G&C 220
GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 220
April 2021
In and Within with the Professor
The Professor has been spending his days contemplating the conundrum that is The Wisden Five
Just a couple of weeks now and the little yellow housebrick will be hitting the doormat and a new “Five Cricketers of the Year” will be named. Actually the housebrick might, one assumes, be a little slimmer this year given all the difficulties of playing cricket in 2020. Hard to imagine it will be down to World War Two thinness, but the 1,536 pages might have trimmed down to, say, an emaciated 1,500.
Whatever the size, there will doubtless be space for the Wisden Five, and this year, or so it seems to me, the choices are much more difficult to anticipate than in the past. The convention is that the choice is based on the domestic season and, with some rare exceptions many years’ ago, you can’t win it twice. The 2020 county season was, of course, a bit unusual but there was plenty of international cricket; both for men and women. There is an added wrinkle in all this in that the task is not to pick the five cricketers of the year, it is to pick the five cricketers of the year that the editor of Wisden, Lawrence Booth, will select. This is not a nuance. In 2011, the then editor of Wisden chose Mohamed Amir as one of his five, notwithstanding the fact that Mr Amir was, at the time, serving three months at Her Majesty’s pleasure, over the spot-fixing scandal. Presumably his argument was that cricketing prowess should rate higher than the law of the land, as of course, we all know that it should. The upshot was however, that the then editor immediately gained the “then” description, or, more bluntly, he was sacked. So, dangerous stuff this choosing.
To run through some elements of the season:
The Bob Willis Trophy may not have ignited too many pulses, although a friend from Kent was quick to suggest Darren Stevens as a potential Wisden man for three “5 fers” in quick succession (Stevens ended up third in the wickets table with 29). Alistair Cook was the top run scorer in the series but is debarred by the not-winning-it-twice rule – even if it was nearly a decade ago.
There was a fair variety of international cricket, with the most eye-catching performance being Crawley’s 267 in the third Pakistan Test. That series saw a top score from Woakes in the first Test with runs for Buttler and, of course, Jimmy’s 600. The last three are all previous winners.
The West Indian series saw Sibley (of the “qualified” Englishmen) get 120 in one Test and 50s in the others and a 91 from Pope. Poe’s Test aggregate in the summer was not too impressive but his 135* at Port Elizabeth, while rather stretching the “domestic season” requirement, was memorable and, just, in 2020. At times in that innings he looked more like Ian Bell than the original and that may just have stayed in the Editor’s mind.
The ODIs against Ireland produced two memorable innings - both by Irishmen: Stirling and Balbirnie.
Malan got runs in the T20s against Australia – which I suppose ought to count double, given how annoying Australians can be - and Billings in the ODIs. Malan also made useful runs in one of the Pakistan T20s.
Wisden is blind to nationality of course and a few players from the overseas teams might be in a long list: Roston Chase and Jason Holder were the players that stayed in the memory (mine at least) from the Windies games and Azhar and Shan Masood both made hundreds for Pakistan. Barbar made runs most times he went to the wicket but I was a little disappointed, given his reputation, by his contribution to the series. Balbirnie captained the Irish side.
The England women’s team had a comprehensive 5-0 victory over West Indies but most of the England star players: Knight, Sciver, Beaumont, etc., are past winners. I didn’t see too much of the matches but I did see the outstanding moment of the series, which was the West Indian captain Stafanie Taylor’s one-handed diving catch.
There will come a day, I presume, when a name from the world of disabled cricket might enter the lists: this is an area of the game which, to my shame, I know very little about and certainly couldn’t offer a suggestion for this year.
So, lots of possibles. Plus, I think, one more. Adil Rashid has been around the England team for some time now and, in the past couple of years, has become indispensable in the limited overs matches. He still, self-evidently, bowls too many bad balls but, especially, in T20 cricket the combination of the desire of most batsmen to try to hit most balls out of sight, and his ability to turn the ball a lot, both ways, makes him a key player.
So a long list of: Crawley, Sibley, Pope, Malan, Rashid, Holder, and Chase. But, you can only have five.
I think I will go for: Crawley (huge double hundred), Pope (useful contributions and “looking the part”), Sibley (established his place as an England opener), Malan (2020 was very much his year although not necessarily in England…and the editor of this journal wants him) and Holder (a star performer and we were all so thankful to him for bringing a team here in July to this pestered isle).
As always, I’ll be happy with three out of five.
This & That
Channel 4 didn’t really get their monies worth with the test series and had to go back on many days to their reruns of US box sets to fill up their daytime schedules. Sky suffered the same problem when the PSL was suspended. One of the fillers they used was a documentary about Bombay/Mumbai cricket on the Maidans. Tendulkar was one of the many products of these playing fields. There was much of interest including an anecdote that if Tendulkar or any of his colleagues hit the ball in the air during an innings he was made by the coach to run circuits of the playing area afterwards whilst still wearing his pads. At least Jack Robertson didn’t make us run round the North Circular if we hit one in the air during our net sessions at the Finchley Indoor School.
I noticed that Sky were re-running the 2008 T20 final from the Rose Bowl featuring Middlesex and Kent. I had forgotten how close a finish it was and in fact had only recalled Owais’ 75 accurately. I had no recall of Tyron Henderson who featured with the bat and ball and was surprised to see Godleman, Morgan and Malan all in the side. One of the features of the match was the quality of Ben Scott’s keeping as he stood up to Murtagh and Henderson as well as the spinners Murali Kartik and Sean Udal.
It was back to Sky for the T20s and ODIs in India. The big difference this time was that the commentators had been kept in the UK and had to observe the same view as the rest of us. It immediately became apparent that they mainly watch the game rather than the monitors when at the match. They often had little idea what was going on particularly in the deep. I felt quite relieved that the only reason they can normally tell if a big hit was going to be caught is because they can see the whole arena. When in front of a screen they have no more idea than me. Sky decided to have a local man in India, Dinesh Kartik, to help the Isleworth based squad plus David Lloyd in Manchester, but rather than be at the ground he was at home in Mumbai!
There was a stark contrast in styles in the first ODI. India ground it out for nearly forty overs. It was like watching Cook and Trott bat a decade ago. They then ballsed it up losing wickets but were rescued by an out of form KL Rahul and debutant Krunal Pandya, their last recognised batsmen. Roy and Bairstow, as is their wont, went like a bat out of hell at the start and the game looked all over after 15 overs, but no-one else got any and they were well beaten in the end.
In the second ODI everyone except the third umpire thought that Stokes was run out when the wicket was broken and his bat was only on the line. He decided to practice his range hitting then in an innings that resembled the latter stages of his 258 in South Africa. In the final ODI despite winning the toss yet again and India’s repeated attempts to throw the match, England again failed to get across the line and so lost the series. It was probably Malan’s fault.
It has always puzzled me that good batsmen are supposed to be able to place the ball and miss the fielders. So how come so many of them are caught in the deep by the only fielder for fifty yards in both directions? The commentators will praise a batsman who works the sweep shot to avoid both the forward and backward deep square leg but then say nothing when he slogs it straight down mid wicket’s throat.
One of the stats quoted recently was the number of googlies Adil Rashid had bowled in his international career. Who knows this? Who can tell particularly if the delivery is hit on the half volley or full toss?
Yorkers have gone out of fashion at the close of a limited overs innings. The big thing now is to bowl wide off cutters outside a left hander’s off stump and the opposite to right handers – wide leg cutters outside his off stump. This will last until Buttler or de Villiers show how to deal with them. So, what will be next? I don’t see line and length coming back any time soon.
No-one seems to think that Malan’s T20 ranking counts for much although I thought that his 68 in the last match was impressive and certainly better than anyone else did. Once out of the side he will find it very difficult to get back in as happened after his test appearances.
New linguistics. You have to differentiate between black and red soil pitches in India. At Ahmedabad they are featured on different strips on the same square and apparently perform differently. You also have to constantly refer to match ups, e.g. Kholi’s record against Archer, Roy’s against Bumrah and so on. Behind the match ups are a whole battery of stats which show why someone doesn’t get any on Friday afternoons if the ball has been changed more than once and so on.
In the T20 between Sri Lanka and the West Indies Akila Dananjaya took a notable hat trick dismissing a heavyweight trio of left handers: Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran. However, in his next over Kieron Pollard hit every delivery for six. Pollard joins Herschelle Gibbs and Youvraj Singh as the only batsmen to have achieved this feat in international cricket.
What has happened to goalkeeping? I recall when goalkeepers were the masters of the six-yard box. They came out and collected anything that arrived there and always caught the crosses. Nowadays if they come off their goal line at all they have flailing fists and the ball can and often does go anywhere. Do the coaches put up with this and even encourage it?
I thought for a time that there were less ridiculous hairstyles on display in the Premier League. Maybe the wearers of them realised that not only did they look silly but also it drew attention to their performance if they were having a bad game. However, in the last few weeks they are cropping up again. But where are they getting them? I thought in this interminable lockdown that the hairdressers and barbers were closed. Have these players been breaching covid regulations? Surely not? The only legal explanation is that they have a resident stylist in the club bubble with them…
Morgan Matters
The GJM is now doubting whether there will be a post Covid era for him
Marcus Trescothick is England's new batting coach, Jon Lewis assumes responsibility for pace bowling, Jeetan Patel is dealing with the spinners and Richard Dawson has responsibility for "pathway" i.e. England U19s and Lions. The problem with Tresco is that he suffers from "a travel related anxiety disorder", so why put him in a job that requires much travelling?
England's Tammy Beaumont has shot to the top of the ICC women's ODI international batting rankings with scores of 71, 72* and 88* in the recent series win in NZ.
Temba Bavuma is the first black African to be appointed captain of a SA side having been put in charge of the limited overs teams, other mixed race players have captained on a temporary basis. Dean Elgar has been named as the Test captain. They take over from Quinton de Kock.
WI paceman Kemar Roach is joining Surrey for their first 7 Championship matches this year.
I think we should go back to picking the best team rather than sending chaps home to rest. How did we manage to win the first Test? J Root regrets the rotation policy, but thinks it could "rumble on" through next winter's Ashes series. Root also thinks we "need to encourage more draws in the county championship so that young batsmen have more experience playing long innings"! What about the paying spectators Joe! M Vaughan says that Test cricket "is dead" if England rest and rotate players during this winter's tour of Oz.
C Silverwood wants the dreadful "rest and rotate system" to continue during next winter's Ashes series... obviously because it worked so well this time! J Agnew agrees the rotation system was a failure. Stokes, Archer, Bairstow, Wood, S Curran, Buttler, Moeen and Woakes all missed parts of the Test match winter, but the T20 squad is at full strength for the series that starts this Friday! Neither S Curran nor C Woakes played a Test for England in India, despite both, in theory, being valued squad members. Questions are being raised about the Test future of J Bairstow.
Rs thumped mighty Wycombe (who are actually adrift at the bottom of the table) 1-0 and have moved into the top half of the table, with a game in hand on many. The goal came from Ilias Chair on 23 minutes.
It now seems that playing in the IPL gets a much higher priority than playing Tests for England, J Buttler is the latest example.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission are being asked to conduct an investigation into racism in English cricket following a number of "revelations" from black and Asian players and umpires about their experiences in the game. Former England opener Michael Carberry said last year that "cricket is rife with racism" and former England U-19 captain Azeem Rafiq filed discrimination and harassment proceedings against Yorkshire alleging "institutional racism" at the club.
People are saying, with some justification, that it is about time that A Hales ("bouncing between the T20 Blast, the Pakistan Super League and the Oz Big Bash League") was forgiven for indiscretions and recalled to the England limited overs squads. But Eoin is the boss and he says "Alex's position is still the same. He's not in the squad and the squad is difficult to get back into... but time is a great healer". A Giles has apparently been "plotting a possible route for A Hales to return to the England setup", saying that the door cannot stay closed forever. He is planning to invite Hales to England training this summer to give Eoin the option of including him in the squad.
K Brathwaite has replaced J Holder as WI Test captain.
Rs managed to lose 0-1 at home to struggling Huddersfield, who were only just above the relegation places. The O gave the match one half of a sentence.
Rs were 0-2 down to Millwall after 39 minutes, but bounced back with goals from Austin 51, Johansen 67 and De Wijs 86 and are back in the top half of the table with a game in hand on most.
M Wood is enjoying his T20 cricket at present: he is top of the bowling averages with 4 wickets at 12.75, he leads the economy rates list on 6.37 and has bowled the fastest delivery to date at 96+ mph.
England and WI have increased the number of matches they will play in the Caribbean next year: 5 T20s will be played between 28 Jan and 5 Feb and 3 Tests will start on 8 March. This is apparently to thank WI for "visiting the UK last summer during the height of the pandemic".
Durham have signed NZ batter Will Young as cover for Ozzie Cameron Bancroft.
A Martin has a long and interesting article in the G about C Woakes; to summarise: he was England's man of last summer, did not play all winter, now he is heading to the IPL, but thinking about the Ashes.
Yorkshire will play two first class matches and two One-Day Cup games at Scarborough for another decade.
I now hear from Middlesex that "covid restrictions" have put paid to any members being able to watch the opening four County Championship matches at Lord's, with all games confirmed as being played behind closed doors. I get closer to retirement every day.
Glenn Roeder is dead aged 65 following a lengthy illness. Glenn captained Rs to the 1982 FA Cup Final v Tottenham, which we lost after a replay and he also skippered us to the Second Division title in '83. Ian St John is dead aged 82. Former England, Warwicks and Surrey pace bowler Joey Benjamin has died from a heart attack aged 60. His only Test was in 1994 when he took 4-42 in the first innings v SA at the Oval. He also played in 2 ODIs. P Lorimer is dead aged 74 "following a long-term illness". He was Leeds's all-time record goal-scorer with 238 goals, described in the O as a "midfielder": that's a lot of goals for a midfielder! England striker Frank Worthington is dead aged 72. He won 8 England caps (2 goals) and also played for Huddersfield, Leicester, Bolton, Birmingham, Southampton, Leeds and Sunderland and was player/ manager at Tranmere. He scored 266 goals in 882 appearances in all competitions.
Hedgcock Matters
Murray Hedgcock sent me this
Well – I liked it! I note The Professor pronouncing with considerable bitterness after the second Chennai Test; “Well, I suppose it must have pleased some people”. He then went into much detail, arguing that the right-thinking majority would have hated it. Later, in a postscript to his original blast, he summed up of the Ahmedabad strip that it was “even worse”. On the other hand…Jonathan Agnew of the BBC commented: “I must admit that this pitch was not quite as bad as the Chennai one, where there were great lumps coming out almost from the start”. Take your pick.
It probably will not surprise the Prof to learn that I loved both pitches, especially the second, for two basic reasons. First – I barrack for any team playing England at any sport. It could not be otherwise if you grew up in Australia in days when cricket in Summer and footy (Aussie Rules of course) in Winter were the dominant sporting passions, the absolute peak being Ashes contests against England, the Old Enemy. So engrained was the instinct, the need to support Australia, that it sparked the corollary – you could never in any circumstances support England.
Hence, I was shocked on the eve of the final India Test to read a Guardian report by the quirky Geoff Lemon in Melbourne, claiming that he had actually met genuine Australians finding themselves, against all instinct, set to support England on this one occasion. “Wanting England to win is anathema to everything we’re raised to believe”, he pronounced solemnly. The reason for this change of heart? England victory would guarantee Australia’s place in the final of the World Test Championship. All I can say to that sad argument is that I have absolutely no interest in the “Test Championship” - an artificial stunt dreamed up by officialdom in a desperate bid to boost sagging worldwide interest in real cricket- i.e. Test matches. Anyone can win, for all I care.
To return to my committed principle of supporting England’s opponents: I make it clear this is strictly for fun – and a matter of sporting allegiance only. It’s 68 years since I first came to England; I hold dual nationality, live here by definite choice, raised four Australian-born children, take part in community life, vote regularly in a land where, shortsightedly, this is not made compulsory - and find much to love in this contradictory country. But part of the pleasure of living in England is swimming against the local sporting tide, such as declaring my total distaste for soccer - and consistently pulling the legs of locals when it is my team against theirs.
The second reason for my enjoyment especially of the third Test was watching extremely well-paid professional sportsmen suddenly reminded that life is not always meant to be cushioned and cosy. It was great fun seeing the England line-up struggle against clever bowlers under conditions that certainly helped the attack far beyond the norm, posing problems these batsmen simply could not answer.
I go along with the thoughtful Michael Atherton who wrote:
“If an ideal surface is a fair balance between bat and ball, then this was on the extreme end of the bowler-friendly spectrum, for sure, but it was not dangerous and it produced fascinating cricket. My own view after the previous game was that variety is a natural part of Test cricket, and that remains the case”.
Variety is the spice of life, and surely too of sport. Certainly, these tests were never by any standards boring – unlike those far too-common comfortable conditions served up for batsmen encouraging Team A to post an inevitable 380, Team B responding with 420, both line-ups having relaxed in featherbed conditions under which their hapless bowling colleagues are as lambs to the slaughter.
No – I certainly don’t want more than the very occasional Test to be played on pitches such as we have seen lately in India. They are not a proper test of all cricketing skills, but rather a sort of Spanish Inquisition from which there is no escape. But just once in a while, dodgy wickets offer entertainment of a refreshing kind, submit batsmen to a uniquely searching examination – and remind long-suffering bowlers that yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. And such conditions add the delicious bonus: they infuriate The Professor. Long may he rage.
I must add that the 1956 Old Trafford pitch on which some (England) bowler took nineteen wickets was of course a disgrace, and a betrayal of the basic sporting code of The Summer Game…….My poor countrymen – how they suffered. At the devious hands of the Old Enemy.
.
When the crowds come back
The Premiership is going to have to be prepared for some big changes when the crowds come back.
1.Playing out from the back is now widespread and seems to be the norm. However, very few sides are good enough to do it consistently well. Iheanacho scored against Manchester United when Fred wasn’t up to the task. When a goal is conceded as a result of high press pressure the fans will not tolerate its practice and managers will be forced to change tactics. Don’t forget it cost Brendon Rogers his job at Liverpool.
2.There will be a new form of abuse at the grounds when the linesmen delay putting up their flags for offside. We have already seen problems with injuries in the dead time and there are also disallowed goals. It also disrupts the rhythm of the match. If they persist the abuse from the fans will be massive and things will have to change.
3.VAR referrals will have to be swift and understandable. The delay is often excruciatingly long when the play is stopped but even worse is when the review takes place whilst the play continues. Anything can happen during this period- goals, red cards, broken legs, head injuries etc. The crowds will not put up with this nonsense.
We hear a lot about racial abuse, but abuse of the officials will dwarf this until changes are made.
4.It will be interesting to see what Chelsea fans make of their new manager’s style which not only involves playing out from the back but also incorporates playing across and backwards in extremis. They also still love Frank and I suspect that they will be highly vocal in expressing their displeasure.
Middlesex Matters
In an absurdly optimistic article in the Cricketer Newsletter Elizabeth Botcherby claims that Middlesex is ready to challenge the "best sides in the country" for County Championship glory
There’s optimism in the air at Lord’s ahead of the start of the County Championship season on April 8, with batsman Stephen Eskinazi confident Middlesex can challenge the "best sides in the country" in the newly-structured red-ball competition. Rather than the traditional two-division format, the County Championship has been divided into three groups of six for the initial group stage of the competition, with ten four-day matches between April and July. The top two counties in each group will then progress into Division One to compete to be crowned county champions. In addition, the champions will face the runners-up for the Bob Willis Trophy while the remaining 12 teams will be split between Division’s Two and Three.
Despite being a Division Two side under the old structure, Middlesex can, therefore, compete for the County Championship title - a trophy they haven’t won since 2016. And Eskinazi, who captained the red-ball side last season, believes his side has the potential to overcome Group Two opponents Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey and Leicestershire, and reach the top division. "We’ve got the opportunity now to play against – like we did in the Bob Willis Trophy – some of the better, bigger Division 1 sides who’ve been playing the best cricket in the last few year," he said. "We see that as a challenge for us as a group to go in and, like we did last year, beat big sides like Surrey.
"There’s no feeling with us that we’re a Division Two side and one of the great things about this competition is that we can go out and prove that without having to win for a year to get into that competition. Day to day our cricket will stay the same; the way we play we know we can mix it with the best sides in the country. This year we’ll get the opportunity to do that, and I think starting off with the benchmark of the competition – Somerset – on April 8 is something we couldn’t have asked for, so we’re buzzing for that."
Middlesex had a mixed red-ball campaign in 2020, pulling off a surprise 190-run victory over Surrey in their first game of the season before winning just one further match to finish third in their Bob Willis Trophy group. Meanwhile, with the white ball, they finished a disappointing fourth in the South Group, extending their absence from Finals Day to 12 years. Their cause wasn’t helped by the absence of overseas stars Peter Handscomb (Bob Willis Trophy) and Mitch Marsh (T20 Blast), who were unable to travel due to Covid. However, this did open the door for several youngsters – Thilan Walallawita, Jack Davies, Blake Cullen, Luke Hollman and Joe Cracknell - to make their debuts. And it’s something head coach, Stuart Law, is keen to continue into 2021. "They really grabbed hold of their opportunities last year in the T20 arena, particularly Luke Hollman and Joe Cracknell, and Martin Andersson was pretty steady in the County Championship," said Law. "There’s a lot of games in a short space of time so there may be opportunities for those guys in the first eight games Championship wise.
"Otherwise, there’s also the 50-over competition that’s running alongside the Hundred where we’ll lose a lot of our senior players. I see that as a great opportunity to focus on some young kids. But that doesn’t rule them out of any other cricket. The guys who performed well in T20s will obviously be pushing for selection in the first game in that competition. "We’re not frightened to pick the young guys. We understand you’ve got to make sure you’re giving everybody a fair go and if we do make those call, the young kids will be there and it’s good fun watching them go our and play with the care free abandon they have."
Leading the youthful squad as red-ball captain will be Peter Handscomb, finally making his Middlesex debut 12 months after signing a two-year contract. The Australian will miss the first two matches of the season due to commitments with Victoria, but when he does arrive, Law is expecting big things. "[Peter’s] got to be a run scorer for us, driving games forward. But what Pete brings to the table is a wealth of experience. He’s played with and in a domestic set-up at Victoria which has been highly successful, so he knows how to win games and win competitions," said Law. "The other thing he’s got is a very calm head. He’s a cool bloke, a good fella and he wants the best for what we’re trying to achieve. He was texting me while watching the livestream of the game on Monday and Tuesday. He’s taken a vested interest already which is great to hear. "He’s just a good package for us. Number one: he’s a good bloke and a great character. I’m looking forward to getting him over here."
Aside from Handscomb and upcoming spin bowler Walallawita (hamstring injury), Law has a full squad at his disposal heading into the new season, including a returning Eoin Morgan for the T20 Blast and a revitalised Toby Roland-Jones. "Toby has leaned up, he’s lost a bit of body fat," said Law. "We thought with the stress and strain of the way he wants to bowl, he needs to be lighter to be able to get through the crease and do his primary skill which is bowling. "He really took that on board. It probably helps he’s just celebrated the birth of his first child and fatherhood’s been good to him. He’s worked really hard off the field in the gym and with the physio he’s working on his shoulder. He’s moving well and he’s put a lot of time into his batting as well. It all sounds great and scientific, but he’s just trained a little bit harder and eaten a big less."
Hall of Shame
This section is reserved for those highly paid athletes who have yet to master the basics of their chosen profession
2018 master chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav did not get a game in the recent T20 series and so his appearance in the first ODI was keenly anticipated. When he was eventually brought on to bowl, he started with three long hops to Roy and Bairstow.
When Dom Bess was recalled to the test side and invited to bowl, he marked out his short run and proceeded to deliver a front foot no ball. England’s seventeen strong backroom staff were apparently unable to prepare him to bowl a legal delivery.
In the Premier League what is the only thing that substitutes have to do? Answer: be ready to come on when needed. In the Manchester derby when Marcus Rashford got injured Dean Henderson booted the ball into touch to allow his replacement onto the field. However, there was no sign of Mason Greenwood and so City took a throw in rather than agree to a ball drop. I understand that the subs need to keep warm but they should be fully kitted out and just have to remove a Parker or similar coat to go on.
Aston Villa’s Elmohamady is another top player who does not know how to take a throw in. In a recent match he was penalised for taking a one-legged throw and then argued with the ref which resulted in a booking. What football have these top players played in during their formative years? In the Under 12s we all knew how to take a throw in.
Strange XIs
Douglas Miller cracked Steve Thompson’s mystery side from last month: “it is all about rhyming”:
CR Woakes
BA Stokes
BT Foakes
IJL Trott
APE Knott
P Willey
GR Dilley
VJ Marks
JM Parks
JA Snow
JM Bairstow
So, what Jazz Hat fits this team?
Googlies Website
All the back editions of Googlies can be found on the G&C website. There are also many photographs most of which have never appeared in Googlies.
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 220
April 2021
In and Within with the Professor
The Professor has been spending his days contemplating the conundrum that is The Wisden Five
Just a couple of weeks now and the little yellow housebrick will be hitting the doormat and a new “Five Cricketers of the Year” will be named. Actually the housebrick might, one assumes, be a little slimmer this year given all the difficulties of playing cricket in 2020. Hard to imagine it will be down to World War Two thinness, but the 1,536 pages might have trimmed down to, say, an emaciated 1,500.
Whatever the size, there will doubtless be space for the Wisden Five, and this year, or so it seems to me, the choices are much more difficult to anticipate than in the past. The convention is that the choice is based on the domestic season and, with some rare exceptions many years’ ago, you can’t win it twice. The 2020 county season was, of course, a bit unusual but there was plenty of international cricket; both for men and women. There is an added wrinkle in all this in that the task is not to pick the five cricketers of the year, it is to pick the five cricketers of the year that the editor of Wisden, Lawrence Booth, will select. This is not a nuance. In 2011, the then editor of Wisden chose Mohamed Amir as one of his five, notwithstanding the fact that Mr Amir was, at the time, serving three months at Her Majesty’s pleasure, over the spot-fixing scandal. Presumably his argument was that cricketing prowess should rate higher than the law of the land, as of course, we all know that it should. The upshot was however, that the then editor immediately gained the “then” description, or, more bluntly, he was sacked. So, dangerous stuff this choosing.
To run through some elements of the season:
The Bob Willis Trophy may not have ignited too many pulses, although a friend from Kent was quick to suggest Darren Stevens as a potential Wisden man for three “5 fers” in quick succession (Stevens ended up third in the wickets table with 29). Alistair Cook was the top run scorer in the series but is debarred by the not-winning-it-twice rule – even if it was nearly a decade ago.
There was a fair variety of international cricket, with the most eye-catching performance being Crawley’s 267 in the third Pakistan Test. That series saw a top score from Woakes in the first Test with runs for Buttler and, of course, Jimmy’s 600. The last three are all previous winners.
The West Indian series saw Sibley (of the “qualified” Englishmen) get 120 in one Test and 50s in the others and a 91 from Pope. Poe’s Test aggregate in the summer was not too impressive but his 135* at Port Elizabeth, while rather stretching the “domestic season” requirement, was memorable and, just, in 2020. At times in that innings he looked more like Ian Bell than the original and that may just have stayed in the Editor’s mind.
The ODIs against Ireland produced two memorable innings - both by Irishmen: Stirling and Balbirnie.
Malan got runs in the T20s against Australia – which I suppose ought to count double, given how annoying Australians can be - and Billings in the ODIs. Malan also made useful runs in one of the Pakistan T20s.
Wisden is blind to nationality of course and a few players from the overseas teams might be in a long list: Roston Chase and Jason Holder were the players that stayed in the memory (mine at least) from the Windies games and Azhar and Shan Masood both made hundreds for Pakistan. Barbar made runs most times he went to the wicket but I was a little disappointed, given his reputation, by his contribution to the series. Balbirnie captained the Irish side.
The England women’s team had a comprehensive 5-0 victory over West Indies but most of the England star players: Knight, Sciver, Beaumont, etc., are past winners. I didn’t see too much of the matches but I did see the outstanding moment of the series, which was the West Indian captain Stafanie Taylor’s one-handed diving catch.
There will come a day, I presume, when a name from the world of disabled cricket might enter the lists: this is an area of the game which, to my shame, I know very little about and certainly couldn’t offer a suggestion for this year.
So, lots of possibles. Plus, I think, one more. Adil Rashid has been around the England team for some time now and, in the past couple of years, has become indispensable in the limited overs matches. He still, self-evidently, bowls too many bad balls but, especially, in T20 cricket the combination of the desire of most batsmen to try to hit most balls out of sight, and his ability to turn the ball a lot, both ways, makes him a key player.
So a long list of: Crawley, Sibley, Pope, Malan, Rashid, Holder, and Chase. But, you can only have five.
I think I will go for: Crawley (huge double hundred), Pope (useful contributions and “looking the part”), Sibley (established his place as an England opener), Malan (2020 was very much his year although not necessarily in England…and the editor of this journal wants him) and Holder (a star performer and we were all so thankful to him for bringing a team here in July to this pestered isle).
As always, I’ll be happy with three out of five.
This & That
Channel 4 didn’t really get their monies worth with the test series and had to go back on many days to their reruns of US box sets to fill up their daytime schedules. Sky suffered the same problem when the PSL was suspended. One of the fillers they used was a documentary about Bombay/Mumbai cricket on the Maidans. Tendulkar was one of the many products of these playing fields. There was much of interest including an anecdote that if Tendulkar or any of his colleagues hit the ball in the air during an innings he was made by the coach to run circuits of the playing area afterwards whilst still wearing his pads. At least Jack Robertson didn’t make us run round the North Circular if we hit one in the air during our net sessions at the Finchley Indoor School.
I noticed that Sky were re-running the 2008 T20 final from the Rose Bowl featuring Middlesex and Kent. I had forgotten how close a finish it was and in fact had only recalled Owais’ 75 accurately. I had no recall of Tyron Henderson who featured with the bat and ball and was surprised to see Godleman, Morgan and Malan all in the side. One of the features of the match was the quality of Ben Scott’s keeping as he stood up to Murtagh and Henderson as well as the spinners Murali Kartik and Sean Udal.
It was back to Sky for the T20s and ODIs in India. The big difference this time was that the commentators had been kept in the UK and had to observe the same view as the rest of us. It immediately became apparent that they mainly watch the game rather than the monitors when at the match. They often had little idea what was going on particularly in the deep. I felt quite relieved that the only reason they can normally tell if a big hit was going to be caught is because they can see the whole arena. When in front of a screen they have no more idea than me. Sky decided to have a local man in India, Dinesh Kartik, to help the Isleworth based squad plus David Lloyd in Manchester, but rather than be at the ground he was at home in Mumbai!
There was a stark contrast in styles in the first ODI. India ground it out for nearly forty overs. It was like watching Cook and Trott bat a decade ago. They then ballsed it up losing wickets but were rescued by an out of form KL Rahul and debutant Krunal Pandya, their last recognised batsmen. Roy and Bairstow, as is their wont, went like a bat out of hell at the start and the game looked all over after 15 overs, but no-one else got any and they were well beaten in the end.
In the second ODI everyone except the third umpire thought that Stokes was run out when the wicket was broken and his bat was only on the line. He decided to practice his range hitting then in an innings that resembled the latter stages of his 258 in South Africa. In the final ODI despite winning the toss yet again and India’s repeated attempts to throw the match, England again failed to get across the line and so lost the series. It was probably Malan’s fault.
It has always puzzled me that good batsmen are supposed to be able to place the ball and miss the fielders. So how come so many of them are caught in the deep by the only fielder for fifty yards in both directions? The commentators will praise a batsman who works the sweep shot to avoid both the forward and backward deep square leg but then say nothing when he slogs it straight down mid wicket’s throat.
One of the stats quoted recently was the number of googlies Adil Rashid had bowled in his international career. Who knows this? Who can tell particularly if the delivery is hit on the half volley or full toss?
Yorkers have gone out of fashion at the close of a limited overs innings. The big thing now is to bowl wide off cutters outside a left hander’s off stump and the opposite to right handers – wide leg cutters outside his off stump. This will last until Buttler or de Villiers show how to deal with them. So, what will be next? I don’t see line and length coming back any time soon.
No-one seems to think that Malan’s T20 ranking counts for much although I thought that his 68 in the last match was impressive and certainly better than anyone else did. Once out of the side he will find it very difficult to get back in as happened after his test appearances.
New linguistics. You have to differentiate between black and red soil pitches in India. At Ahmedabad they are featured on different strips on the same square and apparently perform differently. You also have to constantly refer to match ups, e.g. Kholi’s record against Archer, Roy’s against Bumrah and so on. Behind the match ups are a whole battery of stats which show why someone doesn’t get any on Friday afternoons if the ball has been changed more than once and so on.
In the T20 between Sri Lanka and the West Indies Akila Dananjaya took a notable hat trick dismissing a heavyweight trio of left handers: Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran. However, in his next over Kieron Pollard hit every delivery for six. Pollard joins Herschelle Gibbs and Youvraj Singh as the only batsmen to have achieved this feat in international cricket.
What has happened to goalkeeping? I recall when goalkeepers were the masters of the six-yard box. They came out and collected anything that arrived there and always caught the crosses. Nowadays if they come off their goal line at all they have flailing fists and the ball can and often does go anywhere. Do the coaches put up with this and even encourage it?
I thought for a time that there were less ridiculous hairstyles on display in the Premier League. Maybe the wearers of them realised that not only did they look silly but also it drew attention to their performance if they were having a bad game. However, in the last few weeks they are cropping up again. But where are they getting them? I thought in this interminable lockdown that the hairdressers and barbers were closed. Have these players been breaching covid regulations? Surely not? The only legal explanation is that they have a resident stylist in the club bubble with them…
Morgan Matters
The GJM is now doubting whether there will be a post Covid era for him
Marcus Trescothick is England's new batting coach, Jon Lewis assumes responsibility for pace bowling, Jeetan Patel is dealing with the spinners and Richard Dawson has responsibility for "pathway" i.e. England U19s and Lions. The problem with Tresco is that he suffers from "a travel related anxiety disorder", so why put him in a job that requires much travelling?
England's Tammy Beaumont has shot to the top of the ICC women's ODI international batting rankings with scores of 71, 72* and 88* in the recent series win in NZ.
Temba Bavuma is the first black African to be appointed captain of a SA side having been put in charge of the limited overs teams, other mixed race players have captained on a temporary basis. Dean Elgar has been named as the Test captain. They take over from Quinton de Kock.
WI paceman Kemar Roach is joining Surrey for their first 7 Championship matches this year.
I think we should go back to picking the best team rather than sending chaps home to rest. How did we manage to win the first Test? J Root regrets the rotation policy, but thinks it could "rumble on" through next winter's Ashes series. Root also thinks we "need to encourage more draws in the county championship so that young batsmen have more experience playing long innings"! What about the paying spectators Joe! M Vaughan says that Test cricket "is dead" if England rest and rotate players during this winter's tour of Oz.
C Silverwood wants the dreadful "rest and rotate system" to continue during next winter's Ashes series... obviously because it worked so well this time! J Agnew agrees the rotation system was a failure. Stokes, Archer, Bairstow, Wood, S Curran, Buttler, Moeen and Woakes all missed parts of the Test match winter, but the T20 squad is at full strength for the series that starts this Friday! Neither S Curran nor C Woakes played a Test for England in India, despite both, in theory, being valued squad members. Questions are being raised about the Test future of J Bairstow.
Rs thumped mighty Wycombe (who are actually adrift at the bottom of the table) 1-0 and have moved into the top half of the table, with a game in hand on many. The goal came from Ilias Chair on 23 minutes.
It now seems that playing in the IPL gets a much higher priority than playing Tests for England, J Buttler is the latest example.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission are being asked to conduct an investigation into racism in English cricket following a number of "revelations" from black and Asian players and umpires about their experiences in the game. Former England opener Michael Carberry said last year that "cricket is rife with racism" and former England U-19 captain Azeem Rafiq filed discrimination and harassment proceedings against Yorkshire alleging "institutional racism" at the club.
People are saying, with some justification, that it is about time that A Hales ("bouncing between the T20 Blast, the Pakistan Super League and the Oz Big Bash League") was forgiven for indiscretions and recalled to the England limited overs squads. But Eoin is the boss and he says "Alex's position is still the same. He's not in the squad and the squad is difficult to get back into... but time is a great healer". A Giles has apparently been "plotting a possible route for A Hales to return to the England setup", saying that the door cannot stay closed forever. He is planning to invite Hales to England training this summer to give Eoin the option of including him in the squad.
K Brathwaite has replaced J Holder as WI Test captain.
Rs managed to lose 0-1 at home to struggling Huddersfield, who were only just above the relegation places. The O gave the match one half of a sentence.
Rs were 0-2 down to Millwall after 39 minutes, but bounced back with goals from Austin 51, Johansen 67 and De Wijs 86 and are back in the top half of the table with a game in hand on most.
M Wood is enjoying his T20 cricket at present: he is top of the bowling averages with 4 wickets at 12.75, he leads the economy rates list on 6.37 and has bowled the fastest delivery to date at 96+ mph.
England and WI have increased the number of matches they will play in the Caribbean next year: 5 T20s will be played between 28 Jan and 5 Feb and 3 Tests will start on 8 March. This is apparently to thank WI for "visiting the UK last summer during the height of the pandemic".
Durham have signed NZ batter Will Young as cover for Ozzie Cameron Bancroft.
A Martin has a long and interesting article in the G about C Woakes; to summarise: he was England's man of last summer, did not play all winter, now he is heading to the IPL, but thinking about the Ashes.
Yorkshire will play two first class matches and two One-Day Cup games at Scarborough for another decade.
I now hear from Middlesex that "covid restrictions" have put paid to any members being able to watch the opening four County Championship matches at Lord's, with all games confirmed as being played behind closed doors. I get closer to retirement every day.
Glenn Roeder is dead aged 65 following a lengthy illness. Glenn captained Rs to the 1982 FA Cup Final v Tottenham, which we lost after a replay and he also skippered us to the Second Division title in '83. Ian St John is dead aged 82. Former England, Warwicks and Surrey pace bowler Joey Benjamin has died from a heart attack aged 60. His only Test was in 1994 when he took 4-42 in the first innings v SA at the Oval. He also played in 2 ODIs. P Lorimer is dead aged 74 "following a long-term illness". He was Leeds's all-time record goal-scorer with 238 goals, described in the O as a "midfielder": that's a lot of goals for a midfielder! England striker Frank Worthington is dead aged 72. He won 8 England caps (2 goals) and also played for Huddersfield, Leicester, Bolton, Birmingham, Southampton, Leeds and Sunderland and was player/ manager at Tranmere. He scored 266 goals in 882 appearances in all competitions.
Hedgcock Matters
Murray Hedgcock sent me this
Well – I liked it! I note The Professor pronouncing with considerable bitterness after the second Chennai Test; “Well, I suppose it must have pleased some people”. He then went into much detail, arguing that the right-thinking majority would have hated it. Later, in a postscript to his original blast, he summed up of the Ahmedabad strip that it was “even worse”. On the other hand…Jonathan Agnew of the BBC commented: “I must admit that this pitch was not quite as bad as the Chennai one, where there were great lumps coming out almost from the start”. Take your pick.
It probably will not surprise the Prof to learn that I loved both pitches, especially the second, for two basic reasons. First – I barrack for any team playing England at any sport. It could not be otherwise if you grew up in Australia in days when cricket in Summer and footy (Aussie Rules of course) in Winter were the dominant sporting passions, the absolute peak being Ashes contests against England, the Old Enemy. So engrained was the instinct, the need to support Australia, that it sparked the corollary – you could never in any circumstances support England.
Hence, I was shocked on the eve of the final India Test to read a Guardian report by the quirky Geoff Lemon in Melbourne, claiming that he had actually met genuine Australians finding themselves, against all instinct, set to support England on this one occasion. “Wanting England to win is anathema to everything we’re raised to believe”, he pronounced solemnly. The reason for this change of heart? England victory would guarantee Australia’s place in the final of the World Test Championship. All I can say to that sad argument is that I have absolutely no interest in the “Test Championship” - an artificial stunt dreamed up by officialdom in a desperate bid to boost sagging worldwide interest in real cricket- i.e. Test matches. Anyone can win, for all I care.
To return to my committed principle of supporting England’s opponents: I make it clear this is strictly for fun – and a matter of sporting allegiance only. It’s 68 years since I first came to England; I hold dual nationality, live here by definite choice, raised four Australian-born children, take part in community life, vote regularly in a land where, shortsightedly, this is not made compulsory - and find much to love in this contradictory country. But part of the pleasure of living in England is swimming against the local sporting tide, such as declaring my total distaste for soccer - and consistently pulling the legs of locals when it is my team against theirs.
The second reason for my enjoyment especially of the third Test was watching extremely well-paid professional sportsmen suddenly reminded that life is not always meant to be cushioned and cosy. It was great fun seeing the England line-up struggle against clever bowlers under conditions that certainly helped the attack far beyond the norm, posing problems these batsmen simply could not answer.
I go along with the thoughtful Michael Atherton who wrote:
“If an ideal surface is a fair balance between bat and ball, then this was on the extreme end of the bowler-friendly spectrum, for sure, but it was not dangerous and it produced fascinating cricket. My own view after the previous game was that variety is a natural part of Test cricket, and that remains the case”.
Variety is the spice of life, and surely too of sport. Certainly, these tests were never by any standards boring – unlike those far too-common comfortable conditions served up for batsmen encouraging Team A to post an inevitable 380, Team B responding with 420, both line-ups having relaxed in featherbed conditions under which their hapless bowling colleagues are as lambs to the slaughter.
No – I certainly don’t want more than the very occasional Test to be played on pitches such as we have seen lately in India. They are not a proper test of all cricketing skills, but rather a sort of Spanish Inquisition from which there is no escape. But just once in a while, dodgy wickets offer entertainment of a refreshing kind, submit batsmen to a uniquely searching examination – and remind long-suffering bowlers that yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. And such conditions add the delicious bonus: they infuriate The Professor. Long may he rage.
I must add that the 1956 Old Trafford pitch on which some (England) bowler took nineteen wickets was of course a disgrace, and a betrayal of the basic sporting code of The Summer Game…….My poor countrymen – how they suffered. At the devious hands of the Old Enemy.
.
When the crowds come back
The Premiership is going to have to be prepared for some big changes when the crowds come back.
1.Playing out from the back is now widespread and seems to be the norm. However, very few sides are good enough to do it consistently well. Iheanacho scored against Manchester United when Fred wasn’t up to the task. When a goal is conceded as a result of high press pressure the fans will not tolerate its practice and managers will be forced to change tactics. Don’t forget it cost Brendon Rogers his job at Liverpool.
2.There will be a new form of abuse at the grounds when the linesmen delay putting up their flags for offside. We have already seen problems with injuries in the dead time and there are also disallowed goals. It also disrupts the rhythm of the match. If they persist the abuse from the fans will be massive and things will have to change.
3.VAR referrals will have to be swift and understandable. The delay is often excruciatingly long when the play is stopped but even worse is when the review takes place whilst the play continues. Anything can happen during this period- goals, red cards, broken legs, head injuries etc. The crowds will not put up with this nonsense.
We hear a lot about racial abuse, but abuse of the officials will dwarf this until changes are made.
4.It will be interesting to see what Chelsea fans make of their new manager’s style which not only involves playing out from the back but also incorporates playing across and backwards in extremis. They also still love Frank and I suspect that they will be highly vocal in expressing their displeasure.
Middlesex Matters
In an absurdly optimistic article in the Cricketer Newsletter Elizabeth Botcherby claims that Middlesex is ready to challenge the "best sides in the country" for County Championship glory
There’s optimism in the air at Lord’s ahead of the start of the County Championship season on April 8, with batsman Stephen Eskinazi confident Middlesex can challenge the "best sides in the country" in the newly-structured red-ball competition. Rather than the traditional two-division format, the County Championship has been divided into three groups of six for the initial group stage of the competition, with ten four-day matches between April and July. The top two counties in each group will then progress into Division One to compete to be crowned county champions. In addition, the champions will face the runners-up for the Bob Willis Trophy while the remaining 12 teams will be split between Division’s Two and Three.
Despite being a Division Two side under the old structure, Middlesex can, therefore, compete for the County Championship title - a trophy they haven’t won since 2016. And Eskinazi, who captained the red-ball side last season, believes his side has the potential to overcome Group Two opponents Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey and Leicestershire, and reach the top division. "We’ve got the opportunity now to play against – like we did in the Bob Willis Trophy – some of the better, bigger Division 1 sides who’ve been playing the best cricket in the last few year," he said. "We see that as a challenge for us as a group to go in and, like we did last year, beat big sides like Surrey.
"There’s no feeling with us that we’re a Division Two side and one of the great things about this competition is that we can go out and prove that without having to win for a year to get into that competition. Day to day our cricket will stay the same; the way we play we know we can mix it with the best sides in the country. This year we’ll get the opportunity to do that, and I think starting off with the benchmark of the competition – Somerset – on April 8 is something we couldn’t have asked for, so we’re buzzing for that."
Middlesex had a mixed red-ball campaign in 2020, pulling off a surprise 190-run victory over Surrey in their first game of the season before winning just one further match to finish third in their Bob Willis Trophy group. Meanwhile, with the white ball, they finished a disappointing fourth in the South Group, extending their absence from Finals Day to 12 years. Their cause wasn’t helped by the absence of overseas stars Peter Handscomb (Bob Willis Trophy) and Mitch Marsh (T20 Blast), who were unable to travel due to Covid. However, this did open the door for several youngsters – Thilan Walallawita, Jack Davies, Blake Cullen, Luke Hollman and Joe Cracknell - to make their debuts. And it’s something head coach, Stuart Law, is keen to continue into 2021. "They really grabbed hold of their opportunities last year in the T20 arena, particularly Luke Hollman and Joe Cracknell, and Martin Andersson was pretty steady in the County Championship," said Law. "There’s a lot of games in a short space of time so there may be opportunities for those guys in the first eight games Championship wise.
"Otherwise, there’s also the 50-over competition that’s running alongside the Hundred where we’ll lose a lot of our senior players. I see that as a great opportunity to focus on some young kids. But that doesn’t rule them out of any other cricket. The guys who performed well in T20s will obviously be pushing for selection in the first game in that competition. "We’re not frightened to pick the young guys. We understand you’ve got to make sure you’re giving everybody a fair go and if we do make those call, the young kids will be there and it’s good fun watching them go our and play with the care free abandon they have."
Leading the youthful squad as red-ball captain will be Peter Handscomb, finally making his Middlesex debut 12 months after signing a two-year contract. The Australian will miss the first two matches of the season due to commitments with Victoria, but when he does arrive, Law is expecting big things. "[Peter’s] got to be a run scorer for us, driving games forward. But what Pete brings to the table is a wealth of experience. He’s played with and in a domestic set-up at Victoria which has been highly successful, so he knows how to win games and win competitions," said Law. "The other thing he’s got is a very calm head. He’s a cool bloke, a good fella and he wants the best for what we’re trying to achieve. He was texting me while watching the livestream of the game on Monday and Tuesday. He’s taken a vested interest already which is great to hear. "He’s just a good package for us. Number one: he’s a good bloke and a great character. I’m looking forward to getting him over here."
Aside from Handscomb and upcoming spin bowler Walallawita (hamstring injury), Law has a full squad at his disposal heading into the new season, including a returning Eoin Morgan for the T20 Blast and a revitalised Toby Roland-Jones. "Toby has leaned up, he’s lost a bit of body fat," said Law. "We thought with the stress and strain of the way he wants to bowl, he needs to be lighter to be able to get through the crease and do his primary skill which is bowling. "He really took that on board. It probably helps he’s just celebrated the birth of his first child and fatherhood’s been good to him. He’s worked really hard off the field in the gym and with the physio he’s working on his shoulder. He’s moving well and he’s put a lot of time into his batting as well. It all sounds great and scientific, but he’s just trained a little bit harder and eaten a big less."
Hall of Shame
This section is reserved for those highly paid athletes who have yet to master the basics of their chosen profession
2018 master chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav did not get a game in the recent T20 series and so his appearance in the first ODI was keenly anticipated. When he was eventually brought on to bowl, he started with three long hops to Roy and Bairstow.
When Dom Bess was recalled to the test side and invited to bowl, he marked out his short run and proceeded to deliver a front foot no ball. England’s seventeen strong backroom staff were apparently unable to prepare him to bowl a legal delivery.
In the Premier League what is the only thing that substitutes have to do? Answer: be ready to come on when needed. In the Manchester derby when Marcus Rashford got injured Dean Henderson booted the ball into touch to allow his replacement onto the field. However, there was no sign of Mason Greenwood and so City took a throw in rather than agree to a ball drop. I understand that the subs need to keep warm but they should be fully kitted out and just have to remove a Parker or similar coat to go on.
Aston Villa’s Elmohamady is another top player who does not know how to take a throw in. In a recent match he was penalised for taking a one-legged throw and then argued with the ref which resulted in a booking. What football have these top players played in during their formative years? In the Under 12s we all knew how to take a throw in.
Strange XIs
Douglas Miller cracked Steve Thompson’s mystery side from last month: “it is all about rhyming”:
CR Woakes
BA Stokes
BT Foakes
IJL Trott
APE Knott
P Willey
GR Dilley
VJ Marks
JM Parks
JA Snow
JM Bairstow
So, what Jazz Hat fits this team?
- Richard Levi
- Colin Milburn
- Mark Cosgrove
- Mike Gatting
- Azam Khan
- David Shepherd
- Mohammad Shahzad
- Samit Patel
- Ian Austin
- Rahkeem Cornwall
Googlies Website
All the back editions of Googlies can be found on the G&C website. There are also many photographs most of which have never appeared in Googlies.
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