GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 227
November 2021
Caption Competition
Ian Bishop: Sounds like a “Shit or Bust” team to me.
Jonathan Agnew: uummm.
Out and About with the Professor
I suppose the only conclusion to be made about the World Cup at this stage (writing on 25th October) is that it is unpredictable. Most of us would, I guess, have had Ireland qualifying and then most of us would have expected Australia to cruise home in a low-scoring game rather than just creeping home. After that it just got bizarre: West Indies 55 all out, Pakistan not losing a wicket. The only unsurprising thing was that England couldn’t win easily and instead lost four wickets, which could have been five as Morgan almost holed-out.
Moeen Ali continues in his mercurial way, bowling like a dream and then running himself out (some might contend that he shouldn’t have been sent back, but really was the run necessary – they only needed 20). I imagine we all watched the West Indies innings in growing disbelief – what, exactly, were their tactics? I thought McCoy’s innings summed the whole thing up nicely. Yes, I know he’s a bowler, but he walked to the wicket as No. 10, with 8 overs to go, took guard (why?), hit his first (and only) ball to deep long off, and walked back again. What, I wonder, did Simmons say to him.
One small plus from the England batting performance was that Morgan was still there at the end. His characteristic swat to leg which can go miles just eluded the sub’s figure tips and so he did at least have a few balls in the middle. Earlier Agnew had said, on the Today programme, that Morgan wasn’t in bad form: “he just hasn’t been getting many runs”. This sounds like a pretty good Colemanballs entry but it makes a little more sense when considering how often Morgan goes in at 5 or 6 with very few balls left. A couple of singles and a boundary might not be too bad from half a dozen balls; but his form in the IPL had been discussed a fair amount coming up to the World Cup. He got 7 from 7 in this match and 10 from 11 in the warm-up…but 4 from 8 in the IPL final. It wouldn’t do, however, to discount him at this stage. He now seems to be describing himself as an “all-rounder” in that his captaincy is of sufficient quality to give him a place in the team notwithstanding poor form (aka few runs). I’m not too sure about that. His captaincy does seem to be of a high class and he clearly has the team’s respect but when a player starts talking like that the worry is that the lack of runs is prompting them to look for other justifications which, as a batsman, might not be too good an idea. Hopefully he will get some time at the crease in the next couple of games.
England’s is clearly the most difficult group with Sri Lanka’s qualification, so some tough matches to come. The top two could be any two from five…so a little difficult to predict.
This & That
It must be the bats. As I recall when we went to Lord’s in the sixties the boundaries were 70 yards but, in some cases, depending where the wicket was located on the square were shorter, perhaps down to sixty yards. In the UAE, where it seems all cricket is now played, the commentators are continually referring to short boundaries by which they mean sixty plus metres. A rough translation of this about seventy yards. The longer boundaries are eighty metres which is about ninety yards. These boundaries are enormous. In the old days there were very few sixes struck but now the ball regularly sails over the long boundaries. In the World cup to date there have been three hits of over 100 metres (112 yards). It must be the bats.
The UAE wickets seem always to be placed near the centre of the square which suggests that they use the same strips over and over again. It is perhaps no surprise that the second half of the IPL was played on tired wickets and, in many respects, it was the bowlers who dominated proceedings with their off pace, change up and into the pitch deliveries. The second half of the World Cup T20 could well be the same.
Anyone who watched KL Rahul open the batting for India in the summer would have found it surprising that he scored most runs (626) in the IPL by miles and hit more sixes (30) than anu other player (du Plessis 23, Maxwell 21). A feat achieved without recourse the slogging. Playing for the Punjab Kings against the Chennai Superkings (the eventual overall winners) he scored 98 not out from 42 balls as his side won with 7 overs to spare.
Apparently in the IPL history there have been 67 hundreds scored. A staggering 17 have been scored by batsmen who ended up on the losing side!
In both of the England’s warm up games Rashid had problems with left handers. First Ishan Kishan hit him out of the attack and then Devon Conway hit him for two legside boundaries before running himself out next ball. Morgan will have to try to keep him away from left handers as the tournament progresses or he could have one of his key bowling weapons neutralized.
A feature of the modern game besides the absurd practice of wicket keepers trying to effect run outs by deflecting throws onto the stumps and normally missing the stumps is the new norm of bowlers assuming that fielders throws will hit the stumps and so there is no need for them to get behind the stumps to effect run outs. Numerous easy run outs have been missed in televised matches recently where the bowler is nowhere near the stumps.
I watched both of the opening games of the tournament proper on Saturday and paramount was the poor quality of the batting. Without going all out for a quick win England still managed to lose wickets chasing 53 and the nonappearance of Malan must have been to avoid a difficult decision if he had been dismissed cheaply. Lewis’ straight six off Woakes was majestic and the shot of the tournament.
Morgan Matters
Rs beat Preston 3-2 with goals from Dykes, Dunne and Chair and move up to 6th (inside the play-off zone). Hampton are through to the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup, beating mighty Wimborne Town 3-1.
Tymal Mills has been ignored by England for the last four years, but he has now apparently joined the England squad for the T20 WC in UAE... only T20 though.
Tanya's awards for the 2021 county season go to: Kevin Howells of Radio 5 live who "spent his season zipping across the country in search of the game to best satisfy his insatiable listeners"; Darren Stevens who finished the season as Kent's leading wicket taker, third highest run scorer and with a new one-year contract; and 11 other awards for less convincing heroism that I will not bother you with after all! Accompanying pictures feature Will Rhodes receiving the Bob Willis Trophy, Joe Root congratulating brother Billy, snow stopping play at Old Trafford and Stevens celebrating his century.
The Ashes tour to Oz looks like being confirmed after "positive talks" between players' representatives, ECB, Cricket Australia and the Oz government. However, England's chances in the T20 WC have complicated by a lower back injury suffered by S Curran. He is returning home for treatment and his place in the squad goes to brother Tom.
Middlesex have signed Pak pace bowler Shaheen Afridi for the 2022 season, well, for half of it anyway, as he has international duty from mid-July. He is a 6'6" left armer aged 21 who has played 19 Tests and has 59 white ball caps.
Ian Watmore has stood down as chairman of the ECB after just 13 months in the role. Barry O'Brien (deputy chair) now steps up in an interim capacity and is understood to have been among those board members who moved to oust Watmore.
Azeem Rafiq has accused Yorkshire of protecting the people who abused him during his 2 spells at the club by refusing to publish their names or the report that eventually forced the county to admit that Rafiq had been "the victim of racial harassment" during his time at Headingley.
England have awarded "central contracts" to Moeen, Anderson, Archer, Bairstow, Broad, Burns, Buttler, Crawley, S Curran, Leach, Malan, Morgan, Pope, Rashid, Robinson, Root, Roy, Stokes, Woakes and Wood; "incremental contracts" to Bess, T Curran, Jordan and Livingstone; and "pace bowling development contracts" to S Mahmood, C Overton and Stone. J Root is expected to lead a full-strength squad of 18 or 19 for this winter's bid to regain the Ashes after the 2 month tour of Oz was granted conditional approval by the ECB.
Ex-Kent and Hants batter Sam Northeast (31) has joined Glam on a 3 year contract.
Hampton beat Chelmsford 4-2 and have moved into the top seven (in the Vanarama South), which is good because the champions get automatic promotion (to the Vanarama National League, which features eg Grimsby, Halifax, Chesterfield, Notts Co, Stockport Co, Wrexham, Torquay, Southend, Aldershot et al) and the next 6 go into the play-offs.
The County Championship will revert to 2 divisions in 2022.
England have named a 14-strong Lions squad to "shadow the main touring party during this winter's Ashes tour": T Abell. J Bohannon, J Bracey, B Carse, M Crane, M Fisher, B Foakes, A Lees, S Mahmood, L Norwell, M Parkinson, D Sibley, J Smith and R Yates. There is some surprise at the omission of Sam Cook and Liam Livingstone.
Today's O (17/10) contains a surprising amount of cricket (I suppose the T20 WC must be about to start) especially two long articles on Liam Livingstone (by S Burnton) and Stuart Broad (by A Bull), which made the sports pages a bit more interesting than they often are at this time of year.
D Sibley has pulled out of the Eng;and Lions squad to tour Oz this winter. He is replaced by H Brook (Yorkshire).
All of the teams in the Championship have now played 13 games and Rs are still 5th on 21 points (10 points behind leaders Bournemouth), the same as Huddersfield and Stoke, but Rs have a better goal difference than Stoke and although Huddersfield's g/d is the same as Rs', Rs are ahead having scored more goals, 24 v 18.
"The former Australian Test cricketer Michael Slater has been charged with stalking and harassment offences over an alleged domestic violence incident".
T20WC. England have 12 squad members in their thirties and only Tom Curran is younger than 28. Eoin's (lack of) form with the bat is causing concern, but he claims to be "peaking as a captain"!
The October Cricketer tells us that:
T20WC: Oman 122 (J Davey 3-25) Scot 123-2 (K Coetzer 41 off 28 balls). Scot by 8 wkts and they are now top of the group. The Bangles have now qualified for the "Super 12" stage after beating PNG by 84. Ireland reached 62-0 and 94-2 (P Stirling 38, K O'Brien 25, A Balbirnie 21) but slumped to 125-8 and lost comfortably to Namibia (126-2, G Erasmus 53*) by 8 wkts and are out of the WC. The four qualifiers are SL, Namibia, Scot and the Bangles.
The “postponed” England v Ind 5th Test will be played at Edgbaston on 1-5 July 2022.
Rs suffered a dismal 2-1(Chair) defeat at lowly Peterborough.
Bill Hart
In the old days long before someone had dreamed up the idea of league cricket, South Hampstead ran a Whole Day side (1st XI) and a Half Day side (2nd XI) which enabled the fixture secretary to obtain stronger fixtures for the second XI. Typical matches for the half day side would be against Old Boy and Banks 1st XIs. The Old Grammarians (Battersea GS), under this arrangement, regularly played against the South Hampstead 2nd XI believing it to be their 1st XI. And this is how Bill Hart got to know the inhabitants of Milverton Road. In 1960 in the bar after the match Bill let it slip that he was moving with his new bride to Harrow. Ron Impey and Jack Wilson then spent the rest of the evening trying to persuade him that he had to make a double move and change cricket clubs as well, which he duly did. Bill’s version is that he never saw Ron and Jack again as he went straight into the 1stXI.
Bill then became another immigrant member of Bob Peach’s mature band of star 1st XI cricketers to join Len Stubbs (ex GWR), Alvin Nienow (ex Shepherds Bush), and Robin Ager (ex Turnham Green). He formed a formidable pace attack with Don Wallis and there was always an uneasy rivalry between the two of them and so it was somewhat strange that Bill became Don’s vice-captain when Don commenced his reign as Sunday captain. However, Bill went on to perform his duties diligently and set an admirable high standard for the future.
He was a fine seamer although he was probably past his quickest by the time I kept to him in the late sixties and he had the thankless task of bowling half the time on the slow wickets at Milverton Road. Unusually for a quick he fielded at second slip but I cannot recall ever seeing him take a catch there. He was fiercely competitive when bowling and was as big a handful in the dressing room for his teammates as he was on the field for the opposition. Piss taking was the order of the day in the dressing room and woe betide anyone who appeared with a fresh haircut or a new jacket or even worse placed their bag on the table where his usually went.
I believe that he only captained the club once and Tony Hawdon was there to capture the occasion for posterity. He was immensely proud to lead the side in this final match of the season in 1972 against Pinner:
Audrey Hawdon, Steve Thompson, Allen Bruton, Geoff Howe, Ossie Burton, Alan Cox, Lyncoln Sylburne, Rhys Axeworthy.
Iain Jerman, Terry Cordaroy, Bill Hart, Jim Sharp, Colin Price.
He always took his turn doing bar duty and his partner in this was Robin Ager for these entertaining and raucous sessions. To his credit once he was unable to hold down a regular place in the 1st XI he stepped down to the 2nd XI where he was able to contribute to the development of younger players.
One of his memorable sayings was “Thank you and Goodnight” and it is now time for us all to say to Bill “Thank you and Goodnight”.
Steve Thompson sent me this
I probably played against Bill as much as I played with him; at least that is my recollection. However on reflection that parity is probably a function of our meeting at reunions over the past twenty years at which, whenever he would greet me, it would probably take him less than ten seconds before he reminded me how many times he had dismissed me; doing so with that lovely, toothy but always genial grin. If I’d questioned him, which I never did, I am sure he would have been able to recount each and every occasion and in full detail. He was as competitive a cricketer as I’ve played with and I can only wonder what a game of golf with him would have been like since sadly I never had that pleasure. He was always great company always entertaining, always knowledgeable and nearly always right.
Our last conversations a few years back saw an attempt to meet up with other South Hampstead friends at our respective houses to watch my club, Brockhampton play Kenilworth home and away in the Premier Division of the Birmingham League. Sadly that didn’t happen. Lovely potential memories that weren’t made. A reminder that seizing such opportunities seems more important than ever as time marches on.
Colin Price sent me this
I first met Bill at the South Hampstead Cricket Club (SHCC) in 1971 which I joined in April of that year after travelling from Australia. My joining South Hampstead was quite by chance as I happened to move into a flat with some other Aussies on the corner of Brondesbury Park and Lydford Rd, noticed there was a cricket ground next door and wandered around to SHCC to see if I could get a game.
As he had been for a number of years, Bill was part of the established Club First XI and I was fortunate enough to be able to play in that team for the rest of that season (and the following 3 seasons). This was the season before League cricket was introduced so there was no measure of how we fared but I think we won more than we lost. Bill was a great team member always with a forthright opinion in the avowed tradition of a fast bowler who loved his trade.
Allen Bruton sent me this
I remember Bill in his South Hampstead days as an excellent opening bowler and hard hitting late order batsman. Always fully committed, enthusiastic with perhaps a slight hint of aggression at times. Definitely someone you would wish to have on your side rather than in opposition. Post cricket he turned his attention to golf presumably displaying the same determination which enabled him at the age of eighty four to win a club tournament with a round of 83.
Bill loved reunions and many will have happy memories of the Lords Box Reunion of 2013 organised and I am sure generously subsidised by him. When I last spoke to Bill in early summer the conversation quickly turned to the possibility of a get together and the hope something could be arranged for this year. Sadly, this did not prove possible and Bill will be greatly missed at any future gathering.
Odd Man Out
All you have to do is work out who is the Odd Man Out in this illustrious bunch:
Ollie Pope
Dawid Malan
Keaton Jennings
David Bedingham
Hashim Amla
Chris Cooke
Jake Libby
Marcus Harris
Dan Lawrence
Jos Bohannon
Ben Brown
Graeme van Buuren
The Hundred Finals, Saturday 21 August 2021
Ged(Ian Harris) was there to record it
Janie and I played tennis at 8:00, enabling us to get ready and set off in a leisurely style for the inaugural finals day of The Hundred tournament. No difficulty finding suitable parking spaces ahead of the women’s final, both for Dumbo on a street nearby and for our backsides in the Warner Stand.
Ahead of taking our seats, we ran into Alfred & Sunita, tennis friends of ours from Boston Manor. They were invitees in the President’s Box, which made our Members and Friends privileges feel positively like slumming it.
Throughout the tournament (this was my fourth visit to Lord’s to see The Hundred) I had relished the opportunity to help choose the walk-on music for various players, despite the fact that most of the choices were between three songs I had not heard before by three artistes I’d not heard of before. In truth, I think the “join in the fun…you choose” appy stuff might be aimed at a demographic other than mine.
But I was delighted that the first “choice of three” I was offered on finals day, as Fran Wilson’s walk-on music, included two songs and three artistes I recognised:
Once the game got underway, Janie and I competed to get pictures of the pyrotechnics that went off whenever a boundary was scored……or “the occasional central heating” as I called it. It was a slightly chilly Saturday afternoon, such that we quite enjoyed the bursts of warmth. On hot days such bursts can be unbearable.
The Women’s Final rather petered out, as a match, unfortunately. The women’s matches I had seen prior to the final had been close and exciting to watch. Never mind. There was loads more entertainment lined up.
Jax Jones was the live musical entertainment on finals day. Another artiste I had heard of – I saw him interviewed on one of the TV music channels a few years ago and was impressed by his diverse, global musical influences. Not to mention his dapper choices in headgear. But until the day, I didn’t realise that Jax Jones was the artiste behind The Hundred’s theme tune, Feels, until he performed it:
The number that really got the crowd (including me and Janie) going was You Don’t Know Me, with its utterly infectious beat:
By this stage of proceedings I was feeling far too cool for school, so it came as no surprise to me that I recognised one of the choices for Chris Benjamin’s walk-on music; Incredible by M.Beat Feat. General Levy. Janie was suitably impressed. I was delighted that my choice was the chosen one.
Even more impressive was my timing to snap the pre match fireworks at the men’s match – we’d both managed to get to the cameras a little late for the women’s fireworks:
With all the music and pyrotechnics, you might be wondering whether there was any cricket involved. Yes, there was. I should confirm that we did watch cricket that day.
Unfortunately, matters took a bit of a turn for the worse towards the end of the match. The absence of Champagne Charlies behind us meant that, instead, we had a Beer-swilling Bernard instead, who managed to kick over one of his beers, soaking Janie’s bag. Yes, she had taken a washable jobbie with her (based on previous experience) but “Bernard’s Beer-stream” succeeded in soaking the bag and seeping through to some of the contents in a mood-affecting manner.
Then my mood took a turn for the worse too, as the DJ, perhaps transfixed by the entertaining cricket match, or possibly on a toilet break, simply forgot to play Incredible when Chris Benjamin came out to bat. I should write to the Chief Executive of the MCC about this one. Relaxing the dress code – fair enough. But the DJ forgetting to play the chosen walk-on music is a breach of Lord’s etiquette and should be suitably sanctioned.
In truth, by the time Chris Benjamin was walking to the crease (without his walk-on music) it was becoming extremely unlikely that Birmingham might rise Phoenix-like from the hole they were in by that stage to pull off an incredible win.
Janie and I therefore took our leave of Lord’s a few minutes before the end of the match, to avoid the crowds.
We’d had a great afternoon and evening. The razzamatazz does feel like an update or reset to the short format; that should make it more appealing to the young and young at heart.
Hall of Shame
This section is reserved for professional sportsmen who can’t get the basics right
What sort of practice do professional cricketers do? In the World Cup T20 match Mustafizur bowled the second over of the innings for Bangladesh against Oman. It lasted an eternity as he produced five wides in his eleven ball over. Ironically, he took a wicket, LBW, as well. The batsman must have been bamboozled by a straight one.
In the England warm up game against New Zealand two English batsmen (Roy and Livingstone) were bowled first ball behind their legs by a right arm over the wicket bowler.
You might get away with it in a club game but you cannot hope to in an international match which is being televised and every facet of the game is covered by camera shots from every angle. It was therefore naïve as well as incompetence when not one but two Afghani batsmen were penalised for one short during their match against Scotland. Incidentally, I still cannot understand the concept of one short since if two were run they must both have been short.
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 227
November 2021
Caption Competition
- Ged: Is this another one of my photos that the editor isn’t giving me credit for?
Ian Bishop: Sounds like a “Shit or Bust” team to me.
- Jonathan Agnew: Who are India’s best opening bats in T20?
Jonathan Agnew: uummm.
Out and About with the Professor
I suppose the only conclusion to be made about the World Cup at this stage (writing on 25th October) is that it is unpredictable. Most of us would, I guess, have had Ireland qualifying and then most of us would have expected Australia to cruise home in a low-scoring game rather than just creeping home. After that it just got bizarre: West Indies 55 all out, Pakistan not losing a wicket. The only unsurprising thing was that England couldn’t win easily and instead lost four wickets, which could have been five as Morgan almost holed-out.
Moeen Ali continues in his mercurial way, bowling like a dream and then running himself out (some might contend that he shouldn’t have been sent back, but really was the run necessary – they only needed 20). I imagine we all watched the West Indies innings in growing disbelief – what, exactly, were their tactics? I thought McCoy’s innings summed the whole thing up nicely. Yes, I know he’s a bowler, but he walked to the wicket as No. 10, with 8 overs to go, took guard (why?), hit his first (and only) ball to deep long off, and walked back again. What, I wonder, did Simmons say to him.
One small plus from the England batting performance was that Morgan was still there at the end. His characteristic swat to leg which can go miles just eluded the sub’s figure tips and so he did at least have a few balls in the middle. Earlier Agnew had said, on the Today programme, that Morgan wasn’t in bad form: “he just hasn’t been getting many runs”. This sounds like a pretty good Colemanballs entry but it makes a little more sense when considering how often Morgan goes in at 5 or 6 with very few balls left. A couple of singles and a boundary might not be too bad from half a dozen balls; but his form in the IPL had been discussed a fair amount coming up to the World Cup. He got 7 from 7 in this match and 10 from 11 in the warm-up…but 4 from 8 in the IPL final. It wouldn’t do, however, to discount him at this stage. He now seems to be describing himself as an “all-rounder” in that his captaincy is of sufficient quality to give him a place in the team notwithstanding poor form (aka few runs). I’m not too sure about that. His captaincy does seem to be of a high class and he clearly has the team’s respect but when a player starts talking like that the worry is that the lack of runs is prompting them to look for other justifications which, as a batsman, might not be too good an idea. Hopefully he will get some time at the crease in the next couple of games.
England’s is clearly the most difficult group with Sri Lanka’s qualification, so some tough matches to come. The top two could be any two from five…so a little difficult to predict.
This & That
It must be the bats. As I recall when we went to Lord’s in the sixties the boundaries were 70 yards but, in some cases, depending where the wicket was located on the square were shorter, perhaps down to sixty yards. In the UAE, where it seems all cricket is now played, the commentators are continually referring to short boundaries by which they mean sixty plus metres. A rough translation of this about seventy yards. The longer boundaries are eighty metres which is about ninety yards. These boundaries are enormous. In the old days there were very few sixes struck but now the ball regularly sails over the long boundaries. In the World cup to date there have been three hits of over 100 metres (112 yards). It must be the bats.
The UAE wickets seem always to be placed near the centre of the square which suggests that they use the same strips over and over again. It is perhaps no surprise that the second half of the IPL was played on tired wickets and, in many respects, it was the bowlers who dominated proceedings with their off pace, change up and into the pitch deliveries. The second half of the World Cup T20 could well be the same.
Anyone who watched KL Rahul open the batting for India in the summer would have found it surprising that he scored most runs (626) in the IPL by miles and hit more sixes (30) than anu other player (du Plessis 23, Maxwell 21). A feat achieved without recourse the slogging. Playing for the Punjab Kings against the Chennai Superkings (the eventual overall winners) he scored 98 not out from 42 balls as his side won with 7 overs to spare.
Apparently in the IPL history there have been 67 hundreds scored. A staggering 17 have been scored by batsmen who ended up on the losing side!
In both of the England’s warm up games Rashid had problems with left handers. First Ishan Kishan hit him out of the attack and then Devon Conway hit him for two legside boundaries before running himself out next ball. Morgan will have to try to keep him away from left handers as the tournament progresses or he could have one of his key bowling weapons neutralized.
A feature of the modern game besides the absurd practice of wicket keepers trying to effect run outs by deflecting throws onto the stumps and normally missing the stumps is the new norm of bowlers assuming that fielders throws will hit the stumps and so there is no need for them to get behind the stumps to effect run outs. Numerous easy run outs have been missed in televised matches recently where the bowler is nowhere near the stumps.
I watched both of the opening games of the tournament proper on Saturday and paramount was the poor quality of the batting. Without going all out for a quick win England still managed to lose wickets chasing 53 and the nonappearance of Malan must have been to avoid a difficult decision if he had been dismissed cheaply. Lewis’ straight six off Woakes was majestic and the shot of the tournament.
Morgan Matters
Rs beat Preston 3-2 with goals from Dykes, Dunne and Chair and move up to 6th (inside the play-off zone). Hampton are through to the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup, beating mighty Wimborne Town 3-1.
Tymal Mills has been ignored by England for the last four years, but he has now apparently joined the England squad for the T20 WC in UAE... only T20 though.
Tanya's awards for the 2021 county season go to: Kevin Howells of Radio 5 live who "spent his season zipping across the country in search of the game to best satisfy his insatiable listeners"; Darren Stevens who finished the season as Kent's leading wicket taker, third highest run scorer and with a new one-year contract; and 11 other awards for less convincing heroism that I will not bother you with after all! Accompanying pictures feature Will Rhodes receiving the Bob Willis Trophy, Joe Root congratulating brother Billy, snow stopping play at Old Trafford and Stevens celebrating his century.
The Ashes tour to Oz looks like being confirmed after "positive talks" between players' representatives, ECB, Cricket Australia and the Oz government. However, England's chances in the T20 WC have complicated by a lower back injury suffered by S Curran. He is returning home for treatment and his place in the squad goes to brother Tom.
Middlesex have signed Pak pace bowler Shaheen Afridi for the 2022 season, well, for half of it anyway, as he has international duty from mid-July. He is a 6'6" left armer aged 21 who has played 19 Tests and has 59 white ball caps.
Ian Watmore has stood down as chairman of the ECB after just 13 months in the role. Barry O'Brien (deputy chair) now steps up in an interim capacity and is understood to have been among those board members who moved to oust Watmore.
Azeem Rafiq has accused Yorkshire of protecting the people who abused him during his 2 spells at the club by refusing to publish their names or the report that eventually forced the county to admit that Rafiq had been "the victim of racial harassment" during his time at Headingley.
England have awarded "central contracts" to Moeen, Anderson, Archer, Bairstow, Broad, Burns, Buttler, Crawley, S Curran, Leach, Malan, Morgan, Pope, Rashid, Robinson, Root, Roy, Stokes, Woakes and Wood; "incremental contracts" to Bess, T Curran, Jordan and Livingstone; and "pace bowling development contracts" to S Mahmood, C Overton and Stone. J Root is expected to lead a full-strength squad of 18 or 19 for this winter's bid to regain the Ashes after the 2 month tour of Oz was granted conditional approval by the ECB.
Ex-Kent and Hants batter Sam Northeast (31) has joined Glam on a 3 year contract.
Hampton beat Chelmsford 4-2 and have moved into the top seven (in the Vanarama South), which is good because the champions get automatic promotion (to the Vanarama National League, which features eg Grimsby, Halifax, Chesterfield, Notts Co, Stockport Co, Wrexham, Torquay, Southend, Aldershot et al) and the next 6 go into the play-offs.
The County Championship will revert to 2 divisions in 2022.
England have named a 14-strong Lions squad to "shadow the main touring party during this winter's Ashes tour": T Abell. J Bohannon, J Bracey, B Carse, M Crane, M Fisher, B Foakes, A Lees, S Mahmood, L Norwell, M Parkinson, D Sibley, J Smith and R Yates. There is some surprise at the omission of Sam Cook and Liam Livingstone.
Today's O (17/10) contains a surprising amount of cricket (I suppose the T20 WC must be about to start) especially two long articles on Liam Livingstone (by S Burnton) and Stuart Broad (by A Bull), which made the sports pages a bit more interesting than they often are at this time of year.
D Sibley has pulled out of the Eng;and Lions squad to tour Oz this winter. He is replaced by H Brook (Yorkshire).
All of the teams in the Championship have now played 13 games and Rs are still 5th on 21 points (10 points behind leaders Bournemouth), the same as Huddersfield and Stoke, but Rs have a better goal difference than Stoke and although Huddersfield's g/d is the same as Rs', Rs are ahead having scored more goals, 24 v 18.
"The former Australian Test cricketer Michael Slater has been charged with stalking and harassment offences over an alleged domestic violence incident".
T20WC. England have 12 squad members in their thirties and only Tom Curran is younger than 28. Eoin's (lack of) form with the bat is causing concern, but he claims to be "peaking as a captain"!
The October Cricketer tells us that:
- a return to 2 divisions in the County Championship next season is "becoming increasingly likely";
- ii) this winter's Ashes tours are "set to go ahead" after a "thaw in negotiations" and Australia is making plans for the England players and their families;
- iii) Pakistan Cricket board Chairman Ramiz Raja raged at the "Western bloc" after NZ and England pulled out of their tours;
- iv) the abandoned fifth Test will be "tagged on" to India's limited-overs tour next summer;
- v) George Dobell thinks that the decision to cancel the England tour to Pakistan is the "most shameful moment in English cricket history";
- vi) David Gower is backing The Cricketer's Red Alert campaign to save the longer (red ball) game;
- vii) Tanya Aldred says that Moeen Ali's "grace" will be sorely missed in Test cricket;
- viii) Phil Tufnell tells us that his favourite cricketer is his old Middx mucker John Emburey;
- ix) Simon Hughes gives us a long and detailed defence of MCC;
- x) Vic Marks laments the decline of English spinners;
- xi) the leading run scorer and wicket taker in the County Championship in 2021 were respectively T Haines of Sussex and L Fletcher of Notts; and
- xii) the most successful Test players of the year were a) batsman: Joe Root (Eng); and b) bowler: Pat Cummins (Aus).
T20WC: Oman 122 (J Davey 3-25) Scot 123-2 (K Coetzer 41 off 28 balls). Scot by 8 wkts and they are now top of the group. The Bangles have now qualified for the "Super 12" stage after beating PNG by 84. Ireland reached 62-0 and 94-2 (P Stirling 38, K O'Brien 25, A Balbirnie 21) but slumped to 125-8 and lost comfortably to Namibia (126-2, G Erasmus 53*) by 8 wkts and are out of the WC. The four qualifiers are SL, Namibia, Scot and the Bangles.
The “postponed” England v Ind 5th Test will be played at Edgbaston on 1-5 July 2022.
Rs suffered a dismal 2-1(Chair) defeat at lowly Peterborough.
Bill Hart
In the old days long before someone had dreamed up the idea of league cricket, South Hampstead ran a Whole Day side (1st XI) and a Half Day side (2nd XI) which enabled the fixture secretary to obtain stronger fixtures for the second XI. Typical matches for the half day side would be against Old Boy and Banks 1st XIs. The Old Grammarians (Battersea GS), under this arrangement, regularly played against the South Hampstead 2nd XI believing it to be their 1st XI. And this is how Bill Hart got to know the inhabitants of Milverton Road. In 1960 in the bar after the match Bill let it slip that he was moving with his new bride to Harrow. Ron Impey and Jack Wilson then spent the rest of the evening trying to persuade him that he had to make a double move and change cricket clubs as well, which he duly did. Bill’s version is that he never saw Ron and Jack again as he went straight into the 1stXI.
Bill then became another immigrant member of Bob Peach’s mature band of star 1st XI cricketers to join Len Stubbs (ex GWR), Alvin Nienow (ex Shepherds Bush), and Robin Ager (ex Turnham Green). He formed a formidable pace attack with Don Wallis and there was always an uneasy rivalry between the two of them and so it was somewhat strange that Bill became Don’s vice-captain when Don commenced his reign as Sunday captain. However, Bill went on to perform his duties diligently and set an admirable high standard for the future.
He was a fine seamer although he was probably past his quickest by the time I kept to him in the late sixties and he had the thankless task of bowling half the time on the slow wickets at Milverton Road. Unusually for a quick he fielded at second slip but I cannot recall ever seeing him take a catch there. He was fiercely competitive when bowling and was as big a handful in the dressing room for his teammates as he was on the field for the opposition. Piss taking was the order of the day in the dressing room and woe betide anyone who appeared with a fresh haircut or a new jacket or even worse placed their bag on the table where his usually went.
I believe that he only captained the club once and Tony Hawdon was there to capture the occasion for posterity. He was immensely proud to lead the side in this final match of the season in 1972 against Pinner:
Audrey Hawdon, Steve Thompson, Allen Bruton, Geoff Howe, Ossie Burton, Alan Cox, Lyncoln Sylburne, Rhys Axeworthy.
Iain Jerman, Terry Cordaroy, Bill Hart, Jim Sharp, Colin Price.
He always took his turn doing bar duty and his partner in this was Robin Ager for these entertaining and raucous sessions. To his credit once he was unable to hold down a regular place in the 1st XI he stepped down to the 2nd XI where he was able to contribute to the development of younger players.
One of his memorable sayings was “Thank you and Goodnight” and it is now time for us all to say to Bill “Thank you and Goodnight”.
Steve Thompson sent me this
I probably played against Bill as much as I played with him; at least that is my recollection. However on reflection that parity is probably a function of our meeting at reunions over the past twenty years at which, whenever he would greet me, it would probably take him less than ten seconds before he reminded me how many times he had dismissed me; doing so with that lovely, toothy but always genial grin. If I’d questioned him, which I never did, I am sure he would have been able to recount each and every occasion and in full detail. He was as competitive a cricketer as I’ve played with and I can only wonder what a game of golf with him would have been like since sadly I never had that pleasure. He was always great company always entertaining, always knowledgeable and nearly always right.
Our last conversations a few years back saw an attempt to meet up with other South Hampstead friends at our respective houses to watch my club, Brockhampton play Kenilworth home and away in the Premier Division of the Birmingham League. Sadly that didn’t happen. Lovely potential memories that weren’t made. A reminder that seizing such opportunities seems more important than ever as time marches on.
Colin Price sent me this
I first met Bill at the South Hampstead Cricket Club (SHCC) in 1971 which I joined in April of that year after travelling from Australia. My joining South Hampstead was quite by chance as I happened to move into a flat with some other Aussies on the corner of Brondesbury Park and Lydford Rd, noticed there was a cricket ground next door and wandered around to SHCC to see if I could get a game.
As he had been for a number of years, Bill was part of the established Club First XI and I was fortunate enough to be able to play in that team for the rest of that season (and the following 3 seasons). This was the season before League cricket was introduced so there was no measure of how we fared but I think we won more than we lost. Bill was a great team member always with a forthright opinion in the avowed tradition of a fast bowler who loved his trade.
Allen Bruton sent me this
I remember Bill in his South Hampstead days as an excellent opening bowler and hard hitting late order batsman. Always fully committed, enthusiastic with perhaps a slight hint of aggression at times. Definitely someone you would wish to have on your side rather than in opposition. Post cricket he turned his attention to golf presumably displaying the same determination which enabled him at the age of eighty four to win a club tournament with a round of 83.
Bill loved reunions and many will have happy memories of the Lords Box Reunion of 2013 organised and I am sure generously subsidised by him. When I last spoke to Bill in early summer the conversation quickly turned to the possibility of a get together and the hope something could be arranged for this year. Sadly, this did not prove possible and Bill will be greatly missed at any future gathering.
Odd Man Out
All you have to do is work out who is the Odd Man Out in this illustrious bunch:
Ollie Pope
Dawid Malan
Keaton Jennings
David Bedingham
Hashim Amla
Chris Cooke
Jake Libby
Marcus Harris
Dan Lawrence
Jos Bohannon
Ben Brown
Graeme van Buuren
The Hundred Finals, Saturday 21 August 2021
Ged(Ian Harris) was there to record it
Janie and I played tennis at 8:00, enabling us to get ready and set off in a leisurely style for the inaugural finals day of The Hundred tournament. No difficulty finding suitable parking spaces ahead of the women’s final, both for Dumbo on a street nearby and for our backsides in the Warner Stand.
Ahead of taking our seats, we ran into Alfred & Sunita, tennis friends of ours from Boston Manor. They were invitees in the President’s Box, which made our Members and Friends privileges feel positively like slumming it.
Throughout the tournament (this was my fourth visit to Lord’s to see The Hundred) I had relished the opportunity to help choose the walk-on music for various players, despite the fact that most of the choices were between three songs I had not heard before by three artistes I’d not heard of before. In truth, I think the “join in the fun…you choose” appy stuff might be aimed at a demographic other than mine.
But I was delighted that the first “choice of three” I was offered on finals day, as Fran Wilson’s walk-on music, included two songs and three artistes I recognised:
- Yes Sir, I Can Boogie – GBX Feat. Baccara
- By Your Side – Calvin Harris Feat. Tom Grennan
- One Kiss – Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa
Once the game got underway, Janie and I competed to get pictures of the pyrotechnics that went off whenever a boundary was scored……or “the occasional central heating” as I called it. It was a slightly chilly Saturday afternoon, such that we quite enjoyed the bursts of warmth. On hot days such bursts can be unbearable.
The Women’s Final rather petered out, as a match, unfortunately. The women’s matches I had seen prior to the final had been close and exciting to watch. Never mind. There was loads more entertainment lined up.
Jax Jones was the live musical entertainment on finals day. Another artiste I had heard of – I saw him interviewed on one of the TV music channels a few years ago and was impressed by his diverse, global musical influences. Not to mention his dapper choices in headgear. But until the day, I didn’t realise that Jax Jones was the artiste behind The Hundred’s theme tune, Feels, until he performed it:
The number that really got the crowd (including me and Janie) going was You Don’t Know Me, with its utterly infectious beat:
By this stage of proceedings I was feeling far too cool for school, so it came as no surprise to me that I recognised one of the choices for Chris Benjamin’s walk-on music; Incredible by M.Beat Feat. General Levy. Janie was suitably impressed. I was delighted that my choice was the chosen one.
Even more impressive was my timing to snap the pre match fireworks at the men’s match – we’d both managed to get to the cameras a little late for the women’s fireworks:
With all the music and pyrotechnics, you might be wondering whether there was any cricket involved. Yes, there was. I should confirm that we did watch cricket that day.
Unfortunately, matters took a bit of a turn for the worse towards the end of the match. The absence of Champagne Charlies behind us meant that, instead, we had a Beer-swilling Bernard instead, who managed to kick over one of his beers, soaking Janie’s bag. Yes, she had taken a washable jobbie with her (based on previous experience) but “Bernard’s Beer-stream” succeeded in soaking the bag and seeping through to some of the contents in a mood-affecting manner.
Then my mood took a turn for the worse too, as the DJ, perhaps transfixed by the entertaining cricket match, or possibly on a toilet break, simply forgot to play Incredible when Chris Benjamin came out to bat. I should write to the Chief Executive of the MCC about this one. Relaxing the dress code – fair enough. But the DJ forgetting to play the chosen walk-on music is a breach of Lord’s etiquette and should be suitably sanctioned.
In truth, by the time Chris Benjamin was walking to the crease (without his walk-on music) it was becoming extremely unlikely that Birmingham might rise Phoenix-like from the hole they were in by that stage to pull off an incredible win.
Janie and I therefore took our leave of Lord’s a few minutes before the end of the match, to avoid the crowds.
We’d had a great afternoon and evening. The razzamatazz does feel like an update or reset to the short format; that should make it more appealing to the young and young at heart.
Hall of Shame
This section is reserved for professional sportsmen who can’t get the basics right
What sort of practice do professional cricketers do? In the World Cup T20 match Mustafizur bowled the second over of the innings for Bangladesh against Oman. It lasted an eternity as he produced five wides in his eleven ball over. Ironically, he took a wicket, LBW, as well. The batsman must have been bamboozled by a straight one.
In the England warm up game against New Zealand two English batsmen (Roy and Livingstone) were bowled first ball behind their legs by a right arm over the wicket bowler.
You might get away with it in a club game but you cannot hope to in an international match which is being televised and every facet of the game is covered by camera shots from every angle. It was therefore naïve as well as incompetence when not one but two Afghani batsmen were penalised for one short during their match against Scotland. Incidentally, I still cannot understand the concept of one short since if two were run they must both have been short.
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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