagh 58, J Shantry 56, D Stevens 56.
LV Matters
Following Jim Revier’s review of his book I was delighted to hear this month from Luncheon Vouchers himself, Laurie Valentine
I was most grateful to Jim Revier for his support of my account of my sufferings at the Bush. I am a bit doubtful about the emphasis on my fielding at Third Man as it tends to overshadow my being (in the next over) at Mid On, rarely talked about these days. Of course I was not as good in this position as at Third Man.
With regard to the heroics at Hornsey. In the over before hitting the winning all run two, I thought that Barry Stone, my partner, was lbw for to least four of the deliveries. I was not asked to Umpire very often.
I assure Andrew Strauss it wasn't me with his Wife.
This is not in my "book" but I too can truly claim to have hit a six into the old Wasps ground from Wembley Cricket ground, during a game there. I was a bit disappointed to be told that they took absolutely no notice of it, and continued trying to kill each other.
Spoofbooks have reneged on their contract, so the proposed book on “How I tamed the Big Hitters” (based on my experience with Pompom Fellowes-Smith) may never see the day.
David Rayvern Allen
David was a friend of Googlies who purchased some of the early hard back editions. Only last year I made a textile covered diary for him and he purchased other of my books as gifts. Murray Hedgecock wrote this:
The word “genial” comes to mind instantly when thinking of David Rayvern Allen, who died on October 9, aged 76, after a determined struggle with cancer. He was often to be met at Lord’s, strolling between the Pavilion and Library, where he would break into a cheery smile on spotting a friend - and he had many.
Those friends stretched far beyond cricket, into the fields of music and broadcasting. London-born, DRA made the most of his musical talent during National Service, playing piano, cello and oboe with the REME staff band, before taking diplomas at the Royal Academy of Music, and the Guildhall School of Drama and Music.
He combined his cricket and musical interests in 1981 with his first book, A Song for Cricket, a lovingly researched collection of melodies about the Summer Game.
David’s interest in the stage led him to write in 1982 Sir Aubrey: A Biography of C. Aubrey Smith - England Cricketer, West End Actor, Hollywood Film Star. An enlarged edition followed in 1987.
This set him on the path to a series of books on the game, producing in 1985 both The Punch Book on Cricket, and Cricket On The Air - A Selection from Fifty Years of Radio Broadcasts.
While he made a speciality of researching early cricket, his interest in the game was fully up to date. His personal hero was John Arlott: in 1987 they collaborated on Arlott on Wine, and in 1994 David’s authorised biography of Arlott won the Cricket Society Jubilee Literary Award.
In 2004 he tackled the task of assessing the somewhat controversial life of the magisterial E.W.Swanton, publishing under the simple title, Jim. Wisden termed it “an affectionate but not uncritical book” - a proper assessment.
On retirement in 1993 as a full-time radio producer, while continuing as a freelance, DRA found time to become much involved with MCC activities, serving on the Arts & Library Committee from 1999 to 2011, and again from 2012 to his death.
In a highly productive career, David wrote, compiled, edited or contributed to 43 books, mostly on cricket. Typical was his 1987 reminiscent survey of writing on the game before radio, TV and the rest - Cricket's Silver Lining: The 50 Years from the Birth of Wisden to the Beginning of The Great War. In 2004 DRA joined with the ageless Hubert Doggett to edit A Breathless Hush - The MCC Anthology Of Cricket Verse.
At grassroots level, David was an active member of Chorleywood CC, being a vice-president, supporting the project to replace the old pavilion, and helping to produce the club’s 150th anniversary book in 2004.
Red Mist Matters
It wasn’t long ago that we were all marveling at Tendulkar becoming the first batsman to score a double hundred in a one day match. Rohit Sharma has now done it twice and in his most recent effort scored 264, which means that he averaged over five runs an over even off the balls he didn’t face! In fact he hit nine sixes and 33 fours off just 173 balls. His innings was a model of controlled acceleration:
After 20 overs of the innings, he was on 41
50 off 72 balls
100 off 100 balls
150 off 125 balls
200 off 151 balls
250 off 166 balls
264 off 173 balls
And then there is Mizbah ul Haq. In a test match against Australia he equalled Viv Richards’ record for the fastest-ever Test hundred off 56 balls. En route to his hundred, Misbah also took the record for the fastest Test fifty after going three better than Jacques Kallis’s 24-ball effort against Zimbabwe. Misbah hit five sixes and eleven fours.
Purple Patch matters
Younus Khan made four consecutive test match hundreds. He averages over 50 in tests and he ha’s now made Test hundreds against every nation. Only 19 of his 93 Tests have been played truly at home. Not only has Younus scored a hundred against every Test-playing nation, he’s also scored one in every country bar Australia, where he’s only played three matches. Only in South Africa and the West Indies does he average less than 40 and only in the Windies does he average less than 30.
There is no innings so depressing as the captain’s face-saving one-day knock. As the run-rate rises and the chances of victory recede, everyone still has to play out the overs, even though one team can’t win or play for a draw. What we are seeing is one man trying to lead, only being as pretty much everyone else is out, there isn’t really anyone to follow.
Angelo Mathews seems to be finding himself in this sort of position increasingly often. The one-day series against India probably isn’t representative in that Sri Lanka weren’t prepared and didn’t really field their full strength side. Nevertheless, in five matches Mathews delivered 92 not out after arriving with the score reading 64-3; 75 after arriving at 42-3; and 139 not out after arriving at 73-3. Sri Lanka lost all three matches and the other two in the series as well.
Middlesex Matters
I wrote to Jack Morgan: “I trust that you will be letting me know about the latest tweaking of Gus’ grand plan and who he has signed up to implement it. Is it just me that thinks he is getting a soft ride?”
Jack replied sagely
“If we are giving Gus a "soft ride" at present, it is because we have to assume that i) he recognises the need for action; ii) is working diligently to resolve the issues; and iii) will announce his decisions when all the i's and t's have been dotted and crossed. That is his way. He has unloaded four (five if you count Rogers) and has brought in Voges, I cannot believe he is now just sitting on his arse saying "I hope things go better next season".
N Compton is leaving Som and “returning to south west London”: who will he find to play for there? His old club Richmond perhaps? Or Teddington? Or Sunbury? As you know, Lord’s is in NW8 and the Oval is in SE11, so he is keeping his cards close to his chest. Gus never wanted to let him go, of course, so Middlesex must be favourites to sign him I suppose. His first team career with Middlesex was rather disappointing and it did not break my heart when he left as I felt he had badly underachieved. He seems to have put this right now (or was it just the belting tracks at Taunton?) so it would be good to see him getting plenty of runs for Middlesex... not so many that he gets in the England team though! I wonder which bowlers Gus has his eye on?
Middlesex have signed A Voges to replace Rogers for next season because they expect CJLR to be absent playing for Oz, but I am not sure how long his Test career is going to last: can they change their minds if Rogers gets the axe by Oz? Voges looked pretty good last time he played for us, he can catch at slip and his flat slow left arm is not too shabby either. He is 35, two years younger than Rogers and will skipper the Championship side.
Meanwhile the County Club was busy congratulating itself on its season’s achievements at its “Awards Dinner”:
There were some stand out individual performances, which were in need of recognition. Chris Rogers' double tons against Yorkshire and Somerset, and Toby Roland-Jones' 12 wickets against Northants are just a couple of highlights. Below is list of Middlesex's award winners for 2014...
The John Bugden Bowling Award - Toby Roland-Jones
The Geoff Norris Batting Performance Award - Chris Rogers
Players' Player of the Year - Tim Murtagh and Chris Rogers
Player of the Year - Dawid Malan
And here is the win of the season as described by King Crickets Ged:
Middlesex v Yorkshire day four – match report
It was a beautiful sunny day, the London Underground was on strike and I had arranged to work from home. I thought it would be a good idea to head over to Lord’s, catch some of the cricket and catch up with an increasingly large pile of background reading. The office staff more than understood.
I had a conference call scheduled for 10am and a few other bits and pieces of work to get out of the way before heading off. The call went as planned, but a few other bits and pieces came in while I was on the call. By 12.30pm, I realised that any thought of the morning session was futile, other than grabbing a quick bite of lunch at home and listening to that last half hour before lunch on the Internet radio while I ate.
The walk from my front door to the Grace Gate takes me 37 minutes, give or take one minute or so. That makes me 10% faster than Google Maps’ (other route planning apps are available) expectations. Conveniently, if I leave home as soon as the umpires call lunch, I know from experience that I can get to Lord’s on foot just before the resumption.
As I arrived at Lord’s, one of the female stewards said: “Hello, nice to see you. Hurry up, they’re just about ready to start,” as if the officials and players had been waiting for my arrival. I grabbed a seat at the sunny end of the Warner just in time. I soon relocated to the Grandstand for a while, before moving on to catch the end of the session in the Pavilion.
I read some stuff on big data. I also pondered three philosophical questions on ethics in financial services, the answer to all of which, sadly, was almost certainly no. I watched some cricket. I chatted briefly with some Middlesex friends before walking home.
I spent roughly as much time walking as I spent at cricket. It certainly was worth it.
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