My Work
GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 217
January 2021
Old Wanker’s Almanac
His venerable self was in a particularly tetchy mood when I bumped into him recently
January
The Third Wave of the Virus, affectionately called the Christmas Wave, takes hold of the country and the Government introduce a Super Lockdown in which no one is allowed out of their domestic bubble for any reason. Matt Hancock breaks down as he announces this but claims that all will soon be well as the vaccine is disseminated but then he realises that no-one will be allowed to administer it.
Goon Rule continues as Gavin Williamson announces that Schools will now open and close on alternate weeks so that they can always be compliant with changing Government policy.
When asked why the pressure on the NHS is not relieved by using the Nightingale Hospitals which were created at vast public expense, Matt Hancock at last confesses that when they were built no-one had considered how they would be manned.
Mass Testing gets underway despite a whole range of complications, but no one is really sure why this is more important than the vaccination programme.
February
Following another shortage of PPE in the NHS the government resumes its initial position and announces that there is no need for the public to wear face masks since “there is little likelihood of transmission of the virus by nose or mouth”.
The Liberal Democrat Party recruit Dominic Cummins as their new leader.
The PM announces that it would be inhuman to cancel St Valentine’s Day. He announces a complex set of rules (not guidelines) as to who is allowed to kiss who (lips to lips), which couples may have normal sex (open air only) and who is permitted to indulge in kinky sex (under government close supervision only).
Priti Patel confirms that she has recruited 100,000 thugs to her National Guard who will be responsible for enforcing all Covid Rules. They will be granted blanket powers to enter the workplace, domestic houses and Premier League training grounds without notice as well as create roadblocks and isolate towns and cities.
March
The Fourth Wave of the virus, known as the School Wave, sweeps the country. There start to be rumours of a new Covid 21 spreading in the Far East.
Keir Starmer joins the government. He is quoted as saying “it was inevitable since I support them in everything they say and do”.
The Statistical Society awards Matt Hancock their Creative Statistics Award for circulating both the most misleading and the most incorrect statistics during 2020.
April
Following the difficulty in obtaining dental appointments Messrs Hancock and Williamson announce that schools will now be responsible for providing dental care for children after the Easter break. Staff will be provided with a week’s tuition in dentistry to familiarise them with the skills necessary for making fillings and extractions. They are advised not to attempt root canal procedures.
Dido Harding leaves the Track & Trace Project in a shambles and is appointed to lead the new Examinations Board.
May
The PM announces that he has decided there won’t be a Public Enquiry into his Government’s handling of the Epidemic. He states that he believes that his government did as well as anybody else could have done and now considers the matter closed.
Also closed are the schools and Gavin Williamson tells teachers that they should visit their students at home in order to give them face to face tuition. All school holidays are cancelled in order to accommodate the teacher visits.
June
The teachers are the only people still at work and so it is decided that they could usefully spend their evening hours working in the Nightingale Hospitals.
The PM in a desperate attempt to distance himself from the errors of his past decides to abandon his cuddly nickname Boris and announces that he will henceforth be called by his real first name, Alexander.
Following Matt Hancock’s elevation to the peerage Chris Grayling is appointed Health Secretary.
Overheard in the toilets at No10:
“Who on earth is going to pay for all the money we have blown?”
“Don’t worry, it won’t be our problem.”
In and Within with the Professor
“Has South African cricket at last turned a corner?” Thus, a question, by a South African commentator, following: “the crushing defeat of Sri Lanka”, in the First Test. Well, “crushing” the victory certainly was – you can’t do much better than an innings and 45 runs - even if the opposition were unable to complete either innings. South Africa’s considerable first innings score of 621 saw Faf du Plessis join ten other players, I read, who have been dismissed for 199 in a Test. Always difficult to know whether to regard this as bad luck or not. It would be nice to think that SA can go on to win this Test series decisively and that some of the fine young players recently coming into the side: van de Dussen, Bavuma, Nortje, Ngidi, etc., all go on to have excellent careers.
Then again, we do seem to have heard all this before and: “One swallow”, as a famous Greek once said, “does not make a spring”. Indeed, when I heard the “turned the corner” phrase I thought I had read it (once or twice) before about SA cricket. A quick Google turns up an article by Mark Nicholas with just such a title written in March of this year. Following the defeat of Australia in the ODI series, Nicholas looks forward to (it would be fairer to say “hopes for”) a change in fortunes for the national side, after poor results in 2019 (although a 3-0 defeat to India, in India, is not too shameful) followed by the defeats at home to England (having won the First Test, remember). Nicholas runs through the problems that have beset SA cricket: money, maladministration, coaching, Kolpak, “quotas”, etc., and concludes that things might be on the up. Well, perhaps…but it might still take some time, since there appear to be problems at almost every turn.
It’s difficult to know what impact “the administrators” actually have on a team on the field, but Cricket South Africa – who have had four CEOs in as many months, and been suspended by the government, might not appear to provide the ideal seamless support. Nicholas was writing when Jaques Faul had just been made a temporary appointment. He described him as “a big man in statue – it’s the braai and the meat, has to be – but even bigger of heart and mind”. “It’s enough to see (him) walk into a room and…I’ll wager he is not temporary for much longer”. He resigned shortly afterwards. He replaced a suspended CEO and was followed by an Acting CEO who in turn has been suspended and replaced by another “acting” head. Ali Bacher’s description of SA as “the joke of world cricket” might be a touch parochial, but you do rather see his point.
The cause of all this is, as we all know, summed up in a single word: politics. It’s a protean word and covers the spectrum from narrow factionalism to what it is now fashionable to call a “worldview”. But it is, and always has been, a determining feature of representative South African cricket from their first Test in 1889 onwards. It might be objected that the administrative shambles is down to incompetence or corruption, but that is in itself a political dimension. Nor should we need reminding, is SA alone in this. Think of the history of cricket in India and Pakistan, or the West Indies (so interestingly covered in Simon Lister’s “Fire in Babylon”) or the 150 years or so of the almost entirely white Australian sides. And, while we are at it, what of the gentlemen/players distinction in this country with its ludicrous initialising and, perhaps most disgracefully of all, the racial bigotry of the then MCC during the D’Oliveira affair. Nor is this a thing of the past. Yorkshire’s need to appoint a “diversity manager” is clearly a step forward but just as clearly exemplifies the problem, and I heard recently the journalist George Dobell say that Warwickshire had offered trials to 800 young players this season, one of whom was black.
It’s at about this point in this type of discussion that someone says (and I heard it said in South Africa in January) that we should “keep politics out of cricket”. Notwithstanding the impossibility of bringing this about, and John Arlott’s repost that you might as well try to keep politics out of life, there is the question of whether it is even desirable. We know, of course, what such people mean (or seem to mean): they just want the strongest team put into the field. We would all like that. For South Africa that might mean the return of the Kolpak (or equivalent) players: Abbott, Olivier, Harmer, Rossouw -among others - are often mentioned (alongside the protracted de Villiers story). Although there must be a debate about whether these names would now make the team, not to mention their impact on the existing players. It would also signal end of “quotas” – explicit or otherwise - whereby half (i.e., at least five) of the team should be non-white. But quotas exist for a reason. It is only 25 years or so ago that black South Africans got the vote: the impatience with quotas is understandable but so is their existence. Nor is it new; having an “amateur” to captain England was a quota of sorts pre-Hutton, and I don’t recall reading of widespread demonstrations against the pre-Worrell West Indies sides “having” to have a white captain. And so on…
When cricketers make overt political statements, as with Ngidi’s decidedly restrained answer at a press conference that the Black Lives Matter movement: “is something we should be addressing as a team”, they bring opprobrium down on their own heads from former players like Pat Symcox and Boeta Dippenaar. The latter declared BLM to be a Marxist political movement “whose aim was to break down family life” - remarks that have a chilling resonance with the rhetoric of the pre-democracy oppression and sadly indicate how far there is still to go in “transformation”. When people say that we should keep politics out of cricket there is always the thought that what they truly mean is that the politics of which they disapprove should be kept out of cricket which is, most would say, not quite the same thing.
South African cricket also has money problems (notwithstanding the alleged corruption) and are not alone in this. Covid and loss of sponsorship appear to have come at the worst possible time. A more even distribution of the revenues from international cricket would make an enormous difference and I imagine many of us have heard Michael Holding say something similar about cricket in the West Indies.
Like it or not, politics plays a huge role in South African cricket and cricket has a huge political role to play in South Africa. Hopefully Symcox et al., will be seen as the reactionary past, and a nation that can be united by sport (think of the rugby World Cup) and has produced so many great cricketers, will indeed manage to “turn a corner”. Any supporter of cricket must surely hope so.
This and That
I reported earlier in the year on Shimron Hetmyer’s “Cheese on Toast” hairstyle. You will understand that I am no expert in these coiffeur matters but suddenly they were everywhere in the Premier League. For example, both Diang and Callum Robson at West Brom were sporting them, whilst Pogba has one with a melted cheese stripe running down the back. Meanwhile at the Etihad I thought that I noticed that Raheem Sterling had developed a bald spot but closer examination revealed that he had opted to have little pigtails woven all over his head so that the overall effect was that of a baby octopus. Very fetching.
The most impressive leg spinner in the LPL was the Afghani, Qais Ahmad, who is treated by even the best batsmen with the utmost respect. Like his fellow countryman, Rashid Khan, the emphasis is on survival and so he rarely goes for many. Strangely though, his most memorable performance was with the bat. The Dambulla Vikings had made 203 for 3 with Qais taking 4 for 23 from his 4 overs. In the previous match Laurie Evans had made the only hundred in the competition and in this match he continued where he had left off and had made 53 from 24 balls when he had to retire hurt after being hit in the stomach. Colombo still needed 25 from the final two overs but Qais hit the first four deliveries of the nineteenth over for six to enable his side to win with an over to spare.
In an earlier match Colombo had only made 150 in their 20 overs but Galle Gladiators slumped to 136 for 8 with just 1 over to go. However, Dhananjaya Lakshan batting at number 8 took 2,2,6,1 from the first 4 balls and Lakshan Sandakan hit the fifth ball for 4 to win with a ball to spare.
I find it very difficult to follow the tactics of Premier League teams and wonder if I have ever really understood professional football. Nowadays for set pieces, free kicks and corners, defences adopt a zonal marking tactic which roughly means that each player is responsible for picking up whichever member of the opposing side happens to end up near him. This leads to some horrendous match ups and opposing giant centre halves are having a field day heading in corners more or less unchallenged by the smallest and frailest defenders. Sooner or later the coaches will catch on and these behemoths will start to find themselves being manhandled by their opposite numbers.
I believe that the yellow card system is encouraging dirty play particularly by the better teams. When they lose possession up the field it has become the norm for the opposition to be halted in its tracks by one of the now defending players “taking one for the team”. This means that the attacking team loses its advantage, and the offender gets away with just a Yellow Card. He is allowed to accumulate five of these yellow cards in subsequent games before he has to serve a one match suspension. If the professional foul automatically attracted a red card and a three match suspension the game would be more open, and players would be seriously disincentivised from committing them.
I don’t think that Keith Rutter or even Terry Mancini would have been any good at playing out from the back and neither are many of the defenders who have to do it nowadays. But they still try it and they must be under threat of being put on the transfer list if they don’t. When the opposition applies the high push they still persist and it is no surprise when someone gets caught in possession or misdirects a short square ball. It is an extremely precarious practice particularly in low scoring matches. I suspect it has only survived as a tactic because of the absence of crowds. Brendan Rogers didn’t last long when the crowd disapproved of an early version of it at Anfield. I doubt whether Big Sam will be adopting it at West Brom.
Silly things that didn’t last long in 2020:
1. Daises around the sides of pitches on which footballs could be placed for sanitising before returning to play.
2. Elbow touching for greetings.
3. Social Distancing when goals are scored.
4. Belief that there would not be a Second Wave.
5. Belief that the Govt’s Track and Trace was:
a. World beating
b. Would have any effect
6. Belief that the general population would be so altruistic that they would put an app on their phone which would require them to retire from life for 14 days if they received a call on it.
Morgan Matters
In the December Cricketer:
MWWS has an interesting piece on Roland Butcher's felling by a nasty bouncer from Leicestershire's George Ferris "fracturing like an eggshell his left cheekbone and eye socket" and "that he subsequently enjoyed some of his best summers was miraculous".
Jarrod Kimber tells us that "Ross Taylor had an eye test after struggling in a Test in 2015 against Oz. He had a pterygirm, which is a small benign growth. A few days later Taylor made 290 after being told to simply open his eyes wider with some eye drops"! Shame he could not get a run for Middlesex!
I have already mentioned the Cricketer's Subscriber of the Month (Rod Alexander) who is 71, but who claimed to have seen Don Bradman's 1948 Invincibles at Old Trafford when he would have been minus 1 and I have now had a reply from the Cricketer's managing editor Huw Turbervill saying they should have spotted the blunder and had already had "a lot of letters" on the subject.
I had to smile at a letter from L Bone who gives MWWS some stick for suggesting that batsmen could be tactically withdrawn and for dismissing "that spirit of cricket tosh"!
Azeem Rafiq has filed a legal complaint against Yorkshire, claiming "direct discrimination, harassment on the grounds of race, victimisation and detriment as a result of his efforts to address racism at the club". That sounds about right for the Yorkies!
Middlesex have announced some fixtures for 2021, but I cannot get very excited as I do not think (many) spectators will be allowed. They begin at Lord's with Somerset the visitors for a Championship match starting April 8th. The other teams in Group 2 are Gloucetershire, Surrey, Leicestershire and Hampshire.
Middlesex trio Tom Helm, Luke Hollman and Ethan Bamber have all extended their contracts, Helm and Hollman for 3 years and Bamber for 2 years. Afghan offie Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who played for Middlesex in the 2019 T20, has signed up again for 2021. He is no 2 in the world T20 rankings.
England have signed up ex-Middlesex man J Kallis as batting consultant for the SL tour in January because G Thorpe is taking a break. He is the seventh coach to be signed for the tour (so far), the others are: C Silverwood (head), P Collingwood (assistant), J Foster (keeping consultant), C Hopkinson (fielding), J Lewis (bowling) and J Patel (spin).
Vic M is saying farewell after 31 years with the G and the O, but he does not say if he is simply retiring or if he is going on to something else.
In the January Cricketer:
George Dobell's 12 "people of the year" are: B Stokes, Ebony Rainford Brent, S Broad, M Carberry, Steve Elworthy, J Holder, D Sibley, Tom Harrison, M Holding, Z Crawley, Azeem Rafiq and C Woakes.
Phil Neale has retired as the England team operations manager after 21 years, working on 257 Tests, 422 ODIS and 110 T20Is. He was the last man to juggle a professional playing career in cricket (Worcestershire, 354 first class matches and 339 limited overs games) and football (Lincoln City). He is thought to be the only Championship winning captain with a degree in Russian.
Barney Ronay points out that B Stokes does not, "on the numbers" actually deserve a place in England's T20 team.
M Selvey reminds us that "in the first-ever ODI John Edrich took the man of the match award of £90 for his 82, which contained four of the seven boundaries hit by England".
Andrew Samson tells us that D Malan's 99* in the T20I v SA was the world's third T20I score of 99, the other 2 were also for England: A Hales (out) and L Wright (not out); Malan now has the highest-ranking points achieved by any batsman in T20Is (915) and retains his position as the world's no 1 T20I batsman.
Zak Crawley says "I've been surprised how normal my (England) team mates are... Ben Stokes and Joe Root are normal blokes!", while Nick Friend tells us that Eoin Morgan's men “ooze swagger".
Middlesex's Jimmy Harris is favourite to succeed Daryl Mitchell as chairman of the Professional Cricketers' Association.
The G has two long articles on John Edrich today following his death at the age of 83. He played 77 Tests from 1963 to 76, scoring 12 centuries, 5,138 runs with an average of 43.54 and a highest score of 310*, the 5th highest for England in Tests. His 20-year first class career produced 39,790 runs at an average of 49.47. He has been described as "brave and charismatic" and "prolific and fearless".
Another Surrey man Robin Jackman has also died aged 75. He took 1,402 first class wickets at an average of 22 as well as being a useful bat. He played four Tests for England late in his career.
Former Test umpire John Holder is suing the ECB for racial discrimination. He was dropped from the ECB's Test Match list in 1991 a few weeks after he reported an incident of ball-tampering by an England player in a Test v WI at the Oval. He is seeking compensation because he was "discriminated against on grounds of race". Ismail Dawood is making a similar complaint. The last state educated black cricketer to make a Test debut for England was Michael Carberry in 2010. Last month, Holder and Dawood called for an inquiry into the fact that the ECB has not appointed a single non-white umpire to the ECB panel for 28 years and has never appointed a non-white pitch liaison officer, cricket liaison officer, match referee or umpires' coach.
Hunt Matters
Terry Hunt had his memory jogged last month by the GJM
About Sean Connery: when he was married to Diane Cilento and lived in the house backing on to Acton Park, he complained to Adam Faith that he had been burgled. Now Adam was raised in the flats on the Uxbridge Road just east of where Connery lived. Apparently, he mentioned this to one of his brothers and the goods were all returned. Zoe Wanamaker always described Adam as a rascal.
The Cricketer’s Test Team of the Year
Dom Sibley experienced the feeling of scoring a Test century for the first time in 2020 in the Test against South Africa at Newlands, making 133 not out.
This was catalyst for Sibley, who went on to score another hundred against West Indies in Manchester and finished the year with 615 runs, averaging a more than useful 47.30. After a solid start to his Test career, England fans will be hoping that he can have a long spell at the top of the order and win more matches for his country; with Tests against Sri Lanka, India and Australia coming up in the next 12 months, he’ll be relishing the opportunity.
2.Shan Masood (Pakistan) – 5 matches, 289 runs, batting average 41.28
Like Sibley, Shan Masood scored two centuries, including 156 on Pakistan’s tour of England. Despite only playing a few Tests in 2020 - though he is currently midway through a series against New Zealand, Masood enjoyed a fine year at the top of the order. He was magnificent in making a hundred against England at Emirates Old Trafford.
3.Zak Crawley (England) – 7 matches, 580 runs, batting average 52.70
Zak Crawley had a magnificent first summer for England – a start that dreams are made of. His most impressive knock was one for the ages: he became the third-youngest scorer of a double hundred in Test history. The innings - of 267 - was the second-highest maiden ton by an Englishman.
4.Kane Williamson (New Zealand) – 4 matches, 477 runs, batting average 95.40
Kane Williamson is a special talent. His year has ended on a high – he became a father again, made the ICC’s Test Team of the Decade and added a second century of the year against Pakistan last week. 251 against West Indies and that hundred against Pakistan mean that he goes into 2021 with his New Zealand side well placed to push for a spot in the final of the ICC’s World Test Championship final in England next summer.
5.Marnus Labuschagne (Australia) – 3 matches, 403 runs, batting average 67.16
Channeling his inner Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne has had a stellar year. He has spent a lot of time with Smith and we’ve seen a lot of idiosyncrasies creep into his game – extravagant leaves and screams of ‘no run’ to name a couple. His most impressive knock was his 215 against New Zealand in the New Year Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
6.Ben Stokes (England) – 7 matches, 641 runs, batting average 58.27, 19 wickets, bowling average 18.73
After helping his side win the World Cup and following up with his Ashes heroics in 2019, Ben Stokes has been working his magic again in 2020. Despite spells away from the game for personal reasons, Stokes has arguably been England’s best cricketer of the past 12 months. His year started by hitting 72 in the second innings during the New Year Test against South Africa at Newlands, before blowing West Indies away at Emirates Old Trafford with a magnificent 176.
7.Tim Paine (Australia) – 3 matches, 121 runs, batting average 60.50
It has been a relatively quiet year for wicketkeepers around the world, but Tim Paine has led Australia well. Taking his team to victory in the day-night Test earlier in December was a highlight – masterminding the collapse of India where they were skittled for 36, handing Australia a victory in the opening Test of the series, having earlier hit a crucial half century.
8.Stuart Broad (England) – 8 matches, 38 wickets, bowling average 14.76
Broad took 38 wickets in 2020, including 26 during the home summer - not bad going considering he was left out for the first Test against West Indies in Southampton. That fired him up for all that followed: he would also go on to pass 500 Test wickets.
9.Kyle Jamieson (New Zealand) – 5 matches, 23 wickets, bowling average 14.17
Given the long period without cricket, Kyle Jamieson impressed during his first year on the international stage. The tall seamer has added to an already-terrific bowling attack, while adding some handy lower order batting for good measure.
10.Nathan Lyon (Australia) – 3 matches, 14 wickets, bowling average 18.42
It was a quiet year for Nathan Lyon, but with very little cricket, he can be excused. Fourteen wickets at a touch under 20 is a decent return in this, the strangest of years. He is approaching the milestone of 400 Test scalps.
11.Tim Southee (New Zealand) – 5 matches, 28 wickets, bowling average 17.07
Second only to Stuart Broad, Tim Southee had an excellent year, taking 28 wickets. Like Williamson, Southee has been a key part in the Blackcaps’ success in the World Test Championship; he, Jamieson, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner are a formidable force.
Strange Elevens
John William’s XI last month were, of course, all overseas players who had played for Worcestershire.
Which Jazz Hat would this bunch wear:
Ben Curran
Mark Butcher
Azam Khan
Jonny Bairstow
John Carr
Chris Cowdrey
Stephen Moores
Graham Cowdrey
Sam Curran
Tom Curran
Ryan Sidebotham
Here is a team who would never have been seen in the Third Division North:
Peacock-Farrell
Loftus-Cheek
Robson-Kanu
Wan-Bissaka
Walker-Peters
Ward-Prowse
Hudson-Odoi
Kalvin-Lewin
Wright-Phillips
Alexander-Arnold
Decordova-Reid
Hall of Shame
This section is reserved for those highly paid athletes who have yet to master the basics of their chosen profession
Hector Bellerin has previously appeared in this column and he looks like being a regular attender. In the match against Tottenham he was again guilty of giving the ball away cheaply with a foul throw. The commentator noted the large number of these offences Bellerin had been guilty of. What do the Arsenal coaches do? How thick is the Frenchman not to understand the basic requirements?
In Memoriam 1
Bob Harvey died a few days before Christmas. He was a member of George’s 1967 Danes XI in which he bowled seam and, on occasion, leg breaks. He also played for a brief period at South Hampstead. During this period, I persuaded him to do a couple of posters for social events. I hope to reproduce one of these in the next edition. He was an immensely talented artist and used this skill professionally as a graphic designer.
Les Berry wrote:
We all knew of Bob's wonderful artistic gift. He was often sitting in the row in front of me and was working on a pencil drawing during various lessons (Ben Bilsborrow comes to mind!) ... it transpired he was working on producing a pub sign, the pub's name being the Tart and Ferret! The image he created was of a blonde, blousy barmaid, big on curls and lipstick (amongst other things) with this white furry creature popping its head up out of her cleavage. It obviously made its mark as I remember it clearly all these years later. Bob lived quite near me in Acton, and up until the middle of last month I was fortunate enough to be able to go and see him, share tales of Danes in the 60s, put the world to rights, and enjoy coffee and croissants with him.
In Memoriam 2
I heard from Brian Budd that Don Palmer had died after a long illness, aged 90. Don was a Maths master at St Clement Danes and was later Headmaster of its successor school. But for many of us he was better known as the master in charge of football. He was involved in London and England Schools football and facilitated many of us gaining representative honours even if our skills did not necessarily warrant them. I last saw Don at one of the Old Danes Gatherings at Shepherds Bush where he was his usual ebullient self, describing the plans he had to influence the direction of policy.
Chris Lamb wrote
My main contact with him was through football. A qualified referee, full badge FA Coach and many more things. In particular Secretary of the English Schools Football Association, part of the FA. In this role he organised the annual Grammar Schools Easter Tournament at Butlins Bognor, where I played against “promising youngsters” Pat Rice, Arsenal, and Trevor Brooking, West Ham.
He was renowned for his administrative abilities. One story I heard, which was unfortunately never substantiated, was that he organised the Opening Ceremony for the 1966 World Cup at Wembley! Apparently “a few weeks before the event” it was a disaster and Don was asked to take it on because of his admin abilities and that “he was local”! Admittedly the Opening wasn’t as “big” as today, but he pulled it off, partly by using SCD staff and pupils!
John McLaughlin added:
Looks like your World Cup story is true: it definitely looks like Don leading out the first team at Wembley - https://www.britishpathe.com/video/world-cup-opening-at-wembley-aka-wembley-1966-worl -.
Ian Lambert found a photo of the Staff XI from 1958/9:
Googlies Website
All the back editions of Googlies can be found on the G&C website. There are also many photographs most of which have never appeared in Googlies.
www.googliesandchinamen.com
Googlies and Chinamen
is produced by
James Sharp
Broad Lee House
Combs
High Peak
SK23 9XA
[email protected]
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 217
January 2021
Old Wanker’s Almanac
His venerable self was in a particularly tetchy mood when I bumped into him recently
January
The Third Wave of the Virus, affectionately called the Christmas Wave, takes hold of the country and the Government introduce a Super Lockdown in which no one is allowed out of their domestic bubble for any reason. Matt Hancock breaks down as he announces this but claims that all will soon be well as the vaccine is disseminated but then he realises that no-one will be allowed to administer it.
Goon Rule continues as Gavin Williamson announces that Schools will now open and close on alternate weeks so that they can always be compliant with changing Government policy.
When asked why the pressure on the NHS is not relieved by using the Nightingale Hospitals which were created at vast public expense, Matt Hancock at last confesses that when they were built no-one had considered how they would be manned.
Mass Testing gets underway despite a whole range of complications, but no one is really sure why this is more important than the vaccination programme.
February
Following another shortage of PPE in the NHS the government resumes its initial position and announces that there is no need for the public to wear face masks since “there is little likelihood of transmission of the virus by nose or mouth”.
The Liberal Democrat Party recruit Dominic Cummins as their new leader.
The PM announces that it would be inhuman to cancel St Valentine’s Day. He announces a complex set of rules (not guidelines) as to who is allowed to kiss who (lips to lips), which couples may have normal sex (open air only) and who is permitted to indulge in kinky sex (under government close supervision only).
Priti Patel confirms that she has recruited 100,000 thugs to her National Guard who will be responsible for enforcing all Covid Rules. They will be granted blanket powers to enter the workplace, domestic houses and Premier League training grounds without notice as well as create roadblocks and isolate towns and cities.
March
The Fourth Wave of the virus, known as the School Wave, sweeps the country. There start to be rumours of a new Covid 21 spreading in the Far East.
Keir Starmer joins the government. He is quoted as saying “it was inevitable since I support them in everything they say and do”.
The Statistical Society awards Matt Hancock their Creative Statistics Award for circulating both the most misleading and the most incorrect statistics during 2020.
April
Following the difficulty in obtaining dental appointments Messrs Hancock and Williamson announce that schools will now be responsible for providing dental care for children after the Easter break. Staff will be provided with a week’s tuition in dentistry to familiarise them with the skills necessary for making fillings and extractions. They are advised not to attempt root canal procedures.
Dido Harding leaves the Track & Trace Project in a shambles and is appointed to lead the new Examinations Board.
May
The PM announces that he has decided there won’t be a Public Enquiry into his Government’s handling of the Epidemic. He states that he believes that his government did as well as anybody else could have done and now considers the matter closed.
Also closed are the schools and Gavin Williamson tells teachers that they should visit their students at home in order to give them face to face tuition. All school holidays are cancelled in order to accommodate the teacher visits.
June
The teachers are the only people still at work and so it is decided that they could usefully spend their evening hours working in the Nightingale Hospitals.
The PM in a desperate attempt to distance himself from the errors of his past decides to abandon his cuddly nickname Boris and announces that he will henceforth be called by his real first name, Alexander.
Following Matt Hancock’s elevation to the peerage Chris Grayling is appointed Health Secretary.
Overheard in the toilets at No10:
“Who on earth is going to pay for all the money we have blown?”
“Don’t worry, it won’t be our problem.”
In and Within with the Professor
“Has South African cricket at last turned a corner?” Thus, a question, by a South African commentator, following: “the crushing defeat of Sri Lanka”, in the First Test. Well, “crushing” the victory certainly was – you can’t do much better than an innings and 45 runs - even if the opposition were unable to complete either innings. South Africa’s considerable first innings score of 621 saw Faf du Plessis join ten other players, I read, who have been dismissed for 199 in a Test. Always difficult to know whether to regard this as bad luck or not. It would be nice to think that SA can go on to win this Test series decisively and that some of the fine young players recently coming into the side: van de Dussen, Bavuma, Nortje, Ngidi, etc., all go on to have excellent careers.
Then again, we do seem to have heard all this before and: “One swallow”, as a famous Greek once said, “does not make a spring”. Indeed, when I heard the “turned the corner” phrase I thought I had read it (once or twice) before about SA cricket. A quick Google turns up an article by Mark Nicholas with just such a title written in March of this year. Following the defeat of Australia in the ODI series, Nicholas looks forward to (it would be fairer to say “hopes for”) a change in fortunes for the national side, after poor results in 2019 (although a 3-0 defeat to India, in India, is not too shameful) followed by the defeats at home to England (having won the First Test, remember). Nicholas runs through the problems that have beset SA cricket: money, maladministration, coaching, Kolpak, “quotas”, etc., and concludes that things might be on the up. Well, perhaps…but it might still take some time, since there appear to be problems at almost every turn.
It’s difficult to know what impact “the administrators” actually have on a team on the field, but Cricket South Africa – who have had four CEOs in as many months, and been suspended by the government, might not appear to provide the ideal seamless support. Nicholas was writing when Jaques Faul had just been made a temporary appointment. He described him as “a big man in statue – it’s the braai and the meat, has to be – but even bigger of heart and mind”. “It’s enough to see (him) walk into a room and…I’ll wager he is not temporary for much longer”. He resigned shortly afterwards. He replaced a suspended CEO and was followed by an Acting CEO who in turn has been suspended and replaced by another “acting” head. Ali Bacher’s description of SA as “the joke of world cricket” might be a touch parochial, but you do rather see his point.
The cause of all this is, as we all know, summed up in a single word: politics. It’s a protean word and covers the spectrum from narrow factionalism to what it is now fashionable to call a “worldview”. But it is, and always has been, a determining feature of representative South African cricket from their first Test in 1889 onwards. It might be objected that the administrative shambles is down to incompetence or corruption, but that is in itself a political dimension. Nor should we need reminding, is SA alone in this. Think of the history of cricket in India and Pakistan, or the West Indies (so interestingly covered in Simon Lister’s “Fire in Babylon”) or the 150 years or so of the almost entirely white Australian sides. And, while we are at it, what of the gentlemen/players distinction in this country with its ludicrous initialising and, perhaps most disgracefully of all, the racial bigotry of the then MCC during the D’Oliveira affair. Nor is this a thing of the past. Yorkshire’s need to appoint a “diversity manager” is clearly a step forward but just as clearly exemplifies the problem, and I heard recently the journalist George Dobell say that Warwickshire had offered trials to 800 young players this season, one of whom was black.
It’s at about this point in this type of discussion that someone says (and I heard it said in South Africa in January) that we should “keep politics out of cricket”. Notwithstanding the impossibility of bringing this about, and John Arlott’s repost that you might as well try to keep politics out of life, there is the question of whether it is even desirable. We know, of course, what such people mean (or seem to mean): they just want the strongest team put into the field. We would all like that. For South Africa that might mean the return of the Kolpak (or equivalent) players: Abbott, Olivier, Harmer, Rossouw -among others - are often mentioned (alongside the protracted de Villiers story). Although there must be a debate about whether these names would now make the team, not to mention their impact on the existing players. It would also signal end of “quotas” – explicit or otherwise - whereby half (i.e., at least five) of the team should be non-white. But quotas exist for a reason. It is only 25 years or so ago that black South Africans got the vote: the impatience with quotas is understandable but so is their existence. Nor is it new; having an “amateur” to captain England was a quota of sorts pre-Hutton, and I don’t recall reading of widespread demonstrations against the pre-Worrell West Indies sides “having” to have a white captain. And so on…
When cricketers make overt political statements, as with Ngidi’s decidedly restrained answer at a press conference that the Black Lives Matter movement: “is something we should be addressing as a team”, they bring opprobrium down on their own heads from former players like Pat Symcox and Boeta Dippenaar. The latter declared BLM to be a Marxist political movement “whose aim was to break down family life” - remarks that have a chilling resonance with the rhetoric of the pre-democracy oppression and sadly indicate how far there is still to go in “transformation”. When people say that we should keep politics out of cricket there is always the thought that what they truly mean is that the politics of which they disapprove should be kept out of cricket which is, most would say, not quite the same thing.
South African cricket also has money problems (notwithstanding the alleged corruption) and are not alone in this. Covid and loss of sponsorship appear to have come at the worst possible time. A more even distribution of the revenues from international cricket would make an enormous difference and I imagine many of us have heard Michael Holding say something similar about cricket in the West Indies.
Like it or not, politics plays a huge role in South African cricket and cricket has a huge political role to play in South Africa. Hopefully Symcox et al., will be seen as the reactionary past, and a nation that can be united by sport (think of the rugby World Cup) and has produced so many great cricketers, will indeed manage to “turn a corner”. Any supporter of cricket must surely hope so.
This and That
I reported earlier in the year on Shimron Hetmyer’s “Cheese on Toast” hairstyle. You will understand that I am no expert in these coiffeur matters but suddenly they were everywhere in the Premier League. For example, both Diang and Callum Robson at West Brom were sporting them, whilst Pogba has one with a melted cheese stripe running down the back. Meanwhile at the Etihad I thought that I noticed that Raheem Sterling had developed a bald spot but closer examination revealed that he had opted to have little pigtails woven all over his head so that the overall effect was that of a baby octopus. Very fetching.
The most impressive leg spinner in the LPL was the Afghani, Qais Ahmad, who is treated by even the best batsmen with the utmost respect. Like his fellow countryman, Rashid Khan, the emphasis is on survival and so he rarely goes for many. Strangely though, his most memorable performance was with the bat. The Dambulla Vikings had made 203 for 3 with Qais taking 4 for 23 from his 4 overs. In the previous match Laurie Evans had made the only hundred in the competition and in this match he continued where he had left off and had made 53 from 24 balls when he had to retire hurt after being hit in the stomach. Colombo still needed 25 from the final two overs but Qais hit the first four deliveries of the nineteenth over for six to enable his side to win with an over to spare.
In an earlier match Colombo had only made 150 in their 20 overs but Galle Gladiators slumped to 136 for 8 with just 1 over to go. However, Dhananjaya Lakshan batting at number 8 took 2,2,6,1 from the first 4 balls and Lakshan Sandakan hit the fifth ball for 4 to win with a ball to spare.
I find it very difficult to follow the tactics of Premier League teams and wonder if I have ever really understood professional football. Nowadays for set pieces, free kicks and corners, defences adopt a zonal marking tactic which roughly means that each player is responsible for picking up whichever member of the opposing side happens to end up near him. This leads to some horrendous match ups and opposing giant centre halves are having a field day heading in corners more or less unchallenged by the smallest and frailest defenders. Sooner or later the coaches will catch on and these behemoths will start to find themselves being manhandled by their opposite numbers.
I believe that the yellow card system is encouraging dirty play particularly by the better teams. When they lose possession up the field it has become the norm for the opposition to be halted in its tracks by one of the now defending players “taking one for the team”. This means that the attacking team loses its advantage, and the offender gets away with just a Yellow Card. He is allowed to accumulate five of these yellow cards in subsequent games before he has to serve a one match suspension. If the professional foul automatically attracted a red card and a three match suspension the game would be more open, and players would be seriously disincentivised from committing them.
I don’t think that Keith Rutter or even Terry Mancini would have been any good at playing out from the back and neither are many of the defenders who have to do it nowadays. But they still try it and they must be under threat of being put on the transfer list if they don’t. When the opposition applies the high push they still persist and it is no surprise when someone gets caught in possession or misdirects a short square ball. It is an extremely precarious practice particularly in low scoring matches. I suspect it has only survived as a tactic because of the absence of crowds. Brendan Rogers didn’t last long when the crowd disapproved of an early version of it at Anfield. I doubt whether Big Sam will be adopting it at West Brom.
Silly things that didn’t last long in 2020:
1. Daises around the sides of pitches on which footballs could be placed for sanitising before returning to play.
2. Elbow touching for greetings.
3. Social Distancing when goals are scored.
4. Belief that there would not be a Second Wave.
5. Belief that the Govt’s Track and Trace was:
a. World beating
b. Would have any effect
6. Belief that the general population would be so altruistic that they would put an app on their phone which would require them to retire from life for 14 days if they received a call on it.
Morgan Matters
In the December Cricketer:
MWWS has an interesting piece on Roland Butcher's felling by a nasty bouncer from Leicestershire's George Ferris "fracturing like an eggshell his left cheekbone and eye socket" and "that he subsequently enjoyed some of his best summers was miraculous".
Jarrod Kimber tells us that "Ross Taylor had an eye test after struggling in a Test in 2015 against Oz. He had a pterygirm, which is a small benign growth. A few days later Taylor made 290 after being told to simply open his eyes wider with some eye drops"! Shame he could not get a run for Middlesex!
I have already mentioned the Cricketer's Subscriber of the Month (Rod Alexander) who is 71, but who claimed to have seen Don Bradman's 1948 Invincibles at Old Trafford when he would have been minus 1 and I have now had a reply from the Cricketer's managing editor Huw Turbervill saying they should have spotted the blunder and had already had "a lot of letters" on the subject.
I had to smile at a letter from L Bone who gives MWWS some stick for suggesting that batsmen could be tactically withdrawn and for dismissing "that spirit of cricket tosh"!
Azeem Rafiq has filed a legal complaint against Yorkshire, claiming "direct discrimination, harassment on the grounds of race, victimisation and detriment as a result of his efforts to address racism at the club". That sounds about right for the Yorkies!
Middlesex have announced some fixtures for 2021, but I cannot get very excited as I do not think (many) spectators will be allowed. They begin at Lord's with Somerset the visitors for a Championship match starting April 8th. The other teams in Group 2 are Gloucetershire, Surrey, Leicestershire and Hampshire.
Middlesex trio Tom Helm, Luke Hollman and Ethan Bamber have all extended their contracts, Helm and Hollman for 3 years and Bamber for 2 years. Afghan offie Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who played for Middlesex in the 2019 T20, has signed up again for 2021. He is no 2 in the world T20 rankings.
England have signed up ex-Middlesex man J Kallis as batting consultant for the SL tour in January because G Thorpe is taking a break. He is the seventh coach to be signed for the tour (so far), the others are: C Silverwood (head), P Collingwood (assistant), J Foster (keeping consultant), C Hopkinson (fielding), J Lewis (bowling) and J Patel (spin).
Vic M is saying farewell after 31 years with the G and the O, but he does not say if he is simply retiring or if he is going on to something else.
In the January Cricketer:
George Dobell's 12 "people of the year" are: B Stokes, Ebony Rainford Brent, S Broad, M Carberry, Steve Elworthy, J Holder, D Sibley, Tom Harrison, M Holding, Z Crawley, Azeem Rafiq and C Woakes.
Phil Neale has retired as the England team operations manager after 21 years, working on 257 Tests, 422 ODIS and 110 T20Is. He was the last man to juggle a professional playing career in cricket (Worcestershire, 354 first class matches and 339 limited overs games) and football (Lincoln City). He is thought to be the only Championship winning captain with a degree in Russian.
Barney Ronay points out that B Stokes does not, "on the numbers" actually deserve a place in England's T20 team.
M Selvey reminds us that "in the first-ever ODI John Edrich took the man of the match award of £90 for his 82, which contained four of the seven boundaries hit by England".
Andrew Samson tells us that D Malan's 99* in the T20I v SA was the world's third T20I score of 99, the other 2 were also for England: A Hales (out) and L Wright (not out); Malan now has the highest-ranking points achieved by any batsman in T20Is (915) and retains his position as the world's no 1 T20I batsman.
Zak Crawley says "I've been surprised how normal my (England) team mates are... Ben Stokes and Joe Root are normal blokes!", while Nick Friend tells us that Eoin Morgan's men “ooze swagger".
Middlesex's Jimmy Harris is favourite to succeed Daryl Mitchell as chairman of the Professional Cricketers' Association.
The G has two long articles on John Edrich today following his death at the age of 83. He played 77 Tests from 1963 to 76, scoring 12 centuries, 5,138 runs with an average of 43.54 and a highest score of 310*, the 5th highest for England in Tests. His 20-year first class career produced 39,790 runs at an average of 49.47. He has been described as "brave and charismatic" and "prolific and fearless".
Another Surrey man Robin Jackman has also died aged 75. He took 1,402 first class wickets at an average of 22 as well as being a useful bat. He played four Tests for England late in his career.
Former Test umpire John Holder is suing the ECB for racial discrimination. He was dropped from the ECB's Test Match list in 1991 a few weeks after he reported an incident of ball-tampering by an England player in a Test v WI at the Oval. He is seeking compensation because he was "discriminated against on grounds of race". Ismail Dawood is making a similar complaint. The last state educated black cricketer to make a Test debut for England was Michael Carberry in 2010. Last month, Holder and Dawood called for an inquiry into the fact that the ECB has not appointed a single non-white umpire to the ECB panel for 28 years and has never appointed a non-white pitch liaison officer, cricket liaison officer, match referee or umpires' coach.
Hunt Matters
Terry Hunt had his memory jogged last month by the GJM
About Sean Connery: when he was married to Diane Cilento and lived in the house backing on to Acton Park, he complained to Adam Faith that he had been burgled. Now Adam was raised in the flats on the Uxbridge Road just east of where Connery lived. Apparently, he mentioned this to one of his brothers and the goods were all returned. Zoe Wanamaker always described Adam as a rascal.
The Cricketer’s Test Team of the Year
- Dom Sibley (England) – 9 matches, 615 runs, batting average 47.30
Dom Sibley experienced the feeling of scoring a Test century for the first time in 2020 in the Test against South Africa at Newlands, making 133 not out.
This was catalyst for Sibley, who went on to score another hundred against West Indies in Manchester and finished the year with 615 runs, averaging a more than useful 47.30. After a solid start to his Test career, England fans will be hoping that he can have a long spell at the top of the order and win more matches for his country; with Tests against Sri Lanka, India and Australia coming up in the next 12 months, he’ll be relishing the opportunity.
2.Shan Masood (Pakistan) – 5 matches, 289 runs, batting average 41.28
Like Sibley, Shan Masood scored two centuries, including 156 on Pakistan’s tour of England. Despite only playing a few Tests in 2020 - though he is currently midway through a series against New Zealand, Masood enjoyed a fine year at the top of the order. He was magnificent in making a hundred against England at Emirates Old Trafford.
3.Zak Crawley (England) – 7 matches, 580 runs, batting average 52.70
Zak Crawley had a magnificent first summer for England – a start that dreams are made of. His most impressive knock was one for the ages: he became the third-youngest scorer of a double hundred in Test history. The innings - of 267 - was the second-highest maiden ton by an Englishman.
4.Kane Williamson (New Zealand) – 4 matches, 477 runs, batting average 95.40
Kane Williamson is a special talent. His year has ended on a high – he became a father again, made the ICC’s Test Team of the Decade and added a second century of the year against Pakistan last week. 251 against West Indies and that hundred against Pakistan mean that he goes into 2021 with his New Zealand side well placed to push for a spot in the final of the ICC’s World Test Championship final in England next summer.
5.Marnus Labuschagne (Australia) – 3 matches, 403 runs, batting average 67.16
Channeling his inner Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne has had a stellar year. He has spent a lot of time with Smith and we’ve seen a lot of idiosyncrasies creep into his game – extravagant leaves and screams of ‘no run’ to name a couple. His most impressive knock was his 215 against New Zealand in the New Year Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
6.Ben Stokes (England) – 7 matches, 641 runs, batting average 58.27, 19 wickets, bowling average 18.73
After helping his side win the World Cup and following up with his Ashes heroics in 2019, Ben Stokes has been working his magic again in 2020. Despite spells away from the game for personal reasons, Stokes has arguably been England’s best cricketer of the past 12 months. His year started by hitting 72 in the second innings during the New Year Test against South Africa at Newlands, before blowing West Indies away at Emirates Old Trafford with a magnificent 176.
7.Tim Paine (Australia) – 3 matches, 121 runs, batting average 60.50
It has been a relatively quiet year for wicketkeepers around the world, but Tim Paine has led Australia well. Taking his team to victory in the day-night Test earlier in December was a highlight – masterminding the collapse of India where they were skittled for 36, handing Australia a victory in the opening Test of the series, having earlier hit a crucial half century.
8.Stuart Broad (England) – 8 matches, 38 wickets, bowling average 14.76
Broad took 38 wickets in 2020, including 26 during the home summer - not bad going considering he was left out for the first Test against West Indies in Southampton. That fired him up for all that followed: he would also go on to pass 500 Test wickets.
9.Kyle Jamieson (New Zealand) – 5 matches, 23 wickets, bowling average 14.17
Given the long period without cricket, Kyle Jamieson impressed during his first year on the international stage. The tall seamer has added to an already-terrific bowling attack, while adding some handy lower order batting for good measure.
10.Nathan Lyon (Australia) – 3 matches, 14 wickets, bowling average 18.42
It was a quiet year for Nathan Lyon, but with very little cricket, he can be excused. Fourteen wickets at a touch under 20 is a decent return in this, the strangest of years. He is approaching the milestone of 400 Test scalps.
11.Tim Southee (New Zealand) – 5 matches, 28 wickets, bowling average 17.07
Second only to Stuart Broad, Tim Southee had an excellent year, taking 28 wickets. Like Williamson, Southee has been a key part in the Blackcaps’ success in the World Test Championship; he, Jamieson, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner are a formidable force.
Strange Elevens
John William’s XI last month were, of course, all overseas players who had played for Worcestershire.
Which Jazz Hat would this bunch wear:
Ben Curran
Mark Butcher
Azam Khan
Jonny Bairstow
John Carr
Chris Cowdrey
Stephen Moores
Graham Cowdrey
Sam Curran
Tom Curran
Ryan Sidebotham
Here is a team who would never have been seen in the Third Division North:
Peacock-Farrell
Loftus-Cheek
Robson-Kanu
Wan-Bissaka
Walker-Peters
Ward-Prowse
Hudson-Odoi
Kalvin-Lewin
Wright-Phillips
Alexander-Arnold
Decordova-Reid
Hall of Shame
This section is reserved for those highly paid athletes who have yet to master the basics of their chosen profession
Hector Bellerin has previously appeared in this column and he looks like being a regular attender. In the match against Tottenham he was again guilty of giving the ball away cheaply with a foul throw. The commentator noted the large number of these offences Bellerin had been guilty of. What do the Arsenal coaches do? How thick is the Frenchman not to understand the basic requirements?
In Memoriam 1
Bob Harvey died a few days before Christmas. He was a member of George’s 1967 Danes XI in which he bowled seam and, on occasion, leg breaks. He also played for a brief period at South Hampstead. During this period, I persuaded him to do a couple of posters for social events. I hope to reproduce one of these in the next edition. He was an immensely talented artist and used this skill professionally as a graphic designer.
Les Berry wrote:
We all knew of Bob's wonderful artistic gift. He was often sitting in the row in front of me and was working on a pencil drawing during various lessons (Ben Bilsborrow comes to mind!) ... it transpired he was working on producing a pub sign, the pub's name being the Tart and Ferret! The image he created was of a blonde, blousy barmaid, big on curls and lipstick (amongst other things) with this white furry creature popping its head up out of her cleavage. It obviously made its mark as I remember it clearly all these years later. Bob lived quite near me in Acton, and up until the middle of last month I was fortunate enough to be able to go and see him, share tales of Danes in the 60s, put the world to rights, and enjoy coffee and croissants with him.
In Memoriam 2
I heard from Brian Budd that Don Palmer had died after a long illness, aged 90. Don was a Maths master at St Clement Danes and was later Headmaster of its successor school. But for many of us he was better known as the master in charge of football. He was involved in London and England Schools football and facilitated many of us gaining representative honours even if our skills did not necessarily warrant them. I last saw Don at one of the Old Danes Gatherings at Shepherds Bush where he was his usual ebullient self, describing the plans he had to influence the direction of policy.
Chris Lamb wrote
My main contact with him was through football. A qualified referee, full badge FA Coach and many more things. In particular Secretary of the English Schools Football Association, part of the FA. In this role he organised the annual Grammar Schools Easter Tournament at Butlins Bognor, where I played against “promising youngsters” Pat Rice, Arsenal, and Trevor Brooking, West Ham.
He was renowned for his administrative abilities. One story I heard, which was unfortunately never substantiated, was that he organised the Opening Ceremony for the 1966 World Cup at Wembley! Apparently “a few weeks before the event” it was a disaster and Don was asked to take it on because of his admin abilities and that “he was local”! Admittedly the Opening wasn’t as “big” as today, but he pulled it off, partly by using SCD staff and pupils!
John McLaughlin added:
Looks like your World Cup story is true: it definitely looks like Don leading out the first team at Wembley - https://www.britishpathe.com/video/world-cup-opening-at-wembley-aka-wembley-1966-worl -.
Ian Lambert found a photo of the Staff XI from 1958/9:
Googlies Website
All the back editions of Googlies can be found on the G&C website. There are also many photographs most of which have never appeared in Googlies.
www.googliesandchinamen.com
Googlies and Chinamen
is produced by
James Sharp
Broad Lee House
Combs
High Peak
SK23 9XA
[email protected]
