G&C 171
GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 171
March 2017
Caption Competition
1. Sir Ian Botham: Where have you all gone? Stop moving about.
2. Sir Ian Botham: This Durham side has no limits on its potential - we will overcome the points penalty, get back into Division 1, win the T20 and probably win the 50 over cup as well.
3. Jonathan Agnew: Will you be playing this year?
Sir Ian Botham: What do you think? Yes, of course, if I can help achieve our goals I will turn out.
4. David Gower: You look terrible, how long have you been in this job, a week?
Sir Ian Botham: Yeah, I suspect that my wine cellar is going to take a bit of a bashing this season.
Out and About with the Professor
A couple of years’ ago we had a discussion in this journal about the most picturesque cricket club in the country.
This was not among the contenders.
This is a cricket club seemingly in the middle of nowhere with a pavilion which looks to be not much more than a couple of port-a-cabins pushed together. Actually it is in the middle of some farmers’ fields a few miles east of Huddersfield. I was tempted to visit the place by a recently acquired friend who, once he learned that I was interested in cricket, told me that he played for one of the most famous clubs in the country. I guessed that he was not an MCC member, so…what was the club? The answer, he proudly told me, was that he played for Lascelles Hall CC.
Altogether now – “Who”?
Lascelles Hall CC. Founded in 1825 and, at one time, arguably the best club side in the land.
The eponymous building caused, in the eighteenth century, a small village to grow up to service the owners. In the early part of the next century, so the story goes, the wife of the then owner – Joseph Walker – saw boys playing on a piece of land next to the Hall and with the charm and generosity of spirit for which Yorkshire wool magnates were so well-known, decided to give the land to the local residents to play cricket. And play they did. In 1867, so I was told, a Lascelles Hall team defeated an All England XI. By 1874 six of the team to take the field for Yorkshire against Glamorgan were LH men. And in Willie Bates they had a star. He played 15 Tests (all against Australia) and took the first ever hat-trick for England in a Melbourne Test. “The Duke” was apparently something of a snappy dresser and clearly a top player but came to a sad end when being smacked in the eye in the nets was unable to play again and went into a steep decline…like so many professional cricketers thereafter.
But my favourite story was about the Thewliss family. John Thewliss scored 100 for Yorkshire in the 1860s but the extended family could field an entire team. Indeed, for one game all eleven LH men were called Thewliss, as was the umpire…and the scorer…and the gatekeeper.
“Why” (I asked the obvious question) “were the men from this tiny village so good at cricket?”
The somewhat surprising answer is that, even in the 1830s, traditional hand-loom weaving survived in the village. The men (who presumably had some specialisation in the weaving business) had not been forced into the factories and thus were not subject to the factory discipline of six day working of 10 or more hours. In effect, they could choose their own work time and so, in the summer, could work at night but nip out for a game of cricket during the day. Whatever the truth of this, they most certainly produced some famous cricketers although, sadly, I think my friend’s claim about the fame of his club a little exaggerated…but it shouldn’t be.
I haven’t cared to verify any of this story but I took my chum’s tale at face value and have not exposed it to mean-minded forensic investigation. I suspect many cricket stories do not stand up that well to close scrutiny but the idea of a tiny village producing the best team in the country is a very attractive one, albeit a century and a half ago.
The state of the pavilion is, by the way, another sad case of the spate of pavilion burning that took place a few years’ ago. The pavilion, together with some wonderful memorabilia, was burnt down by vandals in 2010. But the Club survives and I will be looking out for their results this season.
Morgan Matters
The Great Jack Morgan gives us a peek into his diary
In the last T20 at Bengaluru, India made a formidable 202-6, but England were going nicely on 119-2 (Root 42, Morgan 40, Roy 32) when they suddenly lost 8 wickets for 8 runs and lost by 75 (Y Chahal 6-25)... good job I am not too bothered about the dreaded slog. I doubt it was the umpire's fault this time. Barney thought Root was the cause of the defeat, taking too long over his 42 "gumming up the innings in the middle overs" and causing the others to slog recklessly.
I was shocked to see Louise Taylor's six column report of the Rs’ surprising 2-2 draw at 2nd placed Newcastle, but it was all rather disappointing as 90% of the "report" related to Ashley, Benitez and Newcastle's failure to make any deadline signings, while a mere three paragraphs related to the match. Jonjo Shelvey opened the scoring in the first minute and Rs' second equaliser (an og from Ciaran Clark) came in the 90th.
That Bayliss is brilliant, isn’t he? He thinks England need to improve their skills at playing class spinners! As he is the coach, let's hope he has a good plan for achieving this laudable aim.
The ICC has agreed to a nine country Test Championship to start in 2019.
As expected, A Cook has quit as England captain. The G has 3 full pages on the subject today, but there is really nothing new there. Straussy is trying to pretend he has a whole bunch of qualified candidates, which of course he has not. The new captain will be Root, of course, probably with Stokes as vice, though I am not totally sure about Ben setting the right example: "are you paying attention lads... this is how to punch your locker"!
What a shock! The new England captain is J Root! Another shock: B Stokes is the vice! Vic does not approve of the appointment of Stokes, he says "Stokes's hasty appointment as vice-captain may cause England to repent at leisure" and "saddling the all-rounder with an official leading role risks shackling his huge talent" and referring to Botham and Flintoff "Stokes can legitimately be bracketed with that pair now. Like them he may be a better cricketer when he is not shackled. Such great allrounders can be even more dangerous when given the freedom to play with a little irresponsibility, which is tricky for a captain or vice-captain. The rush to appoint Stokes finds no support here. He does not need any stripes to lead."
S Finn (currently playing in the Pakistan Super League: I thought we did not allow our chaps to play in Pakistan on safety grounds?) has replaced D Willey in the England ODI squad to visit WI.
A Voges has retired from international cricket with the 2nd highest Test batting average of all time, 61.87.
Stokesy says he is going to be the guy (along with Rooty) who "makes supporters fall back in love with Test cricket"...it'll be great if he/ they can do it.
I now have better info on Finny. He is playing for "Islamabad United" (I kid you not) in the Pakistan T20 Super League, but this takes place (of course) in UAE.
RIP Peter Richardson (85).
I could not get the G today so I had to make do with the Times and was shocked to find full scorecards from the England Lions game plus a (PA, though they did not say so) report on the match. They also gave us the averages of the top England Test players of spin in recent times: J Trott 66.7, J Root 66.2, J Taylor 56, J Bairstow 48.1, K Pietersen 45.1, H Hameed 42.3, I Bell 40.5.
As I write (we are only just into the second half), Rs are 0-2 up at Birmingham C. Later, Rs went 0-4 up, but Brum have pulled one back after 93 mins, still playing at present. Rs scorers were Smith 18, Washington 47, Sylla 84 and N'Gbakoto 88. 1-4 was the final score. Provisionally, Rs move up to 16th, 7 points clear of the relegation places.
I have just heard that Lincoln (my old house, of course) have become the first non-league team to reach the FA Cup 6th round by winning 0-1 at Burnley.
The Cricketer tells us that i) J Franklin will retain the Middlesex captaincy despite the return of A Voges; ii) T Helm's surprise selection for the England Lions was due to his being "identified as the most accurate young fast bowler in the country by the ECB's lead bowling coach Kevin Shine"; and iii) A Voges, who suffered two concussions last year, "has spoken in favour of concussion subs being introduced in county cricket" and this is happening in some competitions in Oz and NZ, but "the ECB have resisted such calls for 2017".
I have had to write to the Cricketer for the first time in ages to complain about the ludicrous marks out of ten awarded by Neil Manthrop in the recent SA v SL Test series.
Rs have moved up to 15th (10 points clear of the relegation places) with a 2-1 victory over lowly Wigan, though it was unconvincing apparently and JSCR says they are crap.
Ali Martin says that S Curran is going to be called up for the ODIs v Ire in May because Stokes and Woakes are being allowed to stay in India making a fortune in T20.
Middlesex have extended N Compton's contract until the end of the 2018 season. On last season's form, he might be considered slightly fortunate.
In & Out Matters
To save you scratching your head when you find strange names in your favourite team’s batting order, here are the ins and outs by county for the coming season:
DERBYSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: Jeevan Mendis (Sri Lanka, until June); Imran Tahir (South Africa, from June after Champions Trophy)
In
Out
Gary Wilson (Surrey)
Callum Parkinson (Leicestershire)
Luis Reece (Lancashire)
Chesney Hughes (REL)
Imran Tahir (Nottinghamshire)
Wes Durston (REL)
Hardus Viljoen (Kent, as KPK)
Harry White (REL)
Neil Broom (REL)
Other news: The county have announced a new coaching set-up, with ex-captain Kim Barnett as director of cricket, supported by Twenty20 specialist coach John Wright, first XI support coach Steve Stubbings and development coach Mal Loye. AJ Harris has left his post as academy director, while seamer Tony Palladino has taken a player-coach role. Durston's departure leaves a vacancy as limited-overs captain.
DURHAM
Overseas player 2017: Stephen Cook (South Africa, for first half of season); Tom Latham (New Zealand, for second half of season)
In
Out
Cameron Steel (YTH)
Gordon Muchall (RET)
Tom Latham (Kent)
Mark Stoneman (Surrey)
Phil Mustard (Gloucestershire)
Scott Borthwick (Surrey)
Asher Hart (Hampshire)
Gurman Randhawa (REL)
Calum MacLeod (REL)
Jamie Harrison (REL)
Other news: Durham were relegated to Division Two over financial issues but have agreed a £3.74m rescue package with the local council. Keaton Jennings has become One-Day captain following Stoneman's departure, with Paul Collingwood continuing to lead in the Championship and T20 Blast.
ESSEX
Overseas player 2017: Neil Wagner (New Zealand, for first half of season); Mohammad Amir (Pakistan, from 19 June)
In
Out
Adam Wheater (Hampshire)
Graham Napier (RET)
Simon Harmer (KPK)
David Masters (RET)
Neil Wagner (Lancashire)
Jaik Mickleburgh (REL)
Other news: Ravi Bopara has relinquished the limited-overs captaincy, with Ryan ten Doeschate now leading in all formats.
GLAMORGAN
Overseas player 2017: Jacques Rudolph (South Africa)
In
Out
none
James Kettleborough (REL)
Dewi Penrhyn Jones (REL)
Mark Wallace (RET)
Possible signings: Chief executive Hugh Morris says recruiting another pace bowler is their priority - and South Africa's Marchant de Lange is in talks to join as a Kolpak signing.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: Cameron Bancroft (Australia); Michael Klinger (Australia, primarily for limited-overs cricket); Andrew Tye (Australia, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Phil Mustard (Durham)
Hamish Marshall (REL)
Tom Hampton (REL)
HAMPSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: George Bailey (Australia)
In
Out
Asher Hart (Durham)
Adam Wheater (Essex)
Fraser Hay (UKP)
James Tomlinson (RET)
George Bailey (Middlesex)
Andy Carter (RET)
Kyle Abbott (KPK)
Ryan McLaren (Lancashire)
Rilee Rossouw (KPK)
Tino Best (REL)
Yasir Arafat (REL)
Other news: Hampshire were reprieved from relegation because of Durham's financial problems. Craig White has replaced Dale Benkenstein as head coach.
KENT
Overseas player 2017: TBC
In
Out
Will Gidman (Nottinghamshire)
David Griffiths (REL)
Sam Weller (REL)
Hardus Viljoen (Derbyshire, as KPK)
Tom Latham (Durham)
Other news: Head coach Jimmy Adams has stepped down and been replaced by his assistant Matt Walker, who will be assisted by ex-South Africa paceman Allan Donald. Min Patel and Jason Weaver have been appointed Second XI coach and High Performance Director respectively, replacing Simon Willis who has taken a role with Sri Lanka.
LANCASHIRE
Overseas player 2017: James Faulkner (Australia, for Twenty20); Ryan McLaren (South Africa); Junaid Khan (Pakistan, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Ryan McLaren (Hampshire)
Gavin Griffiths (Leicestershire)
Brooke Guest (UKP)
Luis Reece (Derbyshire)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (KPK)
George Edwards (REL)
Dane Vilas (KPK)
Nathan Buck (Northamptonshire)
Neil Wagner (Essex)
Alviro Petersen (REL)
Tom Smith (RET)
Other news: Director of cricket Ashley Giles has left to return to Warwickshire. He has been replaced by his former coach and ex-captain Glen Chapple as head coach, assisted by Mark Chilton.
LEICESTERSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: Clint McKay (Australia); Sharjeel Khan (Pakistan, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Richard Jones (Warwickshire)
Rob Taylor (REL)
Gavin Griffiths (Lancashire)
Atif Sheikh (REL)
Callum Parkinson (Derbyshire)
Ollie Freckingham (REL)
Colin Ackermann (EUP)
Jigar Naik (REL)
James Burke (Surrey, season-long loan)
Michael Burgess (REL)
Other news: Elite performance director Andrew McDonald has left the county, to be replaced by assistant Pierre de Bruyn. Former Derbyshire elite performance director Graeme Welch will be his assistant, with former batsman John Sadler as 2nd XI coach. Clint McKay has taken over as limited-overs captain from Mark Pettini.
MIDDLESEX
Overseas player 2017: Adam Voges (Australia)
In
Out
none
George Bailey (Hampshire)
Max Holden (Northamptonshire, loan until end of June)
Other news: Ex-New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has joined as Twenty20 head coach.
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: Rory Kleinveldt (South Africa)
In
Out
Nathan Buck (Lancashire)
Olly Stone (Warwickshire)
Max Holden (Middlesex, loan until end of June)
Monty Panesar (REL)
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: Dan Christian (Australia, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Ben Kitt (YTH)
Sam Wood (REL)
Will Gidman (Kent)
Imran Tahir (Derbyshire)
Other news: Former England head coach Peter Moores, who has worked as a coaching consultant at Trent Bridge since June 2015, will took over as head coach from 1 October. He will work alongside director of cricket Mick Newell, with Paul Franks as assistant head coach and Ant Botha as assistant coach.
SOMERSET
Overseas player 2017: Dean Elgar (South Africa)
In
Out
Steven Davies (Surrey)
Alex Barrow (REL)
George Bartlett (YTH)
Chris Rogers (RET)
Possible signings: Director of cricket Matthew Maynard has hinted that he wants an overseas signing who would be available for the entire T20 Blast campaign, rather than re-signing Chris Gayle for a third stint.
Other news: Rogers will return as a batting coach and player mentor for the first half of the season. Tom Abell has succeeded Rogers as Somerset's County Championship captain.
SURREY
Overseas player 2017: Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka); Aaron Finch (Australia, primarily for Twenty20 but also as Championship cover while Sangakkara is at the Caribbean Premier League)
In
Out
Mark Stoneman (Durham)
Steven Davies (Somerset)
Scott Borthwick (Durham)
Gary Wilson (Derbyshire)
Azhar Mahmood (RET)
James Burke (Leicestershire, season-long loan)
SUSSEX
Overseas player 2017: Vernon Philander (South Africa, until mid-June); Ross Taylor (New Zealand, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Delray Rawlins (YTH)
Lewis Hatchett (RET)
Stiaan van Zyl (KPK)
Craig Cachopa (REL)
Laurie Evans (Warwickshire)
Fynn Hudson-Prentice (REL)
David Wiese (KPK)
Other news: Ed Joyce will only play part of the County Championship season after signing a central contract with Cricket Ireland. Former captain Mike Yardy has been appointed batting coach. Chief executive Zac Toumazi left the club at the end of 2016 and has been replaced by former England rugby union international Rob Andrew.
WARWICKSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: Jeetan Patel (New Zealand)
In
Out
Olly Stone (Northamptonshire)
Richard Jones (Leicestershire)
Recordo Gordon (REL)
Laurie Evans (Sussex)
Other news: Ashley Giles has returned to Edgbaston from Lancashire as sport director, replacing Dougie Brown, while Jim Troughton has moved up from assistant coach to become first-team coach.
WORCESTERSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: John Hastings (Australia, second half of season), Mitchell Santner (New Zealand, for Twenty20)
In
Out
none
Chris Russell (REL)
Possible signings: Worcestershire may look for an overseas bowler for the early part of the season after Hastings - who had planned to spend the entire summer at New Road - was forced to have knee surgery which will may rule him out of the early games.
Other news: Joe Leach has replaced Daryl Mitchell as captain.
YORKSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: Peter Handscomb (Australia)
In
Out
none
Andrew Gale (RET)
Future departures: Seamer Ryan Sidebottom will retire at the end of the 2017 season.
Other news: First XI coach Jason Gillespie left at the end of the 2016 season and has been replaced by club captain Andrew Gale. Gary Ballance has been named captain in all three formats of the game, meaning Alex Lees also steps down as limited-overs captain. Fast bowler Ryan Sidebottom will retire at the end of the season.
Red Mist Matters
Indian cricketer Mohit Ahlawat hit an extraordinary 72-ball triple century in a local Twenty20 match in Delhi. The 21-year-old hit 39 sixes, including five off the final over, as he posted a round 300 and his team Maavi finished on 416-2.
His total dwarfs the top-tier record of 175 scored by Chris Gayle in the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL). "I have put my name in the IPL auction but I am not sure if this will help people notice," Ahlawat told ABP Live.
Ahlawat played three first-class matches for Delhi in October 2015 alongside India internationals such as Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma. He was dropped after scores of 1, 4, 0, 0 and 0 in his five innings.
Sri Lankan Dhanuka Pathirana smashed 277 off 72 balls playing for Austerlands in a Twenty20 match in England's Saddleworth League in September 2007
Indian schoolboy Pranav Dhanawade set a new record for an officially recorded match with 1,009 not out in January 2016. His total for KC Gandhi School broke a 117-year-old mark set by 13-year-old AEJ Collins in a house match at Clifton College in June 1899.
Hedgcock Matters
Murray Hedgcock continues
I note that The Professor (of what discipline incidentally does he hold that status? Not Logic, presumably) cannot resist (No. 170) once again criticising my belief that an England cricket team should be made up of genuine Englishmen – how dare I propose such a bizarre idea!
The problem is that young ‘uns like the Prof simply do not allow for history. For we who grew up in the Thirties and onwards, when Ashes cricket was the primary international sporting concern, Australia meeting England on the tented field was a matter of my native country and its home-grown people against yours, both teams fair dinkum, rather than a ragtag and bobtail assembly of international travellers. An England team of yesterday was indeed an England team, admittedly fleshed out now and then by the occasional Indian (Ranji, Duleep, Pataudi Snr), the lone Irishman (O’Brien), or the ring-in Aussie (Woods and Allen), all with strong British links.
I wonder how many non-Englishmen the Prof. would be happy to see in the national XI? Would he barrack wholeheartedly for an “England” team of eleven South Africans – or Australians, Kiwis, Pakistanis etc? I argue that the England eleven should exude “Englishness”; it should carry with it the atmosphere of the county game, and resound with regional accents – not the tones of the veldt, or the Emerald Isle. (I bristle every time I see Eoin Morgan not merely playing for but actually captaining England).
We have just been reminded of the enthusiasm of vast Indian crowds for their national teams – made up of genuine Indians. They bring in the mercenaries only for the Mickey Mouse froth and bubble of the IPL.
As to my alleged status as a xenophobe, may I record that my wife is German (we look forward to our diamond wedding this year). Hardly a mark of national prejudice, surely?
I gave the Professor early notice of Murray’s latest and he responded with this
I appear to be having a long-distance dispute – via Googlies - with a Mr Hedgcock. As far as I know, we have never met. Should we do so I fear I might be unsuccessful in persuading him of the vacuousness of his nationalist posturing.
Mr Hedgcock , after a genuflection towards my callow youth (for which many thanks) goes on to accuse me of a lack of logic. His own exercise in this discipline is to reminisce about pre- WW2 times when national sides were made up of “home-grown people”. He then instantly gives a list of examples of men who played for England in that era who were, most assuredly, not grown in any English home. This is such a contradiction that it seems almost unfair to point it out.
If this indeed is an exercise in “logic” it would seem that the subject has altered somewhat since I used to teach it… or perhaps it is just practiced in an eccentric way in what I take to be Mr Hedgcock’s ”native country” of Australia. In any event, it seems too small a thing to worry about and only of interest to those with a nationalist turn of mind: itself an emotional rather than a rational state.
I still don’t recall calling Mr Hedgcock a “xenophobe” and, if I did, I must certainly withdraw the charge given his revelation about his matrimonial status. In exchange I think we should all offer hearty congratulations for his forthcoming domestic celebration.
Errata Matters
After every edition of Googlies I always get plenty of corrections from the Great Jack Morgan and I am sure that other readers notice some and forgive me as a matter of course but I received two reprimands after Googlies 170 which you might enjoy.
First from Douglas Miller:
“A good read as ever, especially the Professor. You have, however, added to a world record held by Mike Procter: there can surely be no cricketer of his status, not even Ranji, who has had to suffer more often from having his name spelled incorrectly. Gloucestershire even did it once on his car, I believe.”
And then from Terry Hunt:
“Many thanks for the latest edition of Googlies. However, didn’t your spell-check detect that ‘antideluvian’ on the final page is a misspelling? It should, of course, be ‘antediluvian’, coming from ‘ante’ (‘before’ – not ‘anti ‘instead of’) and ‘diluvian’ (‘appertaining to the flood’, meaning Noah’s flood). Was soccer in existence at that time?”
Archive Photograph
I am pleased to be able to publish the above photo which shows a typical crowd reaction during a Jack Morgan innings in the early seventies.
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 171
March 2017
Caption Competition
1. Sir Ian Botham: Where have you all gone? Stop moving about.
2. Sir Ian Botham: This Durham side has no limits on its potential - we will overcome the points penalty, get back into Division 1, win the T20 and probably win the 50 over cup as well.
3. Jonathan Agnew: Will you be playing this year?
Sir Ian Botham: What do you think? Yes, of course, if I can help achieve our goals I will turn out.
4. David Gower: You look terrible, how long have you been in this job, a week?
Sir Ian Botham: Yeah, I suspect that my wine cellar is going to take a bit of a bashing this season.
Out and About with the Professor
A couple of years’ ago we had a discussion in this journal about the most picturesque cricket club in the country.
This was not among the contenders.
This is a cricket club seemingly in the middle of nowhere with a pavilion which looks to be not much more than a couple of port-a-cabins pushed together. Actually it is in the middle of some farmers’ fields a few miles east of Huddersfield. I was tempted to visit the place by a recently acquired friend who, once he learned that I was interested in cricket, told me that he played for one of the most famous clubs in the country. I guessed that he was not an MCC member, so…what was the club? The answer, he proudly told me, was that he played for Lascelles Hall CC.
Altogether now – “Who”?
Lascelles Hall CC. Founded in 1825 and, at one time, arguably the best club side in the land.
The eponymous building caused, in the eighteenth century, a small village to grow up to service the owners. In the early part of the next century, so the story goes, the wife of the then owner – Joseph Walker – saw boys playing on a piece of land next to the Hall and with the charm and generosity of spirit for which Yorkshire wool magnates were so well-known, decided to give the land to the local residents to play cricket. And play they did. In 1867, so I was told, a Lascelles Hall team defeated an All England XI. By 1874 six of the team to take the field for Yorkshire against Glamorgan were LH men. And in Willie Bates they had a star. He played 15 Tests (all against Australia) and took the first ever hat-trick for England in a Melbourne Test. “The Duke” was apparently something of a snappy dresser and clearly a top player but came to a sad end when being smacked in the eye in the nets was unable to play again and went into a steep decline…like so many professional cricketers thereafter.
But my favourite story was about the Thewliss family. John Thewliss scored 100 for Yorkshire in the 1860s but the extended family could field an entire team. Indeed, for one game all eleven LH men were called Thewliss, as was the umpire…and the scorer…and the gatekeeper.
“Why” (I asked the obvious question) “were the men from this tiny village so good at cricket?”
The somewhat surprising answer is that, even in the 1830s, traditional hand-loom weaving survived in the village. The men (who presumably had some specialisation in the weaving business) had not been forced into the factories and thus were not subject to the factory discipline of six day working of 10 or more hours. In effect, they could choose their own work time and so, in the summer, could work at night but nip out for a game of cricket during the day. Whatever the truth of this, they most certainly produced some famous cricketers although, sadly, I think my friend’s claim about the fame of his club a little exaggerated…but it shouldn’t be.
I haven’t cared to verify any of this story but I took my chum’s tale at face value and have not exposed it to mean-minded forensic investigation. I suspect many cricket stories do not stand up that well to close scrutiny but the idea of a tiny village producing the best team in the country is a very attractive one, albeit a century and a half ago.
The state of the pavilion is, by the way, another sad case of the spate of pavilion burning that took place a few years’ ago. The pavilion, together with some wonderful memorabilia, was burnt down by vandals in 2010. But the Club survives and I will be looking out for their results this season.
Morgan Matters
The Great Jack Morgan gives us a peek into his diary
In the last T20 at Bengaluru, India made a formidable 202-6, but England were going nicely on 119-2 (Root 42, Morgan 40, Roy 32) when they suddenly lost 8 wickets for 8 runs and lost by 75 (Y Chahal 6-25)... good job I am not too bothered about the dreaded slog. I doubt it was the umpire's fault this time. Barney thought Root was the cause of the defeat, taking too long over his 42 "gumming up the innings in the middle overs" and causing the others to slog recklessly.
I was shocked to see Louise Taylor's six column report of the Rs’ surprising 2-2 draw at 2nd placed Newcastle, but it was all rather disappointing as 90% of the "report" related to Ashley, Benitez and Newcastle's failure to make any deadline signings, while a mere three paragraphs related to the match. Jonjo Shelvey opened the scoring in the first minute and Rs' second equaliser (an og from Ciaran Clark) came in the 90th.
That Bayliss is brilliant, isn’t he? He thinks England need to improve their skills at playing class spinners! As he is the coach, let's hope he has a good plan for achieving this laudable aim.
The ICC has agreed to a nine country Test Championship to start in 2019.
As expected, A Cook has quit as England captain. The G has 3 full pages on the subject today, but there is really nothing new there. Straussy is trying to pretend he has a whole bunch of qualified candidates, which of course he has not. The new captain will be Root, of course, probably with Stokes as vice, though I am not totally sure about Ben setting the right example: "are you paying attention lads... this is how to punch your locker"!
What a shock! The new England captain is J Root! Another shock: B Stokes is the vice! Vic does not approve of the appointment of Stokes, he says "Stokes's hasty appointment as vice-captain may cause England to repent at leisure" and "saddling the all-rounder with an official leading role risks shackling his huge talent" and referring to Botham and Flintoff "Stokes can legitimately be bracketed with that pair now. Like them he may be a better cricketer when he is not shackled. Such great allrounders can be even more dangerous when given the freedom to play with a little irresponsibility, which is tricky for a captain or vice-captain. The rush to appoint Stokes finds no support here. He does not need any stripes to lead."
S Finn (currently playing in the Pakistan Super League: I thought we did not allow our chaps to play in Pakistan on safety grounds?) has replaced D Willey in the England ODI squad to visit WI.
A Voges has retired from international cricket with the 2nd highest Test batting average of all time, 61.87.
Stokesy says he is going to be the guy (along with Rooty) who "makes supporters fall back in love with Test cricket"...it'll be great if he/ they can do it.
I now have better info on Finny. He is playing for "Islamabad United" (I kid you not) in the Pakistan T20 Super League, but this takes place (of course) in UAE.
RIP Peter Richardson (85).
I could not get the G today so I had to make do with the Times and was shocked to find full scorecards from the England Lions game plus a (PA, though they did not say so) report on the match. They also gave us the averages of the top England Test players of spin in recent times: J Trott 66.7, J Root 66.2, J Taylor 56, J Bairstow 48.1, K Pietersen 45.1, H Hameed 42.3, I Bell 40.5.
As I write (we are only just into the second half), Rs are 0-2 up at Birmingham C. Later, Rs went 0-4 up, but Brum have pulled one back after 93 mins, still playing at present. Rs scorers were Smith 18, Washington 47, Sylla 84 and N'Gbakoto 88. 1-4 was the final score. Provisionally, Rs move up to 16th, 7 points clear of the relegation places.
I have just heard that Lincoln (my old house, of course) have become the first non-league team to reach the FA Cup 6th round by winning 0-1 at Burnley.
The Cricketer tells us that i) J Franklin will retain the Middlesex captaincy despite the return of A Voges; ii) T Helm's surprise selection for the England Lions was due to his being "identified as the most accurate young fast bowler in the country by the ECB's lead bowling coach Kevin Shine"; and iii) A Voges, who suffered two concussions last year, "has spoken in favour of concussion subs being introduced in county cricket" and this is happening in some competitions in Oz and NZ, but "the ECB have resisted such calls for 2017".
I have had to write to the Cricketer for the first time in ages to complain about the ludicrous marks out of ten awarded by Neil Manthrop in the recent SA v SL Test series.
Rs have moved up to 15th (10 points clear of the relegation places) with a 2-1 victory over lowly Wigan, though it was unconvincing apparently and JSCR says they are crap.
Ali Martin says that S Curran is going to be called up for the ODIs v Ire in May because Stokes and Woakes are being allowed to stay in India making a fortune in T20.
Middlesex have extended N Compton's contract until the end of the 2018 season. On last season's form, he might be considered slightly fortunate.
In & Out Matters
To save you scratching your head when you find strange names in your favourite team’s batting order, here are the ins and outs by county for the coming season:
DERBYSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: Jeevan Mendis (Sri Lanka, until June); Imran Tahir (South Africa, from June after Champions Trophy)
In
Out
Gary Wilson (Surrey)
Callum Parkinson (Leicestershire)
Luis Reece (Lancashire)
Chesney Hughes (REL)
Imran Tahir (Nottinghamshire)
Wes Durston (REL)
Hardus Viljoen (Kent, as KPK)
Harry White (REL)
Neil Broom (REL)
Other news: The county have announced a new coaching set-up, with ex-captain Kim Barnett as director of cricket, supported by Twenty20 specialist coach John Wright, first XI support coach Steve Stubbings and development coach Mal Loye. AJ Harris has left his post as academy director, while seamer Tony Palladino has taken a player-coach role. Durston's departure leaves a vacancy as limited-overs captain.
DURHAM
Overseas player 2017: Stephen Cook (South Africa, for first half of season); Tom Latham (New Zealand, for second half of season)
In
Out
Cameron Steel (YTH)
Gordon Muchall (RET)
Tom Latham (Kent)
Mark Stoneman (Surrey)
Phil Mustard (Gloucestershire)
Scott Borthwick (Surrey)
Asher Hart (Hampshire)
Gurman Randhawa (REL)
Calum MacLeod (REL)
Jamie Harrison (REL)
Other news: Durham were relegated to Division Two over financial issues but have agreed a £3.74m rescue package with the local council. Keaton Jennings has become One-Day captain following Stoneman's departure, with Paul Collingwood continuing to lead in the Championship and T20 Blast.
ESSEX
Overseas player 2017: Neil Wagner (New Zealand, for first half of season); Mohammad Amir (Pakistan, from 19 June)
In
Out
Adam Wheater (Hampshire)
Graham Napier (RET)
Simon Harmer (KPK)
David Masters (RET)
Neil Wagner (Lancashire)
Jaik Mickleburgh (REL)
Other news: Ravi Bopara has relinquished the limited-overs captaincy, with Ryan ten Doeschate now leading in all formats.
GLAMORGAN
Overseas player 2017: Jacques Rudolph (South Africa)
In
Out
none
James Kettleborough (REL)
Dewi Penrhyn Jones (REL)
Mark Wallace (RET)
Possible signings: Chief executive Hugh Morris says recruiting another pace bowler is their priority - and South Africa's Marchant de Lange is in talks to join as a Kolpak signing.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: Cameron Bancroft (Australia); Michael Klinger (Australia, primarily for limited-overs cricket); Andrew Tye (Australia, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Phil Mustard (Durham)
Hamish Marshall (REL)
Tom Hampton (REL)
HAMPSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: George Bailey (Australia)
In
Out
Asher Hart (Durham)
Adam Wheater (Essex)
Fraser Hay (UKP)
James Tomlinson (RET)
George Bailey (Middlesex)
Andy Carter (RET)
Kyle Abbott (KPK)
Ryan McLaren (Lancashire)
Rilee Rossouw (KPK)
Tino Best (REL)
Yasir Arafat (REL)
Other news: Hampshire were reprieved from relegation because of Durham's financial problems. Craig White has replaced Dale Benkenstein as head coach.
KENT
Overseas player 2017: TBC
In
Out
Will Gidman (Nottinghamshire)
David Griffiths (REL)
Sam Weller (REL)
Hardus Viljoen (Derbyshire, as KPK)
Tom Latham (Durham)
Other news: Head coach Jimmy Adams has stepped down and been replaced by his assistant Matt Walker, who will be assisted by ex-South Africa paceman Allan Donald. Min Patel and Jason Weaver have been appointed Second XI coach and High Performance Director respectively, replacing Simon Willis who has taken a role with Sri Lanka.
LANCASHIRE
Overseas player 2017: James Faulkner (Australia, for Twenty20); Ryan McLaren (South Africa); Junaid Khan (Pakistan, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Ryan McLaren (Hampshire)
Gavin Griffiths (Leicestershire)
Brooke Guest (UKP)
Luis Reece (Derbyshire)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (KPK)
George Edwards (REL)
Dane Vilas (KPK)
Nathan Buck (Northamptonshire)
Neil Wagner (Essex)
Alviro Petersen (REL)
Tom Smith (RET)
Other news: Director of cricket Ashley Giles has left to return to Warwickshire. He has been replaced by his former coach and ex-captain Glen Chapple as head coach, assisted by Mark Chilton.
LEICESTERSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: Clint McKay (Australia); Sharjeel Khan (Pakistan, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Richard Jones (Warwickshire)
Rob Taylor (REL)
Gavin Griffiths (Lancashire)
Atif Sheikh (REL)
Callum Parkinson (Derbyshire)
Ollie Freckingham (REL)
Colin Ackermann (EUP)
Jigar Naik (REL)
James Burke (Surrey, season-long loan)
Michael Burgess (REL)
Other news: Elite performance director Andrew McDonald has left the county, to be replaced by assistant Pierre de Bruyn. Former Derbyshire elite performance director Graeme Welch will be his assistant, with former batsman John Sadler as 2nd XI coach. Clint McKay has taken over as limited-overs captain from Mark Pettini.
MIDDLESEX
Overseas player 2017: Adam Voges (Australia)
In
Out
none
George Bailey (Hampshire)
Max Holden (Northamptonshire, loan until end of June)
Other news: Ex-New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has joined as Twenty20 head coach.
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: Rory Kleinveldt (South Africa)
In
Out
Nathan Buck (Lancashire)
Olly Stone (Warwickshire)
Max Holden (Middlesex, loan until end of June)
Monty Panesar (REL)
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: Dan Christian (Australia, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Ben Kitt (YTH)
Sam Wood (REL)
Will Gidman (Kent)
Imran Tahir (Derbyshire)
Other news: Former England head coach Peter Moores, who has worked as a coaching consultant at Trent Bridge since June 2015, will took over as head coach from 1 October. He will work alongside director of cricket Mick Newell, with Paul Franks as assistant head coach and Ant Botha as assistant coach.
SOMERSET
Overseas player 2017: Dean Elgar (South Africa)
In
Out
Steven Davies (Surrey)
Alex Barrow (REL)
George Bartlett (YTH)
Chris Rogers (RET)
Possible signings: Director of cricket Matthew Maynard has hinted that he wants an overseas signing who would be available for the entire T20 Blast campaign, rather than re-signing Chris Gayle for a third stint.
Other news: Rogers will return as a batting coach and player mentor for the first half of the season. Tom Abell has succeeded Rogers as Somerset's County Championship captain.
SURREY
Overseas player 2017: Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka); Aaron Finch (Australia, primarily for Twenty20 but also as Championship cover while Sangakkara is at the Caribbean Premier League)
In
Out
Mark Stoneman (Durham)
Steven Davies (Somerset)
Scott Borthwick (Durham)
Gary Wilson (Derbyshire)
Azhar Mahmood (RET)
James Burke (Leicestershire, season-long loan)
SUSSEX
Overseas player 2017: Vernon Philander (South Africa, until mid-June); Ross Taylor (New Zealand, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Delray Rawlins (YTH)
Lewis Hatchett (RET)
Stiaan van Zyl (KPK)
Craig Cachopa (REL)
Laurie Evans (Warwickshire)
Fynn Hudson-Prentice (REL)
David Wiese (KPK)
Other news: Ed Joyce will only play part of the County Championship season after signing a central contract with Cricket Ireland. Former captain Mike Yardy has been appointed batting coach. Chief executive Zac Toumazi left the club at the end of 2016 and has been replaced by former England rugby union international Rob Andrew.
WARWICKSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: Jeetan Patel (New Zealand)
In
Out
Olly Stone (Northamptonshire)
Richard Jones (Leicestershire)
Recordo Gordon (REL)
Laurie Evans (Sussex)
Other news: Ashley Giles has returned to Edgbaston from Lancashire as sport director, replacing Dougie Brown, while Jim Troughton has moved up from assistant coach to become first-team coach.
WORCESTERSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: John Hastings (Australia, second half of season), Mitchell Santner (New Zealand, for Twenty20)
In
Out
none
Chris Russell (REL)
Possible signings: Worcestershire may look for an overseas bowler for the early part of the season after Hastings - who had planned to spend the entire summer at New Road - was forced to have knee surgery which will may rule him out of the early games.
Other news: Joe Leach has replaced Daryl Mitchell as captain.
YORKSHIRE
Overseas player 2017: Peter Handscomb (Australia)
In
Out
none
Andrew Gale (RET)
Future departures: Seamer Ryan Sidebottom will retire at the end of the 2017 season.
Other news: First XI coach Jason Gillespie left at the end of the 2016 season and has been replaced by club captain Andrew Gale. Gary Ballance has been named captain in all three formats of the game, meaning Alex Lees also steps down as limited-overs captain. Fast bowler Ryan Sidebottom will retire at the end of the season.
Red Mist Matters
Indian cricketer Mohit Ahlawat hit an extraordinary 72-ball triple century in a local Twenty20 match in Delhi. The 21-year-old hit 39 sixes, including five off the final over, as he posted a round 300 and his team Maavi finished on 416-2.
His total dwarfs the top-tier record of 175 scored by Chris Gayle in the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL). "I have put my name in the IPL auction but I am not sure if this will help people notice," Ahlawat told ABP Live.
Ahlawat played three first-class matches for Delhi in October 2015 alongside India internationals such as Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma. He was dropped after scores of 1, 4, 0, 0 and 0 in his five innings.
Sri Lankan Dhanuka Pathirana smashed 277 off 72 balls playing for Austerlands in a Twenty20 match in England's Saddleworth League in September 2007
Indian schoolboy Pranav Dhanawade set a new record for an officially recorded match with 1,009 not out in January 2016. His total for KC Gandhi School broke a 117-year-old mark set by 13-year-old AEJ Collins in a house match at Clifton College in June 1899.
Hedgcock Matters
Murray Hedgcock continues
I note that The Professor (of what discipline incidentally does he hold that status? Not Logic, presumably) cannot resist (No. 170) once again criticising my belief that an England cricket team should be made up of genuine Englishmen – how dare I propose such a bizarre idea!
The problem is that young ‘uns like the Prof simply do not allow for history. For we who grew up in the Thirties and onwards, when Ashes cricket was the primary international sporting concern, Australia meeting England on the tented field was a matter of my native country and its home-grown people against yours, both teams fair dinkum, rather than a ragtag and bobtail assembly of international travellers. An England team of yesterday was indeed an England team, admittedly fleshed out now and then by the occasional Indian (Ranji, Duleep, Pataudi Snr), the lone Irishman (O’Brien), or the ring-in Aussie (Woods and Allen), all with strong British links.
I wonder how many non-Englishmen the Prof. would be happy to see in the national XI? Would he barrack wholeheartedly for an “England” team of eleven South Africans – or Australians, Kiwis, Pakistanis etc? I argue that the England eleven should exude “Englishness”; it should carry with it the atmosphere of the county game, and resound with regional accents – not the tones of the veldt, or the Emerald Isle. (I bristle every time I see Eoin Morgan not merely playing for but actually captaining England).
We have just been reminded of the enthusiasm of vast Indian crowds for their national teams – made up of genuine Indians. They bring in the mercenaries only for the Mickey Mouse froth and bubble of the IPL.
As to my alleged status as a xenophobe, may I record that my wife is German (we look forward to our diamond wedding this year). Hardly a mark of national prejudice, surely?
I gave the Professor early notice of Murray’s latest and he responded with this
I appear to be having a long-distance dispute – via Googlies - with a Mr Hedgcock. As far as I know, we have never met. Should we do so I fear I might be unsuccessful in persuading him of the vacuousness of his nationalist posturing.
Mr Hedgcock , after a genuflection towards my callow youth (for which many thanks) goes on to accuse me of a lack of logic. His own exercise in this discipline is to reminisce about pre- WW2 times when national sides were made up of “home-grown people”. He then instantly gives a list of examples of men who played for England in that era who were, most assuredly, not grown in any English home. This is such a contradiction that it seems almost unfair to point it out.
If this indeed is an exercise in “logic” it would seem that the subject has altered somewhat since I used to teach it… or perhaps it is just practiced in an eccentric way in what I take to be Mr Hedgcock’s ”native country” of Australia. In any event, it seems too small a thing to worry about and only of interest to those with a nationalist turn of mind: itself an emotional rather than a rational state.
I still don’t recall calling Mr Hedgcock a “xenophobe” and, if I did, I must certainly withdraw the charge given his revelation about his matrimonial status. In exchange I think we should all offer hearty congratulations for his forthcoming domestic celebration.
Errata Matters
After every edition of Googlies I always get plenty of corrections from the Great Jack Morgan and I am sure that other readers notice some and forgive me as a matter of course but I received two reprimands after Googlies 170 which you might enjoy.
First from Douglas Miller:
“A good read as ever, especially the Professor. You have, however, added to a world record held by Mike Procter: there can surely be no cricketer of his status, not even Ranji, who has had to suffer more often from having his name spelled incorrectly. Gloucestershire even did it once on his car, I believe.”
And then from Terry Hunt:
“Many thanks for the latest edition of Googlies. However, didn’t your spell-check detect that ‘antideluvian’ on the final page is a misspelling? It should, of course, be ‘antediluvian’, coming from ‘ante’ (‘before’ – not ‘anti ‘instead of’) and ‘diluvian’ (‘appertaining to the flood’, meaning Noah’s flood). Was soccer in existence at that time?”
Archive Photograph
I am pleased to be able to publish the above photo which shows a typical crowd reaction during a Jack Morgan innings in the early seventies.
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