GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 20
August 2004
The Len Barnsdale Issue
Suddenly everyone is in touch with everyone. The quest to locate former players and colleagues has led me to have conversations with Allen Bruton, Nigel Ross and John Bowerman recently. I have also been in touch with Geoff Howe and Robin Syrett. John Williams put me in touch with Alf Langley, whilst Bob Peach has been talking to Ian Jerman. Roy Dodson has heard from David Mindell and the Higgins brothers, whilst Robin Ager ran into Peter Dickson at Peter Mailey’s funeral.
Bill Hart, who is a Battersea GS old boy, has put me in touch with other Old Grammarians including Dave Garrard. Dave is one of the few players I have played with in three different levels of cricket- as an opponent at school, alongside in the London Schools 1st XI and again as an opponent in club cricket. Dave has sent me some interesting material that I will feature in the next edition.
I had dinner with Steve and Heather Thompson last month and Steve said that he had played his first game of cricket in ten years when he turned out for the MCC against a local school side. The Match Manager must have phoned up the wrong Thompson in the MCC book since the captain threw him the ball before lunch. I felt obliged on your behalf to examine Steve’s spinning finger and can report, as usual, that there was no sign of any abrasion. At number eight Steve was not required to wield the willow.
John Williams, formerly of Harrow Town and Pinner, has been receiving a black market copy of G&C from John Overy. John sent me this: “The OMT's much appreciated the match report in issue18. I keep in touch with Paul Smith and sent him a copy. In no time at all Paul Graver et al had received copies. I saw Paul Smith, who has lived in Cardiff since the 70's, a couple of weeks ago. He vividly recalls the game and tells me that both Cords & Stubbs were caught and bowled!” I was convinced that this would be wrong and so checked with the scorebook but can report that he is indeed correct and that Welsh air must be better than English air for the memory.
There have been some phenomenal innings played in this year’s Twenty20 competition. Graham Hick and Ian Thomas both scored116 not out on the same afternoon. Andrew Symonds scored his 112 against Middlesex off 43 balls, which, of course, is just seven overs. The Great Jack Morgan would often take that long to get off the mark.
Out and About with the Professor
The Professor reports on a recent sojourn to Sussex
Faced with the alternative of shopping for women’s shoes, I took myself off to the little ground in Chichester where Dick Briance used to play. When he left the Bush, he joined Chichester, and for several years a group of Bush-folk played a game in their cricket week: Jukes, Perrin, Wright, Cutler, etc. I think Frank went down and perhaps Jack. I had long-since left the Bush but played two or three games. The ground is unusual since it has a chapel in it - indeed it is a public park- but it is a nice spot, with the Grey Friars Chapel giving quite a short boundary square of the wicket. My memory of 30 years back was that it was fine at one end but very lively at the other. And so it proved to be still. I saw eight wickets fall in two hours, seven at the bumpy end. Dick is still a member, but not seen much these days I was told.
Serendipity In G&C 18 I published a photo of the South Hampstead 1st XI in 1972. Bill Hart noted that the photo was rare in that it depicted him as captain, a role he fulfilled on only two or three occasions for the club. He asked if he could have a copy and I duly obliged. I also decided to look up the occasion of the match itself, which transpired to be last match of the 1972 season on the 8th October against Pinner.
Later in the same week I received an email from John Williams. I scurried back to the score sheet and, yes, John played in this early winter outing. In fact John top scored with 40 on the losing Pinner side. Other members of that Pinner side included Charlie Toole and Carl Goldsmith. I am far too modest to mention who top scored for South Hampstead that day but it certainly adds to the uniqueness of the occasion. Alan Cox took 5 for 25 for South Hampstead and the other wickets were shared by Ossie Burton, Geoff Howe and Ian Jerman. Did skipper Hart feature in the proceedings? He certainly did holding three catches. I asked Bill if he could recall anything about them, he replied: “All of my catches were at mid-on. However, I suspect that they were all fiendishly difficult”.
Meanwhile, after I had sent him a G&C 19, Alf Langley sent me this: “Talk about "the long arm of coincidence"! I spent half the day at Lords yesterday trying to convince a chap called Bruce MacDonald who played for Sunbury in the Shepherds Bush game mentioned by Gary Black to the Professor (190 before lunch with David Jukes), that I was not involved in the game. He even bet me a tenner. Had I played, Gary would have batted at three instead of opening. I played for Holmwood in the Clive Lloyd competition on that day.”
Rained Off
I looked into Welwyn Garden City CC on the Thursday of their cricket week in July. I arrived about 4.15 in foul weather and play had long been called off for the day. However, the Life Members’ annual lunch was in still in full swing with the Professor in Presidential mode masterminding the proceedings. WGCCC has a maximum of ten Life Members and accession to this exalted position can only be achieved when a vacancy arises and then only after much back scratching and the greasing of palms. Shiraz was the favoured tipple and it was in plentiful supply. Enoch will be pleased to hear that his book was in pride of place on the table.
I was made most welcome and was seated next to Paddy Carlin who is a Cardinal Vaughan old boy who knows Ken Fletcher and Ken James through footballing connections. He is also a mate of Bob Baxter’s. I was seated opposite David Beynon, the recently elected President of Hertfordshire. Whilst we were making these acquaintances the Professor was getting Peter Moyce to tell the story of how he had once dropped a catch in a first class match. Silence was then called for and George Arthur impressively recited “Tomkins” and “Full on the boot” from A.A.Milne’s collection of cricketing verse.
The Professor in full flight, George Arthur standing, Paddy Carlin seated
When the rain eased we went outside to splash about on the outfield and I was introduced to James Fitt who is called Snapper by everyone. He will be better known to most of you as The Independent on Sunday’s columnist – The Nurdler. He lives strangely enough on Milverton Road. Someone produced a tennis ball and when it was passed to me I took my first wicket of the decade when I bowled Snapper who was batting with a stump, using my new Murali action.
The club has a thriving, non-cricketing, social section that generates a lot of income that is ploughed back into the excellent facilities. The ground is in a beautiful setting and is large enough that there are decent boundaries wherever the wicket is pitched on the square. A cricketing clinic is being organised during the school holidays when boys and girls of all ages will benefit from coaching by the club’s Tasmanian professional.
The Professor was smartly attired in a suit and club tie but lost out on the sartorial prize for the day to Mac Maclagen, a former member who was visiting from Sydney, who was resplendent in a bow tie. I bade my farewells shortly before eight and left the Professor contemplating yet another bottle of Shiraz. I embarked on my long journey to the High Peak pleased to have seen another club thriving in the modern era.
Bank Holidays
Bill Hart sent me the following:
On rereading Edition 19, I was left with the strong feeling that any reader who had never met me would come to the conclusion that I was a noisy bastard who could not play. As evidence for my defence, I offer this extract from the Hornsey Centenary Booklet, published in 1970, which was written by Alan Dey:
“The away game against South Hampstead produced a most dramatic finish. Roger Pearman scored 120 – one of his best innings for the club – in leading the club’s attempt to score 269 to win, but after he was out Hornsey fell behind and the last over began with 34 wanted and three wickets left. John Fawcett, who was well in, was facing Bill Hart – a man
whose attitude at two minutes to seven with an apparent draw coming up was much the same as at 11.30am with a new ball and a ‘juicy’ wicket. John Fawcett was bowled by the third ball, Clive Harrison was LBW to the fourth and Mel Saunders caught at slip by Len Stubbs off the fifth. The ball we were assured did touch Len’s hands on its way to its resting place between his legs, and after it had been safely recovered the scene was chaotic. The writer could never believe that the old South Hampstead pavilion really ‘dried out’ after the jollification of that evening.”
Bill continues: “It refers to the match played on Whit Monday 1963. You will see that Roger Pearman got a century (a large jug of bitter), as did Bob Peach (a large jug of bitter). You will also see that I had one to buy one, and when I tell you that Alan Clain contributed a barrel of bitter to celebrate his wedding to June, you will understand why it was the boosiest evening I ever spent at the club!”
*
The above events took place a few weeks before I made my first appearance at South Hampstead in July 1963. I quickly came to realize that the two bank holiday fixtures against Hornsey were the highlights of the season. Everyone was available for selection to play in these all-day games. The teams would arrive early for coffee and to indulge in some pre match piss taking and banter. But once the match began the atmosphere was electric and no quarter was asked or given. There would be plenty of spectators to observe the proceedings. Honorary members from both clubs would be in attendance as well as the hundred or so regulars who still sat around the ground in those days.
Those who have never had the privilege of playing with or against Bill Hart should be reassured that he was indeed a noisy bastard but was also a fearsome and talented fast bowler as well as being a wielder of the long handle when given the opportunity to bat.
Stumpers
I was copied in on a recent exchange of correspondence between The Professor and the Great Jack Morgan
I would be interested in Jack's view about the wicket-keeping issue. He must have seen most of them in the last few years - who do you think is the best in the Country? In the past there has been more unanimity of view about who was the best (even if he wasn't in the test side) - I'm not sure there is now. I recently saw Ben Scott standing up to Klusener who was bowling very brisk in-duckers and he looked very good indeed. The Great Jack Morgan replied as follows
Ben Scott played for all the Middlesex junior sides and for Middlesex 2s for several years before he was poached by Surrey as cover for Batty in the continued absence of Stewart. He came home to replace Dave Alleyne (a good bat, but not really good enough as a keeper), who was sacked and joined Nottinghamshire as cover for Chris Read; Wayne Noon taking the job of assistant coach. Scotty is a great little keeper and an improving bat. Nashy is not having a great season behind the stumps because of hand injuries, which is allowing Scott his chance, but Ben will not get the runs that David would get, in the short term. Both are good standing up, but Nash usually only stands up to the spinners.
Razor and I have been discussing the keeping situation for some time and, although I have seen most of the keepers, I do not see enough of them to make a confident judgment. I have compared the current situation to the interregnum between Evans and Knott, when many keepers were tried, but they settled on Parks because he was a class bat and they had no other genuine all rounder. Geraint, I believe, is the New Jim Parks.
With the caveats given above, here is my analysis of the situation:
i) Some of the country’s best keepers are surely too old for consideration, so I am excluding Warren Hegg (Lancashire), Paul Nixon (Leicestershire), Rob Turner (Somerset), Keith Piper (Warwickshire), Steve Rhodes (Worcestershire) and Richard Blakey (Yorkshire).
ii) I reckon the main contenders are: Geraint Jones – excellent bat, but I don’t really think that he is a good enough keeper, though he is improving (when I first saw him playing for Kent 2s about 3 years ago, I assessed him as about as good as Dave Alleyne (Middlesex), not an insult, but not quite good enough); Chris Read (Nottinghamshire) – a good keeper, but not quite as good standing up as some seem to think: he looked all at sea against Stuart MacGill last season, and a better bat than many people realise; James Foster (Essex) – still improving with both bat and gloves and could still be a major challenger; Mark Wallace (Glamorgan) – promising keeper and effective bat, despite having only one shot!; Jonathan Batty (Surrey) – good bat and a fair keeper, but older than the others.
iii) I’m putting David Nash (Middlesex) in a lower category at the moment, temporarily, as he has problems at present: I have bored Razor about this, but the short of it is that he might be on his way out of the club; also in this bunch are Matthew Prior (Sussex) – good bat and fair keeper, but he cannot get the gloves at Sussex at the moment; Andy Pratt (Durham) – probably not a good enough batsman; Tony Frost (Warwickshire)– good bat, but probably not a good enough keeper; Tobin Bailey (Northamptonshire)– losing out to Gerard Brophy’s superior batting.
iv) In a fourth group of less experienced challengers, I’m listing Phil Mustard (Durham) – I haven’t seen him, but I hear that he is a very useful keeper/ batsman; Ben Scott –see above; Carl Gazzard (Somerset)– I haven’t seen him, but he is clearly a useful batsman; James Pipe (Worcestershire) – good keeper and batsman, but he got a pair when I saw him in the 2s a couple of years ago; Simon Guy (Yorkshire)– potentially brilliant keeper and batsman, whom I have admired in the 2s, but who is not yet getting any runs in the first XI; Stephen Adshead (Gloucestershire)– good 2nd XI bat, but not yet a great keeper; T New – very young, but skilful keeper and bat. I saw Andrew Hodd keeping for Surrey 2s the other day and he was very impressive with both gloves and bat. He is the England U-19 keeper and they pinched him from Sussex to replace Scott.
v) In the last group of not yet qualified keepers, we find Nic Pothas (Hampshire) - good bat, adequate keeper; Niall O’Brien (Kent)– promising bat, adequate keeper; Gerard Brophy (Northamptonshire)– haven’t seen him keep, but a good bat; Tim Ambrose (Sussex) – good bat, possibly the next best after Jones, but he had a poor day when I saw him keep.
If you want me to guess what will happen, I think that Geraint will hold on to the gloves, just as Jim Parks did, but that people will still complain that others are better keepers. His main challengers will continue to be Read and Foster, probably, but I am not giving up on the likes of Nash and Wallace. This situation could also change fairly soon as chaps like Scott and “Some Other” guy gain experience and confidence, while others such as Ambrose become qualified. Hope that helps: it could be interesting.
None of them compares to Len Barnsdale, of course.
The Googlies Summer Competition-The Bush Belles
The Great Jack Morgan has been keeping this exciting picture of the Bush Belles to himself for far too long. However, we can only be grateful that he is now unselfishly sharing it with us all. He is able to identify nine of the lovely ladies:
Back: Binny Seal, Marilyn Seal, Carole Pateman, Brenda Hatfield, Jill Pateman, unknown
Front: Fiona Perrin, Glynis Smith, Elaine Hatfield, unknown, The Lovely Jane Richards.
The Googlies Summer Competition comprises the following questions:
1. Who are the two unidentified beauties?
2. Why are they dressed in these Hawaiian style uniforms?
3. Why is their presence generating so little interest from the pavilion?
4. What activity did they subsequently participate in?
5. Was Len Barnsdale, who is seen standing beneath the bell, their Manager?
6. Where are they now, what are their addresses and mobile phone numbers?
7. Why is Glynis staring at David Jukes, off camera?
8. Who has dated more than three of them?
9. Why is Fiona looking so pissed off?
10. What did Frank Foreman say on a subsequent occasion when a tennis ball hit an unsuspecting Glynis Smith on her backside?
When marking your responses I shall take into account that some of you will have an unfair advantage in answering these probing questions. This particularly applies to Dave Perrin whose sister graces the shot. I shall also be merciless in deducting marks for any gratuitously lewd suggestions in your answers.
The winners will be entitled to receive a twenty-page email from the Great Jack Morgan comparing and contrasting the selection criteria for Middlesex CC’s Second XI and The Rangers Stiffs over the period 1987 to 1993.
Bad Grounds
By far the strangest place I ever played cricket in was Wormwood Scrubs Prison. Len Barnsdale was a warden there and whilst I was still at school I was asked to play in a Bush based side that he was raising to play against the inmates. This was convenient since the prison was located the other side of Hammersmith Hospital, which was adjacent to the school. We met up at about 4.30pm outside the imposing front door and were led in and through locked doors and along the famous corridors. The game took place in an inner courtyard on the asphalt and we played with a tennis ball that had been injected with water. I can recall very little about the game other than that it was enthusiastically watched by a large number of inmates. Afterwards it was not possible, as would normally have been the case, to fraternize with the opposition and of course, there were no bar facilities. I believe that we repaired to East Acton Lane and enjoyed the privileges of the unincarcerated.
Twenty20
The Professor noted: “I've not been to any Twenty20 matches but I note that, apart from finals, the game at Lords saw their biggest county crowd since 1953. How can so many people disagree with you and Jack? Sorry, that should read: How can so many people be wrong?” The Great Jack Morgan reported: “Yesterday’s Guardian gave the attendance as 26,500, but people at Richmond reckoned that that was an underestimate as there was hardly a spare seat in the house. There were touts at St Johns Wood station! It was also remarkable that everyone was watching the match, apparently, rather than drinking as they often do at one-dayers: if you go to the bar, you miss half of the match!”
All the indications are that Twenty 20 is going to catch on big style. The full house attendances this season will ensure that this format will be emulated around the world as cricket authorities cash in on the new money-spinner. Professional cricket will now have three forms – two innings cricket played over 3,4 or 5 days, one-day cricket of 50 overs a side, and the new Twenty20. What impact will this have on the longer game? There is no doubt that the development of the one-day game over the last ten years has led to faster scoring in the two innings format. Likewise Twenty20 will impact on the one-day game. If 200 is now more or less the minimum required score in a Twenty 20 game then it won’t be long before 400 becomes the benchmark in the 50 over game. If the wickets are good who’d be a bowler?
The strange thing is the continued perseverance with gimmicks which appear to be unnecessary since the slug fest seems to be managing to be the star turn on its own. The umpires have shed their dignity and joined in the fancy dress party and more than one has been observed signaling in the style of the Pipsqueak Kiwi. The strangest sideshow I have seen so far has been the speed-dating tent at New Road during the Worcestershire versus Gloucestershire match. It’s not such a long stretch for this to develop into speed shagging between overs.
Incidentally, Andrew Baker knows why the Great Jack Morgan and I, and indeed many more likeminded old fogeys, are not in favour of this form of cricket. He noted, “On 8 July Northamptonshire and Gloucestershire played out what must be the shortest completed match of all time. Five overs each side, one over per bowler maximum. Northamtonshire, who scored 42-5 were beaten by 8 wickets in 4.1 overs. The whole game lasted 9.1 overs!” Enough said.
Naff Kit Update
The Wisden Cricketer’s Player of the Month for August is Paul Weekes, the Middlesex pinch-hitting opening batsman. So why did he not make the squad of thirty for the Champions Trophy? The answer is that he is sartorially deficient. The Great Jack Morgan has twice reported him for wearing black socks during county championship matches this season and David Graveney doesn’t like that sort of thing. Meanwhile, George will be delighted to hear that Leicestershire’s Brad Hodge wore his box and jockstrap outside his trousers whilst batting against Yorkshire in a Twenty20 match. Perhaps he has Danish ancestors.
Player Cameo-Len Barnsdale The Great Jack Morgan provides this player cameo of Len Barnsdale
Len Barnsdale moved down from Liverpool around 1964 on promotion to a fairly senior position at Wormwood Scrubs Prison and moved into one of the many prison officers’ houses located close to Shepherds Bush CC. He kept wicket for the Thirds and although he had quite good hands, he was overweight and slow and not good at anything directed down the leg side. He was also a very careless tosser of the ball vaguely in the direction of the slips and it usually had to be retrieved from backward point or somewhere, creating an unimpressive air of sloppiness. He was no batsman and never batted above 9, but he developed a shot called the Barnsdale Swish, which he played to every ball. He usually missed, but sometimes the ball would go hurtling out to the deep mid-wicket boundary. He was usually out for 0, 4 or 8, but just occasionally he would hit 50 in about 10 minutes!
I could never see him playing above Third team level, but within a few years, he was captain of our rather strong Second XI. He brought four sons with him and they were all regulars at the club. I played in the thirds with Len Junior (LBJ) and I remember opening with him when we compiled an unbeaten century stand in a ten-wicket victory at Tottenham Gas (great fixture), with LBJ comfortably outscoring me, but then who didn’t? I also played with the second son, Alan, in both the thirds and seconds, but I never played with the younger two, though the third son, Stephen, did a bit of scoring.
One of Len’s most memorable decisions was to ban Eric Read and I from opening together after we were 99-0 at lunch at Barnes in a Second XI match. No doubt some people supported Len in this decision, but most thought it was ludicrous because i) as usual, we had not started on time; ii) we had a team full of biffers, who all required to be protected from the new ball; and iii) we still declared with well over 200 on the board. To be fair to Len, Barnes was quite a small ground and large scores were usually expected. There were two amusing sequels to this: i) in the next game, Eric batted at five, but I was still in when he came to the wicket, so we were able to resume our partnership; and ii) three weeks later, Eric and I were opening for the first XI, where they would have been over the moon if they had ever been 99-0 at lunch.
Irritating trends in modern cricket-number 19 Why is that modern infielders have developed the habit of raising an arm as the ball is creamed past them to the outfield? Maybe they are waving goodbye to the ball or signaling to the batsman that it is okay to commence running? I suppose that they are probably alerting their colleague in the irritating sweeper position that the ball is on its way towards him in case he has nodded off or has got involved with the crowd in some Twenty20 type fairground activity on the boundary. It, no doubt, started as a means of excusing the infielder from soiling his flannels in an attempt to stop the ball and was a means of saying “I’m not going to bother with this one so over to you sweeper”. Daft, I call it.
Strange Elevens
Last month’s Pushover XI were England internationals who were born in Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
The Great Jack Morgan has compiled the following side for you to ponder this month:
Mike Atherton
Mark Lathwell
John Crawley
Owais Shah
Andrew Symonds
Ben Hollioake
Richard Blakey (w/k)
Ian Salisbury
Paul Franks
Alex Tudor
Chris Silverwood
But what qualifies them to travel on the same team bus?
Reunion at South Hampstead on September 5th
Thanks to all readers who have helped us to locate “missing” players from the sixties and seventies. The reunion is now a few weeks away and we need you to confirm your intention to attend so that the catering arrangements can be finalized. The event will start at noon and a buffet lunch will be served. Wives will be most welcome. The cost of the event will be £10 per head. If you haven’t already responded please contact Bob Peach, Roy Dodson or myself. Thanks to all who have responded. The acceptance list currently reads as follows:
Bob and Diana Peach, Steve and Heather Thompson, Roy and Joyce Dodson, Bill and Gill Hart, Alvin and Helen Nienow, Russell and Sally Bowes, Robin and Carol Ager, Len Stubbs, Terry Cordaroy, Jim Sharp, Wynne Sharp, Wally and Di Barratt, Ken James, Roy Cutler, Geoff Cleaver, Allan Clain, Clive Coleman, Peter and Eileen Huntley, Ian Jerman, Bob and Francis Denley, Russ Collins, Allen Bruton, Nigel Ross, John Bowerman, Ossie Burton, Lionel Haywood, Mike D’Silva, Paul Martin, Bob Baxter, Harry Rose, Alf Langley, Junior Gale, Ian MacIntosh, Laurie and Iris Huntley, Roy Phipps, David Mindell and Dipak Parmar.
Geoff Howe and Robin Syrett have prior commitments but send their best wishes to former colleagues.
Old Danes of A Certain Age Bill Groombridge is arranging a get together for Old Danes from the early sixties on Tuesday 7th September. Bill can be contacted on:01892 653297 (H);0208 633 4443 (O);07901 894 736 (Mob).
In Memoriam
David Banks’ widow, Lucy, wrote to tell me recently that David had died following his illness. I hadn’t seen David since we left school in the mid sixties but had enjoyed trading emails with him over the last couple of years. He always asked to be remembered to anyone who knew him.
Earlier Editions
I will be please to email you a copy of the earlier editions of Googlies & Chinamen, if you missed or have mislaid them:
If you received this edition through a third party, please send me your email address to ensure that you get on the main mailing list for future editions.
Googlies and Chinamen
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Broad Lee House
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Tel & fax: 01298 70237
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 20
August 2004
The Len Barnsdale Issue
Suddenly everyone is in touch with everyone. The quest to locate former players and colleagues has led me to have conversations with Allen Bruton, Nigel Ross and John Bowerman recently. I have also been in touch with Geoff Howe and Robin Syrett. John Williams put me in touch with Alf Langley, whilst Bob Peach has been talking to Ian Jerman. Roy Dodson has heard from David Mindell and the Higgins brothers, whilst Robin Ager ran into Peter Dickson at Peter Mailey’s funeral.
Bill Hart, who is a Battersea GS old boy, has put me in touch with other Old Grammarians including Dave Garrard. Dave is one of the few players I have played with in three different levels of cricket- as an opponent at school, alongside in the London Schools 1st XI and again as an opponent in club cricket. Dave has sent me some interesting material that I will feature in the next edition.
I had dinner with Steve and Heather Thompson last month and Steve said that he had played his first game of cricket in ten years when he turned out for the MCC against a local school side. The Match Manager must have phoned up the wrong Thompson in the MCC book since the captain threw him the ball before lunch. I felt obliged on your behalf to examine Steve’s spinning finger and can report, as usual, that there was no sign of any abrasion. At number eight Steve was not required to wield the willow.
John Williams, formerly of Harrow Town and Pinner, has been receiving a black market copy of G&C from John Overy. John sent me this: “The OMT's much appreciated the match report in issue18. I keep in touch with Paul Smith and sent him a copy. In no time at all Paul Graver et al had received copies. I saw Paul Smith, who has lived in Cardiff since the 70's, a couple of weeks ago. He vividly recalls the game and tells me that both Cords & Stubbs were caught and bowled!” I was convinced that this would be wrong and so checked with the scorebook but can report that he is indeed correct and that Welsh air must be better than English air for the memory.
There have been some phenomenal innings played in this year’s Twenty20 competition. Graham Hick and Ian Thomas both scored116 not out on the same afternoon. Andrew Symonds scored his 112 against Middlesex off 43 balls, which, of course, is just seven overs. The Great Jack Morgan would often take that long to get off the mark.
Out and About with the Professor
The Professor reports on a recent sojourn to Sussex
Faced with the alternative of shopping for women’s shoes, I took myself off to the little ground in Chichester where Dick Briance used to play. When he left the Bush, he joined Chichester, and for several years a group of Bush-folk played a game in their cricket week: Jukes, Perrin, Wright, Cutler, etc. I think Frank went down and perhaps Jack. I had long-since left the Bush but played two or three games. The ground is unusual since it has a chapel in it - indeed it is a public park- but it is a nice spot, with the Grey Friars Chapel giving quite a short boundary square of the wicket. My memory of 30 years back was that it was fine at one end but very lively at the other. And so it proved to be still. I saw eight wickets fall in two hours, seven at the bumpy end. Dick is still a member, but not seen much these days I was told.
Serendipity In G&C 18 I published a photo of the South Hampstead 1st XI in 1972. Bill Hart noted that the photo was rare in that it depicted him as captain, a role he fulfilled on only two or three occasions for the club. He asked if he could have a copy and I duly obliged. I also decided to look up the occasion of the match itself, which transpired to be last match of the 1972 season on the 8th October against Pinner.
Later in the same week I received an email from John Williams. I scurried back to the score sheet and, yes, John played in this early winter outing. In fact John top scored with 40 on the losing Pinner side. Other members of that Pinner side included Charlie Toole and Carl Goldsmith. I am far too modest to mention who top scored for South Hampstead that day but it certainly adds to the uniqueness of the occasion. Alan Cox took 5 for 25 for South Hampstead and the other wickets were shared by Ossie Burton, Geoff Howe and Ian Jerman. Did skipper Hart feature in the proceedings? He certainly did holding three catches. I asked Bill if he could recall anything about them, he replied: “All of my catches were at mid-on. However, I suspect that they were all fiendishly difficult”.
Meanwhile, after I had sent him a G&C 19, Alf Langley sent me this: “Talk about "the long arm of coincidence"! I spent half the day at Lords yesterday trying to convince a chap called Bruce MacDonald who played for Sunbury in the Shepherds Bush game mentioned by Gary Black to the Professor (190 before lunch with David Jukes), that I was not involved in the game. He even bet me a tenner. Had I played, Gary would have batted at three instead of opening. I played for Holmwood in the Clive Lloyd competition on that day.”
Rained Off
I looked into Welwyn Garden City CC on the Thursday of their cricket week in July. I arrived about 4.15 in foul weather and play had long been called off for the day. However, the Life Members’ annual lunch was in still in full swing with the Professor in Presidential mode masterminding the proceedings. WGCCC has a maximum of ten Life Members and accession to this exalted position can only be achieved when a vacancy arises and then only after much back scratching and the greasing of palms. Shiraz was the favoured tipple and it was in plentiful supply. Enoch will be pleased to hear that his book was in pride of place on the table.
I was made most welcome and was seated next to Paddy Carlin who is a Cardinal Vaughan old boy who knows Ken Fletcher and Ken James through footballing connections. He is also a mate of Bob Baxter’s. I was seated opposite David Beynon, the recently elected President of Hertfordshire. Whilst we were making these acquaintances the Professor was getting Peter Moyce to tell the story of how he had once dropped a catch in a first class match. Silence was then called for and George Arthur impressively recited “Tomkins” and “Full on the boot” from A.A.Milne’s collection of cricketing verse.
The Professor in full flight, George Arthur standing, Paddy Carlin seated
When the rain eased we went outside to splash about on the outfield and I was introduced to James Fitt who is called Snapper by everyone. He will be better known to most of you as The Independent on Sunday’s columnist – The Nurdler. He lives strangely enough on Milverton Road. Someone produced a tennis ball and when it was passed to me I took my first wicket of the decade when I bowled Snapper who was batting with a stump, using my new Murali action.
The club has a thriving, non-cricketing, social section that generates a lot of income that is ploughed back into the excellent facilities. The ground is in a beautiful setting and is large enough that there are decent boundaries wherever the wicket is pitched on the square. A cricketing clinic is being organised during the school holidays when boys and girls of all ages will benefit from coaching by the club’s Tasmanian professional.
The Professor was smartly attired in a suit and club tie but lost out on the sartorial prize for the day to Mac Maclagen, a former member who was visiting from Sydney, who was resplendent in a bow tie. I bade my farewells shortly before eight and left the Professor contemplating yet another bottle of Shiraz. I embarked on my long journey to the High Peak pleased to have seen another club thriving in the modern era.
Bank Holidays
Bill Hart sent me the following:
On rereading Edition 19, I was left with the strong feeling that any reader who had never met me would come to the conclusion that I was a noisy bastard who could not play. As evidence for my defence, I offer this extract from the Hornsey Centenary Booklet, published in 1970, which was written by Alan Dey:
“The away game against South Hampstead produced a most dramatic finish. Roger Pearman scored 120 – one of his best innings for the club – in leading the club’s attempt to score 269 to win, but after he was out Hornsey fell behind and the last over began with 34 wanted and three wickets left. John Fawcett, who was well in, was facing Bill Hart – a man
whose attitude at two minutes to seven with an apparent draw coming up was much the same as at 11.30am with a new ball and a ‘juicy’ wicket. John Fawcett was bowled by the third ball, Clive Harrison was LBW to the fourth and Mel Saunders caught at slip by Len Stubbs off the fifth. The ball we were assured did touch Len’s hands on its way to its resting place between his legs, and after it had been safely recovered the scene was chaotic. The writer could never believe that the old South Hampstead pavilion really ‘dried out’ after the jollification of that evening.”
Bill continues: “It refers to the match played on Whit Monday 1963. You will see that Roger Pearman got a century (a large jug of bitter), as did Bob Peach (a large jug of bitter). You will also see that I had one to buy one, and when I tell you that Alan Clain contributed a barrel of bitter to celebrate his wedding to June, you will understand why it was the boosiest evening I ever spent at the club!”
*
The above events took place a few weeks before I made my first appearance at South Hampstead in July 1963. I quickly came to realize that the two bank holiday fixtures against Hornsey were the highlights of the season. Everyone was available for selection to play in these all-day games. The teams would arrive early for coffee and to indulge in some pre match piss taking and banter. But once the match began the atmosphere was electric and no quarter was asked or given. There would be plenty of spectators to observe the proceedings. Honorary members from both clubs would be in attendance as well as the hundred or so regulars who still sat around the ground in those days.
Those who have never had the privilege of playing with or against Bill Hart should be reassured that he was indeed a noisy bastard but was also a fearsome and talented fast bowler as well as being a wielder of the long handle when given the opportunity to bat.
Stumpers
I was copied in on a recent exchange of correspondence between The Professor and the Great Jack Morgan
I would be interested in Jack's view about the wicket-keeping issue. He must have seen most of them in the last few years - who do you think is the best in the Country? In the past there has been more unanimity of view about who was the best (even if he wasn't in the test side) - I'm not sure there is now. I recently saw Ben Scott standing up to Klusener who was bowling very brisk in-duckers and he looked very good indeed. The Great Jack Morgan replied as follows
Ben Scott played for all the Middlesex junior sides and for Middlesex 2s for several years before he was poached by Surrey as cover for Batty in the continued absence of Stewart. He came home to replace Dave Alleyne (a good bat, but not really good enough as a keeper), who was sacked and joined Nottinghamshire as cover for Chris Read; Wayne Noon taking the job of assistant coach. Scotty is a great little keeper and an improving bat. Nashy is not having a great season behind the stumps because of hand injuries, which is allowing Scott his chance, but Ben will not get the runs that David would get, in the short term. Both are good standing up, but Nash usually only stands up to the spinners.
Razor and I have been discussing the keeping situation for some time and, although I have seen most of the keepers, I do not see enough of them to make a confident judgment. I have compared the current situation to the interregnum between Evans and Knott, when many keepers were tried, but they settled on Parks because he was a class bat and they had no other genuine all rounder. Geraint, I believe, is the New Jim Parks.
With the caveats given above, here is my analysis of the situation:
i) Some of the country’s best keepers are surely too old for consideration, so I am excluding Warren Hegg (Lancashire), Paul Nixon (Leicestershire), Rob Turner (Somerset), Keith Piper (Warwickshire), Steve Rhodes (Worcestershire) and Richard Blakey (Yorkshire).
ii) I reckon the main contenders are: Geraint Jones – excellent bat, but I don’t really think that he is a good enough keeper, though he is improving (when I first saw him playing for Kent 2s about 3 years ago, I assessed him as about as good as Dave Alleyne (Middlesex), not an insult, but not quite good enough); Chris Read (Nottinghamshire) – a good keeper, but not quite as good standing up as some seem to think: he looked all at sea against Stuart MacGill last season, and a better bat than many people realise; James Foster (Essex) – still improving with both bat and gloves and could still be a major challenger; Mark Wallace (Glamorgan) – promising keeper and effective bat, despite having only one shot!; Jonathan Batty (Surrey) – good bat and a fair keeper, but older than the others.
iii) I’m putting David Nash (Middlesex) in a lower category at the moment, temporarily, as he has problems at present: I have bored Razor about this, but the short of it is that he might be on his way out of the club; also in this bunch are Matthew Prior (Sussex) – good bat and fair keeper, but he cannot get the gloves at Sussex at the moment; Andy Pratt (Durham) – probably not a good enough batsman; Tony Frost (Warwickshire)– good bat, but probably not a good enough keeper; Tobin Bailey (Northamptonshire)– losing out to Gerard Brophy’s superior batting.
iv) In a fourth group of less experienced challengers, I’m listing Phil Mustard (Durham) – I haven’t seen him, but I hear that he is a very useful keeper/ batsman; Ben Scott –see above; Carl Gazzard (Somerset)– I haven’t seen him, but he is clearly a useful batsman; James Pipe (Worcestershire) – good keeper and batsman, but he got a pair when I saw him in the 2s a couple of years ago; Simon Guy (Yorkshire)– potentially brilliant keeper and batsman, whom I have admired in the 2s, but who is not yet getting any runs in the first XI; Stephen Adshead (Gloucestershire)– good 2nd XI bat, but not yet a great keeper; T New – very young, but skilful keeper and bat. I saw Andrew Hodd keeping for Surrey 2s the other day and he was very impressive with both gloves and bat. He is the England U-19 keeper and they pinched him from Sussex to replace Scott.
v) In the last group of not yet qualified keepers, we find Nic Pothas (Hampshire) - good bat, adequate keeper; Niall O’Brien (Kent)– promising bat, adequate keeper; Gerard Brophy (Northamptonshire)– haven’t seen him keep, but a good bat; Tim Ambrose (Sussex) – good bat, possibly the next best after Jones, but he had a poor day when I saw him keep.
If you want me to guess what will happen, I think that Geraint will hold on to the gloves, just as Jim Parks did, but that people will still complain that others are better keepers. His main challengers will continue to be Read and Foster, probably, but I am not giving up on the likes of Nash and Wallace. This situation could also change fairly soon as chaps like Scott and “Some Other” guy gain experience and confidence, while others such as Ambrose become qualified. Hope that helps: it could be interesting.
None of them compares to Len Barnsdale, of course.
The Googlies Summer Competition-The Bush Belles
The Great Jack Morgan has been keeping this exciting picture of the Bush Belles to himself for far too long. However, we can only be grateful that he is now unselfishly sharing it with us all. He is able to identify nine of the lovely ladies:
Back: Binny Seal, Marilyn Seal, Carole Pateman, Brenda Hatfield, Jill Pateman, unknown
Front: Fiona Perrin, Glynis Smith, Elaine Hatfield, unknown, The Lovely Jane Richards.
The Googlies Summer Competition comprises the following questions:
1. Who are the two unidentified beauties?
2. Why are they dressed in these Hawaiian style uniforms?
3. Why is their presence generating so little interest from the pavilion?
4. What activity did they subsequently participate in?
5. Was Len Barnsdale, who is seen standing beneath the bell, their Manager?
6. Where are they now, what are their addresses and mobile phone numbers?
7. Why is Glynis staring at David Jukes, off camera?
8. Who has dated more than three of them?
9. Why is Fiona looking so pissed off?
10. What did Frank Foreman say on a subsequent occasion when a tennis ball hit an unsuspecting Glynis Smith on her backside?
When marking your responses I shall take into account that some of you will have an unfair advantage in answering these probing questions. This particularly applies to Dave Perrin whose sister graces the shot. I shall also be merciless in deducting marks for any gratuitously lewd suggestions in your answers.
The winners will be entitled to receive a twenty-page email from the Great Jack Morgan comparing and contrasting the selection criteria for Middlesex CC’s Second XI and The Rangers Stiffs over the period 1987 to 1993.
Bad Grounds
By far the strangest place I ever played cricket in was Wormwood Scrubs Prison. Len Barnsdale was a warden there and whilst I was still at school I was asked to play in a Bush based side that he was raising to play against the inmates. This was convenient since the prison was located the other side of Hammersmith Hospital, which was adjacent to the school. We met up at about 4.30pm outside the imposing front door and were led in and through locked doors and along the famous corridors. The game took place in an inner courtyard on the asphalt and we played with a tennis ball that had been injected with water. I can recall very little about the game other than that it was enthusiastically watched by a large number of inmates. Afterwards it was not possible, as would normally have been the case, to fraternize with the opposition and of course, there were no bar facilities. I believe that we repaired to East Acton Lane and enjoyed the privileges of the unincarcerated.
Twenty20
The Professor noted: “I've not been to any Twenty20 matches but I note that, apart from finals, the game at Lords saw their biggest county crowd since 1953. How can so many people disagree with you and Jack? Sorry, that should read: How can so many people be wrong?” The Great Jack Morgan reported: “Yesterday’s Guardian gave the attendance as 26,500, but people at Richmond reckoned that that was an underestimate as there was hardly a spare seat in the house. There were touts at St Johns Wood station! It was also remarkable that everyone was watching the match, apparently, rather than drinking as they often do at one-dayers: if you go to the bar, you miss half of the match!”
All the indications are that Twenty 20 is going to catch on big style. The full house attendances this season will ensure that this format will be emulated around the world as cricket authorities cash in on the new money-spinner. Professional cricket will now have three forms – two innings cricket played over 3,4 or 5 days, one-day cricket of 50 overs a side, and the new Twenty20. What impact will this have on the longer game? There is no doubt that the development of the one-day game over the last ten years has led to faster scoring in the two innings format. Likewise Twenty20 will impact on the one-day game. If 200 is now more or less the minimum required score in a Twenty 20 game then it won’t be long before 400 becomes the benchmark in the 50 over game. If the wickets are good who’d be a bowler?
The strange thing is the continued perseverance with gimmicks which appear to be unnecessary since the slug fest seems to be managing to be the star turn on its own. The umpires have shed their dignity and joined in the fancy dress party and more than one has been observed signaling in the style of the Pipsqueak Kiwi. The strangest sideshow I have seen so far has been the speed-dating tent at New Road during the Worcestershire versus Gloucestershire match. It’s not such a long stretch for this to develop into speed shagging between overs.
Incidentally, Andrew Baker knows why the Great Jack Morgan and I, and indeed many more likeminded old fogeys, are not in favour of this form of cricket. He noted, “On 8 July Northamptonshire and Gloucestershire played out what must be the shortest completed match of all time. Five overs each side, one over per bowler maximum. Northamtonshire, who scored 42-5 were beaten by 8 wickets in 4.1 overs. The whole game lasted 9.1 overs!” Enough said.
Naff Kit Update
The Wisden Cricketer’s Player of the Month for August is Paul Weekes, the Middlesex pinch-hitting opening batsman. So why did he not make the squad of thirty for the Champions Trophy? The answer is that he is sartorially deficient. The Great Jack Morgan has twice reported him for wearing black socks during county championship matches this season and David Graveney doesn’t like that sort of thing. Meanwhile, George will be delighted to hear that Leicestershire’s Brad Hodge wore his box and jockstrap outside his trousers whilst batting against Yorkshire in a Twenty20 match. Perhaps he has Danish ancestors.
Player Cameo-Len Barnsdale The Great Jack Morgan provides this player cameo of Len Barnsdale
Len Barnsdale moved down from Liverpool around 1964 on promotion to a fairly senior position at Wormwood Scrubs Prison and moved into one of the many prison officers’ houses located close to Shepherds Bush CC. He kept wicket for the Thirds and although he had quite good hands, he was overweight and slow and not good at anything directed down the leg side. He was also a very careless tosser of the ball vaguely in the direction of the slips and it usually had to be retrieved from backward point or somewhere, creating an unimpressive air of sloppiness. He was no batsman and never batted above 9, but he developed a shot called the Barnsdale Swish, which he played to every ball. He usually missed, but sometimes the ball would go hurtling out to the deep mid-wicket boundary. He was usually out for 0, 4 or 8, but just occasionally he would hit 50 in about 10 minutes!
I could never see him playing above Third team level, but within a few years, he was captain of our rather strong Second XI. He brought four sons with him and they were all regulars at the club. I played in the thirds with Len Junior (LBJ) and I remember opening with him when we compiled an unbeaten century stand in a ten-wicket victory at Tottenham Gas (great fixture), with LBJ comfortably outscoring me, but then who didn’t? I also played with the second son, Alan, in both the thirds and seconds, but I never played with the younger two, though the third son, Stephen, did a bit of scoring.
One of Len’s most memorable decisions was to ban Eric Read and I from opening together after we were 99-0 at lunch at Barnes in a Second XI match. No doubt some people supported Len in this decision, but most thought it was ludicrous because i) as usual, we had not started on time; ii) we had a team full of biffers, who all required to be protected from the new ball; and iii) we still declared with well over 200 on the board. To be fair to Len, Barnes was quite a small ground and large scores were usually expected. There were two amusing sequels to this: i) in the next game, Eric batted at five, but I was still in when he came to the wicket, so we were able to resume our partnership; and ii) three weeks later, Eric and I were opening for the first XI, where they would have been over the moon if they had ever been 99-0 at lunch.
Irritating trends in modern cricket-number 19 Why is that modern infielders have developed the habit of raising an arm as the ball is creamed past them to the outfield? Maybe they are waving goodbye to the ball or signaling to the batsman that it is okay to commence running? I suppose that they are probably alerting their colleague in the irritating sweeper position that the ball is on its way towards him in case he has nodded off or has got involved with the crowd in some Twenty20 type fairground activity on the boundary. It, no doubt, started as a means of excusing the infielder from soiling his flannels in an attempt to stop the ball and was a means of saying “I’m not going to bother with this one so over to you sweeper”. Daft, I call it.
Strange Elevens
Last month’s Pushover XI were England internationals who were born in Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
The Great Jack Morgan has compiled the following side for you to ponder this month:
Mike Atherton
Mark Lathwell
John Crawley
Owais Shah
Andrew Symonds
Ben Hollioake
Richard Blakey (w/k)
Ian Salisbury
Paul Franks
Alex Tudor
Chris Silverwood
But what qualifies them to travel on the same team bus?
Reunion at South Hampstead on September 5th
Thanks to all readers who have helped us to locate “missing” players from the sixties and seventies. The reunion is now a few weeks away and we need you to confirm your intention to attend so that the catering arrangements can be finalized. The event will start at noon and a buffet lunch will be served. Wives will be most welcome. The cost of the event will be £10 per head. If you haven’t already responded please contact Bob Peach, Roy Dodson or myself. Thanks to all who have responded. The acceptance list currently reads as follows:
Bob and Diana Peach, Steve and Heather Thompson, Roy and Joyce Dodson, Bill and Gill Hart, Alvin and Helen Nienow, Russell and Sally Bowes, Robin and Carol Ager, Len Stubbs, Terry Cordaroy, Jim Sharp, Wynne Sharp, Wally and Di Barratt, Ken James, Roy Cutler, Geoff Cleaver, Allan Clain, Clive Coleman, Peter and Eileen Huntley, Ian Jerman, Bob and Francis Denley, Russ Collins, Allen Bruton, Nigel Ross, John Bowerman, Ossie Burton, Lionel Haywood, Mike D’Silva, Paul Martin, Bob Baxter, Harry Rose, Alf Langley, Junior Gale, Ian MacIntosh, Laurie and Iris Huntley, Roy Phipps, David Mindell and Dipak Parmar.
Geoff Howe and Robin Syrett have prior commitments but send their best wishes to former colleagues.
Old Danes of A Certain Age Bill Groombridge is arranging a get together for Old Danes from the early sixties on Tuesday 7th September. Bill can be contacted on:01892 653297 (H);0208 633 4443 (O);07901 894 736 (Mob).
In Memoriam
David Banks’ widow, Lucy, wrote to tell me recently that David had died following his illness. I hadn’t seen David since we left school in the mid sixties but had enjoyed trading emails with him over the last couple of years. He always asked to be remembered to anyone who knew him.
Earlier Editions
I will be please to email you a copy of the earlier editions of Googlies & Chinamen, if you missed or have mislaid them:
If you received this edition through a third party, please send me your email address to ensure that you get on the main mailing list for future editions.
Googlies and Chinamen
is produced by
James Sharp
Broad Lee House
Combs
High Peak
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Tel & fax: 01298 70237
Email: tiksha@btinternet.com
