G&C 197
GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 197
May 2019
Caption Competition
1. Stuart law: Who’s that winning games for Gloucs?
Angus Fraser: That’s Ryan Higgins.
Stuart Law: We could do with him in our team.
Angus Fraser: He was, but we let him go.
2. Stuart Law: A number of other players have caught the eye this year- Billy Godleman and Tom Lace at Derbyshire, Adam Rossington at Northants, Joe Denly and Harry Podmore at Kent, Neil Dexter at Leics and Jos Davey at Somerset.
Angus Fraser: Yeah, we let all of them go too.
3. Jonathan Agnew: Don’t you think that you deserve a game, Ollie?
Ollie Raynor: No, not really but they will have to pick me once they start getting points docked for slow over rates.
4. Jonathan Agnew: What special skills are you introducing to Middlesex this year?
Stuart Law: Well for starters there are Erratic performance, keep ‘em guessing, shuffle the order, never a dull moment.
Out & About with the Professor
I had the good fortune, last week, to make the acquaintance of Dr Syed Hussain. Dr Hussain is a dermatologist and makes a living removing various unpleasant growths from peoples’ skins. My (very modest) problem is with something on my ear. Very common, apparently, in men who have spent thousands of hours of their lives standing in a field with just a cap on their heads. Dr Hussain tells me that he has done hundreds of these operations but only three on women. I think we might conclude that I am not the only Googlies reader who has had this particular treatment.
The operation only needs a local anaesthetic and so the good Doctor was able to talk to me and, unlike at the dentist, me to him. What about? Well cricket obviously. And wouldn’t you just know it. When he is not working for the NHS in Leeds, Dr Hussain is the consultant dermatologist to the England cricket team – he has been for the past six years. Indeed, as I write this note, he is in Cardiff giving the players the once-over. I did ask whether there was much need for his services in Wales in April but he pointed out that most of the England squad play overseas in something or other and so are exposed to the sun for much of the year. There are other, non-sun related issues as well. I asked exactly what he did and, within the bounds of professional discretion, of course, he described checking all the players plus the support staff: physios, psychologists, and whatnot all of whom, on a long tour, can be sitting in the sun for lengthy periods. The whole entourage is about 55 people.
Are England players more susceptible than others? When they ask him this Dr Hussain points out that they can be – especially since they’re in the field for so long (a dermatological witticism, I think). One unforeseen virtue of helmets, of course, is the reduction in ear-vulnerability for those who spend a long time at the crease. Only Chef has seen much benefit.
I have a dressing on the ear at present which makes me look like a recent and over-enthusiastic recruit to the Impressionist school of painting. It has also made me slightly deaf on one side (the “I think it’s your turn to make the tea” side). I look forward to its removal next week and catching up on the England team’s skin problems (not, in truth, a sentence that I had ever dreamt that I might be typing).
Meanwhile, there is the little matter of 1,536 pages to get through as, on April 11th, the little yellow house-brick duly arrived. It has, as always, some interesting articles. But I have, unusually, a criticism of the canonical tome. I wouldn’t dare to elevate myself to the ranks of those who query the accuracy of Wisden (although judging from the long list of those whose “assistance” is acknowledged by the Author, there are a fair few of those), no, my beef is with the photo captions. They are a cross between the trite and the tabloid. Who writes them? Mr Booth is clearly an erudite and sensible man, so I can’t believe it’s him. But, presumably he approves? What do Googlies readers think of the following:
Photograph of a woman wearing a broach …”A cameo appearance” (geddit?)
Three England players in trunks at their hotel, feet in the water…”Pool of talent”.
Some fans celebrating at Headquarters…”Lording it”
Picture of Mick Hunt (can you take any more of this?) …”One man went to mow”
Geoff Boycott bowling in a cap…”If the cap fits”. And on and on.
I have searched my own personal lexicon for a word that describes this sort of thing and the best I can come up with is “crap”.
A long way from crap are, of course, the Wisden Five who, I thought, were not that difficult to predict this time. Kohli, Buttler and Burns were near certainties and Curran a pretty strong possibility. I dithered about Rashid against Tammy Beaumont and made the wrong choice, although she was a very worthy recipient. I wonder what the players themselves think of being named in the Wisden Five Cricketers of the Year? Pleased, obviously, but as far as I know, it doesn’t carry any financial reward – it is just the honour. Do they feel honoured? Let’s hope so. Mercifully, their photos bear no captions – no “Buttler serves up another 6” or “Burns scorches a boundary” – just their names…let’s not give the Editor any ideas for next year.
…and then to the match. Easter Day was just about perfect for cricket watching and Headingley saw a game which (except for the result) would be hard to better. It was the latest chapter in a dispute which those with short memories thought might have been settled in 1485. (Not many short memories around here). In the event we saw 620 runs, 16 wickets and a last ball defeat for Yorkshire, one run short of another tied game.
Slightly awkward looking push from Kohler-Cadmore. Vilas is keeping wicket and Maxwell, of course, is in the covers.
There were some fine contributions from Lancashire batsmen, in particular Croft who carved and pulled his way to 97 in the manner that has become familiar over how ever many years it is now that he has been playing, and the young Bohannon. Yorkshires’ runs came mainly from the not-very-Yorkshire-sounding Tom Kohler-Cadmore (also out for 97) and the increasingly impressive Jonny Tattersall. Three to win off the last ball was never really likely for the Yorkshire No.11 who had just arrived at the crease, and a scampered one was followed by an impossible attempt at a second.
A shame…but lots to admire and enjoy and so nice to watching cricket again.
This & That
Its anyone’s guess who will be batting for England this summer. I gather that Bob Willis thinks the powerhouse middle order of Root, Bairstow, Buttler and Stokes are too selfish to move up to the top three positions and so there could be plenty of rotation up there. Burns has been unconvincing but appears the most likely contender at present. We know that Pope and Billings won’t be there having both suffered dislocated shoulders whilst fielding. I wonder what they think about throwing themselves around wrecklessly now?
Jennings could get another go but will be lucky if he does. Hameed could reappear as could Vince who has been getting plenty of runs under his belt. He may even get a go in the one-day side as Hales has ruled himself out and Roy is not fully fit. It seems that Lyth, Malan and Westley have become senior statesman of the county game and will not get a recall. There is then plenty of scope for some unexpected faces such as Dan Lawrence from Essex, Tom Kohler-Cadmore of Yorkshire, Joe Clarke of Notts, Jordan Clark of Surrey and Ben Ducket of Notts. Gubbins who has previously been strongly tipped is now batting down the order in the OD side for Middlesex.
I have seen very little cricket through April with Sky holding back coverage and the IPL back on BT. However, I have been keeping an eye on the IPL scores. When the Kings XI batted first against the Mumbai Indians Rahul and Gayle added 116 in 12 overs before Gayle was out for 63 from 36 deliveries, including 7 sixes. Rahul went on to 100 not out in a total of 197 for 4. However, the Mumbai Indians won off the last ball mainly thanks to Pollard’s 83 from 31 balls including 10 sixes.
Andre Russell has been warming up for the World Cup by performing for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Against the Mumbai Indians Gill and Lynn added 96 for the first wicket in nine overs and then Russell took the score to 232 for 2 with 80 not out from 40 balls with 8 sixes. In reply only Hardik Pandya with 91 from 34 balls including nine sixes came close to the required rate.
When Robin Uthappa was out the score was 79 for 4 in the twelfth over as KKR were chasing Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 213. Russell then scored 65 from 25 deliveries, including nine sixes. Earlier Moeen Ali had scored 66 from 28 deliveries for RCB.
I have just reviewed the WC fixture list. There are a staggering number of matches extending over six weeks. England have 8 matches in the ordinary stage. I suspect that it will prove to be too much of a good thing. Unless England make it to the semi-finals there is bound to be a loss of interest in it.
Morgan Matters
An early season dip into the Great man’s diary
Rs have sacked S McClaren after 1 win in 15 league games. They had a decent run in mid season, but a dreadful start and end. The caretaker is John Eustace.
Ex-Middlesex junior and 2s keeper-batsman, Ned Eckersley, has been snapped up by Durham after being released by Leicestershire. Durham's current keeper Stuart Poynter is also an ex-Middlesex man... but is now injured? Ned Eckersley is in the first team at Durham and was 2nd top scorer yesterday v Sussex and Tom Lace hit a career best 83 for Derbyshire at Bristol. Middlesex keeper/ batsman Robbie White has gone on loan to Essex for 2 months: he is a useful young player who could use more first team cricket. Middlesex's president is our old mate MWW Selvey.
Great news! Middlesex are to build a new ground at Barnet! That will be handy! It is close to Saracens' home at Allianz Park. By the time it is built I will be far too old to travel that far (having already given up on Radlett and Northwood). Do you think I could claim my money back for my life membership?
Ali Martin thinks Middlesex will finish second in the Championship (behind Lancashire), I wish I could be as hopeful. They were ordinary last season, several players have gone and nobody has been signed (for first class cricket): what gives him such optimism? He thinks Somerset will take the Div 1 title just ahead of Surrey.
NZ's Ross Taylor has signed for Middlesex to play in (some of the) ODC games. How about getting one in for the Championship? Taylor has played 83 Tests and averages 48 with the bat.
I rather like the ODC, but I have heard stories that it will be abandoned after this season, presumably to make way for the daft "hundred". Ridiculous. Another rumour is that a 50 over competition will actually continue, but the teams will be full of youngsters and 2s players and the matches will be played on outgrounds!
Lord’s Matters
The GJM is back in his seat
I spent four days at Lord’s watching the big County Championship Division Two clash between Middlesex and Lancashire which began on April 11th. There were some good spells of sunshine, but a fierce easterly wind ensured that very little warm clothing was discarded. After a fairly ordinary performance at Northampton in the first Championship match of the season, Middlesex nevertheless decided on an unchanged team. The toss was uncontested as the visitors fancied a bowl on the greenish track (though not as green as many we have seen in recent seasons). This choice was an immediate success with Sam Robson back in the hutch with only 14 on the board, but then there was a stubborn stand of 112 between Nick Gubbins and Stevie Eskinazi. Gubbins became the first of 5 wickets for Lancashire’s tall seamer Tom Bailey when he fell lbw for 55 off 139 balls with 9 fours. Lancashire stumper (and opening bat) Alex Davies had retired hurt early on in the proceedings so it was the deputy keeper Brooke Guest (born in Manchester, but grew up in Perth, WA) who caught Eskinazi also off Bailey for 75 off 158 balls with 11 fours. That made the score 151 for 3 and that was as good as it got as wickets began to fall regularly with only Max Holden (34) and Toby Roland-Jones (35) offering resistance. Bailey finished with figures of 5 for 67, with Jimmy Anderson taking 3 for 43 as Middlesex closed on 265 all out.
Middlesex also enjoyed little success when they bowled to the opening pair of Keaton Jennings (52 off 133 balls with 9 fours) and Haseeb Hameed, who put on 123 together for the first wicket. Hameed looked a much better player than when I had last seen him and he went on to an excellent 117 off 196 balls with 17 fours and a six, sharing a stand of 79 with Rob Jones for the fourth wicket. Jones, a 23-year-old from Warrington who hit a hundred against Middlesex at Old Trafford three years ago, but who has never held a regular place, now starred in a partnership of 143 for the fifth wicket with captain Dane Vilas from Johannesburg who contributed 68 off 141 balls with 9 fours. Jones was finally eighth out for 122 off 235 balls with 16 fours (both of his first-class centuries have now come against Middlesex) before the innings closed on 427, a lead of 162. Tim Murtagh was easily the best of the home bowlers with 5 for 69, but skipper Dawid Malan deserves an honourable mention for his 3 for 60 with some accurate leg spin.
Middlesex's batting was even worse in the second innings than it had been in the first as Gubbins set the tone by departing in the first over when the total was still on 0. Robson and Eskinazi put on 68 for the second wicket and Robson and nightwatchman Jimmy Harris also looked like developing a substantial partnership until both were out on the same score (116) with Robson making a praiseworthy 63 off 136 balls with 8 fours. Malan battled boldly for 51 off 90 balls with 6 fours, but the rest just crumbled with hardly a hint of a fightback. Aussie offspinner Glenn Maxwell (from Kew in Melbourne) took 5 for 40, while Anderson chipped in with 3 for 29. Lancs needed only 39 to win and it was surprising that they lost three wickets in getting the runs, with no change to the usual batting order and no time pressure to get the runs quickly. This was mainly due to Robson who dismissed both Guest and Maxwell with his little seen off-spin and finished with career best figures of 2 for 4. Murtagh returned laudable match figures of 6 for 78. The combined match figures of Test bowlers Toby Roland-Jones and Steve Finn were 0-182, while Eoin Morgan made 8 runs for twice out in the match. Lancashire (22 points) beat Middlesex (3) by 7 wickets.
Middlesex had failed to strengthen the squad at all during the winter and this is now looking like a bad error. Meanwhile, Middlesex's promising young batsman Tom Lace made 83 and 57 for Derbyshire versus Gloucestershire. Lancashire are sixth in the table, Middlesex are seventh, only one point ahead of Glamorgan and Gloucestershire, who both have a game in hand.
I went to Lord's on Sunday 21st April for the One Day Cup match between Middlesex and Gloucestershire. Dawid Malan won the toss for Middlesex and chose to bowl first. Tim Murtagh soon had George Hankins back in the hutch, but then a useful stand of 64 developed between captain Chris Dent (47 off 49 balls with 8 fours) and South African keeper Gareth Roderick (38 off 38 balls). Then an excellent stand took place between James Bracey, who played a top-class innings of 83 off 81 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes and allrounder Benny Howell (born in Bordeaux) who contributed 55 off 71 balls as the pair put on 111 for the fourth wicket. The Gloucester allrounders managed to take the total up to 283-7 off their 50 overs, but those sorts of totals are often not quite enough these days. The most successful bowlers were the accurate Murtagh (2 for 40) and Toby Roland-Jones (2 for 59).
Paul Stirling (23 off 19 balls) got the home team off to a rapid start, but when he was quickly followed back to the pavilion by John Simpson and Malan, Middlesex were struggling on 36 for 3. Eoin Morgan looked in form (which he rarely does in my presence these days) and made an attractive 38 off 31 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes out of a stand of 67 with Stevie Eskinazi. When he departed, however, things just got better and better for Middlesex as Eskinazi embarked on a brilliant match-winning stand with his new partner Nick Gubbins. The pair put on 184* for the fifth wicket with Eskinazi finishing on 107* off 97 balls with 10 fours and a six and Gubbins on 98* off 84 balls with 13 fours. Middlesex won comfortably by 6 wickets with 7.4 overs in hand.
Two ex-Middlesex players appeared in the Gloucestershire team: Tom Smith and Ryan Higgins. Slow left armer Smith was the steadiest of the visiting bowlers and the only one to complete his ration of 10 overs and he also hit a useful 17 not out at the end of the visitors' innings, while Higgins also hit 17 and bowled 5 overs of medium pace. The mystery, however, was why Gloucester's best bowler, pace man Dan Worrall from Melbourne, only bowled 6 overs (2 for 30); he also looked as if he might be able to bat a bit too as he hit a quick 12* at the end of the Gloucester innings.
I arrived at Lord's just before 11am on Saturday April 27 and there was no rain in the air and no dampness on the ground either, so I was astonished to find that the covers were on the pitch and no attempt had been made to get the game started. This caused a totally unnecessary delay of 40 minutes to the One Day Cup match between Middlesex and Sussex and the reduction in the number of overs to 48 per side. Middlesex won the toss and chose to bowl first and Tim Murtagh soon had two Sussex bunnies back in the hutch with only 6 on the board. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals until opening bat Luke Wright was joined by skipper and keeper Ben Brown with the score on 101 for 5. This pair put on a superb display and 175 were added for the sixth wicket before both departed with the score on 276. Wright made a superb 166 off 142 balls with 10 fours and 9 sixes, while Brown contributed a valuable 55 off 59 balls with 4 fours. The next highest score was 15 and Sussex collapsed from 276 for 5 to 298 all out, which was still a formidable total. Murtagh (3 for 24) and Nathan Sowter (4 for 48) bowled exceptionally well, but the support bowling looked very weak on this occasion.
Openers Paul Stirling and skipper Dawid Malan provided a sound start to the Middlesex innings, but suddenly 3 wickets were down for 60. Stevie Eskinazi (42 off 40 balls with 6 fours) was easily the best of the home batsmen, but he could not prevent a disastrous collapse from 104 for 3 to 176 all out with only 33.3 overs used. The best of the bowlers was the Pakistani Test Match left arm pace bowler Mir Hamza who returned figures of 3 for 43 as Sussex cantered to a 122 run victory. After the encouraging win at the Oval on Thursday, this was a very disappointing performance from Middlesex.
Further memories associated with Ron Hooker
Alvin Nienow sent me this
I played a number of times for Shepherds Bush against South Hampstead in Sunday all day matches during the period 1955 to 1961, which roughly coincided with the time Ron was establishing himself in the Middlesex side. At this time, there weren’t any leagues and many of the Bush’s better and more competitive fixtures were on a Sunday. There were two very memorable matches.
On one occasion, most of the SH team had been out partying for most of Saturday night. The Bush got over 300 (I don’t remember how many I got so it can’t have been many!), which was very rare in those days. SH then collapsed to something like 80-8. The two exceptions to the party animals were Henry and Douglas Malcolm. Batting in the lower order, each occupied one end, a typical Henry tactic, refusing to run and this stalemate continued for what seems to have been an age. Eventually, Maurice Pateman, a very useful seamer got one to lift off a length from just outside the leg stump, Douglas turned slightly and he was struck somewhere near the buttocks. An optimistic appeal ensued and Charlie Martin, a Bush stalwart of the Bowl’s Section standing as umpire duly gave him out! I saw this very clearly as, very unusually, yours truly was keeping wicket! Don Wallis came out and an over later edged one to me which I duly caught standing back! Almost before the appeal could be made, Charlie leapt in the air with both arms and index fingers raised, giving him out shouting, “That’s out!” The Bush had won; and Charlie never umpired again!
The second, later memorable game (1960) was won by SH. It rained all morning and all assumed the game would be abandoned. So there was a lot of morning drinking and lunch was taken. However, the rain stopped and the match started! In very short order, SH were 4 wickets for 0 runs (Alan Keates and Bob Talbot as wicket takers), including Terry Cordaroy and Bob Peach. The wicket slowly eased and largely due to Norman Cooper and Roy Phipps, the score crept up to about 120. Between the innings, yours truly as a new young captain called for the heavy roller! A bad move. The wicket was fine for about 30 min and then it turned really spiteful and the Bush collapsed apart from Bob Talbot (AWN 0). Norman Cooper stood up to Wallis and Peach et al., took catches and a stumping without any byes! The unofficial man of the match! Bush got about 100! This match is recorded in more detail in one of the SH memorial books.
Ron was essentially in the background, a Middlesex legend to me most of that time. I only remember him playing once in this time against the Bush. I faced him and I was surprised how slow he seemed for a Middlesex player and duly hit him straight back over his head. The next ball was the same and due for the same treatment-but it was the yorker and I was gone.
In 1962, I left the Bush and joined SH. Ron played the Sunday of the first weekend of the 1962 season. SH batted first and he got 100 before lunch! Once he was out, the Finchley skipper, Josh Levy put himself on to bowl! I cannot remember the result but I am pretty sure it was a draw! I didn’t bat either day. Cordaroy got runs both days! We probably played together once or twice more over my four years at SH before I left to live in and play for Reading,
My main memory of Ron, who is still a bit of a legend to me, is how friendly he always was to me whenever we bumped into each other, even though our paths had crossed so little. A super cricketer and a fine man! I liked him a lot!
Brodhurst Matters
Robin Brodhurst sent me this
I have two particular issues that niggle me at the moment and would be very interested in other Googlies’ readers’ views.
Chris Gayle.
I much enjoyed watching his batting in the recent ODI series in the West Indies, but I must confess to having little regard for him as a person. For a start I seldom trust anybody who refers to themselves in the 3rd person. Nor can I take anybody seriously who refers to himself (I think I have this right) as Boss of the Universe. Just who does he think he is?
However, more importantly I reckon he is at least 50 runs in debt when he comes in to bat. His fielding is simply laughable. There is always a single to him, unless he is at slip, where he admittedly does catch most that comes to him. Put the ball to either side of him and unless there is a man covering behind him it is likely to run away to the boundary. Then when he is batting, he simply never runs more than a single, and he simply jogs that. Compare this to e.g. Butler and Bairstow who sprint their runs, fulfilling that old maxim of turning ones into twos and putting the pressure on the fielding side. So, Gayle gives away probably as much as 100 runs in each match through poor fielding and poor running.
The University matches.
Are we serious in calling these games first class? Looking at those that have been played so far this season, and as I write (4 April) there have been 2 rounds and another under way, the scores have been as follows:
Round 1 March 26-28.
Durham 399 & 237-3d Durham Univ 134 and 206. Durham won by 296 runs.
Leics 524-5d Loughborough 153 and 151. Leics won by Inn and 220.
Middlesex 365-5d and 214-3d Oxford 131 and 177-4 Drawn.
Somerset 387-4d and 345-9d Cardiff 118 and 46 Som won by Inn and 568.
Round 2 March 31 – April 2.
Notts 565 and 231-5 Cambridge 148 Drawn.
Kent 247-8d and 231-5 Loughborough 248-9d Drawn.
Yorks 489-8d Leeds 119 and 219. Yorks won by Inn and 151.
Northants 481-7d and 108-3 Durham 136. Drawn.
Hants 478-9d and 66-4 Oxford 114 Drawn.
Sussex 480-9d and 274 Cardiff 203. Drawn
In only one match have the students approached anything like comparability – Kent v Loughborough – which seems to have been quite a good game and might have produced an interesting result. Asides from that there have been only three other scores over 200, and three scores between 150 and 200, while the county batting has rarely failed, Kent’s 247-8d was the lowest first innings score and the next lowest was 365-5. Only two sides were actually dismissed and those were for 399 and 565.
This cannot in all conscience be called first class cricket and yet the county batsmen are racking up centuries which rank alongside, chosen at random, Hobbs, Mead and Hendren, while the county bowlers are taking “first class” wickets to rank alongside, equally at random, Rhodes, Freeman and Anderson. This cannot be right. The time has come to remove first class status from these sides.
Oval Matters
The GJM ventures south of the river to keep us up to date on all things Middlesex
I went to the Oval on April 25th for the One Day Cup match between Surrey and Middlesex. There was only a fraction of the rain that the forecast had predicted and after a start delay of ten minutes, play was uninterrupted. Middlesex brought in Kiwi Test batsman Ross Taylor for Eoin Morgan and Toby Roland-Jones replaced Tim Murtagh. The visitors won the toss and chose to bat first. Paul Stirling, Dawid Malan and John Simpson all got into the upper teens, but no one was going on to a decent score and soon Middlesex were struggling on 70 for 4. However, the new signing, Ross Taylor, immediately steadied the ship and found a useful partner in Nick Gubbins, who contributed 33 off 50 balls to the fifth wicket partnership of 79. George Scott was another to reach the upper teens and the situation became critical when his departure was followed by that of Taylor for 64 off 78 balls with five fours and Middlesex were in deep trouble on 185 for 8. However, Toby Roland-Jones soon established himself and received great support from Nathan Sowter (from Penrith, NSW) during a stand of 56 for the ninth wicket before Sowter departed for an accomplished 31 off 34 balls. Now last man Steve Finn (13 not out) came to the crease and he gave excellent support to Roland-Jones while 36 were added for the last wicket. Toby finally fell in the last over for a sparkling 45 off 39 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes and the visitors were all out for 277, with Gareth Batty's offspin being the star turn for Surrey with 4 for 29 off 10 overs.
Surrey soon slipped to 23 for 2, but then a solid stand developed between Springbok Test player Dean Elgar and the home skipper Rory Burns. Elgar departed for 43 off 67 balls with 4 fours and Burns followed for 49 off 60 balls. This left a huge responsibility on keeper Ben Foakes, which he shouldered impressively as wickets fell at regular intervals at the other end. Eventually, Foakes fell for 71 off 80 balls with 6 fours and soon after Surrey were all out for 240 and Middlesex had won by 37 runs. The credit for this falls to skipper Malan for some imaginative captaincy and to some fine bowling from, in particular, leg spinner Sowter with 4 for 37 and opening bowler Tom Helm, 4 for 40. Foakes was immediately called up to replace the injured Sam Billings (dislocated shoulder) in England’s limited overs squad to play Ireland and Pakistan early in May. It was also announced that Surrey’s Ollie Pope will miss most of the season with a dislocated shoulder.
Cricket in America
Ken Molloy sent me this
The sport is stirring back to life in America. Cricket’s administrators are eyeing the opportunity presented by an estimated 20 million armchair fans and 200,000 players, drawn mostly from the Asian and Caribbean communities.
The United States men’s team played its first Twenty20 game with full international status in the United Arab Emirates last month.
The sport has “enormous potential” in America, Dave Richardson, the International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive, said in 2015. James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, has pressed the ICC to commit to hosting a global limited overs tournament in America soon and suggested Central Park in New York as a possible venue. “Bring big games and big names to the country,” he said in 2017. “It’s one of the biggest commercial markets in the world.” That is where Tanweer Ahmed comes in. Mr Ahmed, 51, grew up in a rural region of Pakistan before moving to America as a cricket-mad teenager with only a few dollars to his name in 1988. He began as a cashier in a fast-food restaurant. He now owns more than 150 Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell franchise restaurants in four states, as well as an energy company and a construction firm.
Realising that there were not enough pitches to meet local demand, Mr Ahmed spent millions of dollars transforming the 86-acre site near Prairie View,45 miles northwest of Houston, into a cricket complex.
Mr Ahmed explained his vision while sitting in his office near Houston airport, which has a cricket net by the car park at the back. He said there could be international cricket for minor nations at his facility “hopefully this year”. He has built four pitches so far. Eventually there will be eight to ten, four of which will meet international standards. He also proposes to start an academy for young players. There is only one ICC approved pitch in the country at present — in Florida.
Mr Ahmed hopes to find partners to raise a further $30 million to turn his best pitch into a 15,000-seat stadium. That would open the doors to hosting England, India and Pakistan. Like Kevin Costner’s character in the baseball drama Field of Dreams, he is convinced that if he builds the ground, they will come.
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 197
May 2019
Caption Competition
1. Stuart law: Who’s that winning games for Gloucs?
Angus Fraser: That’s Ryan Higgins.
Stuart Law: We could do with him in our team.
Angus Fraser: He was, but we let him go.
2. Stuart Law: A number of other players have caught the eye this year- Billy Godleman and Tom Lace at Derbyshire, Adam Rossington at Northants, Joe Denly and Harry Podmore at Kent, Neil Dexter at Leics and Jos Davey at Somerset.
Angus Fraser: Yeah, we let all of them go too.
3. Jonathan Agnew: Don’t you think that you deserve a game, Ollie?
Ollie Raynor: No, not really but they will have to pick me once they start getting points docked for slow over rates.
4. Jonathan Agnew: What special skills are you introducing to Middlesex this year?
Stuart Law: Well for starters there are Erratic performance, keep ‘em guessing, shuffle the order, never a dull moment.
Out & About with the Professor
I had the good fortune, last week, to make the acquaintance of Dr Syed Hussain. Dr Hussain is a dermatologist and makes a living removing various unpleasant growths from peoples’ skins. My (very modest) problem is with something on my ear. Very common, apparently, in men who have spent thousands of hours of their lives standing in a field with just a cap on their heads. Dr Hussain tells me that he has done hundreds of these operations but only three on women. I think we might conclude that I am not the only Googlies reader who has had this particular treatment.
The operation only needs a local anaesthetic and so the good Doctor was able to talk to me and, unlike at the dentist, me to him. What about? Well cricket obviously. And wouldn’t you just know it. When he is not working for the NHS in Leeds, Dr Hussain is the consultant dermatologist to the England cricket team – he has been for the past six years. Indeed, as I write this note, he is in Cardiff giving the players the once-over. I did ask whether there was much need for his services in Wales in April but he pointed out that most of the England squad play overseas in something or other and so are exposed to the sun for much of the year. There are other, non-sun related issues as well. I asked exactly what he did and, within the bounds of professional discretion, of course, he described checking all the players plus the support staff: physios, psychologists, and whatnot all of whom, on a long tour, can be sitting in the sun for lengthy periods. The whole entourage is about 55 people.
Are England players more susceptible than others? When they ask him this Dr Hussain points out that they can be – especially since they’re in the field for so long (a dermatological witticism, I think). One unforeseen virtue of helmets, of course, is the reduction in ear-vulnerability for those who spend a long time at the crease. Only Chef has seen much benefit.
I have a dressing on the ear at present which makes me look like a recent and over-enthusiastic recruit to the Impressionist school of painting. It has also made me slightly deaf on one side (the “I think it’s your turn to make the tea” side). I look forward to its removal next week and catching up on the England team’s skin problems (not, in truth, a sentence that I had ever dreamt that I might be typing).
Meanwhile, there is the little matter of 1,536 pages to get through as, on April 11th, the little yellow house-brick duly arrived. It has, as always, some interesting articles. But I have, unusually, a criticism of the canonical tome. I wouldn’t dare to elevate myself to the ranks of those who query the accuracy of Wisden (although judging from the long list of those whose “assistance” is acknowledged by the Author, there are a fair few of those), no, my beef is with the photo captions. They are a cross between the trite and the tabloid. Who writes them? Mr Booth is clearly an erudite and sensible man, so I can’t believe it’s him. But, presumably he approves? What do Googlies readers think of the following:
Photograph of a woman wearing a broach …”A cameo appearance” (geddit?)
Three England players in trunks at their hotel, feet in the water…”Pool of talent”.
Some fans celebrating at Headquarters…”Lording it”
Picture of Mick Hunt (can you take any more of this?) …”One man went to mow”
Geoff Boycott bowling in a cap…”If the cap fits”. And on and on.
I have searched my own personal lexicon for a word that describes this sort of thing and the best I can come up with is “crap”.
A long way from crap are, of course, the Wisden Five who, I thought, were not that difficult to predict this time. Kohli, Buttler and Burns were near certainties and Curran a pretty strong possibility. I dithered about Rashid against Tammy Beaumont and made the wrong choice, although she was a very worthy recipient. I wonder what the players themselves think of being named in the Wisden Five Cricketers of the Year? Pleased, obviously, but as far as I know, it doesn’t carry any financial reward – it is just the honour. Do they feel honoured? Let’s hope so. Mercifully, their photos bear no captions – no “Buttler serves up another 6” or “Burns scorches a boundary” – just their names…let’s not give the Editor any ideas for next year.
…and then to the match. Easter Day was just about perfect for cricket watching and Headingley saw a game which (except for the result) would be hard to better. It was the latest chapter in a dispute which those with short memories thought might have been settled in 1485. (Not many short memories around here). In the event we saw 620 runs, 16 wickets and a last ball defeat for Yorkshire, one run short of another tied game.
Slightly awkward looking push from Kohler-Cadmore. Vilas is keeping wicket and Maxwell, of course, is in the covers.
There were some fine contributions from Lancashire batsmen, in particular Croft who carved and pulled his way to 97 in the manner that has become familiar over how ever many years it is now that he has been playing, and the young Bohannon. Yorkshires’ runs came mainly from the not-very-Yorkshire-sounding Tom Kohler-Cadmore (also out for 97) and the increasingly impressive Jonny Tattersall. Three to win off the last ball was never really likely for the Yorkshire No.11 who had just arrived at the crease, and a scampered one was followed by an impossible attempt at a second.
A shame…but lots to admire and enjoy and so nice to watching cricket again.
This & That
Its anyone’s guess who will be batting for England this summer. I gather that Bob Willis thinks the powerhouse middle order of Root, Bairstow, Buttler and Stokes are too selfish to move up to the top three positions and so there could be plenty of rotation up there. Burns has been unconvincing but appears the most likely contender at present. We know that Pope and Billings won’t be there having both suffered dislocated shoulders whilst fielding. I wonder what they think about throwing themselves around wrecklessly now?
Jennings could get another go but will be lucky if he does. Hameed could reappear as could Vince who has been getting plenty of runs under his belt. He may even get a go in the one-day side as Hales has ruled himself out and Roy is not fully fit. It seems that Lyth, Malan and Westley have become senior statesman of the county game and will not get a recall. There is then plenty of scope for some unexpected faces such as Dan Lawrence from Essex, Tom Kohler-Cadmore of Yorkshire, Joe Clarke of Notts, Jordan Clark of Surrey and Ben Ducket of Notts. Gubbins who has previously been strongly tipped is now batting down the order in the OD side for Middlesex.
I have seen very little cricket through April with Sky holding back coverage and the IPL back on BT. However, I have been keeping an eye on the IPL scores. When the Kings XI batted first against the Mumbai Indians Rahul and Gayle added 116 in 12 overs before Gayle was out for 63 from 36 deliveries, including 7 sixes. Rahul went on to 100 not out in a total of 197 for 4. However, the Mumbai Indians won off the last ball mainly thanks to Pollard’s 83 from 31 balls including 10 sixes.
Andre Russell has been warming up for the World Cup by performing for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Against the Mumbai Indians Gill and Lynn added 96 for the first wicket in nine overs and then Russell took the score to 232 for 2 with 80 not out from 40 balls with 8 sixes. In reply only Hardik Pandya with 91 from 34 balls including nine sixes came close to the required rate.
When Robin Uthappa was out the score was 79 for 4 in the twelfth over as KKR were chasing Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 213. Russell then scored 65 from 25 deliveries, including nine sixes. Earlier Moeen Ali had scored 66 from 28 deliveries for RCB.
I have just reviewed the WC fixture list. There are a staggering number of matches extending over six weeks. England have 8 matches in the ordinary stage. I suspect that it will prove to be too much of a good thing. Unless England make it to the semi-finals there is bound to be a loss of interest in it.
Morgan Matters
An early season dip into the Great man’s diary
Rs have sacked S McClaren after 1 win in 15 league games. They had a decent run in mid season, but a dreadful start and end. The caretaker is John Eustace.
Ex-Middlesex junior and 2s keeper-batsman, Ned Eckersley, has been snapped up by Durham after being released by Leicestershire. Durham's current keeper Stuart Poynter is also an ex-Middlesex man... but is now injured? Ned Eckersley is in the first team at Durham and was 2nd top scorer yesterday v Sussex and Tom Lace hit a career best 83 for Derbyshire at Bristol. Middlesex keeper/ batsman Robbie White has gone on loan to Essex for 2 months: he is a useful young player who could use more first team cricket. Middlesex's president is our old mate MWW Selvey.
Great news! Middlesex are to build a new ground at Barnet! That will be handy! It is close to Saracens' home at Allianz Park. By the time it is built I will be far too old to travel that far (having already given up on Radlett and Northwood). Do you think I could claim my money back for my life membership?
Ali Martin thinks Middlesex will finish second in the Championship (behind Lancashire), I wish I could be as hopeful. They were ordinary last season, several players have gone and nobody has been signed (for first class cricket): what gives him such optimism? He thinks Somerset will take the Div 1 title just ahead of Surrey.
NZ's Ross Taylor has signed for Middlesex to play in (some of the) ODC games. How about getting one in for the Championship? Taylor has played 83 Tests and averages 48 with the bat.
I rather like the ODC, but I have heard stories that it will be abandoned after this season, presumably to make way for the daft "hundred". Ridiculous. Another rumour is that a 50 over competition will actually continue, but the teams will be full of youngsters and 2s players and the matches will be played on outgrounds!
Lord’s Matters
The GJM is back in his seat
I spent four days at Lord’s watching the big County Championship Division Two clash between Middlesex and Lancashire which began on April 11th. There were some good spells of sunshine, but a fierce easterly wind ensured that very little warm clothing was discarded. After a fairly ordinary performance at Northampton in the first Championship match of the season, Middlesex nevertheless decided on an unchanged team. The toss was uncontested as the visitors fancied a bowl on the greenish track (though not as green as many we have seen in recent seasons). This choice was an immediate success with Sam Robson back in the hutch with only 14 on the board, but then there was a stubborn stand of 112 between Nick Gubbins and Stevie Eskinazi. Gubbins became the first of 5 wickets for Lancashire’s tall seamer Tom Bailey when he fell lbw for 55 off 139 balls with 9 fours. Lancashire stumper (and opening bat) Alex Davies had retired hurt early on in the proceedings so it was the deputy keeper Brooke Guest (born in Manchester, but grew up in Perth, WA) who caught Eskinazi also off Bailey for 75 off 158 balls with 11 fours. That made the score 151 for 3 and that was as good as it got as wickets began to fall regularly with only Max Holden (34) and Toby Roland-Jones (35) offering resistance. Bailey finished with figures of 5 for 67, with Jimmy Anderson taking 3 for 43 as Middlesex closed on 265 all out.
Middlesex also enjoyed little success when they bowled to the opening pair of Keaton Jennings (52 off 133 balls with 9 fours) and Haseeb Hameed, who put on 123 together for the first wicket. Hameed looked a much better player than when I had last seen him and he went on to an excellent 117 off 196 balls with 17 fours and a six, sharing a stand of 79 with Rob Jones for the fourth wicket. Jones, a 23-year-old from Warrington who hit a hundred against Middlesex at Old Trafford three years ago, but who has never held a regular place, now starred in a partnership of 143 for the fifth wicket with captain Dane Vilas from Johannesburg who contributed 68 off 141 balls with 9 fours. Jones was finally eighth out for 122 off 235 balls with 16 fours (both of his first-class centuries have now come against Middlesex) before the innings closed on 427, a lead of 162. Tim Murtagh was easily the best of the home bowlers with 5 for 69, but skipper Dawid Malan deserves an honourable mention for his 3 for 60 with some accurate leg spin.
Middlesex's batting was even worse in the second innings than it had been in the first as Gubbins set the tone by departing in the first over when the total was still on 0. Robson and Eskinazi put on 68 for the second wicket and Robson and nightwatchman Jimmy Harris also looked like developing a substantial partnership until both were out on the same score (116) with Robson making a praiseworthy 63 off 136 balls with 8 fours. Malan battled boldly for 51 off 90 balls with 6 fours, but the rest just crumbled with hardly a hint of a fightback. Aussie offspinner Glenn Maxwell (from Kew in Melbourne) took 5 for 40, while Anderson chipped in with 3 for 29. Lancs needed only 39 to win and it was surprising that they lost three wickets in getting the runs, with no change to the usual batting order and no time pressure to get the runs quickly. This was mainly due to Robson who dismissed both Guest and Maxwell with his little seen off-spin and finished with career best figures of 2 for 4. Murtagh returned laudable match figures of 6 for 78. The combined match figures of Test bowlers Toby Roland-Jones and Steve Finn were 0-182, while Eoin Morgan made 8 runs for twice out in the match. Lancashire (22 points) beat Middlesex (3) by 7 wickets.
Middlesex had failed to strengthen the squad at all during the winter and this is now looking like a bad error. Meanwhile, Middlesex's promising young batsman Tom Lace made 83 and 57 for Derbyshire versus Gloucestershire. Lancashire are sixth in the table, Middlesex are seventh, only one point ahead of Glamorgan and Gloucestershire, who both have a game in hand.
I went to Lord's on Sunday 21st April for the One Day Cup match between Middlesex and Gloucestershire. Dawid Malan won the toss for Middlesex and chose to bowl first. Tim Murtagh soon had George Hankins back in the hutch, but then a useful stand of 64 developed between captain Chris Dent (47 off 49 balls with 8 fours) and South African keeper Gareth Roderick (38 off 38 balls). Then an excellent stand took place between James Bracey, who played a top-class innings of 83 off 81 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes and allrounder Benny Howell (born in Bordeaux) who contributed 55 off 71 balls as the pair put on 111 for the fourth wicket. The Gloucester allrounders managed to take the total up to 283-7 off their 50 overs, but those sorts of totals are often not quite enough these days. The most successful bowlers were the accurate Murtagh (2 for 40) and Toby Roland-Jones (2 for 59).
Paul Stirling (23 off 19 balls) got the home team off to a rapid start, but when he was quickly followed back to the pavilion by John Simpson and Malan, Middlesex were struggling on 36 for 3. Eoin Morgan looked in form (which he rarely does in my presence these days) and made an attractive 38 off 31 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes out of a stand of 67 with Stevie Eskinazi. When he departed, however, things just got better and better for Middlesex as Eskinazi embarked on a brilliant match-winning stand with his new partner Nick Gubbins. The pair put on 184* for the fifth wicket with Eskinazi finishing on 107* off 97 balls with 10 fours and a six and Gubbins on 98* off 84 balls with 13 fours. Middlesex won comfortably by 6 wickets with 7.4 overs in hand.
Two ex-Middlesex players appeared in the Gloucestershire team: Tom Smith and Ryan Higgins. Slow left armer Smith was the steadiest of the visiting bowlers and the only one to complete his ration of 10 overs and he also hit a useful 17 not out at the end of the visitors' innings, while Higgins also hit 17 and bowled 5 overs of medium pace. The mystery, however, was why Gloucester's best bowler, pace man Dan Worrall from Melbourne, only bowled 6 overs (2 for 30); he also looked as if he might be able to bat a bit too as he hit a quick 12* at the end of the Gloucester innings.
I arrived at Lord's just before 11am on Saturday April 27 and there was no rain in the air and no dampness on the ground either, so I was astonished to find that the covers were on the pitch and no attempt had been made to get the game started. This caused a totally unnecessary delay of 40 minutes to the One Day Cup match between Middlesex and Sussex and the reduction in the number of overs to 48 per side. Middlesex won the toss and chose to bowl first and Tim Murtagh soon had two Sussex bunnies back in the hutch with only 6 on the board. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals until opening bat Luke Wright was joined by skipper and keeper Ben Brown with the score on 101 for 5. This pair put on a superb display and 175 were added for the sixth wicket before both departed with the score on 276. Wright made a superb 166 off 142 balls with 10 fours and 9 sixes, while Brown contributed a valuable 55 off 59 balls with 4 fours. The next highest score was 15 and Sussex collapsed from 276 for 5 to 298 all out, which was still a formidable total. Murtagh (3 for 24) and Nathan Sowter (4 for 48) bowled exceptionally well, but the support bowling looked very weak on this occasion.
Openers Paul Stirling and skipper Dawid Malan provided a sound start to the Middlesex innings, but suddenly 3 wickets were down for 60. Stevie Eskinazi (42 off 40 balls with 6 fours) was easily the best of the home batsmen, but he could not prevent a disastrous collapse from 104 for 3 to 176 all out with only 33.3 overs used. The best of the bowlers was the Pakistani Test Match left arm pace bowler Mir Hamza who returned figures of 3 for 43 as Sussex cantered to a 122 run victory. After the encouraging win at the Oval on Thursday, this was a very disappointing performance from Middlesex.
Further memories associated with Ron Hooker
Alvin Nienow sent me this
I played a number of times for Shepherds Bush against South Hampstead in Sunday all day matches during the period 1955 to 1961, which roughly coincided with the time Ron was establishing himself in the Middlesex side. At this time, there weren’t any leagues and many of the Bush’s better and more competitive fixtures were on a Sunday. There were two very memorable matches.
On one occasion, most of the SH team had been out partying for most of Saturday night. The Bush got over 300 (I don’t remember how many I got so it can’t have been many!), which was very rare in those days. SH then collapsed to something like 80-8. The two exceptions to the party animals were Henry and Douglas Malcolm. Batting in the lower order, each occupied one end, a typical Henry tactic, refusing to run and this stalemate continued for what seems to have been an age. Eventually, Maurice Pateman, a very useful seamer got one to lift off a length from just outside the leg stump, Douglas turned slightly and he was struck somewhere near the buttocks. An optimistic appeal ensued and Charlie Martin, a Bush stalwart of the Bowl’s Section standing as umpire duly gave him out! I saw this very clearly as, very unusually, yours truly was keeping wicket! Don Wallis came out and an over later edged one to me which I duly caught standing back! Almost before the appeal could be made, Charlie leapt in the air with both arms and index fingers raised, giving him out shouting, “That’s out!” The Bush had won; and Charlie never umpired again!
The second, later memorable game (1960) was won by SH. It rained all morning and all assumed the game would be abandoned. So there was a lot of morning drinking and lunch was taken. However, the rain stopped and the match started! In very short order, SH were 4 wickets for 0 runs (Alan Keates and Bob Talbot as wicket takers), including Terry Cordaroy and Bob Peach. The wicket slowly eased and largely due to Norman Cooper and Roy Phipps, the score crept up to about 120. Between the innings, yours truly as a new young captain called for the heavy roller! A bad move. The wicket was fine for about 30 min and then it turned really spiteful and the Bush collapsed apart from Bob Talbot (AWN 0). Norman Cooper stood up to Wallis and Peach et al., took catches and a stumping without any byes! The unofficial man of the match! Bush got about 100! This match is recorded in more detail in one of the SH memorial books.
Ron was essentially in the background, a Middlesex legend to me most of that time. I only remember him playing once in this time against the Bush. I faced him and I was surprised how slow he seemed for a Middlesex player and duly hit him straight back over his head. The next ball was the same and due for the same treatment-but it was the yorker and I was gone.
In 1962, I left the Bush and joined SH. Ron played the Sunday of the first weekend of the 1962 season. SH batted first and he got 100 before lunch! Once he was out, the Finchley skipper, Josh Levy put himself on to bowl! I cannot remember the result but I am pretty sure it was a draw! I didn’t bat either day. Cordaroy got runs both days! We probably played together once or twice more over my four years at SH before I left to live in and play for Reading,
My main memory of Ron, who is still a bit of a legend to me, is how friendly he always was to me whenever we bumped into each other, even though our paths had crossed so little. A super cricketer and a fine man! I liked him a lot!
Brodhurst Matters
Robin Brodhurst sent me this
I have two particular issues that niggle me at the moment and would be very interested in other Googlies’ readers’ views.
Chris Gayle.
I much enjoyed watching his batting in the recent ODI series in the West Indies, but I must confess to having little regard for him as a person. For a start I seldom trust anybody who refers to themselves in the 3rd person. Nor can I take anybody seriously who refers to himself (I think I have this right) as Boss of the Universe. Just who does he think he is?
However, more importantly I reckon he is at least 50 runs in debt when he comes in to bat. His fielding is simply laughable. There is always a single to him, unless he is at slip, where he admittedly does catch most that comes to him. Put the ball to either side of him and unless there is a man covering behind him it is likely to run away to the boundary. Then when he is batting, he simply never runs more than a single, and he simply jogs that. Compare this to e.g. Butler and Bairstow who sprint their runs, fulfilling that old maxim of turning ones into twos and putting the pressure on the fielding side. So, Gayle gives away probably as much as 100 runs in each match through poor fielding and poor running.
The University matches.
Are we serious in calling these games first class? Looking at those that have been played so far this season, and as I write (4 April) there have been 2 rounds and another under way, the scores have been as follows:
Round 1 March 26-28.
Durham 399 & 237-3d Durham Univ 134 and 206. Durham won by 296 runs.
Leics 524-5d Loughborough 153 and 151. Leics won by Inn and 220.
Middlesex 365-5d and 214-3d Oxford 131 and 177-4 Drawn.
Somerset 387-4d and 345-9d Cardiff 118 and 46 Som won by Inn and 568.
Round 2 March 31 – April 2.
Notts 565 and 231-5 Cambridge 148 Drawn.
Kent 247-8d and 231-5 Loughborough 248-9d Drawn.
Yorks 489-8d Leeds 119 and 219. Yorks won by Inn and 151.
Northants 481-7d and 108-3 Durham 136. Drawn.
Hants 478-9d and 66-4 Oxford 114 Drawn.
Sussex 480-9d and 274 Cardiff 203. Drawn
In only one match have the students approached anything like comparability – Kent v Loughborough – which seems to have been quite a good game and might have produced an interesting result. Asides from that there have been only three other scores over 200, and three scores between 150 and 200, while the county batting has rarely failed, Kent’s 247-8d was the lowest first innings score and the next lowest was 365-5. Only two sides were actually dismissed and those were for 399 and 565.
This cannot in all conscience be called first class cricket and yet the county batsmen are racking up centuries which rank alongside, chosen at random, Hobbs, Mead and Hendren, while the county bowlers are taking “first class” wickets to rank alongside, equally at random, Rhodes, Freeman and Anderson. This cannot be right. The time has come to remove first class status from these sides.
Oval Matters
The GJM ventures south of the river to keep us up to date on all things Middlesex
I went to the Oval on April 25th for the One Day Cup match between Surrey and Middlesex. There was only a fraction of the rain that the forecast had predicted and after a start delay of ten minutes, play was uninterrupted. Middlesex brought in Kiwi Test batsman Ross Taylor for Eoin Morgan and Toby Roland-Jones replaced Tim Murtagh. The visitors won the toss and chose to bat first. Paul Stirling, Dawid Malan and John Simpson all got into the upper teens, but no one was going on to a decent score and soon Middlesex were struggling on 70 for 4. However, the new signing, Ross Taylor, immediately steadied the ship and found a useful partner in Nick Gubbins, who contributed 33 off 50 balls to the fifth wicket partnership of 79. George Scott was another to reach the upper teens and the situation became critical when his departure was followed by that of Taylor for 64 off 78 balls with five fours and Middlesex were in deep trouble on 185 for 8. However, Toby Roland-Jones soon established himself and received great support from Nathan Sowter (from Penrith, NSW) during a stand of 56 for the ninth wicket before Sowter departed for an accomplished 31 off 34 balls. Now last man Steve Finn (13 not out) came to the crease and he gave excellent support to Roland-Jones while 36 were added for the last wicket. Toby finally fell in the last over for a sparkling 45 off 39 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes and the visitors were all out for 277, with Gareth Batty's offspin being the star turn for Surrey with 4 for 29 off 10 overs.
Surrey soon slipped to 23 for 2, but then a solid stand developed between Springbok Test player Dean Elgar and the home skipper Rory Burns. Elgar departed for 43 off 67 balls with 4 fours and Burns followed for 49 off 60 balls. This left a huge responsibility on keeper Ben Foakes, which he shouldered impressively as wickets fell at regular intervals at the other end. Eventually, Foakes fell for 71 off 80 balls with 6 fours and soon after Surrey were all out for 240 and Middlesex had won by 37 runs. The credit for this falls to skipper Malan for some imaginative captaincy and to some fine bowling from, in particular, leg spinner Sowter with 4 for 37 and opening bowler Tom Helm, 4 for 40. Foakes was immediately called up to replace the injured Sam Billings (dislocated shoulder) in England’s limited overs squad to play Ireland and Pakistan early in May. It was also announced that Surrey’s Ollie Pope will miss most of the season with a dislocated shoulder.
Cricket in America
Ken Molloy sent me this
The sport is stirring back to life in America. Cricket’s administrators are eyeing the opportunity presented by an estimated 20 million armchair fans and 200,000 players, drawn mostly from the Asian and Caribbean communities.
The United States men’s team played its first Twenty20 game with full international status in the United Arab Emirates last month.
The sport has “enormous potential” in America, Dave Richardson, the International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive, said in 2015. James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, has pressed the ICC to commit to hosting a global limited overs tournament in America soon and suggested Central Park in New York as a possible venue. “Bring big games and big names to the country,” he said in 2017. “It’s one of the biggest commercial markets in the world.” That is where Tanweer Ahmed comes in. Mr Ahmed, 51, grew up in a rural region of Pakistan before moving to America as a cricket-mad teenager with only a few dollars to his name in 1988. He began as a cashier in a fast-food restaurant. He now owns more than 150 Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell franchise restaurants in four states, as well as an energy company and a construction firm.
Realising that there were not enough pitches to meet local demand, Mr Ahmed spent millions of dollars transforming the 86-acre site near Prairie View,45 miles northwest of Houston, into a cricket complex.
Mr Ahmed explained his vision while sitting in his office near Houston airport, which has a cricket net by the car park at the back. He said there could be international cricket for minor nations at his facility “hopefully this year”. He has built four pitches so far. Eventually there will be eight to ten, four of which will meet international standards. He also proposes to start an academy for young players. There is only one ICC approved pitch in the country at present — in Florida.
Mr Ahmed hopes to find partners to raise a further $30 million to turn his best pitch into a 15,000-seat stadium. That would open the doors to hosting England, India and Pakistan. Like Kevin Costner’s character in the baseball drama Field of Dreams, he is convinced that if he builds the ground, they will come.
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