G&C 185
GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 185
May 2018
Caption Competition
Jonny Bairstow: Oh, I try to avoid that too.
Ravi Patel: But the Championship doesn’t start again until September.
Ollie Rayner: Oh, it will be wet again by then, so I guess you won’t get one this year.
Moeen Ali: No, growing beards.
Out and About with the Professor
I don’t think I quite understand the science of global warming. I get the basic concept of the different wavelength of the energy radiated from the sun and that radiated back, as a result, from the earth – the latter being more towards the infra-red part of the spectrum and thus more readily absorbed by CO2. But global warming doesn’t just make things hotter, it makes (apparently) the weather more erratic. Something to do with the jet stream and the gulf stream and the fluid mechanics of the oceans.
While I can’t help with the theoretical aspects of the model, I can provide some empirical verification. If it is erratic weather you were looking for you need have gone no further, last week, than the northern headquarters of cricket; the cathedral of sport that is Headingley.
The first Championship match of the season against Essex was abandoned without a ball being bowled, it having been the wettest March since records…etc. Four days later, it was sweltering hot. It was the hottest April day in Leeds since…and so on. (Who, by the way, sets these records? It always seems to be a record as soon as it is unseasonably hot/cold/wet/dry/ etc. I have a feeling someone is inventing them as we go along.)
However, I went along to the temple of cricket to watch the demolition of Notts, in the sun, and it was very pleasant indeed. On the face of it, Notts seemed to have a very useful attack: Ball and Gurney, the ever steady Fletcher and the chubby Samit. The problem appears to be in the batting where the import of Mullaney (so far) seems to have made little difference. Not to say it was all too easy for Yorkshire. A first innings lead always looked to be useful but just after the rain on the third day four wickets fell for bugger-all and it looked like Notts might be chasing a very modest total. Enter the man from Pontefract.
Is there, in the present County Championship, a man more reliable than the one below?
Tim Bresnan will never be the most elegant batsman you have ever seen (nor bowler nor fielder come to that), but who would leave him out their side? I guess that if someone were asked to select a side from the present Championship squads it would be full of overseas stars but for me, I would find a place for Bresnan. He can bat, bowl and field and would never let you down. On this particular occasion he pushed a few back and then set about clubbing the short balls to the fence and with Code put Yorkshire over the 400-to-chase mark.…they never looked likely to get there.
Ben Code is, of course, the other player of note. Last year, his first full year of Championship cricket, he took 50 wickets. I wrote then, in this journal, that he looked a likely prospect…and he still does. The conventional wisdom is that young cricketers often find their second full season difficult – the county pros have “worked him out” etc., and the previous success is hard to come by. Well, it doesn’t seem to have happened here. Code took 10 wickets in the match.
I don’t know whether to get more excited about him or not. On the face of it he is just yet another young English right arm bowler, sharpish but not super quick, who bowls a full length and, if there is some movement, picks up wickets. Every county has lots of them. On the other hand getting the opening bowler slot for Yorkshire is not that easy, there is competition with: Brooks, Patterson, Plunkett, Willey, Fisher, Shaw and Bresnan himself, on a good day. Not all are always available and seldom are they all fit. Code took his chance last year in the first county match when five more experienced bowlers were unavailable. He took the first six Hampshire wickets and has never looked back. There is also the inevitable comparison with Anderson: he is tall, slim, bowls at about (or perhaps a touch above) the same pace and has a very similar “gather” at delivery…he looks in fact as if he has modelled himself on the great man. He may go on to greater things or he may lose form and drift away like so many in the past. We shall see. Whatever happens, I will be watching and will report back….weather permitting.
This and That
I was around for the first week of the IPL. Last year Sunil Narine, the West Indian spinner who had to remodel his action, who bats left handed slogged the fastest ever fifty in the competition in 15 balls. This is no mean feat when you consider who else might have accomplished this – Gayle, de Villiers, Kohli, Sehwag etc. In the second match in this year’s competition the Delhi Daredevils batted first and posted a middle of the road 166 for 7. KL Rahul opened in reply for the King’s XI Punjab. He is slight in stature and bats in classical mode with immaculate timing. The opposing bowlers were Boult, Shami and Mishra. He played shots at each ball and after three overs he had scored 51 out of 52 for 0. He reached 50 from 14 balls received with 4 sixes and 6 fours. In the very next match Narine opened for the Kolkata Knight Riders and reached 50 from 17 balls.
In Match 5 the Kolkata Knight Riders batted first and were reduced to 89 for 5. Andre Russell has been out of the game for some time and has decided to modify his hitting technique by adopting a standing still stance rather than moving around the crease. Initially, with his captain, Karthik, they steadied ship and then he applied his new technique to good effect. He finished on 88 not out from 36 balls with 1 four and 11 sixes. KKR finished on 202 having scored 79 from the last five overs but this was not enough for the Chenai Super Kings who won with a ball to spare, thanks to a stunning 56 from 23 balls from Sam Billings who hit 2 fours and 5 sixes.
This bias towards sixes rather than fours has become a feature in this year’s competition. Chris Gayle sat out the early games but scored 104 not out from 63 balls for the King’s XI Punjab against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Gayle’s innings featured 1 four and 11 sixes. In the same match KH Rahul made 47 and de Villiers made 57 both with 2 fours and 4 sixes. Sanju Samson made 92 not out from 45 balls with 2 fours and 10 sixes. Andre Russell made 41 with 6 sixes.
In the another match de Kock made 53 from 34 with 1 four and 4 sixes, de Villiers made 68 from 30 with 2 fours and 8 sixes, Rayudu made 82 from 53 with 3 fours and 8 sixes, and Dhoni 70 from 34 with 1 four and 7 sixes. The IPL is by far the main competition in cricket and what happens there is the marker for all other cricket. So, we can expect to see big hitting this summer on rainy, freezing evenings in July and August.
I saw Tom Curran’s debut in the IPL and Shane Watson laid into him in much the same fashion as he had ended Simon Kerrigan’s test career at the Oval.
I saw some highlights(sic) of the final day of the Christchurch test. How can any serious cricket watcher associate with the mindless singing and tedious trumpet playing purveyed by the Barmy Army. Towards the end Root decided to bowl himself with fielders all-round the bat. One juicy long hop was clobbered against Cook standing at short leg. Both of them should have known better. Cook could have been seriously injured.
I think that Wenger and Guardiola will be seen to have a bigger influence on the Premiership than Ferguson which is strange in that he won the most trophies. However, the other two have created styles of play which are pleasing on the eye and will endure long after people remember how Manchester United won their games.
Morgan Matters
Middlesex have signed Western Australia allrounder Hilton Cartwright initially for the first five Championship games, but that could change. Harry Podmore has left Middlesex to join Kent: he looked useful in the 2s and should have been given more opportunities in the 1st team.
The O has a 24 page sports section, yet they could not find any space to give us the cricket scores! I sent them the following:
“Sirs
I am writing to complain about the cricket reporting in today's Observer. It may have escaped your notice that the cricket season has already started. We did get an article by Vic Marks, but we got absolutely zero coverage of the first class matches being played at the moment, not even the "potted" scores. Counties playing universities might not seem all that crucial to you, but many of us see these as important indications of how the season will develop and we are anxious to see how our young players are progressing. Some of us loonies also keep records of all first class matches, so how can we manage to do this? Full scorecards should surely be provided for all first class matches and it is a total waste of £3 to find that the Observer is not giving cricket followers anything like value for this high price. You devote acres of space to minor football and rugby matches, but there is nothing at all about first class cricket. I am hearing that the Sunday Times is far better.
Jack Morgan
48 High St, Hampton Middx TW12 2 SJ”
I went to Lord's today for the first day of the CC game v Northants and the game started on time under floodlights! This is the first time I have seen floodlit cricket at Lord's, though I have seen it at eg the Oval and abroad eg Cape Town. The daft thing about the Lord's game was that they went off just before 3pm... for bad light! The only other place where there was any play was the Bowl... dunno if they needed lights or not.
Middlesex gave Championship debuts to 22 year old batsman (who also keeps wicket) Rob White and Australian overseas player Hilton Cartwright in the match against Northamptonshire which began at Lord's on Friday April 13th. The team had an improvised look about it as several experienced players were not selected for the game for differing reasons: Nick Compton, Stevie Eskinazi, Steve Finn, James Franklin, Nick Gubbins, Dawid Malan and Eoin Morgan, while Adam Voges had surprisingly not been retained and Ryan Higgins had joined Gloucestershire. In the absence of Malan, Sam Robson was captain of Middlesex. The pitch was possibly the greenest that anyone had ever seen anywhere and it was no surprise to anyone that Northants wanted to bowl first on it and the toss was therefore uncontested.
Two Middlesex wickets fell with score on 21, but Cartwright briefly looked impressive striking 30 off 32 balls, but his departure left the score on 63 for 4 so it was good to see Paul Stirling and John Simpson dig in for a stubborn stand of 88 for the fifth wicket before Stirling fell for an uncharacteristically disciplined 44 off 118 balls and Simpson followed almost immediately for a determined 32 off 74 balls, which left the score on 142 for 6. Jimmy Harris came in at no 7 and immediately looked as sound as any of those who preceded him, but his partners found it difficult to give him the support required. Harris played a thoroughly laudable innings of 48 not out off 91 balls, but the innings ended with the score on only 214 (Brett Hutton with 5-54 and Ben Sanderson with 4 for 42, both of them from South Yorkshire, did the damage) though many of us felt that the visitors might struggle just as badly as Middx had.
This view proved to be correct as Harris (5 for 9) and Tim Murtagh (4 for 27) soon had Northants in trouble on 9 for 3, then 4 wickets fell with the score on 41 and the innings closed on a paltry 71 off 21.2 overs. When Middlesex batted again, Max Holden made a surprisingly fluent 33 off 33 balls and received good support from White in a second wicket stand of 49. However, wickets again fell regularly until Murtagh joined Tom Helm at the crease with the score on 112 for 9. Helm also gave encouraging support as Murtagh provided some fun with 31 off 20 balls as 47 were added for the last wicket to take the total to 159 all out. The best of the bowlers were Kiwi Test player Doug Bracewell (3 for 31) and ex-Lancashire medium pacer Luke Procter (3 for 38), but Northants found themselves needing an unlikely 303 to win.
The visitors slumped to 44 for 3, which was nothing special, but an improvement on the first innings and opener Rob Newton from Taunton was playing his side's best innings of the match. He received useful support from skipper Alex Wakely (26), from Hammersmith, in a stand of 51 for the fourth wicket before Newton fell for 44 from 67 balls and Northants were back in trouble again. Kolpak signing heavyweight Richard Levi from Jo'burg made 23, but nobody else could manage double figures and the end came quickly as the visitors slumped to 142 all out. It was the same two bowlers, Murtagh (4 for 36) and Harris (4 for 39) who did the damage and Middx had won by 160 runs. Harris's match figures were 9 for 48 and Murtagh's were 8 for 63 and as Harris also batted well (64 runs for once out) he would get my man of the match award, though Murtagh also contributed with the bat in the second innings.
The match was over in early afternoon on day 3 and as only half a day was possible on day 1 (although the powerful floodlights were on all day, the umpires ludicrously took the players off the pitch for bad light for 3 hours or so just before 3pm!) this meant that the match actually lasted slightly less than 2 full days (178 overs). I was pleased with the win, especially when you consider the number of players who were absent, but I was a long way short of ecstatic because i) Northants looked very ordinary indeed; and ii) Middlesex were better, but not by that much, Toby Roland-Jones, for example, is a class allrounder, but did not look it on this occasion. Let's hope Middlesex's form improves as some of the absentees return. Middlesex 20 points, Northants 3 and Middlesex are top of the embryonic Division Two table, one point ahead of Gloucestershire.
Ex-Middx man Ed Smith is to take over as National Selector from J Whittaker. It seems that the other selectors G Fraser and M Newell will also go, but will be replaced by only one, to be appointed by Smith. T Bayliss will remain on the panel.
Oh no! The 2020 T20 competition is going to be even worse than expected, it is going to be a 100 balls competition! What bollocks! V Marks says this will kill off the County Championship. How will we manage to enjoy our summers?
More terrible news for Middx: TSRJ is out for the season with a back injury: no wonder he looked below par v Northants!
Penalties
Eric Tracey sent me this
A propos of ball tampering penalties for Atherton, Warner, Smith et al ……they seem ludicrously light when compared to the penalties given the Pakistanis involved in the spot betting on no-balls at Lords. Albeit clearly illegal, that was not attempting to influence the outcome of the game (ie cheating !) as ball tampering clearly is! Which should be regarded as the bigger cricketing crime? Which of these crimes threatens the integrity of the game the more? The State might reasonably consider betting illegalities the bigger threat to the social order and thus a bigger crime, but the cricket authorities, I suggest, should worry more about the integrity of cricket and breaking the rules and spirit of the game as we saw in south Africa (and previously elsewhere).
Burke Matters
I received the following from Peter Burke
Dear Editor,
Your latest missive ‘pinged’ Into my inbox as I was lounging by the pool in Sarasota Florida wondering whether to top up the ice in my Large G&T or stroll down to the local bar and catch up with any soccer news about Fulham, QPR and Brentford. (I’m a West London boy). You won! There was a lot to comment on in the latest issue, so bear with me!
Firstly, I was interested in the Professor’s piece about the Yorkshire AGM back n the 80’s and wondered if the meeting was chaired by Lord Mountgarret who I believe was President around that time - if he was then it would certainly have been a hilarious and chaotic event! I had the doubtful pleasure of playing with his Lordship on an MCC golf day back in the 90’s and it quickly became apparent that Tony Blair was absolutely right in doing away with Hereditary Peerages! What a Pr.t!! His Lordship, apart from being quite the worst golfer I have ever played with, was apparently famous for attempting to shoot down a hot air balloon that was disturbing the chicks over his Yorkshire Grouse moor! I don’t know verdict of the court, but if guilty, he should have been sent to the colonies!
Moving on to KP. Another Pr.t - but one of the very few batsmen who would move me from the bar if he came to the crease. (Stokes might also be if he can curtail his thuggish tendencies.) My old mate Geoff Cleaver and I saw KP’s 158 in the Oval Test in a pub in West London and after watching him for 20 minutes or so when he started knocking it around, declared him to be nothing else but a ‘slogger’ who would never make in Test cricket! What did we know about cricket? (Part 1)! Glad we were wrong!
Sandpapergate! Couldn’t have happened to nicer bunch of sanctimonious whingers! It stretches credibility to believe it was the first time it had happened and no one else knew about it or was involved. What did Starc and co. think when the ball was passed to them during the previous Tests and overs when it appeared nicely roughed up on one side and smooth and shiny on the other? Magic or an Act of God? Come on guys!
I think I agree that Smith was rather a weak Captain and put up with the outrageous behaviour of Warner in the hope he would be the fall guy. I seem to remember Smith was hauled out of an Australian ‘A’ tour by Lehman to join the Ashes tour over here, what ten years ago? He was deemed to be a leg spinner who could bat a bit. He subsequently started batting at four and after a couple of innings I unequivocably stated he was the worst Test number four I had ever seen - within three years he was the world’s top batsman and nobody could get him out! (What do I know about cricket Part 2!)
And, don’t start me off on the blubbing..........!
No comment on Middlesex matters in fear of upsetting the GJM, except to say how pleased MCC members were when we learnt Middlesex were getting their old room back in the Allen stand and the upstairs bar would remain!
Finally, sad to learn of Sam Kelso’s passing. One of the good guys with one of the highlights of the season always being Bush 2’s against Ealing 2’s - and we occasionally won, which is more than can be said for the 1’s! A ‘not to be missed’ occasion during the winter months was the Ealing Dinner when Sam and Cleaver crossed oratorical swords! Two wonderful speakers. Shortly after Geoff died I heard the story that Ealing CC had been served with an ASBO by Ealing council after complaints by local residents of excessive noise after late night social festivities! I always reckoned Cleaver would have paid good money to have been invited to speak at that year’s Dinner! Sadly not to be.
Also sorry to hear of David Dandridge passing, I am sure he was sent off in style at the Bush.
Yours,
Pierre van der Burkenheimer (ever since Brexit I have been investigating any European ancestry!)
Cawkwell Matters
Tim Cawkwell makes it a hat trick of season climax accounts
On Monday 18 September 2017, while Essex had won the County Championship, Warwickshire were in the relegation slot; the next two rounds were to decide which of five teams would join them in going down. The result was eight days of hard-fought cricket, exploiting the game’s thrilling capacity for snatching victory from defeat, triumph from disaster – and vice versa. On Thursday 28 September, in the last hour of a county cricket season that had begun six months and fifty-six days of cricket earlier, the matter was finally decided, leaving a trail of ‘what ifs’ ruefully in the mind. COMPLEAT CRICKET: EIGHT DAYS IN SEPTEMBER is a richly illustrated account of those last two rounds, eight days of intense battling to score runs, take wickets and hold catches. It contains a light-hearted discussion of the relative merits of slow and fast cricket, blast and block cricket, but it chiefly aims to tell a story that shows off the excitements, tension and drama of slow cricket to perfection. 110 pages, 112 photographs, Available on Amazon - http://bit.ly/COMPLEATckt
All Change
This will help you work out why there are some new names in your favourite side’s line up
DERBYSHIRE
Overseas player: Duanne Olivier (South Africa, first half of season)
In
Out
Ravi Rampaul (Surrey, KPK)
Tom Wood (REL)
Greg Cork (REL)
Shiv Thakor (REL)
Rob Hemmings (REL)
Tom Taylor (Leicestershire)
Tom Milnes (REL)
Ben Cotton (REL)
Matt Henry (Kent)
Charlie Macdonell (REL)
DURHAM
Overseas player: Aiden Markram (South Africa, until 14 May); Tom Latham (New Zealand, from 18 May)
In
Out
Will Smith (Hampshire)
Paul Coughlin (Nottinghamshire)
Nathan Rimmington (UKP)
Graham Onions (Lancashire)
Keaton Jennings (Lancashire)
ESSEX
Overseas player: Peter Siddle (Australia, April to mid-May); Neil Wagner (New Zealand, mid-May to end of July); Adam Zampa (Australia, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Feroze Khushi (YTH)
Kishen Velani (REL)
Matt Coles (Kent)
GLAMORGAN
Overseas player: Shaun Marsh (Australia)
In
Out
Shaun Marsh (Yorkshire)
Jacques Rudolph (RET)
Will Bragg (RET)
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Overseas player: Daniel Worrall (Australia, until 2 July); Andrew Tye (Australia, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Ryan Higgins (Middlesex)
Patrick Grieshaber (REL)
Brandon Gilmour (REL)
HAMPSHIRE
Overseas player: Hashim Amla (South Africa, first three months of season); Dale Steyn (South Africa, 6-12 June)
In
Out
Chris Sole (YTH)
Michael Carberry (Leicestershire)
Sam Northeast (Kent)
Will Smith (Durham)
KENT
Overseas player: Matt Henry (New Zealand, first half of season); Adam Milne (New Zealand, for Twenty20); Marcus Stoinis (Australia, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Ollie Robinson (YTH)
Adam Ball (REL)
Heino Kuhn (KPK)
Hugh Bernard (REL)
Matt Henry (Derbyshire)
Charlie Hartley (REL)
Harry Podmore (Middlesex)
Matt Coles (Essex)
Sam Northeast (Hampshire)
LANCASHIRE
Overseas player: Joe Mennie (Australia)
In
Out
Keaton Jennings (Durham)
Kyle Jarvis (REL)
Graham Onions (Durham)
Luke Procter (Northamptonshire)
Josh Bohannon (YTH)
Liam Hurt (YTH)
LEICESTERSHIRE
Overseas player: Mohammad Abbas (Pakistan, for first Championship game in April then from mid-June); Varun Aaron (India, late April to early June); Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Ateeq Javid (Warwickshire)
Clint McKay (REL)
Michael Carberry (Hampshire)
Will Fazakerley (RET)
Tom Taylor (Derbyshire)
MIDDLESEX
Overseas player: Hilton Cartwright (Australia, until 14 May); Ashton Agar (Australia, for Twenty20)
In
Out
none
Ryan Higgins (Gloucestershire)
Harry Podmore (Kent)
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
Overseas player: Doug Bracewell (New Zealand, first month of season); Rory Kleinveldt (South Africa, from mid-May); Seekkuge Prasanna (Sri Lanka, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Brett Hutton (Nottinghamshire)
David Murphy (RET)
Luke Procter (Lancashire)
Azharullah (REL)
Ricardo Vasconcelos (EUP)
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
Overseas player: Dan Christian (Australia, for Twenty20); Ish Sodhi (New Zealand, for Twenty20); Ross Taylor (New Zealand, for first half of season)
In
Out
Paul Coughlin (Durham)
Chris Read (RET)
Chris Nash (Sussex)
Brett Hutton (Northamptonshire)
Ross Taylor (Sussex)
Cheteshwar Pujara (Yorkshire)
SOMERSET
Overseas player: Corey Anderson (New Zealand, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Fin Trenouth (YTH)
Jim Allenby (REL)
Ryan Davies (REL)
Michael Leask (REL)
Full Somerset squad list
Latest Somerset news
SURREY
Overseas player: Mitchell Marsh (Australia), Aaron Finch (Australia, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Will Jacks (YTH)
Kumar Sangakkara (RET)
Gus Atkinson (YTH)
Ravi Rampaul (Derbyshire)
SUSSEX
Overseas player: Ishant Sharma (India, 4 April - 4 June); Rashid Khan (Afghanistan, for first half of T20 Blast)
In
Out
none
Steve Magoffin (Worcestershire)
Chris Nash (Nottinghamshire)
Ross Taylor (Nottinghamshire)
WARWICKSHIRE
Overseas player: Jeetan Patel (New Zealand); Colin de Grandhomme (New Zealand, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Will Rhodes (Yorkshire)
William Porterfield (REL)
Ateeq Javid (Leicestershire)
WORCESTERSHIRE
Overseas player: Travis Head (Australia); Martin Guptill (New Zealand, for Twenty20, 20 June - 29 July); Callum Ferguson (Australia, for Twenty20, 3-17 August)
In
Out
Alex Milton (YTH)
none
Steve Magoffin (Sussex)
Dillon Pennington (YTH)
YORKSHIRE
Overseas player: Cheteshwar Pujara (India, April-June, may return in September); Kane Williamson (New Zealand, 13 July - 4 September); Billy Stanlake (Australia, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Cheteshwar Pujara (Nottinghamshire)
Ryan Sidebottom (RET)
Will Rhodes (Warwickshire)
Shaun Marsh (Glamorgan)
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 May 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
is produced by
James Sharp
Broad Lee House
Combs
High Peak
SK23 9XA
[email protected]
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 185
May 2018
Caption Competition
- Jonny Bairstow: How’s life in the Second Division, Dawid?
Jonny Bairstow: Oh, I try to avoid that too.
- Paul Stirling: Is it really true that test players will all have to wear microphones this year so that the match referee can pick up the sound of sandpaper being used?
- Ravi Patel: When do you think I will get a bowl this year?
Ravi Patel: But the Championship doesn’t start again until September.
Ollie Rayner: Oh, it will be wet again by then, so I guess you won’t get one this year.
- Cheteshwar Pujara: We play all year round in India too.
- Moeen Ali: I didn’t realise we were trendsetters.
Moeen Ali: No, growing beards.
Out and About with the Professor
I don’t think I quite understand the science of global warming. I get the basic concept of the different wavelength of the energy radiated from the sun and that radiated back, as a result, from the earth – the latter being more towards the infra-red part of the spectrum and thus more readily absorbed by CO2. But global warming doesn’t just make things hotter, it makes (apparently) the weather more erratic. Something to do with the jet stream and the gulf stream and the fluid mechanics of the oceans.
While I can’t help with the theoretical aspects of the model, I can provide some empirical verification. If it is erratic weather you were looking for you need have gone no further, last week, than the northern headquarters of cricket; the cathedral of sport that is Headingley.
The first Championship match of the season against Essex was abandoned without a ball being bowled, it having been the wettest March since records…etc. Four days later, it was sweltering hot. It was the hottest April day in Leeds since…and so on. (Who, by the way, sets these records? It always seems to be a record as soon as it is unseasonably hot/cold/wet/dry/ etc. I have a feeling someone is inventing them as we go along.)
However, I went along to the temple of cricket to watch the demolition of Notts, in the sun, and it was very pleasant indeed. On the face of it, Notts seemed to have a very useful attack: Ball and Gurney, the ever steady Fletcher and the chubby Samit. The problem appears to be in the batting where the import of Mullaney (so far) seems to have made little difference. Not to say it was all too easy for Yorkshire. A first innings lead always looked to be useful but just after the rain on the third day four wickets fell for bugger-all and it looked like Notts might be chasing a very modest total. Enter the man from Pontefract.
Is there, in the present County Championship, a man more reliable than the one below?
Tim Bresnan will never be the most elegant batsman you have ever seen (nor bowler nor fielder come to that), but who would leave him out their side? I guess that if someone were asked to select a side from the present Championship squads it would be full of overseas stars but for me, I would find a place for Bresnan. He can bat, bowl and field and would never let you down. On this particular occasion he pushed a few back and then set about clubbing the short balls to the fence and with Code put Yorkshire over the 400-to-chase mark.…they never looked likely to get there.
Ben Code is, of course, the other player of note. Last year, his first full year of Championship cricket, he took 50 wickets. I wrote then, in this journal, that he looked a likely prospect…and he still does. The conventional wisdom is that young cricketers often find their second full season difficult – the county pros have “worked him out” etc., and the previous success is hard to come by. Well, it doesn’t seem to have happened here. Code took 10 wickets in the match.
I don’t know whether to get more excited about him or not. On the face of it he is just yet another young English right arm bowler, sharpish but not super quick, who bowls a full length and, if there is some movement, picks up wickets. Every county has lots of them. On the other hand getting the opening bowler slot for Yorkshire is not that easy, there is competition with: Brooks, Patterson, Plunkett, Willey, Fisher, Shaw and Bresnan himself, on a good day. Not all are always available and seldom are they all fit. Code took his chance last year in the first county match when five more experienced bowlers were unavailable. He took the first six Hampshire wickets and has never looked back. There is also the inevitable comparison with Anderson: he is tall, slim, bowls at about (or perhaps a touch above) the same pace and has a very similar “gather” at delivery…he looks in fact as if he has modelled himself on the great man. He may go on to greater things or he may lose form and drift away like so many in the past. We shall see. Whatever happens, I will be watching and will report back….weather permitting.
This and That
I was around for the first week of the IPL. Last year Sunil Narine, the West Indian spinner who had to remodel his action, who bats left handed slogged the fastest ever fifty in the competition in 15 balls. This is no mean feat when you consider who else might have accomplished this – Gayle, de Villiers, Kohli, Sehwag etc. In the second match in this year’s competition the Delhi Daredevils batted first and posted a middle of the road 166 for 7. KL Rahul opened in reply for the King’s XI Punjab. He is slight in stature and bats in classical mode with immaculate timing. The opposing bowlers were Boult, Shami and Mishra. He played shots at each ball and after three overs he had scored 51 out of 52 for 0. He reached 50 from 14 balls received with 4 sixes and 6 fours. In the very next match Narine opened for the Kolkata Knight Riders and reached 50 from 17 balls.
In Match 5 the Kolkata Knight Riders batted first and were reduced to 89 for 5. Andre Russell has been out of the game for some time and has decided to modify his hitting technique by adopting a standing still stance rather than moving around the crease. Initially, with his captain, Karthik, they steadied ship and then he applied his new technique to good effect. He finished on 88 not out from 36 balls with 1 four and 11 sixes. KKR finished on 202 having scored 79 from the last five overs but this was not enough for the Chenai Super Kings who won with a ball to spare, thanks to a stunning 56 from 23 balls from Sam Billings who hit 2 fours and 5 sixes.
This bias towards sixes rather than fours has become a feature in this year’s competition. Chris Gayle sat out the early games but scored 104 not out from 63 balls for the King’s XI Punjab against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Gayle’s innings featured 1 four and 11 sixes. In the same match KH Rahul made 47 and de Villiers made 57 both with 2 fours and 4 sixes. Sanju Samson made 92 not out from 45 balls with 2 fours and 10 sixes. Andre Russell made 41 with 6 sixes.
In the another match de Kock made 53 from 34 with 1 four and 4 sixes, de Villiers made 68 from 30 with 2 fours and 8 sixes, Rayudu made 82 from 53 with 3 fours and 8 sixes, and Dhoni 70 from 34 with 1 four and 7 sixes. The IPL is by far the main competition in cricket and what happens there is the marker for all other cricket. So, we can expect to see big hitting this summer on rainy, freezing evenings in July and August.
I saw Tom Curran’s debut in the IPL and Shane Watson laid into him in much the same fashion as he had ended Simon Kerrigan’s test career at the Oval.
I saw some highlights(sic) of the final day of the Christchurch test. How can any serious cricket watcher associate with the mindless singing and tedious trumpet playing purveyed by the Barmy Army. Towards the end Root decided to bowl himself with fielders all-round the bat. One juicy long hop was clobbered against Cook standing at short leg. Both of them should have known better. Cook could have been seriously injured.
I think that Wenger and Guardiola will be seen to have a bigger influence on the Premiership than Ferguson which is strange in that he won the most trophies. However, the other two have created styles of play which are pleasing on the eye and will endure long after people remember how Manchester United won their games.
Morgan Matters
Middlesex have signed Western Australia allrounder Hilton Cartwright initially for the first five Championship games, but that could change. Harry Podmore has left Middlesex to join Kent: he looked useful in the 2s and should have been given more opportunities in the 1st team.
The O has a 24 page sports section, yet they could not find any space to give us the cricket scores! I sent them the following:
“Sirs
I am writing to complain about the cricket reporting in today's Observer. It may have escaped your notice that the cricket season has already started. We did get an article by Vic Marks, but we got absolutely zero coverage of the first class matches being played at the moment, not even the "potted" scores. Counties playing universities might not seem all that crucial to you, but many of us see these as important indications of how the season will develop and we are anxious to see how our young players are progressing. Some of us loonies also keep records of all first class matches, so how can we manage to do this? Full scorecards should surely be provided for all first class matches and it is a total waste of £3 to find that the Observer is not giving cricket followers anything like value for this high price. You devote acres of space to minor football and rugby matches, but there is nothing at all about first class cricket. I am hearing that the Sunday Times is far better.
Jack Morgan
48 High St, Hampton Middx TW12 2 SJ”
I went to Lord's today for the first day of the CC game v Northants and the game started on time under floodlights! This is the first time I have seen floodlit cricket at Lord's, though I have seen it at eg the Oval and abroad eg Cape Town. The daft thing about the Lord's game was that they went off just before 3pm... for bad light! The only other place where there was any play was the Bowl... dunno if they needed lights or not.
Middlesex gave Championship debuts to 22 year old batsman (who also keeps wicket) Rob White and Australian overseas player Hilton Cartwright in the match against Northamptonshire which began at Lord's on Friday April 13th. The team had an improvised look about it as several experienced players were not selected for the game for differing reasons: Nick Compton, Stevie Eskinazi, Steve Finn, James Franklin, Nick Gubbins, Dawid Malan and Eoin Morgan, while Adam Voges had surprisingly not been retained and Ryan Higgins had joined Gloucestershire. In the absence of Malan, Sam Robson was captain of Middlesex. The pitch was possibly the greenest that anyone had ever seen anywhere and it was no surprise to anyone that Northants wanted to bowl first on it and the toss was therefore uncontested.
Two Middlesex wickets fell with score on 21, but Cartwright briefly looked impressive striking 30 off 32 balls, but his departure left the score on 63 for 4 so it was good to see Paul Stirling and John Simpson dig in for a stubborn stand of 88 for the fifth wicket before Stirling fell for an uncharacteristically disciplined 44 off 118 balls and Simpson followed almost immediately for a determined 32 off 74 balls, which left the score on 142 for 6. Jimmy Harris came in at no 7 and immediately looked as sound as any of those who preceded him, but his partners found it difficult to give him the support required. Harris played a thoroughly laudable innings of 48 not out off 91 balls, but the innings ended with the score on only 214 (Brett Hutton with 5-54 and Ben Sanderson with 4 for 42, both of them from South Yorkshire, did the damage) though many of us felt that the visitors might struggle just as badly as Middx had.
This view proved to be correct as Harris (5 for 9) and Tim Murtagh (4 for 27) soon had Northants in trouble on 9 for 3, then 4 wickets fell with the score on 41 and the innings closed on a paltry 71 off 21.2 overs. When Middlesex batted again, Max Holden made a surprisingly fluent 33 off 33 balls and received good support from White in a second wicket stand of 49. However, wickets again fell regularly until Murtagh joined Tom Helm at the crease with the score on 112 for 9. Helm also gave encouraging support as Murtagh provided some fun with 31 off 20 balls as 47 were added for the last wicket to take the total to 159 all out. The best of the bowlers were Kiwi Test player Doug Bracewell (3 for 31) and ex-Lancashire medium pacer Luke Procter (3 for 38), but Northants found themselves needing an unlikely 303 to win.
The visitors slumped to 44 for 3, which was nothing special, but an improvement on the first innings and opener Rob Newton from Taunton was playing his side's best innings of the match. He received useful support from skipper Alex Wakely (26), from Hammersmith, in a stand of 51 for the fourth wicket before Newton fell for 44 from 67 balls and Northants were back in trouble again. Kolpak signing heavyweight Richard Levi from Jo'burg made 23, but nobody else could manage double figures and the end came quickly as the visitors slumped to 142 all out. It was the same two bowlers, Murtagh (4 for 36) and Harris (4 for 39) who did the damage and Middx had won by 160 runs. Harris's match figures were 9 for 48 and Murtagh's were 8 for 63 and as Harris also batted well (64 runs for once out) he would get my man of the match award, though Murtagh also contributed with the bat in the second innings.
The match was over in early afternoon on day 3 and as only half a day was possible on day 1 (although the powerful floodlights were on all day, the umpires ludicrously took the players off the pitch for bad light for 3 hours or so just before 3pm!) this meant that the match actually lasted slightly less than 2 full days (178 overs). I was pleased with the win, especially when you consider the number of players who were absent, but I was a long way short of ecstatic because i) Northants looked very ordinary indeed; and ii) Middlesex were better, but not by that much, Toby Roland-Jones, for example, is a class allrounder, but did not look it on this occasion. Let's hope Middlesex's form improves as some of the absentees return. Middlesex 20 points, Northants 3 and Middlesex are top of the embryonic Division Two table, one point ahead of Gloucestershire.
Ex-Middx man Ed Smith is to take over as National Selector from J Whittaker. It seems that the other selectors G Fraser and M Newell will also go, but will be replaced by only one, to be appointed by Smith. T Bayliss will remain on the panel.
Oh no! The 2020 T20 competition is going to be even worse than expected, it is going to be a 100 balls competition! What bollocks! V Marks says this will kill off the County Championship. How will we manage to enjoy our summers?
More terrible news for Middx: TSRJ is out for the season with a back injury: no wonder he looked below par v Northants!
Penalties
Eric Tracey sent me this
A propos of ball tampering penalties for Atherton, Warner, Smith et al ……they seem ludicrously light when compared to the penalties given the Pakistanis involved in the spot betting on no-balls at Lords. Albeit clearly illegal, that was not attempting to influence the outcome of the game (ie cheating !) as ball tampering clearly is! Which should be regarded as the bigger cricketing crime? Which of these crimes threatens the integrity of the game the more? The State might reasonably consider betting illegalities the bigger threat to the social order and thus a bigger crime, but the cricket authorities, I suggest, should worry more about the integrity of cricket and breaking the rules and spirit of the game as we saw in south Africa (and previously elsewhere).
Burke Matters
I received the following from Peter Burke
Dear Editor,
Your latest missive ‘pinged’ Into my inbox as I was lounging by the pool in Sarasota Florida wondering whether to top up the ice in my Large G&T or stroll down to the local bar and catch up with any soccer news about Fulham, QPR and Brentford. (I’m a West London boy). You won! There was a lot to comment on in the latest issue, so bear with me!
Firstly, I was interested in the Professor’s piece about the Yorkshire AGM back n the 80’s and wondered if the meeting was chaired by Lord Mountgarret who I believe was President around that time - if he was then it would certainly have been a hilarious and chaotic event! I had the doubtful pleasure of playing with his Lordship on an MCC golf day back in the 90’s and it quickly became apparent that Tony Blair was absolutely right in doing away with Hereditary Peerages! What a Pr.t!! His Lordship, apart from being quite the worst golfer I have ever played with, was apparently famous for attempting to shoot down a hot air balloon that was disturbing the chicks over his Yorkshire Grouse moor! I don’t know verdict of the court, but if guilty, he should have been sent to the colonies!
Moving on to KP. Another Pr.t - but one of the very few batsmen who would move me from the bar if he came to the crease. (Stokes might also be if he can curtail his thuggish tendencies.) My old mate Geoff Cleaver and I saw KP’s 158 in the Oval Test in a pub in West London and after watching him for 20 minutes or so when he started knocking it around, declared him to be nothing else but a ‘slogger’ who would never make in Test cricket! What did we know about cricket? (Part 1)! Glad we were wrong!
Sandpapergate! Couldn’t have happened to nicer bunch of sanctimonious whingers! It stretches credibility to believe it was the first time it had happened and no one else knew about it or was involved. What did Starc and co. think when the ball was passed to them during the previous Tests and overs when it appeared nicely roughed up on one side and smooth and shiny on the other? Magic or an Act of God? Come on guys!
I think I agree that Smith was rather a weak Captain and put up with the outrageous behaviour of Warner in the hope he would be the fall guy. I seem to remember Smith was hauled out of an Australian ‘A’ tour by Lehman to join the Ashes tour over here, what ten years ago? He was deemed to be a leg spinner who could bat a bit. He subsequently started batting at four and after a couple of innings I unequivocably stated he was the worst Test number four I had ever seen - within three years he was the world’s top batsman and nobody could get him out! (What do I know about cricket Part 2!)
And, don’t start me off on the blubbing..........!
No comment on Middlesex matters in fear of upsetting the GJM, except to say how pleased MCC members were when we learnt Middlesex were getting their old room back in the Allen stand and the upstairs bar would remain!
Finally, sad to learn of Sam Kelso’s passing. One of the good guys with one of the highlights of the season always being Bush 2’s against Ealing 2’s - and we occasionally won, which is more than can be said for the 1’s! A ‘not to be missed’ occasion during the winter months was the Ealing Dinner when Sam and Cleaver crossed oratorical swords! Two wonderful speakers. Shortly after Geoff died I heard the story that Ealing CC had been served with an ASBO by Ealing council after complaints by local residents of excessive noise after late night social festivities! I always reckoned Cleaver would have paid good money to have been invited to speak at that year’s Dinner! Sadly not to be.
Also sorry to hear of David Dandridge passing, I am sure he was sent off in style at the Bush.
Yours,
Pierre van der Burkenheimer (ever since Brexit I have been investigating any European ancestry!)
Cawkwell Matters
Tim Cawkwell makes it a hat trick of season climax accounts
On Monday 18 September 2017, while Essex had won the County Championship, Warwickshire were in the relegation slot; the next two rounds were to decide which of five teams would join them in going down. The result was eight days of hard-fought cricket, exploiting the game’s thrilling capacity for snatching victory from defeat, triumph from disaster – and vice versa. On Thursday 28 September, in the last hour of a county cricket season that had begun six months and fifty-six days of cricket earlier, the matter was finally decided, leaving a trail of ‘what ifs’ ruefully in the mind. COMPLEAT CRICKET: EIGHT DAYS IN SEPTEMBER is a richly illustrated account of those last two rounds, eight days of intense battling to score runs, take wickets and hold catches. It contains a light-hearted discussion of the relative merits of slow and fast cricket, blast and block cricket, but it chiefly aims to tell a story that shows off the excitements, tension and drama of slow cricket to perfection. 110 pages, 112 photographs, Available on Amazon - http://bit.ly/COMPLEATckt
All Change
This will help you work out why there are some new names in your favourite side’s line up
DERBYSHIRE
Overseas player: Duanne Olivier (South Africa, first half of season)
In
Out
Ravi Rampaul (Surrey, KPK)
Tom Wood (REL)
Greg Cork (REL)
Shiv Thakor (REL)
Rob Hemmings (REL)
Tom Taylor (Leicestershire)
Tom Milnes (REL)
Ben Cotton (REL)
Matt Henry (Kent)
Charlie Macdonell (REL)
DURHAM
Overseas player: Aiden Markram (South Africa, until 14 May); Tom Latham (New Zealand, from 18 May)
In
Out
Will Smith (Hampshire)
Paul Coughlin (Nottinghamshire)
Nathan Rimmington (UKP)
Graham Onions (Lancashire)
Keaton Jennings (Lancashire)
ESSEX
Overseas player: Peter Siddle (Australia, April to mid-May); Neil Wagner (New Zealand, mid-May to end of July); Adam Zampa (Australia, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Feroze Khushi (YTH)
Kishen Velani (REL)
Matt Coles (Kent)
GLAMORGAN
Overseas player: Shaun Marsh (Australia)
In
Out
Shaun Marsh (Yorkshire)
Jacques Rudolph (RET)
Will Bragg (RET)
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Overseas player: Daniel Worrall (Australia, until 2 July); Andrew Tye (Australia, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Ryan Higgins (Middlesex)
Patrick Grieshaber (REL)
Brandon Gilmour (REL)
HAMPSHIRE
Overseas player: Hashim Amla (South Africa, first three months of season); Dale Steyn (South Africa, 6-12 June)
In
Out
Chris Sole (YTH)
Michael Carberry (Leicestershire)
Sam Northeast (Kent)
Will Smith (Durham)
KENT
Overseas player: Matt Henry (New Zealand, first half of season); Adam Milne (New Zealand, for Twenty20); Marcus Stoinis (Australia, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Ollie Robinson (YTH)
Adam Ball (REL)
Heino Kuhn (KPK)
Hugh Bernard (REL)
Matt Henry (Derbyshire)
Charlie Hartley (REL)
Harry Podmore (Middlesex)
Matt Coles (Essex)
Sam Northeast (Hampshire)
LANCASHIRE
Overseas player: Joe Mennie (Australia)
In
Out
Keaton Jennings (Durham)
Kyle Jarvis (REL)
Graham Onions (Durham)
Luke Procter (Northamptonshire)
Josh Bohannon (YTH)
Liam Hurt (YTH)
LEICESTERSHIRE
Overseas player: Mohammad Abbas (Pakistan, for first Championship game in April then from mid-June); Varun Aaron (India, late April to early June); Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Ateeq Javid (Warwickshire)
Clint McKay (REL)
Michael Carberry (Hampshire)
Will Fazakerley (RET)
Tom Taylor (Derbyshire)
MIDDLESEX
Overseas player: Hilton Cartwright (Australia, until 14 May); Ashton Agar (Australia, for Twenty20)
In
Out
none
Ryan Higgins (Gloucestershire)
Harry Podmore (Kent)
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
Overseas player: Doug Bracewell (New Zealand, first month of season); Rory Kleinveldt (South Africa, from mid-May); Seekkuge Prasanna (Sri Lanka, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Brett Hutton (Nottinghamshire)
David Murphy (RET)
Luke Procter (Lancashire)
Azharullah (REL)
Ricardo Vasconcelos (EUP)
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
Overseas player: Dan Christian (Australia, for Twenty20); Ish Sodhi (New Zealand, for Twenty20); Ross Taylor (New Zealand, for first half of season)
In
Out
Paul Coughlin (Durham)
Chris Read (RET)
Chris Nash (Sussex)
Brett Hutton (Northamptonshire)
Ross Taylor (Sussex)
Cheteshwar Pujara (Yorkshire)
SOMERSET
Overseas player: Corey Anderson (New Zealand, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Fin Trenouth (YTH)
Jim Allenby (REL)
Ryan Davies (REL)
Michael Leask (REL)
Full Somerset squad list
Latest Somerset news
SURREY
Overseas player: Mitchell Marsh (Australia), Aaron Finch (Australia, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Will Jacks (YTH)
Kumar Sangakkara (RET)
Gus Atkinson (YTH)
Ravi Rampaul (Derbyshire)
SUSSEX
Overseas player: Ishant Sharma (India, 4 April - 4 June); Rashid Khan (Afghanistan, for first half of T20 Blast)
In
Out
none
Steve Magoffin (Worcestershire)
Chris Nash (Nottinghamshire)
Ross Taylor (Nottinghamshire)
WARWICKSHIRE
Overseas player: Jeetan Patel (New Zealand); Colin de Grandhomme (New Zealand, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Will Rhodes (Yorkshire)
William Porterfield (REL)
Ateeq Javid (Leicestershire)
WORCESTERSHIRE
Overseas player: Travis Head (Australia); Martin Guptill (New Zealand, for Twenty20, 20 June - 29 July); Callum Ferguson (Australia, for Twenty20, 3-17 August)
In
Out
Alex Milton (YTH)
none
Steve Magoffin (Sussex)
Dillon Pennington (YTH)
YORKSHIRE
Overseas player: Cheteshwar Pujara (India, April-June, may return in September); Kane Williamson (New Zealand, 13 July - 4 September); Billy Stanlake (Australia, for Twenty20)
In
Out
Cheteshwar Pujara (Nottinghamshire)
Ryan Sidebottom (RET)
Will Rhodes (Warwickshire)
Shaun Marsh (Glamorgan)
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 May 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
is produced by
James Sharp
Broad Lee House
Combs
High Peak
SK23 9XA
[email protected]
