G&C 189
GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 189
September 2018
This & That
I was with the Professor during the Lord’s test and confidently predicted that the Indians would not recover and be looking forward to as early a flight home as could be arranged. This was particularly in the light of the third test being at Trent Bridge. Who could have foreseen that Broad and Anderson would be out bowled in conditions that favoured them?
The Caribbean Premier League features Big Fat Men, Very Tall Men and outrageous kit and explains the absence in the T20 Blast in England of many of the top world players in its critical closing stages. It is why Dwayne Bravo left the Middlesex ranks so abruptly, not, of course, that his continuing presence would have made any difference.
The Trinbago Knight Riders clocked up 223 for 6 against Jamaica Tallawahs. Lynn, Munro and McCullum all contributed at healthy strike rates. They then reduced the Tallawahs to 41 for 5 and all bets were off. However, Andre Russell then added 161 in eleven overs with Kennar Lewis before the latter was out for 51. Russell ended up 121 not out from 49 balls with 13 sixes 6 fours as the Tallawahs won at a canter. Needless to say Russell took a hat trick earlier in the match when bowling.
Rahkeem Cornwall is enormous. He would make the “Fridge” of Chicago Bears fame look undernourished. He found himself batting with David Warner(remember him?) for St Lucia Zouks. He mauled 53 from 29 balls with 7 sixes. But this was just a warm up for Kieran Pollard who hit 7 sixes from 23 balls in reaching 65 not out. Warner finished with a relatively sedate 72 not out from 55 balls. The Zouks finished on 212 for 2. The Trinbago Knight Riders reached 71 for 3 after nine overs before Darren Bravo joined McCullum and he hit 10 sixes in reaching 94 not out from 36 balls. They scored 85 from five overs, including one over in which Bravo scored 32 including five sixes. They almost messed up the final over but after the absurdly named Scantlebury-Seales had failed to score off three deliveries with the scores level, Ramdin hit his first delivery for six to conclude proceedings.
The Zouks are not a team to lick their wounds though. In their next match Pollard, who is also their captain, came in in the fifth over at a potentially tricky 57 for 3, Cornwall had earlier made 30 from 11 deliveries. The captain then made 104 from 54 deliveries including 8 sixes as the Zouks reached 226 for 6. In reply the Barbados Tridents, despite having the fascinating opening partnership of Dwayne Smith and Martin Gupthill, never got close.
But it doesn’t all go the batsmen’s way. The enormous Pakistan seamer Mohammad Irfan recorded the most economical bowling figures in Twenty20 history - but still finished on the losing side. Irfan took two wickets for just one run in his four overs for Barbados Tridents in the Caribbean Premier League. But St Kitts and Nevis Patriots still hit 148 with seven balls to spare to win by six wickets. The only run the 7ft 1in pace bowler conceded came from his final delivery.
And they are also finding giants for the T20 Blast. Essex have been using Paul Walter as a left-handed pinch hitter. He is 6’10”.
Meanwhile, Mike Simpson of Sheffield Collegiate went on the rampage during his side's Sheffield Alliance Midweek League match against Khan at Shiregreen Cricket Club, smashing a remarkable double century in an innings spread across just 12 eight-ball overs. Simpson got to three figures in 29 deliveries, 150 in 40 and went past 200 from a scarcely believable 52 balls before finishing on 237 not out from 62. His side finished their 96-ball innings on 304 without loss. One-hundred-and-eighty of his runs came in sixes, while a further nine fours took his overall boundary haul to 216.
Interestingly, however, 237 is not his personal best. Back in 2009, Simpson carted the Sherwood Colliery 3rd XI for 317 not out in 128 balls in a Mansfield & District League encounter. On that occasion he shared in another bumper opening stand, this time of 245, with Bill Root - the current Nottinghamshire player and brother of England captain Joe.
Everyone seemed stunned by Middlesex’s unlikely win at Wantage Road. I even got an email from George: “I’m sure you noted their remarkable win (by 31 runs) after following on 159 behind. If so, did you also notice they did this with the aid of 93 extras in the two innings, including 50 byes? I think that was their 2nd top ‘scorer’ in the match.” Northants preferred Vasconcelos to “Norman” Rossington behind the stumps in this match and he did score 140 in the first innings but those byes were more than the difference at the end.
The Middlesex website noted: “By the end of the third day, a day completely dominated by Middlesex, they’d built a lead of 215 runs, which ultimately proved enough, as the hosts were dismissed for just 184 to see Middlesex wrap up an unlikely victory - the first time they’d won following on since 1924 and only the fifth time in the club’s history.”
At both Cheltenham and Lord’s last month I found myself close to the players as I moved around the ground and was amazed that the autograph hunters were not schoolboys but old farts like us. I may be sad in many ways but at least I don’t do that.
Out and About with the Professor
There are a few generalisations that can be made about visiting Scarborough. The first is that it is a bloody long way away. Not just from where I live, but from almost anywhere else. The second is that the weather at the “Yorkshire Riviera” is strikingly unpredictable. I have been there when it has been boiling hot and when it has been freezing cold and when it has been both on the same day. The two days I spent there a week or so ago were cold, cloudy, wet, dry, sunny, hot and, well, unpredictable.
The third is that to visit Scarborough, is to visit the past. When I was there, I met a chap who told me that he had been coming to Scarborough for his holidays for 50 years. Why? “Because it’s always the same.” And so it is. It’s not just the buckets and spades and the long line of fish and chip shops, nor even every third house which is a B&B promising a “real” English breakfast. There is a real bandstand, with a real band, playing real music that my grandfather would have liked. There are big old Victorian banks which are still, well, banks! And there is, of course, the cricket ground.
I stayed at the Grand Hotel, which it decidedly isn’t, (“faded” would be far too generous an adjective). It is, however, a short walk down fish-and-chip-shop-street to the ground. And I was not alone. On Saturday and Sunday a small army was off to the match. There were those in ties destined for the hospitality tents, members of mature years with The Great Jack Morgan-style ruck sacks sensibly stuffed with clothing for any weather eventuality and, best of all, hundreds of children with their bats and balls. And all of us walking along, going slightly more quickly (do you do that?) as we got closer to the entrance.
The ground itself is, obviously, very well-appointed for what is after all, a club ground (and which could comfortably accommodate the reported 5,000 plus who turned up to watch) but the feel of it is like a step back in time. If you watch all or most of your professional cricket in a modern “stadium”, (Lord’s, the Oval. Headingley, etc.) or, even worse, on the TV, then the days of to an old-style county game will have been lost on you. Here there were deck-chairs around the boundary, the players were within touching distance and, best of all, at any break in play the field was flooded with children all playing impromptu matches with mums and dads. Imagine that at Lord’s - hundreds of children going to a county game – a county game - with bats and balls and piling onto the outfield at lunch and tea. But why not? If they can do it for this county game, why not for all? I recall it used to happen at Canterbury and perhaps it still does. And perhaps at Chelmsford or Cheltenham, Colchester or Chesterfield. (It must happen at the last of these, since it is a public park.) I hope so. It certainly gives one some hope. It is almost the obverse of the feeling I get when I see little children lugging golf bags around. How depressing to see very young people attracted to an old man’s game.
And what of this game itself? Well it represented another step on Yorkshire’s path to Division Two. There are those – and I include myself – who are not entirely happy with the cavernous split in the county championship programme, so that the competition is now played, in effect, in spring and autumn. The summer break has, however, done wonders for Worcestershire. Up to August 20th they had earned just 59 points in their eight games. But in the summer they carried all before them in what I fear we must now call “white ball” cricket. The upshot, at Scarborough, was a side far better than the one Yorkshire could field.
They were superior in all parts of the game, not least captaincy, where Yorkshire are now on their third captain of the season: Ballance, stress; Patterson, broken figure; and now, Willey. From what I saw, Moeen Ali looked a most able captain; moreover it is difficult to name a more attractive batsman to watch playing the game today. The silky extra-cover drives and little flicks off the legs (flicks which, incidentally, are so beautifully timed that they hit the boundary boards – or deckchairs – in a couple of bounces), the front foot pulls; it is all style and elegance and marvellous to watch. And the crowd thought so too. It would be hard to find a more partisan cricket crowd than in Yorkshire but nor a more generous one in applauding great strokeplay. Ali’s double hundred received a universal standing ovation. It won the game, won the MoM and won more than the odd suggestion that a recall to the Test side should be considered.
It was, sadly, a tough few days for Yorkshire and at the end of each day the players walked (yes walked) back through the town to their hotel, stopping every few yards or so for a handshake or the inevitable selfies. David Willey never looks excessively animated at the best of times and his characteristic hang-dog gait seemed pretty appropriate given the performance of his team.
Moeen Ali on his way to a very fine double hundred
It was it was an interesting couple of days - all very old-style…and, I suppose, none the worse for that.
Morgan Stuff
The GJM has had no first class cricket to watch this month, so you will have to make do with his diary extracts
Mick Hunt will retire as Lord's groundsman at the end of the season after 49 years, 33 of them as head g'man.
The ECB have named England's "Greatest Ever" XI it is: Cook, Hutton L, Gower, Pietersen, Root, Botham, Knott, Swann, Trueman, Anderson, Willis; but Tim de Lisle in today's G makes a very good case for not including any of these chaps from a way too modern era. He goes for: Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hammond, Compton, Barrington, Stewart, Greig, Rhodes W, Bedser, Tyson, Barnes and quotes convincing figures for each of his selections.
Today's G has a full page preview of the new Championship season, which makes absolutely no mention of Queen's Park Rangers... but at least we were not amongst the five clubs who are "relegation candidates"!
Middlesex lost another T20 to Sussex at Lord's by 12 runs, the only bright sparks for Mx were 4-28 by T Barber and 90 from E Morgan (off 56 balls with 9 fours and 4 sixes): will they be re-elected?
P Stirling's 109 (off 58 with 9 fours and 7 sixes) took Mx to 221-5 at the Oval which is usually enough to win, but A Finch's 117* (off 52 with 11 fours and 8 sixes) took Surrey to victory by 9 wickets with 4 overs in hand; J Harris's one over cost 23! At OT, Mohammad Nabi (he's the bloke I used to watch playing for MCCYCs) came in at 7 and hit 86* (off 32 with 4 fours and 8 sixes) to win the match while no 6 A Javid made 15* for Le. J Myburgh hit 103* for Somerset as opening partner T Banton made 29* and Som beat Ex by 10 wkts at Taunton.
Dawid has been axed and replaced by Sy’s precocious O Pope, who also keeps, so there are 3 keepers in the squad... that ought to be enough! The selectors had not heard the story that Stokes could be available and have replaced him with C Woakes: I have a fair amount of respect for Woakesy, but he looked well below his best, with both bat and ball, in the recent CC match at Lord’s. In fact, it was a good job that CW was not at his best as Warwickshire would have won!
Andy Bull has a very interesting article in today's G in response to people claiming that Test cricket is dying. He quotes several sources which tell us that i) Test match crowds are bigger now than at any time since the 1950s; ii) the average gate at an England Test was 52,851 in the 80s, 63,853 in the 90s, 72,568 in the 00s and 77,418 in the 10s; iii) the average gate at an England Test in the last 40 years has risen by 46%; iv) although crowds are down at Headingley in the last 40 years, Lord's crowds are up from 70,231 to 110,230, the Oval's crowds are up from 50,260 to 90,693 and Edgbaston's crowds are up from 47,205 to 66,974. The story is similar in Australia and in India Test cricket is also successful. For other countries, however, the story is rather different and for them Test cricket is really only viable if they are playing England, Australia or India.
Matthew Engel has a nice piece in today's G urging all sensible cricket followers to rise up in protest against the ECB's ridiculous hundred plan (which he refers to as the 16.4)... but of course, it is only slightly more ridiculous than the idea of a 20 over competition!
I am astonished that B Stokes has been found not guilty and has been added to the Test squad for TB. There were clear(ish) pictures of him on the box and in the G at the centre of an affray: how can he be innocent? The headline on Vic's column in the G states " Verdict cannot hide the fact that the game was brought into disrepute".
Lord's: Middlesex hit a splendid 210-3 in the T20 (Stirling 78, Morgan 77), but of course, it was still not enough and Essex won by 6 wkts.
England fly-half Danny Cipriani spent 10 years out of the England reckoning for behaving, well, just like B Stokes really! Finally he was given another chance on the England tour to SA this summer and actually played (well) in the 3rd Test and got himself right back into contention before getting himself into... well... a B Stokes situation, outside a nightclub (in Jersey, this one was) when he had had one or two too many. He has paid a fine and will not go to jail... but he waits to hear if England boss E Jones will welcome him back the way that the other England management seem to have welcomed back Stokesy without any sort of reservations.
Moeen hit 7 sixes and 12 fours in a 56 ball 115 as Wo beat Wk by 15 at Edgb; Hove: Sussex made 215-5, but Mx were going well on 123-1 (Stirling 58, Simpson 62), but collapsed dismally to 184 a/o. That seems to be the end of the league table based qualifying competition and the qfs are Wo v Glo, Dm v Sx, K v La, Som v Ng: why do they play 14 qualifying matches? Surely it should be either 8 or 16: I would settle for 8 myself, then they could squeeze in another CC match or two. Middlesex finished a dismal 9th and last in the South Group, having won 2 of their 14 matches and lost the other 12. Middlesex were 3 points below the next worst team, Hants and were 1 point worse than Northants, who were bottom of the North Group. What a glorious season! Let’s hope they can show a bit of form in the remainder of the CC season.
Rs have lost 7-1 at WBA. What a team! Sack the manager! Seven lucky goals, I suppose... or seven goals that should have been disallowed! McClaren was "shocked and angry". Rs are now bottom of the table, but only on goal difference as Reading have also lost all 3.
Middlesex brought in Sam Robson, Rob White and somebody called Ethan Bamber (who he?) for Paul Stirling, John Simpson and Ollie Rayner for the CC game at Np. They won the toss and put Np in and the latest score is 305-6 (keeper R Vasconcelos 140). The Middlesexx spin attack is Holden and Malan. It was generally a low-scoring day around the country, except at Hove
Middlesex got Northants out for 346 (J Harris 7-83), but then slumped to 187 a/o, R White topscored with 35, and have followed on. Why are we so dreadful? Warwickshire have already beaten Gloucester by an innings, W Rhodes 137.
Middlesex still look like losing, but at least they are showing a bit of fight in the second innings with Robson 72, Holden 94 and Harris 54* and they are currently on 327-8, a lead of 168.
Rs lost 0-3 at home to Bristol C and this is looking like a real crisis. The cause is the £17m fine for breaking "fair play rules on their way to promotion to the Premier league in 2012".
Middlesex were all out for their overnight 374 (Harris 79*), but went on to win by 31 (Murtagh 5-38, Bamber 3-38)... I was always confident!
The Test squad is a bit of a disappointment in that the only change to the squad is J Vince replacing J Porter and Vince has only been selected as cover for Bairstow, who might be fit enough to play as a batsman. So we will have another rubbish opening stand again! Bayliss says that Jonny might not get the gloves back from Buttler because he (JB) only gets runs when we bat first: all 5 of his Test centuries have apparently come in the first innings of a Test and none have come in the second, third or fourth innings.
Rangers in win sensation! Yes, it is true, Rs thrashed Wigan (top half of the table) 1-0 with a goal from someone called Tomer Hemed (on loan from Brighton) after 35 mins. They are 21st in div 2 and out of the relegation places... for now. That was according to the BBC, but the O has Rs in 22nd which is in the relegation places. Wigan thought the Rs' goal should have been disallowed for a foul. Hampton had their best result of the season so far with a 0-2 win at Torquay.
Middlesex 2s opener Tom Lace has gone on loan to Dy for the rest of the season: he has scored 322 runs for the 2s in 6 matches this season.
T Murtagh says Ire's bowlers must do more to restrict the Afghan batters in the next ODIs; others think the Ire batters must do better versus the Afghan spinners.
I have a four dayer at Lord's to watch starting tomorrow for the first time since time began.
Me too Matters
It turns out that John Williams was also at Cheltenham. I suppose that Paddy Carlin was as well….
Strange to relate but in the desert of County Championship matches I decided to visit the oasis of Cheltenham College on the 2nd day of the Sussex match too. I sat on the large scoreboard side and had no trouble spotting the ball. I sat with someone you may know - David Ball of Brondesbury and South Hampstead fame. Although he had been doing Cheltenham for more than 40 years he had not heard of my lunchtime venue - The Beehive pub in Montpellier Villas. Thoroughly recommended when you next visit.
Talking of Africans popped into Harefield the other day to see their league game v Buckingham Town. The Buckingham Town's Kiwi overseas slow left armer had to be removed after 5 balls of an over after bowling 2 above waist deliveries both of which had been despatched to the boundary. The final ball of the over was bowled by Andrew Hall former South African Test player.
I am off to Scarborough for first 3 days of Yorkshire v. Worcestershire match; off to York for Ebor festival on last day - probably won't last that long as Worcestershire's batting is very poor. Are you or the Professor attending?
Amusing moment from washed out 1st day at Lord's last week. At 5.00 decided to pop into Bowler's Bar in hope it would stop raining. An old opponent - Hamish More Scotland opener - came into bar with a friend. I had played against Hamish in a game in Aberdeen for MCC against Scotland in 1971. He had survived our opening attack of Harold Rhodes and Neil Hawke only to be LBW to a first change club bowler. He has never forgiven me. He then introduced me to his friend - Marais Erasmus. Hamish related the tale to his friend and Hamish was sure his friend would not have given him out. I said he was plumb - look in book.
Not too much gloating
I had been expecting something along these lines from Jim Revier but was delighted to receive the following from Ralph Adelman
At the ODG the editor suggested that I should be keen to make a contribution given that it would give me the opportunity to gloat about how Surrey are doing this season. But I won’t gloat too much. I think that I should make my credentials as a competent correspondent clear. I was the one who told the editor in no uncertain terms that Sam Curran was not yet ready for Test cricket.
As a member at Surrey who has had to attend the disappointments of the last few years – especially one-day finals at Lords, I reckon that I am due my opportunity to gloat. I won’t gloat too much as Surrey have not won the championship yet. And as they have demonstrated in limited overs matches this season, they are still adept at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
But in the championship they have not only managed to trample teams from start to finish but also recover from poor starts to achieve victories. Last week’s win over third placed Nottinghamshire was a great example of this.
Notts. put Surrey in to bat and 3 wickets went very quickly. But Mark Stoneman’s season started at last and he stayed in to get 144 with the main support coming from Ben Foakes, Will Jacks and Tom Curran. The ominously poor start became a decent total of 375. Then on the day that his younger brother was starring with the bat on the first day of the test, Tom got a 5’fer and Notts. were skittled out for 101.Morne Morkel and Conor McKerr (a novice in the first team) helped to mop them up.
Notts. followed on and had lost 2 wickets by the end of day 2. I ended up with a short visit on the Friday to see Morkel and McKerr do most of the damage to give a victory by an innings and 125 runs by 20 minutes after lunch. Ollie Pope made an amazing diving catch for one of Morkel’s wickets.
Morkel has been a great addition as an overseas player in the championship although I am unconvinced that he should be playing limited over cricket for Surrey. But, yet again displaying my credentials as a cricket correspondent, I suggested this to the person next to me at the last Home T20 match and Morkel got a wicket with the next ball.
Dean Elgar has been OK and may be back again next season. It would be good to have Morkel back, although Surrey do have significant depth in their bowling line up. Availability of those bowlers has been limited through injuries and England call ups.
Surrey intend to produce players for England but some of them have been going off to play for England sooner than I expected. None more so than Ollie Pope (and of course Sam Curran who isn’t yet ready for Test cricket).
More surprising is the fact that our captain Rory Burns has been completely overlooked by England when there are obvious problems with the opening batsmen. With a Surrey hat on that is great. But it is not so great when I have just watched another very short test match opening partnership from England. The fact that Ben Foakes – the best wicket keeper in England – has been overlooked has been more understandable given that England played with three wicket keepers in one test and normally play with two. But Foakes is also a very good batsmen. And given Bairstow’s performance in the 4th test, perhaps Ben Foakes should be given his chance.
Finally. I would like to highlight the contribution of another recent Surrey recruit. Rikki Clarke has returned to Surrey to perform well as a bowler, a batsman and a fielder in all formats. Alec Stewart made a very shrewd move in bringing him back.
I look forward to having a proper gloat in my next contribution when Surrey have actually sewn up the Championship. Unfortunately, I am going to be away for the last championship match – at home to Essex. But I am very much hoping that the title is Surrey’s well before then.
Two Days at Lord’s
Ged reports
Thursday 9 August 2018
Escamillo Escapillo has, of late, expressed a preference for seeing the first day of a test match. That was not too difficult for me to arrange this time around, knowing his preference in advance.
Of course, he didn't express a preference for "one of those test match days that ends up being rained off in its entirety but that keeps you in suspense for much of the day, because the rain is light and might just stop". But that's what we got.
Ironic weather this, given the weeks and weeks of relentless heat and sunshine that led up to the start of the Lord's test.
My day with Escamillo Escapillo was not my worst ever experience of rain frustration - the award for that must go to the .2012 Heavy Rollers Edgbaston trip, which resulted in no nets, no cricket at all, nothing, for around 48 hours:
Naturally Escamillo Escapillo & I tried to make the most of it, which is not too hard to achieve with one of my picnics to hand. Posh Italian nibbles from Speck and a start on the very jolly bottle of Pinot Gridge courtesy of Escamillo Escapillo. Smoked salmon bagels and latterly prosciutto rolls helped us to get through the wine and warm our increasingly “resigned to the elements” hearts.
We had occasional “it looks like it is brightening up over there” moments but in truth Accuweather left us in no doubt that the intervals between showers were to be short and the showers long.
I think it was about 17:00 before the umpires bowed to the inevitable and we went our separate ways home.
Friday 10 August 2018
The forecast only looked a tiny bit better for DJ’s day. Still, I went through my picnic preparations and got to Lord’s quite early, watching tennis for a while. DJ texted me to say he expected to arrive around the start time.
When Jimmy took a wicket in the first over, I thought DJ might have missed one of the day’s major moments, but DJ came down the steps just after the wicket fell, excitedly telling me that he got to see it.
Just as well. About 30 minutes of cricket was all DJ got to see before the rain came. Then lots of rain. A bit like the September Test Friday last year......except this time the weather app warned us that there was torrential rain coming between 14:00 and 16:00; so DJ and I both bailed out ahead of that storm, with a view possibly to returning if, by some chance, the day were to clear up and they were able to get some more play in.
I got some work done - while doing so I kept an eye on proceedings. I also informed Daisy that I hadn’t drunk any alcohol, so was planning to drive over to Noddy,and that evening rather than next morning.
The torrential rain was tropical style - the TV showed pools on the outfield - but then the rain stopped. An announcement came up on my screen to say “inspection at 17:00”;I guessed that meant possibly play to start at 17:45 or 18:00 - wrong! Play to start at 17:10.....I returned to Lord’s, by jumping in the car and somehow found a parking space on St John’s Wood Road. So I got to see nearly 2 hours more cricket and finished my share of the picnic at the designated place. I did alert DJ, but he didn't return.
Skirling Matters
I was copied in on this communication
Sirs
I was very interested to see that Barney Ronay's report from Lord's in this morning's paper (page 39) included the word "skirled" as in "the ball skirled over his head". I had to reach for the dictionary to discover that to skirl means to "make a shrill sound characteristic of bagpipes". I have rarely heard a ball skirling myself and I was very surprised that any such skirling would be audible in the press box.
Jack Morgan
48 High St, Hampton Middx TW12 2SJ
020 8979 5615
Old Danes Gathering
I have posted photos from the 2018 ODG on the Googlies website along with the sign in sheet. They may be seen here: https://www.googliesandchinamen.com/old-danes-gathering-2018.html
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.
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 189
September 2018
This & That
I was with the Professor during the Lord’s test and confidently predicted that the Indians would not recover and be looking forward to as early a flight home as could be arranged. This was particularly in the light of the third test being at Trent Bridge. Who could have foreseen that Broad and Anderson would be out bowled in conditions that favoured them?
The Caribbean Premier League features Big Fat Men, Very Tall Men and outrageous kit and explains the absence in the T20 Blast in England of many of the top world players in its critical closing stages. It is why Dwayne Bravo left the Middlesex ranks so abruptly, not, of course, that his continuing presence would have made any difference.
The Trinbago Knight Riders clocked up 223 for 6 against Jamaica Tallawahs. Lynn, Munro and McCullum all contributed at healthy strike rates. They then reduced the Tallawahs to 41 for 5 and all bets were off. However, Andre Russell then added 161 in eleven overs with Kennar Lewis before the latter was out for 51. Russell ended up 121 not out from 49 balls with 13 sixes 6 fours as the Tallawahs won at a canter. Needless to say Russell took a hat trick earlier in the match when bowling.
Rahkeem Cornwall is enormous. He would make the “Fridge” of Chicago Bears fame look undernourished. He found himself batting with David Warner(remember him?) for St Lucia Zouks. He mauled 53 from 29 balls with 7 sixes. But this was just a warm up for Kieran Pollard who hit 7 sixes from 23 balls in reaching 65 not out. Warner finished with a relatively sedate 72 not out from 55 balls. The Zouks finished on 212 for 2. The Trinbago Knight Riders reached 71 for 3 after nine overs before Darren Bravo joined McCullum and he hit 10 sixes in reaching 94 not out from 36 balls. They scored 85 from five overs, including one over in which Bravo scored 32 including five sixes. They almost messed up the final over but after the absurdly named Scantlebury-Seales had failed to score off three deliveries with the scores level, Ramdin hit his first delivery for six to conclude proceedings.
The Zouks are not a team to lick their wounds though. In their next match Pollard, who is also their captain, came in in the fifth over at a potentially tricky 57 for 3, Cornwall had earlier made 30 from 11 deliveries. The captain then made 104 from 54 deliveries including 8 sixes as the Zouks reached 226 for 6. In reply the Barbados Tridents, despite having the fascinating opening partnership of Dwayne Smith and Martin Gupthill, never got close.
But it doesn’t all go the batsmen’s way. The enormous Pakistan seamer Mohammad Irfan recorded the most economical bowling figures in Twenty20 history - but still finished on the losing side. Irfan took two wickets for just one run in his four overs for Barbados Tridents in the Caribbean Premier League. But St Kitts and Nevis Patriots still hit 148 with seven balls to spare to win by six wickets. The only run the 7ft 1in pace bowler conceded came from his final delivery.
And they are also finding giants for the T20 Blast. Essex have been using Paul Walter as a left-handed pinch hitter. He is 6’10”.
Meanwhile, Mike Simpson of Sheffield Collegiate went on the rampage during his side's Sheffield Alliance Midweek League match against Khan at Shiregreen Cricket Club, smashing a remarkable double century in an innings spread across just 12 eight-ball overs. Simpson got to three figures in 29 deliveries, 150 in 40 and went past 200 from a scarcely believable 52 balls before finishing on 237 not out from 62. His side finished their 96-ball innings on 304 without loss. One-hundred-and-eighty of his runs came in sixes, while a further nine fours took his overall boundary haul to 216.
Interestingly, however, 237 is not his personal best. Back in 2009, Simpson carted the Sherwood Colliery 3rd XI for 317 not out in 128 balls in a Mansfield & District League encounter. On that occasion he shared in another bumper opening stand, this time of 245, with Bill Root - the current Nottinghamshire player and brother of England captain Joe.
Everyone seemed stunned by Middlesex’s unlikely win at Wantage Road. I even got an email from George: “I’m sure you noted their remarkable win (by 31 runs) after following on 159 behind. If so, did you also notice they did this with the aid of 93 extras in the two innings, including 50 byes? I think that was their 2nd top ‘scorer’ in the match.” Northants preferred Vasconcelos to “Norman” Rossington behind the stumps in this match and he did score 140 in the first innings but those byes were more than the difference at the end.
The Middlesex website noted: “By the end of the third day, a day completely dominated by Middlesex, they’d built a lead of 215 runs, which ultimately proved enough, as the hosts were dismissed for just 184 to see Middlesex wrap up an unlikely victory - the first time they’d won following on since 1924 and only the fifth time in the club’s history.”
At both Cheltenham and Lord’s last month I found myself close to the players as I moved around the ground and was amazed that the autograph hunters were not schoolboys but old farts like us. I may be sad in many ways but at least I don’t do that.
Out and About with the Professor
There are a few generalisations that can be made about visiting Scarborough. The first is that it is a bloody long way away. Not just from where I live, but from almost anywhere else. The second is that the weather at the “Yorkshire Riviera” is strikingly unpredictable. I have been there when it has been boiling hot and when it has been freezing cold and when it has been both on the same day. The two days I spent there a week or so ago were cold, cloudy, wet, dry, sunny, hot and, well, unpredictable.
The third is that to visit Scarborough, is to visit the past. When I was there, I met a chap who told me that he had been coming to Scarborough for his holidays for 50 years. Why? “Because it’s always the same.” And so it is. It’s not just the buckets and spades and the long line of fish and chip shops, nor even every third house which is a B&B promising a “real” English breakfast. There is a real bandstand, with a real band, playing real music that my grandfather would have liked. There are big old Victorian banks which are still, well, banks! And there is, of course, the cricket ground.
I stayed at the Grand Hotel, which it decidedly isn’t, (“faded” would be far too generous an adjective). It is, however, a short walk down fish-and-chip-shop-street to the ground. And I was not alone. On Saturday and Sunday a small army was off to the match. There were those in ties destined for the hospitality tents, members of mature years with The Great Jack Morgan-style ruck sacks sensibly stuffed with clothing for any weather eventuality and, best of all, hundreds of children with their bats and balls. And all of us walking along, going slightly more quickly (do you do that?) as we got closer to the entrance.
The ground itself is, obviously, very well-appointed for what is after all, a club ground (and which could comfortably accommodate the reported 5,000 plus who turned up to watch) but the feel of it is like a step back in time. If you watch all or most of your professional cricket in a modern “stadium”, (Lord’s, the Oval. Headingley, etc.) or, even worse, on the TV, then the days of to an old-style county game will have been lost on you. Here there were deck-chairs around the boundary, the players were within touching distance and, best of all, at any break in play the field was flooded with children all playing impromptu matches with mums and dads. Imagine that at Lord’s - hundreds of children going to a county game – a county game - with bats and balls and piling onto the outfield at lunch and tea. But why not? If they can do it for this county game, why not for all? I recall it used to happen at Canterbury and perhaps it still does. And perhaps at Chelmsford or Cheltenham, Colchester or Chesterfield. (It must happen at the last of these, since it is a public park.) I hope so. It certainly gives one some hope. It is almost the obverse of the feeling I get when I see little children lugging golf bags around. How depressing to see very young people attracted to an old man’s game.
And what of this game itself? Well it represented another step on Yorkshire’s path to Division Two. There are those – and I include myself – who are not entirely happy with the cavernous split in the county championship programme, so that the competition is now played, in effect, in spring and autumn. The summer break has, however, done wonders for Worcestershire. Up to August 20th they had earned just 59 points in their eight games. But in the summer they carried all before them in what I fear we must now call “white ball” cricket. The upshot, at Scarborough, was a side far better than the one Yorkshire could field.
They were superior in all parts of the game, not least captaincy, where Yorkshire are now on their third captain of the season: Ballance, stress; Patterson, broken figure; and now, Willey. From what I saw, Moeen Ali looked a most able captain; moreover it is difficult to name a more attractive batsman to watch playing the game today. The silky extra-cover drives and little flicks off the legs (flicks which, incidentally, are so beautifully timed that they hit the boundary boards – or deckchairs – in a couple of bounces), the front foot pulls; it is all style and elegance and marvellous to watch. And the crowd thought so too. It would be hard to find a more partisan cricket crowd than in Yorkshire but nor a more generous one in applauding great strokeplay. Ali’s double hundred received a universal standing ovation. It won the game, won the MoM and won more than the odd suggestion that a recall to the Test side should be considered.
It was, sadly, a tough few days for Yorkshire and at the end of each day the players walked (yes walked) back through the town to their hotel, stopping every few yards or so for a handshake or the inevitable selfies. David Willey never looks excessively animated at the best of times and his characteristic hang-dog gait seemed pretty appropriate given the performance of his team.
Moeen Ali on his way to a very fine double hundred
It was it was an interesting couple of days - all very old-style…and, I suppose, none the worse for that.
Morgan Stuff
The GJM has had no first class cricket to watch this month, so you will have to make do with his diary extracts
Mick Hunt will retire as Lord's groundsman at the end of the season after 49 years, 33 of them as head g'man.
The ECB have named England's "Greatest Ever" XI it is: Cook, Hutton L, Gower, Pietersen, Root, Botham, Knott, Swann, Trueman, Anderson, Willis; but Tim de Lisle in today's G makes a very good case for not including any of these chaps from a way too modern era. He goes for: Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hammond, Compton, Barrington, Stewart, Greig, Rhodes W, Bedser, Tyson, Barnes and quotes convincing figures for each of his selections.
Today's G has a full page preview of the new Championship season, which makes absolutely no mention of Queen's Park Rangers... but at least we were not amongst the five clubs who are "relegation candidates"!
Middlesex lost another T20 to Sussex at Lord's by 12 runs, the only bright sparks for Mx were 4-28 by T Barber and 90 from E Morgan (off 56 balls with 9 fours and 4 sixes): will they be re-elected?
P Stirling's 109 (off 58 with 9 fours and 7 sixes) took Mx to 221-5 at the Oval which is usually enough to win, but A Finch's 117* (off 52 with 11 fours and 8 sixes) took Surrey to victory by 9 wickets with 4 overs in hand; J Harris's one over cost 23! At OT, Mohammad Nabi (he's the bloke I used to watch playing for MCCYCs) came in at 7 and hit 86* (off 32 with 4 fours and 8 sixes) to win the match while no 6 A Javid made 15* for Le. J Myburgh hit 103* for Somerset as opening partner T Banton made 29* and Som beat Ex by 10 wkts at Taunton.
Dawid has been axed and replaced by Sy’s precocious O Pope, who also keeps, so there are 3 keepers in the squad... that ought to be enough! The selectors had not heard the story that Stokes could be available and have replaced him with C Woakes: I have a fair amount of respect for Woakesy, but he looked well below his best, with both bat and ball, in the recent CC match at Lord’s. In fact, it was a good job that CW was not at his best as Warwickshire would have won!
Andy Bull has a very interesting article in today's G in response to people claiming that Test cricket is dying. He quotes several sources which tell us that i) Test match crowds are bigger now than at any time since the 1950s; ii) the average gate at an England Test was 52,851 in the 80s, 63,853 in the 90s, 72,568 in the 00s and 77,418 in the 10s; iii) the average gate at an England Test in the last 40 years has risen by 46%; iv) although crowds are down at Headingley in the last 40 years, Lord's crowds are up from 70,231 to 110,230, the Oval's crowds are up from 50,260 to 90,693 and Edgbaston's crowds are up from 47,205 to 66,974. The story is similar in Australia and in India Test cricket is also successful. For other countries, however, the story is rather different and for them Test cricket is really only viable if they are playing England, Australia or India.
Matthew Engel has a nice piece in today's G urging all sensible cricket followers to rise up in protest against the ECB's ridiculous hundred plan (which he refers to as the 16.4)... but of course, it is only slightly more ridiculous than the idea of a 20 over competition!
I am astonished that B Stokes has been found not guilty and has been added to the Test squad for TB. There were clear(ish) pictures of him on the box and in the G at the centre of an affray: how can he be innocent? The headline on Vic's column in the G states " Verdict cannot hide the fact that the game was brought into disrepute".
Lord's: Middlesex hit a splendid 210-3 in the T20 (Stirling 78, Morgan 77), but of course, it was still not enough and Essex won by 6 wkts.
England fly-half Danny Cipriani spent 10 years out of the England reckoning for behaving, well, just like B Stokes really! Finally he was given another chance on the England tour to SA this summer and actually played (well) in the 3rd Test and got himself right back into contention before getting himself into... well... a B Stokes situation, outside a nightclub (in Jersey, this one was) when he had had one or two too many. He has paid a fine and will not go to jail... but he waits to hear if England boss E Jones will welcome him back the way that the other England management seem to have welcomed back Stokesy without any sort of reservations.
Moeen hit 7 sixes and 12 fours in a 56 ball 115 as Wo beat Wk by 15 at Edgb; Hove: Sussex made 215-5, but Mx were going well on 123-1 (Stirling 58, Simpson 62), but collapsed dismally to 184 a/o. That seems to be the end of the league table based qualifying competition and the qfs are Wo v Glo, Dm v Sx, K v La, Som v Ng: why do they play 14 qualifying matches? Surely it should be either 8 or 16: I would settle for 8 myself, then they could squeeze in another CC match or two. Middlesex finished a dismal 9th and last in the South Group, having won 2 of their 14 matches and lost the other 12. Middlesex were 3 points below the next worst team, Hants and were 1 point worse than Northants, who were bottom of the North Group. What a glorious season! Let’s hope they can show a bit of form in the remainder of the CC season.
Rs have lost 7-1 at WBA. What a team! Sack the manager! Seven lucky goals, I suppose... or seven goals that should have been disallowed! McClaren was "shocked and angry". Rs are now bottom of the table, but only on goal difference as Reading have also lost all 3.
Middlesex brought in Sam Robson, Rob White and somebody called Ethan Bamber (who he?) for Paul Stirling, John Simpson and Ollie Rayner for the CC game at Np. They won the toss and put Np in and the latest score is 305-6 (keeper R Vasconcelos 140). The Middlesexx spin attack is Holden and Malan. It was generally a low-scoring day around the country, except at Hove
Middlesex got Northants out for 346 (J Harris 7-83), but then slumped to 187 a/o, R White topscored with 35, and have followed on. Why are we so dreadful? Warwickshire have already beaten Gloucester by an innings, W Rhodes 137.
Middlesex still look like losing, but at least they are showing a bit of fight in the second innings with Robson 72, Holden 94 and Harris 54* and they are currently on 327-8, a lead of 168.
Rs lost 0-3 at home to Bristol C and this is looking like a real crisis. The cause is the £17m fine for breaking "fair play rules on their way to promotion to the Premier league in 2012".
Middlesex were all out for their overnight 374 (Harris 79*), but went on to win by 31 (Murtagh 5-38, Bamber 3-38)... I was always confident!
The Test squad is a bit of a disappointment in that the only change to the squad is J Vince replacing J Porter and Vince has only been selected as cover for Bairstow, who might be fit enough to play as a batsman. So we will have another rubbish opening stand again! Bayliss says that Jonny might not get the gloves back from Buttler because he (JB) only gets runs when we bat first: all 5 of his Test centuries have apparently come in the first innings of a Test and none have come in the second, third or fourth innings.
Rangers in win sensation! Yes, it is true, Rs thrashed Wigan (top half of the table) 1-0 with a goal from someone called Tomer Hemed (on loan from Brighton) after 35 mins. They are 21st in div 2 and out of the relegation places... for now. That was according to the BBC, but the O has Rs in 22nd which is in the relegation places. Wigan thought the Rs' goal should have been disallowed for a foul. Hampton had their best result of the season so far with a 0-2 win at Torquay.
Middlesex 2s opener Tom Lace has gone on loan to Dy for the rest of the season: he has scored 322 runs for the 2s in 6 matches this season.
T Murtagh says Ire's bowlers must do more to restrict the Afghan batters in the next ODIs; others think the Ire batters must do better versus the Afghan spinners.
I have a four dayer at Lord's to watch starting tomorrow for the first time since time began.
Me too Matters
It turns out that John Williams was also at Cheltenham. I suppose that Paddy Carlin was as well….
Strange to relate but in the desert of County Championship matches I decided to visit the oasis of Cheltenham College on the 2nd day of the Sussex match too. I sat on the large scoreboard side and had no trouble spotting the ball. I sat with someone you may know - David Ball of Brondesbury and South Hampstead fame. Although he had been doing Cheltenham for more than 40 years he had not heard of my lunchtime venue - The Beehive pub in Montpellier Villas. Thoroughly recommended when you next visit.
Talking of Africans popped into Harefield the other day to see their league game v Buckingham Town. The Buckingham Town's Kiwi overseas slow left armer had to be removed after 5 balls of an over after bowling 2 above waist deliveries both of which had been despatched to the boundary. The final ball of the over was bowled by Andrew Hall former South African Test player.
I am off to Scarborough for first 3 days of Yorkshire v. Worcestershire match; off to York for Ebor festival on last day - probably won't last that long as Worcestershire's batting is very poor. Are you or the Professor attending?
Amusing moment from washed out 1st day at Lord's last week. At 5.00 decided to pop into Bowler's Bar in hope it would stop raining. An old opponent - Hamish More Scotland opener - came into bar with a friend. I had played against Hamish in a game in Aberdeen for MCC against Scotland in 1971. He had survived our opening attack of Harold Rhodes and Neil Hawke only to be LBW to a first change club bowler. He has never forgiven me. He then introduced me to his friend - Marais Erasmus. Hamish related the tale to his friend and Hamish was sure his friend would not have given him out. I said he was plumb - look in book.
Not too much gloating
I had been expecting something along these lines from Jim Revier but was delighted to receive the following from Ralph Adelman
At the ODG the editor suggested that I should be keen to make a contribution given that it would give me the opportunity to gloat about how Surrey are doing this season. But I won’t gloat too much. I think that I should make my credentials as a competent correspondent clear. I was the one who told the editor in no uncertain terms that Sam Curran was not yet ready for Test cricket.
As a member at Surrey who has had to attend the disappointments of the last few years – especially one-day finals at Lords, I reckon that I am due my opportunity to gloat. I won’t gloat too much as Surrey have not won the championship yet. And as they have demonstrated in limited overs matches this season, they are still adept at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
But in the championship they have not only managed to trample teams from start to finish but also recover from poor starts to achieve victories. Last week’s win over third placed Nottinghamshire was a great example of this.
Notts. put Surrey in to bat and 3 wickets went very quickly. But Mark Stoneman’s season started at last and he stayed in to get 144 with the main support coming from Ben Foakes, Will Jacks and Tom Curran. The ominously poor start became a decent total of 375. Then on the day that his younger brother was starring with the bat on the first day of the test, Tom got a 5’fer and Notts. were skittled out for 101.Morne Morkel and Conor McKerr (a novice in the first team) helped to mop them up.
Notts. followed on and had lost 2 wickets by the end of day 2. I ended up with a short visit on the Friday to see Morkel and McKerr do most of the damage to give a victory by an innings and 125 runs by 20 minutes after lunch. Ollie Pope made an amazing diving catch for one of Morkel’s wickets.
Morkel has been a great addition as an overseas player in the championship although I am unconvinced that he should be playing limited over cricket for Surrey. But, yet again displaying my credentials as a cricket correspondent, I suggested this to the person next to me at the last Home T20 match and Morkel got a wicket with the next ball.
Dean Elgar has been OK and may be back again next season. It would be good to have Morkel back, although Surrey do have significant depth in their bowling line up. Availability of those bowlers has been limited through injuries and England call ups.
Surrey intend to produce players for England but some of them have been going off to play for England sooner than I expected. None more so than Ollie Pope (and of course Sam Curran who isn’t yet ready for Test cricket).
More surprising is the fact that our captain Rory Burns has been completely overlooked by England when there are obvious problems with the opening batsmen. With a Surrey hat on that is great. But it is not so great when I have just watched another very short test match opening partnership from England. The fact that Ben Foakes – the best wicket keeper in England – has been overlooked has been more understandable given that England played with three wicket keepers in one test and normally play with two. But Foakes is also a very good batsmen. And given Bairstow’s performance in the 4th test, perhaps Ben Foakes should be given his chance.
Finally. I would like to highlight the contribution of another recent Surrey recruit. Rikki Clarke has returned to Surrey to perform well as a bowler, a batsman and a fielder in all formats. Alec Stewart made a very shrewd move in bringing him back.
I look forward to having a proper gloat in my next contribution when Surrey have actually sewn up the Championship. Unfortunately, I am going to be away for the last championship match – at home to Essex. But I am very much hoping that the title is Surrey’s well before then.
Two Days at Lord’s
Ged reports
Thursday 9 August 2018
Escamillo Escapillo has, of late, expressed a preference for seeing the first day of a test match. That was not too difficult for me to arrange this time around, knowing his preference in advance.
Of course, he didn't express a preference for "one of those test match days that ends up being rained off in its entirety but that keeps you in suspense for much of the day, because the rain is light and might just stop". But that's what we got.
Ironic weather this, given the weeks and weeks of relentless heat and sunshine that led up to the start of the Lord's test.
My day with Escamillo Escapillo was not my worst ever experience of rain frustration - the award for that must go to the .2012 Heavy Rollers Edgbaston trip, which resulted in no nets, no cricket at all, nothing, for around 48 hours:
Naturally Escamillo Escapillo & I tried to make the most of it, which is not too hard to achieve with one of my picnics to hand. Posh Italian nibbles from Speck and a start on the very jolly bottle of Pinot Gridge courtesy of Escamillo Escapillo. Smoked salmon bagels and latterly prosciutto rolls helped us to get through the wine and warm our increasingly “resigned to the elements” hearts.
We had occasional “it looks like it is brightening up over there” moments but in truth Accuweather left us in no doubt that the intervals between showers were to be short and the showers long.
I think it was about 17:00 before the umpires bowed to the inevitable and we went our separate ways home.
Friday 10 August 2018
The forecast only looked a tiny bit better for DJ’s day. Still, I went through my picnic preparations and got to Lord’s quite early, watching tennis for a while. DJ texted me to say he expected to arrive around the start time.
When Jimmy took a wicket in the first over, I thought DJ might have missed one of the day’s major moments, but DJ came down the steps just after the wicket fell, excitedly telling me that he got to see it.
Just as well. About 30 minutes of cricket was all DJ got to see before the rain came. Then lots of rain. A bit like the September Test Friday last year......except this time the weather app warned us that there was torrential rain coming between 14:00 and 16:00; so DJ and I both bailed out ahead of that storm, with a view possibly to returning if, by some chance, the day were to clear up and they were able to get some more play in.
I got some work done - while doing so I kept an eye on proceedings. I also informed Daisy that I hadn’t drunk any alcohol, so was planning to drive over to Noddy,and that evening rather than next morning.
The torrential rain was tropical style - the TV showed pools on the outfield - but then the rain stopped. An announcement came up on my screen to say “inspection at 17:00”;I guessed that meant possibly play to start at 17:45 or 18:00 - wrong! Play to start at 17:10.....I returned to Lord’s, by jumping in the car and somehow found a parking space on St John’s Wood Road. So I got to see nearly 2 hours more cricket and finished my share of the picnic at the designated place. I did alert DJ, but he didn't return.
Skirling Matters
I was copied in on this communication
Sirs
I was very interested to see that Barney Ronay's report from Lord's in this morning's paper (page 39) included the word "skirled" as in "the ball skirled over his head". I had to reach for the dictionary to discover that to skirl means to "make a shrill sound characteristic of bagpipes". I have rarely heard a ball skirling myself and I was very surprised that any such skirling would be audible in the press box.
Jack Morgan
48 High St, Hampton Middx TW12 2SJ
020 8979 5615
Old Danes Gathering
I have posted photos from the 2018 ODG on the Googlies website along with the sign in sheet. They may be seen here: https://www.googliesandchinamen.com/old-danes-gathering-2018.html
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.
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