G&C 183
GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 183
March 2018
Caption Competition
1. Trevor Bayliss: Eion, what personal hygiene products do you use at the crease?
2. Eion Morgan: If Ben can play in New Zealand does that mean that his not playing in Australia was his formal ban by the ECB? If not, what was it and why can he play now? And does he still have a formal ban to come?
3. Trevor Bayliss: Which opening attack would you most like to face in International cricket?
Eion Morgan: David Willey and Tom Curran.
4. Trevor Bayliss: Where do you think I will be post Brexit?
Eion Morgan: Back in Oz.
5. Eion Morgan: Who is the best English white ball batsman?
Trevor Bayliss: Alex Hales.
Eion Morgan: Well, why isn’t he playing?
6. Eion Morgan: Has Stokes been warned as to his future conduct on and off the field of play? If so can you let me know what will be unacceptable on the field- shouting at the umpire, abusing the batsman, throwing any item other than the ball?
Trevor Bayliss: That’s for me to know and you to find out.
Out and About with the Professor
There are people who are a bit sniffy about Classic FM. The argument is, in essence, that is too popularist, too much a collection of “songs from the shows” – a sort of tabloid version of Radio 3. I don’t quite take this view although it is fair to say that there are only so many times you can listen to the Songs from the Auvergne. In addition, of course, there are the adverts which diminish the pleasure in just about everything. But I do listen from time to time, especially during breakfast. So imagine the dismay when one of the presenters made the announcement last week that Classic FM had made a new signing: Henry Blofeld. There was even a mini interview with the blustering buffoon who in addition to being “so excited” about his new role, admitted that he knew very little about classical music. Oh really? Nothing new there then. Having got rid of him from TMS I was truly hopeful that I had heard the pantomime posh voice for the last time. Not so it seems. The interview concluded with “dear old Henry” saying that while he didn’t know much about classical music, he “knew what he liked” …ye gods.
Meanwhile, Yorkshire have made (we hope) a rather better signing in the form of Cheteshwar Pujara for the start of the next season (“Steve” in the dressing room apparently). Yorkshire’s batting was so bad last year that they almost beat Middlesex to the relegation spot, but now they have signed Williamson for the second part of the season and Pujara for the first. Both have played for Yorkshire before. Pujara’s contribution was a little mixed, he played about half a dozen innings for about 250 runs, the majority of which came in one, albeit pretty decisive, knock. He is due to arrive for the first match – how he will adjust from Gujarat to the permafrost of Leeds, in the second week of April, remains to be seen. He has said, apparently, that while he is “delighted” to be back at Yorkshire, where he feels “so at home” (Ho Hum) it will enable him to “warm up” (yes, quite) for the Test series in the summer. Yorkshire are busy trumpeting that we will have three of the world’s best six batsmen this year (how much Root will play is, of course, unknown…I suspect we have recruited a new marketing person).
Shortly after Pujara takes guard, this year’s Wisden will hit the door mat (with the traditional thump). While we already know who is on the cover, we don’t, of course, know who will make up the “Five Cricketers of the Year”. We’ve had a few goes at this guessing game in past Googlies with, it might be fair to say, mixed results. As followers of these things know, there is really only one “rule” regarding selection – that you can’t win it twice. The rest is a sort of tradition: it tends to be based on the previous English domestic season; that players who make a lot of county runs/take a lot of wickets, feature; that an English player who breaks into the Test side stands a good chance; that sometimes the captain of one of the visiting Test teams (or a stand-out player) gets the nod; and so on. It is complicated by the fact that the editors appear to look at all the domestic programme: Tests, County Championship, One-Dayers, T20s (I recall Jeetan Patel getting in because of his success in all modes) and, of course, since 2009 there have even been (dare one say it) women allowed in the list, when the brilliant Claire Taylor was included.
Having said all that, I think this year is particularly difficult. It has sent me off looking at cricket statistics and that sort of thing. I’ve always been wary of doing that since I’ve seen what it can do to grown men. For England Test players I think the only two candidates are Stoneman and Malan. Stoneman got a lot of county runs and was a qualified success in the Tests. Malan scored the highest number of runs in the Ashes…if that counts. Jamie Porter picked up the most Championship wickets and played a major part in the success of Essex. Luke Wells got the most county runs, but I don’t know if Division 2 runs are somehow devalued. Joe Denley had a very good season in the Championship and the T20 and how about Ryan ten Doeschate getting a pat on the back after all these years? The two visiting Test sides didn’t really sparkle, and it might seem odd if either captain was named. Morkel had a good series but the player who really caught the eye (my eye at any rate) was Shai Hope.
It is possible to carry on listing names until almost everyone is included but… then there are the women. And lots of them could be on the list. Shubsole is on the cover but that does not automatically guarantee inclusion – Wisden editors are not so easily interpreted. Natalie Sciver and Tammy Beaumont got lots of World Cup runs and Sarah Taylor is a gifted cricketer but if there were to be only one woman (and why should there be) it might go to the captain, Heather Knight.
So…how to choose?
I think I’ll go for Stoneman, Hope, Porter, Denley and Knight. I’ll be happy with two out of five.
An honourable mention should, of course, go to Usman Arshad. Somehow, I think that within the “Five Cricketers of the Year” the Wisden editor should find space to mention (what I recall) were his marvellous bowling figures in one match: 0.0, 0, 0, 5. No overs, no balls, no maidens, no wickets and five runs. The resulting average is a very large number.
All things to ponder as the snow falls in Yorkshire and I (now) tune in to Radio 3 at breakfast time.
This and That
The South Africa v India ODI series has been an engaging series if a little one sided and interminable. Kohli dominated the batting and scored a high proportion of India’s runs through the series but there were also centuries for Dhawan and Rohit along the way. The South Africans were light on batting not bowling in this series and had to manage without de Kock, du Plessis and de Villiers for much of it. Strangely for once Amla did not step up. Markham stood in for du Plessis as captain after the first match and is quite outstanding in the field but failed to make a significant contribution with the bat.
The integration of black players into the system is eventually beginning to pay off for South Africa. In the past the odd guy, such as Ntini, broke through but they always seemed to be a token inclusion. Now there are some serious young blacks who will dominate in the coming years. Rabada has developed into a world class quick bowler who already has statistics to support him but is nevertheless only 22. Perhaps more significantly he is now getting support from two more young black bowlers- Lungi Ngidi and Andile Phehlukwayo. Both are more than raw talent and the former is another quick bowler whilst the latter is an all-rounder. Stein may not have a future on field role to play and Morne Morkel is looking decidedly the elder statesman of the bowling unit.
The South African administration clearly recognises the potential of the black contingent and uses them up front, not as fill ins. India won the first three games and were looking to win the series in game four as South Africa stumbled to 102 for 4 chasing 290. But South Africa then got lucky with a big rain delay and their target was reduced to 205 from a further eleven overs. Miller and Klaasen, the stand in wicket keeper, then decided to hit the spinners which had not previously been the tactic in the series. They took the score to 174 when Miller was out. Everyone expected Chris Morris, an expensive IPL man, to be sent in to finish the job in what was still a tricky situation. But instead the left handed Phehlukwayo appeared and scored 23 not out from five deliveries with three sixes and they won with an over to spare.
In the second ODI both sides fielded a leg spinner and a chinaman bowler. For India Chahal and Kuldeep, for South Africa Imran Tahir and Shamsi. This must be a rare instance, certainly in the modern game. Chahal fields but doesn’t bowl in spectacles, as opposed to shades. Again, this is extremely unusual these days.
I think that I have reported in the past about the brass band at Port Elizabeth which plays throughout the day. The broadcasters are totally unable to eliminate the sound from their transmissions. It must be insufferable if you are actually present on the ground. This stuff all started in the seventies with the West Indian tin banging. Nowadays any noise or distraction seems to be acceptable and the norm.
Here’s one for the statisticians. In their first ODI Afghanistan 333 for 5, Zimbabwe 179. In the second ODI Zimbabwe 333 for 5, Afghanistan 179.
It seems strange that Middlesex and Kent who, presumably, both aspire to first division status have appointed captains who will be absent for much of the season. Billings will be at the IPL and then on England white ball duty whilst Malan now seems to be part of all three formats for England. The appointments seem to have been made a in a vacuum without consideration to the realities of the situations.
Whoever captains Middlesex will have to work out how to win matches at Lord’s on their slow dull wickets unless they can persuade the MCC to prepare green tops and to take their chances with the toss or whatever shenanigans take place these days. The long drawn out blocks of recent years will not do it. They need to give themselves maximum time to take twenty wickets which will require attacking batting to give themselves the runs to play with. They could probably also do with another spinner perhaps they should look for Kerrigan who doesn’t seem to get a game anywhere these days? I doubt whether Rayner, except at the Oval, or Patel, except at Taunton, are up to it.
I have noticed that Sam Northeast has joined Hampshire! Why did Middlesex not snap him up or does he aspire to First Division cricket? Will this be a real problem unless we get straight back up this year?
Yesterday I was up just in time to see the end of the New Zealand innings at Eden Park in which they amassed a seemingly unassailable 243 from their twenty overs. That is until Australia started their innings. The ball flew to all parts including in D’Arcy Short’s case off both edges to such an extent that at the half way stage they were 135 for 1. It had become a case of not whether they would win but with how many balls to spare. In the event it was seven balls which is a big margin in any T20 match but quite extraordinary if you are chasing 243. Australia had hit 14 sixes along the way which was some way short of the Kiwis 18. You might think that the short straight boundaries (only 55 yards) on this ground played a significant part but many of the straight hits would have cleared much longer boundaries and anyway a lot of the sixes were struck to the longer square boundaries. The star of the piece was the drop-in wicket which was a belter. Perhaps Middlesex should use one at lord’s this season?
In the New Zealand innings Mark Chapman was hit on the helmet which came off and rolled back onto the stumps. It is a fairly novel way to be out hit wicket.
A couple of days earlier England did enough to beat New Zealand but could only score 26 from four overs of de Grandhomme and Munro having scored at ten an over against the front-line bowlers. I was surprised that the much-vaunted attacking batting had no answer to the dobbers.
There seems to be some evidence of Tour Madness creeping into the England camp again when it was decided to use Curran and Willey as the opening bowlers in the critical decider on Sunday. Both bowled into Munro’s slot and he unfailingly said thank you and cleared the ropes to such an extent that they were 77 for 0 in the six over power play. Munro’s 14 ball fifty was the second fastest in International T20s. Youvraj’s 12 balls, also against England, remains the quickest. By contrast Rashid and Dawson looked unhittable which is something I never thought I would say. Jordan is capable of bowling stunning Yorkers but seems to have a temperamental flaw in being unable to do it consistently, missing them not by a whisker but by a mile.
The saddest part of this ODI defeat for me was when Buttler missed a run out at a critical point. He tried to take the ball in front of the stumps presumably with a view to spinning round once he had caught it. In the event he failed to catch the ball. Bob Taylor would never have tried this new-fangled ploy.
Morgan Matters
Jack has been scouring the media for news of Middlesex men past and present
Dawid has been appointed Middlesex captain in all formats (he has been T20 captain for a couple of years). I am not totally sure that this is a good move at this time when he looks to have become an England regular, at least in Tests and he is not out of contention for the white ball sides either. New Championship vice-captain Sam Robson might be in charge for a number of matches (if there are any Championship played when Tests are on, which there might not be) and they will probably need to have another vice-captain for the limited overs games in which Sam does not usually play.
At Chittagong Sri Lanka made 713 for 9 declared but failed to beat Bangladesh, for whom Mominul Haque made hundreds in both innings
In the 4 dayer at Greenfields (dunno mate, somewhere in West Indies, it is not in my atlas, but it is likely to be in Jamaica, I think), England 252 a/o: H Hameed 13, K Jennings 49, N Gubbins 50, J Clarke 1, L Livingstone 21, B Foakes 16, P Coughlin 60, TSRJ 18, J Leach 3, M Crane 1, J Porter 0*; R Cornwall 5-68. This might be an unofficial Test?
Greenfields: England 132 a/o: Hameed 39, Clarke 31, Gubbins 20, Foakes 20, Coughlin 11, TSRJ 2, Livingstone 1, Leach 0*, Jennings, Crane and Porter all 0. West Indies A are 31-1 needing a further 74. It sounds like a spinners' paradise as West Indies A struggled to victory by 2 wickets on 108-8 (Leach 5-28, Livingstone (preferred to Crane as no 2 spinner) 2-53, Crane 1-13, TSRJ dnb!).
T Bayliss says international teams should not be playing T20.
The West Indies A/ England Lions "Test" at Sabina Park should be under way, but I cannot get any scores. Next day: EL 145 a/o having been 56-0: Jennings 28, Hameed 23, Gubbins 0, Clarke last out for 56, Livingstone 0, Davies 4, Coughlin 0, TSRJ 4, Leach 1, Crane 12, Porter 0*. WIA 159-4, Porter 0-24, TSRJ 0-12, Livingstone 2-51, Leach 2-53, Crane 0-11.
I have not seen the scorecard, but Ireland have beaten Netherlands by 5 wickets in Pretoria: Netherlands 264-7 (B Rankin 4-38); Ireland 265-5 (ex-Middlesex man A Balbirnie 97, G Wilson 89).
Now Bayliss wants P Farbrace to run England’s T20 international cricket.
Sabina: West Indies A 422 a/o: J Hamilton 100, J Porter 0-51, TSRJ 1-42, L Livingstone 2-83, J Leach 6-138, M Crane 0-59, P Coughlin 1-35. England Lions 260 a/o: Jennings 20, Hameed 18, Gubbins 22, Clarke 6, Livingstone 48, Davies 21, Coughlin 47, TSRJ 2, Leach 29, Crane 25*, Porter 0; Cornwall and Warrican 4 wickets each. West Indies A won by an innings and 17. Pathetic. West Indies A are 2-0 up in the series. It is great to have strength in depth, isn't it?
The G has a full-page article on Rangers and Sir Les Ferdinand (another who played for Hayes) in particular because they are apparently doing sterling work (in more senses than one) in raising funds for Grenfell disaster charities, especially Les's Game 4 Grenfell fund. Les grew up on the Lancaster West estate, where the Grenfell Tower is/ was located. The article says that there are 24 BAME people working in coaching in professional football, but only 13 are in senior roles. Les is Rangers' Director of Football.
In a rain affected ODI in Pretoria, Ireland made 284-3 off 45 with a trio of Middlesex men the top scorers (P Stirling 156 off 128, E Joyce 58* and A Balbirnie 37); rain meant that Hong Kong needed 175 off 20, but could only manage 171-8: Ire won by 3.
I had a dreadful Saturday: Scotland 25 England 13, Quins 10 Newcastle 28, Rangers 2 Notts Forest 5!
Nice to hear that J Buttler will not be joining Rashid and Hales in giving up proper cricket; he is planning to fight to get his Test place back. Good on him.
World Cup Matters
Simon Burnton wrote this in the Spin
On Thursday, Ireland play a Northerns/Easterns XI in Pretoria. This is the opening skirmish in a battle of the utmost importance, with qualification for next year’s World Cup at stake, the decision to shrink the tournament to just 10 participants about to yield its first significant victims.
There were 12 teams in 1996 and 1999, 14 in 2003, 16 in 2007 and 14 again in 2011. Before that event the decision was made to reduce the 2015 field to 10, a move derided by the then Ireland captain William Porterfield as “an absolute joke” and “an absolute disgrace”. The ICC was swiftly convinced to change its mind, but for next year’s World Cup in England the guillotine has fallen.
Next month 10 sides will convene in Zimbabwe to battle it out for two remaining places. West Indies, twice champions, will be joined by Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Scotland, Holland, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea and the two finalists from the ICC World Cricket League Division Two, currently being contested in Namibia.
Football Matters
I have watched a glut of Premier League football since Christmas and it continues to be excellent stuff and totally different from that which I grew up on largely due to the improved surfaces and balls which have allowed the development of different skill sets and tactics. Nevertheless, some things defy explanation besides, of course, the ridiculous new offside rules. It remains baffling why so few of these highly paid ball kickers constantly fail to manage to clear the first defender at the near post with corner kicks.
But an even easier skill set to master is that required to take the simple throw in. However, Serge Aurier, Spurs’ international full back, achieved a remarkable hat trick in a recent match against Crystal Palace by being penalised for three consecutive foul throws. Surely someone must have taught him the basics of this elementary art?
University Stuff
The future of the MCC Universities scheme, through which some 25% of English-qualified county players have progressed, has been thrown into doubt by the loss of £180,000 in annual sponsorship from Deloitte. This seems, particularly in the context of an ECB massively enriched by the £1.1bn TV deal signed last year, painfully jarring. Graeme Fowler, the former England batsman who started the scheme in 1996, said in 2016 – when the scheme was threatened by the MCC’s decision to reduce its funding – that its loss would be “a huge retrograde step”. “The reason I set up this scheme was to ensure young people didn’t have to pick between education and cricket,” he said. “The time really has come for the ECB to take over.” Should alternative funding not be available, it would surely be incumbent upon the ECB to save a scheme that not only opens a pathway to the county game for young players who might otherwise be lost to the sport, but improves the futures of those who do not go on to make the grade by giving them access to a first-class education.
Mad Laws Matters
Simon Burnton reported on the funny lunch event in South Africa
On the last day of July in 1884 the touring Australian side arrived at The Oval for a game against the Players of England, a team made up of representatives from across the English counties. It was not much of a match, with the English – weakened by Nottinghamshire’s and Lancashire’s refusal to let their top players travel south – proving unable to deal with the pace of Fred Spofforth, the Australian seamer, who played fabulously, assisted by a helpful pitch. He took eight wickets in the first innings, in which only four players reached double figures and George Ulyett top-scored with 22, and another six in the second, when two batsmen reached double figures and again Ulyett stood out, scoring 33 of the meagre 71 in total.
The Australians scored 151 in their first innings with George Bonnor, run out for 68, the game’s outstanding run-maker, and thus needed 28 from their second knock to win the game. Bonnor, who batted at No 6 in Australia’s first innings, was promoted to the top of the order, and after a 22-minute delay between innings (the timing is important) he and Percy McDonnell came out at 1.45pm on the second day. They proceeded to score 17 rapid runs before, at precisely 1.58pm, Bonnor was bowled by Yorkshire’s Ted Peate.
Eleven runs were needed, nine wickets remained, but lunch was due to be called at two. Eyes turned to the pavilion, but no batsman emerged. “Play,” cried the spectators but, when nobody arrived, the rest of the players headed indoors. Whether the decision to stop was taken because the Australians were particularly peckish or imposed by caterers is hard to ascertain but many present concluded that it was a ruse to extend the match and increase gate receipts and were profoundly disgruntled.
“During the interval the people assembled in front of the pavilion and groaned and hissed,” the Times reported. “When the bell was rung at 20 minutes to three for the resumption of play the crowd made a rush for the wickets and, knocking down the rope and stakes, pulled up the stumps, which they threw in all directions.” The disturbance lasted for 45 minutes. It was, the Bradford Daily Telegraph reported: “An unseemly riot, taken part in unfortunately by persons of all classes. Anything more discreditable, perhaps, has never been seen on an English cricket field.”
The Nottingham Daily Express lamented that “the behaviour of a portion of the public was un-English and it will remain, if all that is reported is true, an everlasting stain on English manners to be often quoted both in sorrow and anger by our kinsmen of the Colonies”.
“The crowd refused to allow the wickets to be refixed, in spite of the efforts of the police and continuous ringing of the bell,” the Sunday newspaper Lloyd’s Weekly reported. “The Surrey secretary, Mr Alcock, attempted to appease the crowd but met with somewhat rough treatment. The players came out several times, only to retire, being surrounded by the crowd. The police attempted to arrest one of the crowd but were unsuccessful.”
At one stage Alcock asked Peate who, having just taken a wicket might perhaps have earned a bit of patience from the spectators, to appeal for calm. “Ah didn’t cum here t’quell riot,” he replied. “Ah cum t’play cricket.”
And so to Centurion, where the second ODI between South Africa and India was paused on Sunday, with the tourists requiring two runs to win, for a 40-minute lunch break. Again, disapproving spectators took to their feet in protest, but rather than invading the field they simply went home. There was, however, plenty of hooting and hissing on social media. “Bloody bonkers,” concluded Michael Vaughan.
It is one of those particularly awkward situations where sympathy must be spread among players, spectators and also umpires. ICC regulations had allowed Aleem Dar and Adrian Holdstock “to play 15 minutes (a minimum of four overs) extra time at the scheduled interval if requested by either captain if, in the umpires’ opinion, it would bring about a definite result in that session”, which they had done. There is nothing in the regulations that might have allowed them to play any longer and, though common sense dictates that they could have done so, the situation at that time made such a decision unwise.
When lunch was called India had faced 19 overs, one over short of the minimum that must be bowled to the side batting second for it to constitute a completed match. Conditions in Pretoria were fair but, should another game be in an identical situation but with threatening clouds gathering overhead, cricketing tradition dictates that the bowling side would be entitled to take lunch and spend the interval gazing desperately at the sky and performing rain dances in the knowledge that, however dire their position in the match, extended rainfall would hand them an undeserved draw. Had play been allowed to continue at Centurion, it would have set a precedent that would have clouded this already quite cloudy situation.
“It’s almost a no-win for the umpires,” says Fraser Stewart, MCC’s laws manager. “They either break the regulations and have to accept the consequences, potentially from their employer, or they’re tried in the court of public opinion. They were damned either way.
“It didn’t look great but the unintended consequences of allowing play to continue could have put umpires in a difficult place further down the line.” The umpires, in short, took the decision, and accepted the derision, for the good of the game and should be applauded even if – unlike, one assumes, the lunch they took – it was a little hard to swallow at the time.
.
Ged Matters
A report from a 2016 Lord’s match between Middlesex and Lancashire
I was joined for the afternoon by Escamillo Escapillo. Actually, the fact that we were together watching Middlesex v Lancashire was a noteworthy matter in itself, as our previous attempts to do so had been thwarted:
In 2009 by circumstances beyond our control – i.e. the perennially lousy London weather.
In 2014 as a result of our collective incompetence
Inevitably, the conversation soon turned to the matter that pretty much everyone must have been talking about around that time.
“The pitch seems a bit flat,” said Escamillo.
“More than a bit low and slow,” I concurred. “It’s been getting this way for years. Strip probably needs a complete relaying, but I think Mick Hunt wants to leave that potential banana skin to his successor.”
“At Old Trafford,” said Escamillo, “we turned the whole square around 90 degrees. That did a grand job of it. Have thee thought of trying that here at Lord’s?”
We were sitting on the front terrace of the pavilion. I looked around sharply to check if any of the gentlemen might have overheard the remark. There were none within hearing aid range, mercifully.
I quietly asked Escamillo, “I take it you are aware of the hoo-ha our nation has just been through with the Brexit referendum?”
“Yes?” said Escamillo, quizzically.
“Around here, your square rotation idea would be far more controversial than Brexit.”
Me Too Matters
The current vogue amongst the ladies to proclaim “Me too” is not a new phenomenon. Back in the sixties and seventies there was a substantial fraternity of batsmen who would greet each other with the epithet after being given out by the George, the Wembley umpire.
Red Mist Matters
In a warm up match for the recent tri nation T20 competition in Australia and New Zealand David Willey hit Australia Test spinner Nathan Lyon, captaining the hosts, for 34 off the sixth over as they cruised to an eight-wicket victory. He hit the first five deliveries for six but could only manage a four off the final delivery.
Meanwhile, Adelaide Strikers' Jake Weatherald scored the first century in a Big Bash League final as his side beat Hobart Hurricanes to win the 2018 title. Opener Weatherald reached his hundred from 58 balls and went on to score 115.
Football Matters
I hadn’t heard from Kelvin West for ages and so it was good to hear from our Greek correspondent recently.
I thought I would send you my latest team photo which was taken shortly before our latest B-Cup semi-final. The Kit man has now been promoted to assistant manager!
Old Danes Gathering
There will be an Old Danes Gathering at Shepherds Bush Cricket Club on Friday 27 July which is the Friday of their Cricket Week. This event is not a Boys only event and wives, girlfriends and others will all be welcome. There will be an open bar throughout the afternoon and evening with proceedings commencing around 2pm and continuing until you’ve had enough. Thanks to those who have already responded to the invite. I will distribute in March a list of those planning to attend.
Googlies Website
All the back editions of Googlies can be found on the G&C website. There are also many photographs most of which have never appeared in Googlies.
www.googliesandchinamen.com
Googlies and Chinamen
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 183
March 2018
Caption Competition
1. Trevor Bayliss: Eion, what personal hygiene products do you use at the crease?
2. Eion Morgan: If Ben can play in New Zealand does that mean that his not playing in Australia was his formal ban by the ECB? If not, what was it and why can he play now? And does he still have a formal ban to come?
3. Trevor Bayliss: Which opening attack would you most like to face in International cricket?
Eion Morgan: David Willey and Tom Curran.
4. Trevor Bayliss: Where do you think I will be post Brexit?
Eion Morgan: Back in Oz.
5. Eion Morgan: Who is the best English white ball batsman?
Trevor Bayliss: Alex Hales.
Eion Morgan: Well, why isn’t he playing?
6. Eion Morgan: Has Stokes been warned as to his future conduct on and off the field of play? If so can you let me know what will be unacceptable on the field- shouting at the umpire, abusing the batsman, throwing any item other than the ball?
Trevor Bayliss: That’s for me to know and you to find out.
Out and About with the Professor
There are people who are a bit sniffy about Classic FM. The argument is, in essence, that is too popularist, too much a collection of “songs from the shows” – a sort of tabloid version of Radio 3. I don’t quite take this view although it is fair to say that there are only so many times you can listen to the Songs from the Auvergne. In addition, of course, there are the adverts which diminish the pleasure in just about everything. But I do listen from time to time, especially during breakfast. So imagine the dismay when one of the presenters made the announcement last week that Classic FM had made a new signing: Henry Blofeld. There was even a mini interview with the blustering buffoon who in addition to being “so excited” about his new role, admitted that he knew very little about classical music. Oh really? Nothing new there then. Having got rid of him from TMS I was truly hopeful that I had heard the pantomime posh voice for the last time. Not so it seems. The interview concluded with “dear old Henry” saying that while he didn’t know much about classical music, he “knew what he liked” …ye gods.
Meanwhile, Yorkshire have made (we hope) a rather better signing in the form of Cheteshwar Pujara for the start of the next season (“Steve” in the dressing room apparently). Yorkshire’s batting was so bad last year that they almost beat Middlesex to the relegation spot, but now they have signed Williamson for the second part of the season and Pujara for the first. Both have played for Yorkshire before. Pujara’s contribution was a little mixed, he played about half a dozen innings for about 250 runs, the majority of which came in one, albeit pretty decisive, knock. He is due to arrive for the first match – how he will adjust from Gujarat to the permafrost of Leeds, in the second week of April, remains to be seen. He has said, apparently, that while he is “delighted” to be back at Yorkshire, where he feels “so at home” (Ho Hum) it will enable him to “warm up” (yes, quite) for the Test series in the summer. Yorkshire are busy trumpeting that we will have three of the world’s best six batsmen this year (how much Root will play is, of course, unknown…I suspect we have recruited a new marketing person).
Shortly after Pujara takes guard, this year’s Wisden will hit the door mat (with the traditional thump). While we already know who is on the cover, we don’t, of course, know who will make up the “Five Cricketers of the Year”. We’ve had a few goes at this guessing game in past Googlies with, it might be fair to say, mixed results. As followers of these things know, there is really only one “rule” regarding selection – that you can’t win it twice. The rest is a sort of tradition: it tends to be based on the previous English domestic season; that players who make a lot of county runs/take a lot of wickets, feature; that an English player who breaks into the Test side stands a good chance; that sometimes the captain of one of the visiting Test teams (or a stand-out player) gets the nod; and so on. It is complicated by the fact that the editors appear to look at all the domestic programme: Tests, County Championship, One-Dayers, T20s (I recall Jeetan Patel getting in because of his success in all modes) and, of course, since 2009 there have even been (dare one say it) women allowed in the list, when the brilliant Claire Taylor was included.
Having said all that, I think this year is particularly difficult. It has sent me off looking at cricket statistics and that sort of thing. I’ve always been wary of doing that since I’ve seen what it can do to grown men. For England Test players I think the only two candidates are Stoneman and Malan. Stoneman got a lot of county runs and was a qualified success in the Tests. Malan scored the highest number of runs in the Ashes…if that counts. Jamie Porter picked up the most Championship wickets and played a major part in the success of Essex. Luke Wells got the most county runs, but I don’t know if Division 2 runs are somehow devalued. Joe Denley had a very good season in the Championship and the T20 and how about Ryan ten Doeschate getting a pat on the back after all these years? The two visiting Test sides didn’t really sparkle, and it might seem odd if either captain was named. Morkel had a good series but the player who really caught the eye (my eye at any rate) was Shai Hope.
It is possible to carry on listing names until almost everyone is included but… then there are the women. And lots of them could be on the list. Shubsole is on the cover but that does not automatically guarantee inclusion – Wisden editors are not so easily interpreted. Natalie Sciver and Tammy Beaumont got lots of World Cup runs and Sarah Taylor is a gifted cricketer but if there were to be only one woman (and why should there be) it might go to the captain, Heather Knight.
So…how to choose?
I think I’ll go for Stoneman, Hope, Porter, Denley and Knight. I’ll be happy with two out of five.
An honourable mention should, of course, go to Usman Arshad. Somehow, I think that within the “Five Cricketers of the Year” the Wisden editor should find space to mention (what I recall) were his marvellous bowling figures in one match: 0.0, 0, 0, 5. No overs, no balls, no maidens, no wickets and five runs. The resulting average is a very large number.
All things to ponder as the snow falls in Yorkshire and I (now) tune in to Radio 3 at breakfast time.
This and That
The South Africa v India ODI series has been an engaging series if a little one sided and interminable. Kohli dominated the batting and scored a high proportion of India’s runs through the series but there were also centuries for Dhawan and Rohit along the way. The South Africans were light on batting not bowling in this series and had to manage without de Kock, du Plessis and de Villiers for much of it. Strangely for once Amla did not step up. Markham stood in for du Plessis as captain after the first match and is quite outstanding in the field but failed to make a significant contribution with the bat.
The integration of black players into the system is eventually beginning to pay off for South Africa. In the past the odd guy, such as Ntini, broke through but they always seemed to be a token inclusion. Now there are some serious young blacks who will dominate in the coming years. Rabada has developed into a world class quick bowler who already has statistics to support him but is nevertheless only 22. Perhaps more significantly he is now getting support from two more young black bowlers- Lungi Ngidi and Andile Phehlukwayo. Both are more than raw talent and the former is another quick bowler whilst the latter is an all-rounder. Stein may not have a future on field role to play and Morne Morkel is looking decidedly the elder statesman of the bowling unit.
The South African administration clearly recognises the potential of the black contingent and uses them up front, not as fill ins. India won the first three games and were looking to win the series in game four as South Africa stumbled to 102 for 4 chasing 290. But South Africa then got lucky with a big rain delay and their target was reduced to 205 from a further eleven overs. Miller and Klaasen, the stand in wicket keeper, then decided to hit the spinners which had not previously been the tactic in the series. They took the score to 174 when Miller was out. Everyone expected Chris Morris, an expensive IPL man, to be sent in to finish the job in what was still a tricky situation. But instead the left handed Phehlukwayo appeared and scored 23 not out from five deliveries with three sixes and they won with an over to spare.
In the second ODI both sides fielded a leg spinner and a chinaman bowler. For India Chahal and Kuldeep, for South Africa Imran Tahir and Shamsi. This must be a rare instance, certainly in the modern game. Chahal fields but doesn’t bowl in spectacles, as opposed to shades. Again, this is extremely unusual these days.
I think that I have reported in the past about the brass band at Port Elizabeth which plays throughout the day. The broadcasters are totally unable to eliminate the sound from their transmissions. It must be insufferable if you are actually present on the ground. This stuff all started in the seventies with the West Indian tin banging. Nowadays any noise or distraction seems to be acceptable and the norm.
Here’s one for the statisticians. In their first ODI Afghanistan 333 for 5, Zimbabwe 179. In the second ODI Zimbabwe 333 for 5, Afghanistan 179.
It seems strange that Middlesex and Kent who, presumably, both aspire to first division status have appointed captains who will be absent for much of the season. Billings will be at the IPL and then on England white ball duty whilst Malan now seems to be part of all three formats for England. The appointments seem to have been made a in a vacuum without consideration to the realities of the situations.
Whoever captains Middlesex will have to work out how to win matches at Lord’s on their slow dull wickets unless they can persuade the MCC to prepare green tops and to take their chances with the toss or whatever shenanigans take place these days. The long drawn out blocks of recent years will not do it. They need to give themselves maximum time to take twenty wickets which will require attacking batting to give themselves the runs to play with. They could probably also do with another spinner perhaps they should look for Kerrigan who doesn’t seem to get a game anywhere these days? I doubt whether Rayner, except at the Oval, or Patel, except at Taunton, are up to it.
I have noticed that Sam Northeast has joined Hampshire! Why did Middlesex not snap him up or does he aspire to First Division cricket? Will this be a real problem unless we get straight back up this year?
Yesterday I was up just in time to see the end of the New Zealand innings at Eden Park in which they amassed a seemingly unassailable 243 from their twenty overs. That is until Australia started their innings. The ball flew to all parts including in D’Arcy Short’s case off both edges to such an extent that at the half way stage they were 135 for 1. It had become a case of not whether they would win but with how many balls to spare. In the event it was seven balls which is a big margin in any T20 match but quite extraordinary if you are chasing 243. Australia had hit 14 sixes along the way which was some way short of the Kiwis 18. You might think that the short straight boundaries (only 55 yards) on this ground played a significant part but many of the straight hits would have cleared much longer boundaries and anyway a lot of the sixes were struck to the longer square boundaries. The star of the piece was the drop-in wicket which was a belter. Perhaps Middlesex should use one at lord’s this season?
In the New Zealand innings Mark Chapman was hit on the helmet which came off and rolled back onto the stumps. It is a fairly novel way to be out hit wicket.
A couple of days earlier England did enough to beat New Zealand but could only score 26 from four overs of de Grandhomme and Munro having scored at ten an over against the front-line bowlers. I was surprised that the much-vaunted attacking batting had no answer to the dobbers.
There seems to be some evidence of Tour Madness creeping into the England camp again when it was decided to use Curran and Willey as the opening bowlers in the critical decider on Sunday. Both bowled into Munro’s slot and he unfailingly said thank you and cleared the ropes to such an extent that they were 77 for 0 in the six over power play. Munro’s 14 ball fifty was the second fastest in International T20s. Youvraj’s 12 balls, also against England, remains the quickest. By contrast Rashid and Dawson looked unhittable which is something I never thought I would say. Jordan is capable of bowling stunning Yorkers but seems to have a temperamental flaw in being unable to do it consistently, missing them not by a whisker but by a mile.
The saddest part of this ODI defeat for me was when Buttler missed a run out at a critical point. He tried to take the ball in front of the stumps presumably with a view to spinning round once he had caught it. In the event he failed to catch the ball. Bob Taylor would never have tried this new-fangled ploy.
Morgan Matters
Jack has been scouring the media for news of Middlesex men past and present
Dawid has been appointed Middlesex captain in all formats (he has been T20 captain for a couple of years). I am not totally sure that this is a good move at this time when he looks to have become an England regular, at least in Tests and he is not out of contention for the white ball sides either. New Championship vice-captain Sam Robson might be in charge for a number of matches (if there are any Championship played when Tests are on, which there might not be) and they will probably need to have another vice-captain for the limited overs games in which Sam does not usually play.
At Chittagong Sri Lanka made 713 for 9 declared but failed to beat Bangladesh, for whom Mominul Haque made hundreds in both innings
In the 4 dayer at Greenfields (dunno mate, somewhere in West Indies, it is not in my atlas, but it is likely to be in Jamaica, I think), England 252 a/o: H Hameed 13, K Jennings 49, N Gubbins 50, J Clarke 1, L Livingstone 21, B Foakes 16, P Coughlin 60, TSRJ 18, J Leach 3, M Crane 1, J Porter 0*; R Cornwall 5-68. This might be an unofficial Test?
Greenfields: England 132 a/o: Hameed 39, Clarke 31, Gubbins 20, Foakes 20, Coughlin 11, TSRJ 2, Livingstone 1, Leach 0*, Jennings, Crane and Porter all 0. West Indies A are 31-1 needing a further 74. It sounds like a spinners' paradise as West Indies A struggled to victory by 2 wickets on 108-8 (Leach 5-28, Livingstone (preferred to Crane as no 2 spinner) 2-53, Crane 1-13, TSRJ dnb!).
T Bayliss says international teams should not be playing T20.
The West Indies A/ England Lions "Test" at Sabina Park should be under way, but I cannot get any scores. Next day: EL 145 a/o having been 56-0: Jennings 28, Hameed 23, Gubbins 0, Clarke last out for 56, Livingstone 0, Davies 4, Coughlin 0, TSRJ 4, Leach 1, Crane 12, Porter 0*. WIA 159-4, Porter 0-24, TSRJ 0-12, Livingstone 2-51, Leach 2-53, Crane 0-11.
I have not seen the scorecard, but Ireland have beaten Netherlands by 5 wickets in Pretoria: Netherlands 264-7 (B Rankin 4-38); Ireland 265-5 (ex-Middlesex man A Balbirnie 97, G Wilson 89).
Now Bayliss wants P Farbrace to run England’s T20 international cricket.
Sabina: West Indies A 422 a/o: J Hamilton 100, J Porter 0-51, TSRJ 1-42, L Livingstone 2-83, J Leach 6-138, M Crane 0-59, P Coughlin 1-35. England Lions 260 a/o: Jennings 20, Hameed 18, Gubbins 22, Clarke 6, Livingstone 48, Davies 21, Coughlin 47, TSRJ 2, Leach 29, Crane 25*, Porter 0; Cornwall and Warrican 4 wickets each. West Indies A won by an innings and 17. Pathetic. West Indies A are 2-0 up in the series. It is great to have strength in depth, isn't it?
The G has a full-page article on Rangers and Sir Les Ferdinand (another who played for Hayes) in particular because they are apparently doing sterling work (in more senses than one) in raising funds for Grenfell disaster charities, especially Les's Game 4 Grenfell fund. Les grew up on the Lancaster West estate, where the Grenfell Tower is/ was located. The article says that there are 24 BAME people working in coaching in professional football, but only 13 are in senior roles. Les is Rangers' Director of Football.
In a rain affected ODI in Pretoria, Ireland made 284-3 off 45 with a trio of Middlesex men the top scorers (P Stirling 156 off 128, E Joyce 58* and A Balbirnie 37); rain meant that Hong Kong needed 175 off 20, but could only manage 171-8: Ire won by 3.
I had a dreadful Saturday: Scotland 25 England 13, Quins 10 Newcastle 28, Rangers 2 Notts Forest 5!
Nice to hear that J Buttler will not be joining Rashid and Hales in giving up proper cricket; he is planning to fight to get his Test place back. Good on him.
World Cup Matters
Simon Burnton wrote this in the Spin
On Thursday, Ireland play a Northerns/Easterns XI in Pretoria. This is the opening skirmish in a battle of the utmost importance, with qualification for next year’s World Cup at stake, the decision to shrink the tournament to just 10 participants about to yield its first significant victims.
There were 12 teams in 1996 and 1999, 14 in 2003, 16 in 2007 and 14 again in 2011. Before that event the decision was made to reduce the 2015 field to 10, a move derided by the then Ireland captain William Porterfield as “an absolute joke” and “an absolute disgrace”. The ICC was swiftly convinced to change its mind, but for next year’s World Cup in England the guillotine has fallen.
Next month 10 sides will convene in Zimbabwe to battle it out for two remaining places. West Indies, twice champions, will be joined by Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Scotland, Holland, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea and the two finalists from the ICC World Cricket League Division Two, currently being contested in Namibia.
Football Matters
I have watched a glut of Premier League football since Christmas and it continues to be excellent stuff and totally different from that which I grew up on largely due to the improved surfaces and balls which have allowed the development of different skill sets and tactics. Nevertheless, some things defy explanation besides, of course, the ridiculous new offside rules. It remains baffling why so few of these highly paid ball kickers constantly fail to manage to clear the first defender at the near post with corner kicks.
But an even easier skill set to master is that required to take the simple throw in. However, Serge Aurier, Spurs’ international full back, achieved a remarkable hat trick in a recent match against Crystal Palace by being penalised for three consecutive foul throws. Surely someone must have taught him the basics of this elementary art?
University Stuff
The future of the MCC Universities scheme, through which some 25% of English-qualified county players have progressed, has been thrown into doubt by the loss of £180,000 in annual sponsorship from Deloitte. This seems, particularly in the context of an ECB massively enriched by the £1.1bn TV deal signed last year, painfully jarring. Graeme Fowler, the former England batsman who started the scheme in 1996, said in 2016 – when the scheme was threatened by the MCC’s decision to reduce its funding – that its loss would be “a huge retrograde step”. “The reason I set up this scheme was to ensure young people didn’t have to pick between education and cricket,” he said. “The time really has come for the ECB to take over.” Should alternative funding not be available, it would surely be incumbent upon the ECB to save a scheme that not only opens a pathway to the county game for young players who might otherwise be lost to the sport, but improves the futures of those who do not go on to make the grade by giving them access to a first-class education.
Mad Laws Matters
Simon Burnton reported on the funny lunch event in South Africa
On the last day of July in 1884 the touring Australian side arrived at The Oval for a game against the Players of England, a team made up of representatives from across the English counties. It was not much of a match, with the English – weakened by Nottinghamshire’s and Lancashire’s refusal to let their top players travel south – proving unable to deal with the pace of Fred Spofforth, the Australian seamer, who played fabulously, assisted by a helpful pitch. He took eight wickets in the first innings, in which only four players reached double figures and George Ulyett top-scored with 22, and another six in the second, when two batsmen reached double figures and again Ulyett stood out, scoring 33 of the meagre 71 in total.
The Australians scored 151 in their first innings with George Bonnor, run out for 68, the game’s outstanding run-maker, and thus needed 28 from their second knock to win the game. Bonnor, who batted at No 6 in Australia’s first innings, was promoted to the top of the order, and after a 22-minute delay between innings (the timing is important) he and Percy McDonnell came out at 1.45pm on the second day. They proceeded to score 17 rapid runs before, at precisely 1.58pm, Bonnor was bowled by Yorkshire’s Ted Peate.
Eleven runs were needed, nine wickets remained, but lunch was due to be called at two. Eyes turned to the pavilion, but no batsman emerged. “Play,” cried the spectators but, when nobody arrived, the rest of the players headed indoors. Whether the decision to stop was taken because the Australians were particularly peckish or imposed by caterers is hard to ascertain but many present concluded that it was a ruse to extend the match and increase gate receipts and were profoundly disgruntled.
“During the interval the people assembled in front of the pavilion and groaned and hissed,” the Times reported. “When the bell was rung at 20 minutes to three for the resumption of play the crowd made a rush for the wickets and, knocking down the rope and stakes, pulled up the stumps, which they threw in all directions.” The disturbance lasted for 45 minutes. It was, the Bradford Daily Telegraph reported: “An unseemly riot, taken part in unfortunately by persons of all classes. Anything more discreditable, perhaps, has never been seen on an English cricket field.”
The Nottingham Daily Express lamented that “the behaviour of a portion of the public was un-English and it will remain, if all that is reported is true, an everlasting stain on English manners to be often quoted both in sorrow and anger by our kinsmen of the Colonies”.
“The crowd refused to allow the wickets to be refixed, in spite of the efforts of the police and continuous ringing of the bell,” the Sunday newspaper Lloyd’s Weekly reported. “The Surrey secretary, Mr Alcock, attempted to appease the crowd but met with somewhat rough treatment. The players came out several times, only to retire, being surrounded by the crowd. The police attempted to arrest one of the crowd but were unsuccessful.”
At one stage Alcock asked Peate who, having just taken a wicket might perhaps have earned a bit of patience from the spectators, to appeal for calm. “Ah didn’t cum here t’quell riot,” he replied. “Ah cum t’play cricket.”
And so to Centurion, where the second ODI between South Africa and India was paused on Sunday, with the tourists requiring two runs to win, for a 40-minute lunch break. Again, disapproving spectators took to their feet in protest, but rather than invading the field they simply went home. There was, however, plenty of hooting and hissing on social media. “Bloody bonkers,” concluded Michael Vaughan.
It is one of those particularly awkward situations where sympathy must be spread among players, spectators and also umpires. ICC regulations had allowed Aleem Dar and Adrian Holdstock “to play 15 minutes (a minimum of four overs) extra time at the scheduled interval if requested by either captain if, in the umpires’ opinion, it would bring about a definite result in that session”, which they had done. There is nothing in the regulations that might have allowed them to play any longer and, though common sense dictates that they could have done so, the situation at that time made such a decision unwise.
When lunch was called India had faced 19 overs, one over short of the minimum that must be bowled to the side batting second for it to constitute a completed match. Conditions in Pretoria were fair but, should another game be in an identical situation but with threatening clouds gathering overhead, cricketing tradition dictates that the bowling side would be entitled to take lunch and spend the interval gazing desperately at the sky and performing rain dances in the knowledge that, however dire their position in the match, extended rainfall would hand them an undeserved draw. Had play been allowed to continue at Centurion, it would have set a precedent that would have clouded this already quite cloudy situation.
“It’s almost a no-win for the umpires,” says Fraser Stewart, MCC’s laws manager. “They either break the regulations and have to accept the consequences, potentially from their employer, or they’re tried in the court of public opinion. They were damned either way.
“It didn’t look great but the unintended consequences of allowing play to continue could have put umpires in a difficult place further down the line.” The umpires, in short, took the decision, and accepted the derision, for the good of the game and should be applauded even if – unlike, one assumes, the lunch they took – it was a little hard to swallow at the time.
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Ged Matters
A report from a 2016 Lord’s match between Middlesex and Lancashire
I was joined for the afternoon by Escamillo Escapillo. Actually, the fact that we were together watching Middlesex v Lancashire was a noteworthy matter in itself, as our previous attempts to do so had been thwarted:
In 2009 by circumstances beyond our control – i.e. the perennially lousy London weather.
In 2014 as a result of our collective incompetence
Inevitably, the conversation soon turned to the matter that pretty much everyone must have been talking about around that time.
“The pitch seems a bit flat,” said Escamillo.
“More than a bit low and slow,” I concurred. “It’s been getting this way for years. Strip probably needs a complete relaying, but I think Mick Hunt wants to leave that potential banana skin to his successor.”
“At Old Trafford,” said Escamillo, “we turned the whole square around 90 degrees. That did a grand job of it. Have thee thought of trying that here at Lord’s?”
We were sitting on the front terrace of the pavilion. I looked around sharply to check if any of the gentlemen might have overheard the remark. There were none within hearing aid range, mercifully.
I quietly asked Escamillo, “I take it you are aware of the hoo-ha our nation has just been through with the Brexit referendum?”
“Yes?” said Escamillo, quizzically.
“Around here, your square rotation idea would be far more controversial than Brexit.”
Me Too Matters
The current vogue amongst the ladies to proclaim “Me too” is not a new phenomenon. Back in the sixties and seventies there was a substantial fraternity of batsmen who would greet each other with the epithet after being given out by the George, the Wembley umpire.
Red Mist Matters
In a warm up match for the recent tri nation T20 competition in Australia and New Zealand David Willey hit Australia Test spinner Nathan Lyon, captaining the hosts, for 34 off the sixth over as they cruised to an eight-wicket victory. He hit the first five deliveries for six but could only manage a four off the final delivery.
Meanwhile, Adelaide Strikers' Jake Weatherald scored the first century in a Big Bash League final as his side beat Hobart Hurricanes to win the 2018 title. Opener Weatherald reached his hundred from 58 balls and went on to score 115.
Football Matters
I hadn’t heard from Kelvin West for ages and so it was good to hear from our Greek correspondent recently.
I thought I would send you my latest team photo which was taken shortly before our latest B-Cup semi-final. The Kit man has now been promoted to assistant manager!
Old Danes Gathering
There will be an Old Danes Gathering at Shepherds Bush Cricket Club on Friday 27 July which is the Friday of their Cricket Week. This event is not a Boys only event and wives, girlfriends and others will all be welcome. There will be an open bar throughout the afternoon and evening with proceedings commencing around 2pm and continuing until you’ve had enough. Thanks to those who have already responded to the invite. I will distribute in March a list of those planning to attend.
Googlies Website
All the back editions of Googlies can be found on the G&C website. There are also many photographs most of which have never appeared in Googlies.
www.googliesandchinamen.com
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