Meet the Team
GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 239
November 2022
Spot the Ball
Out and About with the Professor
We have discussed, on very many occasions in the almost twenty years of this journal, the virtues or otherwise of limited overs cricket. From its inception there have been critics and while, or so it seems to me, the criticism has become more muted as the various formats have become ubiquitous, the shorter forms have become shorter and the complaints, arguably, more valid. We don’t hear anymore about “pyjama cricket” or “hit and giggle cricket”, whatever that is supposed to mean, but there is still plenty of dislike of the synthetic excitement that surrounds T20 (and even more so “The Hundred”): the noise, the music, the go-go dancers, the fireworks, the puerile advertisements that commentators are obliged to read out (the puerile commentary come to that), etc. My guess is that we would all be happy if that disappeared (give or take the go-go dancers) but does it detract from the cricket? Arguably it does detract but not, I think, diminish.
Not, at least, the World Cup match between India and Pakistan, played on the 23rd October. Indeed it would be hard to think of anything diminishing such a stunning contest. 90,000+ spectators in the ground and untold millions on TV and a game that was never settled until the last couple of balls.
Doubtless many Googlies readers were able to watch all or part of the match and the narrative of the ebb and flow of the Pakistan innings (dreadful start, strong recovery, slightly tepid ending) is not that unusual…but what a finish to the game. The Pakistan total of 159 always looked a little short but there have not been many really large scores early in the competition, and Melbourne famously has “big boundaries” (why don’t they make them all the same? Not too hard to move the rope in a little).
The India innings made an even worse start, with three down in the first six overs. They inched their way to 112 from 17 overs and did not look favourites get the remaining 48 from the last three. But Hardik had been batting for a while and India had Kohli. But still it was the Pakistani half of the crowd who were on their collective feet and the Indian half in their seats. The 17th over went for 17, but still 31 from two seemed a lot. In addition, Haris Rauf was bowling. His first four balls of the 18th over went for 3 runs – huge chanting from the green half of the crowd – 28 now from eight balls…seemingly close to impossible on this pitch.
But India had Kohli. Haris Rauf is a very fine bowler: quick and highly skilled. His fifth ball, to Kohli, was, perhaps, just a touch short. Kohli hardly moved. If anything, he just shifted a little onto the back foot and with a straight bat hit the ball cleanly over the bowlers head for six. It would be wrong to describe this as an impossible shot, not least because Kohli had just played it, but it would be fair to suggest that it would have been impossible for anyone else. It would have demoralised any bowler, and Rauf’s figures were not improved by the “pick-up” for six over long leg from the next ball. The blue half erupted.
I don’t think anyone watching would have thought that giving the last over to Nawaz was a great idea. It turned out to be a dreadful one. But not after the first ball which Hardik skied into the covers. Massive crowd reaction from the other half. New batter Karthik scampered a single, and so four balls left, 15 required and Kohli facing.
Nawaz now, it seemed, rather lost his nerve. A half-volley went for 2 and a more-than-waist-high full toss went for a 6…and a no ball/free hit. Nawaz’s next ball is a legside wide (blue delirium) and his next hits Kohli’s off stump (green delirium). The latter is short lived since the “free hit” is still “live” and hitting Kohli’s off stump results in 3 byes. The commentators proved their suitability for the job by claiming that the ball should have been called dead – it shouldn’t. The seventh ball of the over is another wicket – a stumping. The tension in the ground was matched by that in the commentary box. Smith, the former international wicket keeper, was a hair’s breadth from saying that the stumping wasn’t out because the keeper had taken the ball in front of the stumps…which he had. He stopped halfway through the sentence, realising that the ball had hit Karthik’s bat – or a bit of Karthik, or something. So still 2 from two, and Nawaz bowls another wide – scores level and a ninth delivery to bowl which new batter Ashwin pops over mid-off for the win.
I sometimes think in order to enjoy a sporting event it is necessary to have some commitment to one side or the other – some “skin in the game”. I had no interest at all in who won this match, but it was captivating throughout. For anyone who watched this match and didn’t enjoy it, I think one would have to conclude that watching cricket wasn’t for them.
This & That
In their recent match against Western Australia Victoria racked up 616 for 4 declared of which their skipper, Peter Handscomb, made 281 not out. Presumably this was the sort of contribution he had been expected to make when employed at Middlesex? He added 338 unbroken for the fifth wicket with Sam Harper.
Whilst England were finishing off their entertaining T20 series in Pakistan, India and South Africa were playing their own warm up T20 series. In the first match India won a low scoring affair but things really hotted up in the second match. Rahul, Rohit and Kohli all scored at impressive rates but Suryakumar hit 61 from just 22 balls at the end of the innings to enable India to finish on 237 for 3. In reply the South Africans reached 47 for 3 before David Miller joined de Kock and they added 174 in 14 overs to finish just 16 short in their chase. Miller made 106 not out from 47 balls.
In the third match South Africa batted first and reached 227 for 3 in their 20 overs with Rilee Rossouw making 100 not out. India could only manage 178 in reply. These totals suggest that when the T20 WC gets properly underway this weekend we can expect some huge scores from the serious teams. These won’t include the West Indies though as they have already been knocked out after suffering defeats against Scotland and Ireland.
After the unexciting England win over Afghanistan the T20WC proper got underway on Sunday morning from the MCG. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh managed to swing the white Kookaburra ball both ways in their opening spells and it seemed almost unfair when Mohammed Shami came on as a change bowler and achieved the same movement. So what now is the status of these balls that will only swing for two overs if at all? Will we be hearing, as of the Duke balls, that they came from a rogue batch?
The drone cameras produce fabulous panoramic pictures of the stadiums and the new WACA ground looked fabulous for the England Afghanistan match. It apparently holds 61,000 but there were probably less than 5,000 in for this match. These were spread around except for a small group of Barmy Army supporters who were packed in tight together. One of their throng had a trombone. Just imagine sitting in front of this guy and every over having the slide scrape against your ear or even worse smack into the back of your head.
I continue to be baffled by modern football and cannot get to grips with this concept of a wing back. The position seems to be filled by a wannabee forward who is no good at defending. Liverpool have leaked goals consistently down their right-hand side this season because of Alexander-Arnold’s woeful defending. He is always out of position and his tackling leaves much to be desired. Interestingly Klopp eventually dropped him for the visit of Manchester City last weekend and played James Milner at Right Back up against the in form mercurial Foden. Milner gave a classic display of full back play and rendered Foden impotent.
City had another of these wing backs, Cancelo, in their line up and when Alisson pumped the ball up field Salah easily brushed him aside and went on to score the only goal of the game. In fact, Nunes later also took Cancelo to the cleaners and almost scored a second. Costly mediocre defending. Spurs have Sessegnon who the diminutive Almiron muscled aside and went on to score at the THS. Graham Potter came up with his own solution having inherited two very expensive left backs in his squad at Chelsea, Chilwell and Cucurella. He decided to play them both at Aston Villa!
Morgan Matters
J Bairstow has confirmed that he will not play again this year following the severe injuries he received playing that dangerous game known as golf! Jonny's consolation is that he has won the inaugural Bob Willis Trophy after being voted England's Player of the Year by the Cricket Writer's Club.
Moeen Ali has ruled out a Test comeback for England's tour of Pakistan in December saying he is "done with Test cricket".
Rs had a great win away at leaders Blades, thrashing them 0-1 with a goal from Willock. Rs are 4th in the Championship, 3 points behind the leaders Sheff U and Norwich.
Ex-Middlesex man Gareth Berg (41) has agreed a new deal with Northants for the 2023 season, Middx thought he was past it in 2014!
Both J Root and D Malan have signed new contracts with relegated Yorks.
Jack Brooks (Som), Andrew Gale (Yorks), Eve Jones (Birmingham), Azeem Rafiq (Yorks) and Danni Wyatt have all been reprimanded by the ECB for "historical social media posts of a racist nature". Azeem Rafiq, Andrew Gale, Danni Wyatt, Evelyn Jones and Jack Brooks have been found guilty of "racist and discriminatory conduct" and have "acted in a way that was prejudicial to the interests of cricket".
Leus du Ploy has replaced ex-Middx man Billy Godleman as captain of Derbys after 7 years in the role.
England have announced their central contracts for 2022-23, the names of Dawid Malan and Jason Roy are noticeably absent while Ben Foakes and Liam Livingstone both earn their first central contracts.
Middlesex spinner Thilan Walallawita (SL) has signed a contract extension, is now committed to the club until the end of the 2024 season and has been granted British citizenship.
Middlesex are celebrating "Black History Month" with "special feature articles" on Wayne "the Diamond" Daniel and Wilf "Slacky" Slack then with a further six players in the coming weeks plus "a special interview at the end of the month with Alf Langley from SBCC, a man who has had such a positive impact in so many ways over many years".
Ex-Yorks spinner Azeem Rafiq has been accused of anti-semitism, homophobia and "fat shaming children" by former team-mates and officials, which he says are a "never-ending co-ordinated campaign of lies".
29 year old Liam Livingstone believes that he is finally ready for Test cricket!
Reece Topley is out of the T20WC with an ankle injury. He is replaced by Tymal Mills.
Rs boss Michael Beale has turned down an offer from Wolves to be their new manager. Wolves thought it would be a smooth and easy process, but Beale made it clear that he wants to stay at Loftus Rd. Good man!
Rs had a good 3-0 win over Cardiff (Lyndon Dykes 2 and Ken Paal) and are now top on 27 points and ahead of Blackburn (who have played a game more) on goal difference.
J Archer is now fit enough to join the Eng Lions squad next month at their training camp in UAE, also attending will be S Mahmood, B Carse, J Anderson, J Overton, O Robinson, J Leach and W Jacks.
The November Cricketer tells us that:
1. the first class counties look poised to reject proposals to alter the structure of the domestic game proposed by A Strauss's Review, the counties object to proposals to cut the County Championship and the Blast;
2. five Ashes Tests will be squashed in between June 16 and July 31 next year just to accommodate the ridiculous hundred;
3. the Cricket Writers Club have made J Bairstow their England Player of the Year (Bob Willis Trophy) and K Barker their Championship PotY;
4. Robin Marlar has died aged 91;
5. head coach Ian Salisbury has left Sussex after a non-cricketing dispute relating to off-spinner Jack Carson;
6. Tom Moody has left his role as SL's director of cricket;
7. Tanya Aldred's Championship team of the season is: Keaton Jennings, Emilio Gay, Shan Masood, Ollie Pope, Harry Brook, Sam Northeast, John Simpson (wk), Simon Harmer, Liam Norwell, Hasan Ali, Sam Cook and 12th man Ed Barnard;
8. six retiring stalwarts have their careers assessed : James Hildreth, Darren Stevens, Nathan Buck, Adam Wheater, Steven Patterson and Michael Hogan;
Durham's record first class wicket-taker (he has 603) Chris Rushworth is leaving the county "for personal reasons".
Richard Gould (son of Bobby and currently chief exec of Bristol City, but he also spent 16 years at Somerset and Surrey) is the new chief exec of the E(&W)CB. This is seen as a sign that the governing body is trying to rebuild bridges with the counties after the divisive Tom Harrison era and it is hoped that it will lead to changes to the dreaded Hundred.
Phil Simmons is stepping down as WI's men's coach.
Miller Matters
Douglas Miller liked the last edition
This was, in many ways, one of the very best Googlies that I have read with the Professor at his incomparable best from Sicily of all places. The magazine was also free from the normal typos – only Mickey (instead of Micky) Stewart letting the show down. It was good, too, to see Tanya Aldred bringing a little relief from contributions that are otherwise submitted, as far as I can tell, exclusively by elderly (or even very old) white males. With an 85th birthday looming I am certainly in that brigade.
I have long been saying that we golden oldies have far too much say in the way cricket is run in this country. The thousand or so sheltering under the limes for the average county match lead the way in condemning The Hundred as an irrelevance, when it has certainly attracted a new audience and brought top cricket back to terrestrial television. As one who attended the finals day, I show my age by abhorring the music but the fireworks were quite fun and contributed to an atmosphere of relaxed enjoyment and excitement.
The Hundred is here to stay for a while. Judged purely on its merits as entertainment, it is an unquestionable success and has comfortably generated the income needed to give the counties their annual lifeline. The pity, I admit, is that we have managed to end up with a three-piece jigsaw puzzle of fixtures in which we must accommodate four. Yet the outcry at the Strauss proposal to reduce championship matches to ten reflects the views of the pensioners for whom free bus passes and cheap haircuts are not enough. They must have their county cricket as it was back in the fifties and sixties – regardless of what benefits the programme may bring besides the chance for nostalgic talk from the deck chairs.
A first love of music does not come from enforced listening to Wagner’s Ring Cycle, and The Hundred is in keeping with the impatience of youth. Yet despite the loss of the six-ball over and the ditching of old mantra – ‘Play yourself in’, ‘Never run on a mis-field’ and the rest of it – the essence of cricket’s gladiatorial battle between batter and bowler remains, while fielding has been lifted to levels never contemplated in the days when saving your flannels was a normal priority.
Spurious arguments are advanced about retaining pathways to Test cricket. No other Test-playing nation has a domestic championship of more than ten matches. Yet the Sheffield Shield, Plunket Shield, Ranji Trophy and other comparable competitions serve well enough to sustain the conveyor belt of new international stars – and, for what little it may be worth, Virat Kohli has not played a single Ranji match in the past decade. A major benefit of a reduced championship programme is that matches have less need to be crammed into early April and late September. Each match played becomes more of an event, and by confining the top division to six teams the cream rises to the top, raising the standard of play.
It’s tough for Leicestershire, Derbyshire and many of the others including my own Gloucestershire, to be forced to lead a life a little more akin to that of the National Counties, and agreement to the Strauss Plan involves putting country before county and those finding their way to the game ahead of those reminiscing about the days of Compton and Edrich. I have little confidence that sensible change will come about so long as we have 18 first-class counties with twelve empowered to veto proposals. But I live in hope.
The benefits that The Hundred has brought to women’s cricket are widely acknowledged and certainly to be welcomed. Yet those who see it as filling some of the entertainment gaps from a reduced men’s programme should recognise how far it has still to travel. No doubt mindful of a rather deserted pavilion for the World Cup triumph in 2016, MCC took steps to make it easier for friends to be introduced for this year’s women’s ODI against India. As an indicator of perceived value I have been required to pay £140 to bid for an allocation of a single Rover ticket for one day of the forthcoming men’s Ashes Test, but for the women’s ODI I am allowed to ask for four – and they will cost me just £25 each.
County Championship Division One 2022 team of the season
The Cricketer picks of the team of the season from LV= Insurance County Championship Division One
1. Keaton Jennings (Lancashire)
(11 matches, 1,233 runs, batting average 72.52, five centuries, two fifties)
Either side of leading Lancashire to two domestic white-ball finals, the left-hander compiled his best first-class season since 2016 - the only other campaign he has reached four figures. Owner of the highest individual knock in Division One (318 against Somerset) Jennings is again being spoken about as an England opener with Pakistan on the horizon.
2. Ben Compton (Kent)
(13 matches, 1,193 runs, batting average 54.22, four centuries, six fifties)
One of the stories of the season. Compton, the grandson of Denis, was cast aside by Nottinghamshire at the end of last term, joining Kent without a first-class hundred. By the end of April, he had three, adding a fourth against Northamptonshire in mid-May. Compton passed 1,000 red-ball runs in May and played a major role in Kent's survival.
3. Tom Abell (Somerset)
(13 matches, 1,039 runs, batting average 51.95, five centuries, four fifties)
No batter in the top division reached three figures more times than Somerset's captain. It was a landmark campaign for Abell: he brought up four figures in a five-class season, a career-best 150* and averaged more than 50 for the first time all in the same summer. Signed off his Taunton season with hundreds in both innings against Northants.
4. Sam Hain (Warwickshire)
(12 matches, 1,137 runs, batting average 63.16, three centuries, six fifties)
Another player who enjoyed a career-best first-class season. Hain looks every bit an England player of the future (perhaps that chance comes first in the 50-over game). Who knows what would have become of Warwickshire had it not been for Hain reaching 1,000 runs for the season? The highlight came in May when he added a century to a double ton against Northants.
5. Harry Brook (Yorkshire)
(8 matches, 967 runs, batting average 107.44, three centuries, six fifties)
Ultimately, Brook's (blameless) absence beyond July may have played a major role in Yorkshire dropping into Division Two, but he could have done little more in the opening weeks of the season. He produced a remarkable hot streak - 101, 56*, 84, 77*, 194, 123, 41, 82*, 82, 76 - in his first 10 innings and forced England's hand for the New Zealand series.
6. Ben Foakes (Surrey)
(9 matches, 586 runs, batting average 73.25, one century, three fifties, 45 dismissals)
Credit to Foakes for playing the majority of Surrey's Championship-winning campaign while attempting to nail down an England place. Opened the season with his one and only century while only James Bracey of Gloucestershire pulled off more dismissals, despite playing fewer games than many of his contemporaries.
7. Keith Barker (Hampshire)
(14 matches, 595 runs, batting average 29.75, four fifties, 52 wickets, bowling average 22.38, three five-fors)
Barker got through more overs than any seamer, bar Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Sam Connors, in the County Championship and was a regular wicket-taker across the season. Consistent with his first-class career, Barker proved handy with the bat and narrowly fell short of 600 runs for the season for the first time since 2016, the season of his last hundred.
8. Jamie Overton (Surrey)
(10 matches, 355 runs, batting average 29.58, two fifties, 34 wickets, bowling average 25.64, two five-fors)
Injury probably denied him an extended run in England's Test team, but he forced the issue with 19 wickets in the first four Championship matches of the season. Forty-nine boundaries in 15 innings with the bat (he struck 97 on Test debut against New Zealand) will keep Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum interested too, not least his ability to hit 90 mph.
9. Kyle Abbott (Hampshire)
(11 matches, 58 wickets, bowling average 19.98, four five-fors, one 10-for)
The South African quick passed 50 wickets for the season for the fourth time in five campaigns (he has 323 at 19.57 for Hants) to underpin his side's title push. Abbott finished with the best strike rate of any bowler to take more than 36 wickets and claimed a sixth first-class 10-for against Yorkshire to keep Hampshire's title hopes alive.
10. Sam Cook (Essex)
(11 matches, 51 wickets, bowling average 16.23, one five-for, one 10-for)
The definitive leader of the Essex seam battery attack earned comparisons with James Anderson during a campaign in which he collected a third 10-wicket haul against Kent. Indeed, he signed off with 25 wickets in September and while Essex were never in title contention following an uneven start to the campaign Cook was one of the positives to emerge from Chelmsford.
11. Simon Harmer (Essex)
(11 matches, 59 wickets, bowling average 20.67, seven five-fors, two 10-fors)
No team of the season is complete without the South African, who remained as influential as ever despite not being available for the whole campaign. He still topped the tree in Division One with 59 wickets, bringing his Essex first-class tally to 1,000 in July and his number of 10-wicket hauls to nine in 75 matches.
County Championship Division Two 2022 team of the season
The Cricketer picks the team of the season from the LV= Insurance County Championship Division Two
1. Haseeb Hameed (Nottinghamshire)
(14 matches, 1,235 runs, batting average 58.80, four centuries, seven fifties)
After a troubling Ashes series in Australia, it was heartening to see the ever-popular Notts batter rediscover his best form with a career-best first-class season. The leading opening batter in the country hit four centuries across the season to help Nottinghamshire return to Division One.
2. Mark Stoneman (Middlesex)
(14 matches, 1,025 runs, batting average 48.80, three centuries, four fifties)
Out-scored by teammate John Simpson, but there is no doubting the importance of Stoneman's runs in English cricket's problem position. This was the sixth time Stoneman had brought up four figures during a first-class season but the first since he dropped out of the England Test team, underpinning Middlesex's promotion.
3. Sam Northeast (Glamorgan)
(14 matches, 1,189 runs, batting average 59.45, two centuries, five fifties)
Northeast made the highest County Championship score for 127 years when he roared to 410 not out against Leicestershire in July, and the best in first-class cricket in the 21st century. It came during a memorable middle of the summer for the former Kent and Hampshire man, who a week earlier had gone to three figures against Notts having gone past 3,000 T20 runs in June.
4. Wayne Madsen (Derbyshire)
(14 matches, 1,273 runs, batting average 60.61, three centuries, 10 fifties)
The highest run-scorer in the Championship, Madsen, was unerringly consistent, reaching 13 milestone scores from the 20 innings in which he recorded a run. A 38-year-old whose hunger shows little sign of fading (this was his best first-class return over a season since 2016), he registered hundreds in both games against Sussex and in the visit of Glamorgan.
5. Cheteshwar Pujara (Sussex)
(8 matches, 1,094 runs, batting average 109.40, five centuries)
Just eight games were enough for the India batter to go past 1,000 runs for the season, thanks to his five centuries. Pujara signalled his intent with a double ton on debut against Derbyshire, putting on 351 with Tom Haines for the third wicket. He plundered a second against Durham and completed his hat-trick against Middlesex.
6. Anuj Dal (Derbyshire)
(13 matches, 957 runs, batting average 73.61, three centuries, five fifties, 34 wickets, bowling average 29.88, one five-for)
Appointed PCA vice chair in February 2021, Dal is as important on the field for Derbyshire as he is off it. In the top 12 for runs and wickets in Division Two, he was the driving force behind the Mickey Arthur revolution. There can be no doubting the outstanding moment of his summer, a first-innings 55, backed up by an unbeaten 112, was capped by a maiden five-for to help beat Worcestershire at New Road.
7. Brooke Guest (Derbyshire)
(14 matches, 923 runs, batting average 38.45, four centuries, two fifties, 52 dismissals)
Only Chris Cooke finished the Division Two season with more dismissals than Guest, who did justice to Arthur's insistence Derbyshire would cope with a single senior wicketkeeper. The 25-year-old very nearly scored twice as many first-class runs this season as in his whole career. He added four tons to his maiden hundred against Essex last season and was a staple of the top three.
8. Liam Patterson-White (Nottinghamshire)
(11 matches, 41 wickets, bowling average 27.95, two five-fors)
The leading spinner in the second tier, with 41 wickets for the title winners. Patterson-White hit the ground running with eight scalps in the season opener against Sussex including one of two five-fors in the first innings. Notts' first choice red-ball spinner since Samit Patel stepped away, he is revelling in the responsibility.
9. Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex)
(13 matches, 67 wickets, bowling average 18.80, four five-fors, one 10-for)
September's shoot-out for promotion went the way of Middlesex thanks in part to the performances of their 34-year-old seamer. Roland-Jones helped break down Glamorgan (two in four balls) and then Leicestershire (three in 15) to give the Lord's county the upper hand. The ex-England bowler was consistent throughout the campaign, the top wicket-taker in the Championship, and picked up a fifth career five-for against Durham in May.
10. Matthew Potts (Durham)
(10 matches, 58 wickets, bowling average 17.87, six five-fors, two 10-fors)
Thirty-five wickets in the opening six rounds of the County Championship forced England's hand, leading to the Durham quick debuting in the New Zealand series. Potts is now a central part of Brendon McCullum's squad and it is nothing less than the 23-year-old deserves. He ended the campaign, after only one South Africa Test, as he began it with a career-best 13 for 101 against Leicestershire while taking 24 in the final three games.
11. Dane Paterson (Nottinghamshire)
(12 matches, 56 wickets, bowling average 22.35, two five-fors, one 10-for)
Only Roland-Jones and Potts picked up more Division Two wickets than Paterson. But the South African didn't rip through line-ups, only collecting two five-fors and a single 10-wicket haul. That latter performance came virtue of a first-innings 8 for 52 against Worcestershire. Positioned at first change behind Luke Fletcher, Stuart Broad or James Pattinson, Paterson had a handy knack for picking up wickets whatever the circumstances.
Barnet Watch
West Ham’s Gianluca Scamacca has his hair trimmed short but has bleached white some of it in striations leaving the likeness of a frosty February morning whist Newcastle’s Joelinton has gone the whole hog and died the whole top white looking light a light dusting of snow.
Meanwhile at Chelsea Chalobah has short dreadlocks all over his head which for some reason he has dyed ginger. He looks like an overripe bunch of bananas.
Reece James is out injured but the TV cameras picked him out in the stand with a new hair colouring, emerald green. He looks like pitch 41 on Wormwood Scrubs.
Kingaby Matters
John (Mac) McLoughlin sent me these notes about an Old Dane
I was lucky enough to be at the Swanage Blues Festival this past 4 days and to be at a tremendous gig by the Mustangs. The first time I'd heard them (or heard of them!!) but also the last gig for founder-member and blues harp player, Derek Kingaby. A distinctive name, so I spoke to him and - yes, he is an Old Dane (1958-65?). The other founder-member, Adam, waxed lyrical in his praise of Derek and made a presentation to him of a gold harmonica and a collage of their 14 albums together. I asked him if his harmonica playing was the result of Percy Taylor's careful nurturing and advice and he said "No, I was completely unmusical at school".
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 239
November 2022
Spot the Ball
Out and About with the Professor
We have discussed, on very many occasions in the almost twenty years of this journal, the virtues or otherwise of limited overs cricket. From its inception there have been critics and while, or so it seems to me, the criticism has become more muted as the various formats have become ubiquitous, the shorter forms have become shorter and the complaints, arguably, more valid. We don’t hear anymore about “pyjama cricket” or “hit and giggle cricket”, whatever that is supposed to mean, but there is still plenty of dislike of the synthetic excitement that surrounds T20 (and even more so “The Hundred”): the noise, the music, the go-go dancers, the fireworks, the puerile advertisements that commentators are obliged to read out (the puerile commentary come to that), etc. My guess is that we would all be happy if that disappeared (give or take the go-go dancers) but does it detract from the cricket? Arguably it does detract but not, I think, diminish.
Not, at least, the World Cup match between India and Pakistan, played on the 23rd October. Indeed it would be hard to think of anything diminishing such a stunning contest. 90,000+ spectators in the ground and untold millions on TV and a game that was never settled until the last couple of balls.
Doubtless many Googlies readers were able to watch all or part of the match and the narrative of the ebb and flow of the Pakistan innings (dreadful start, strong recovery, slightly tepid ending) is not that unusual…but what a finish to the game. The Pakistan total of 159 always looked a little short but there have not been many really large scores early in the competition, and Melbourne famously has “big boundaries” (why don’t they make them all the same? Not too hard to move the rope in a little).
The India innings made an even worse start, with three down in the first six overs. They inched their way to 112 from 17 overs and did not look favourites get the remaining 48 from the last three. But Hardik had been batting for a while and India had Kohli. But still it was the Pakistani half of the crowd who were on their collective feet and the Indian half in their seats. The 17th over went for 17, but still 31 from two seemed a lot. In addition, Haris Rauf was bowling. His first four balls of the 18th over went for 3 runs – huge chanting from the green half of the crowd – 28 now from eight balls…seemingly close to impossible on this pitch.
But India had Kohli. Haris Rauf is a very fine bowler: quick and highly skilled. His fifth ball, to Kohli, was, perhaps, just a touch short. Kohli hardly moved. If anything, he just shifted a little onto the back foot and with a straight bat hit the ball cleanly over the bowlers head for six. It would be wrong to describe this as an impossible shot, not least because Kohli had just played it, but it would be fair to suggest that it would have been impossible for anyone else. It would have demoralised any bowler, and Rauf’s figures were not improved by the “pick-up” for six over long leg from the next ball. The blue half erupted.
I don’t think anyone watching would have thought that giving the last over to Nawaz was a great idea. It turned out to be a dreadful one. But not after the first ball which Hardik skied into the covers. Massive crowd reaction from the other half. New batter Karthik scampered a single, and so four balls left, 15 required and Kohli facing.
Nawaz now, it seemed, rather lost his nerve. A half-volley went for 2 and a more-than-waist-high full toss went for a 6…and a no ball/free hit. Nawaz’s next ball is a legside wide (blue delirium) and his next hits Kohli’s off stump (green delirium). The latter is short lived since the “free hit” is still “live” and hitting Kohli’s off stump results in 3 byes. The commentators proved their suitability for the job by claiming that the ball should have been called dead – it shouldn’t. The seventh ball of the over is another wicket – a stumping. The tension in the ground was matched by that in the commentary box. Smith, the former international wicket keeper, was a hair’s breadth from saying that the stumping wasn’t out because the keeper had taken the ball in front of the stumps…which he had. He stopped halfway through the sentence, realising that the ball had hit Karthik’s bat – or a bit of Karthik, or something. So still 2 from two, and Nawaz bowls another wide – scores level and a ninth delivery to bowl which new batter Ashwin pops over mid-off for the win.
I sometimes think in order to enjoy a sporting event it is necessary to have some commitment to one side or the other – some “skin in the game”. I had no interest at all in who won this match, but it was captivating throughout. For anyone who watched this match and didn’t enjoy it, I think one would have to conclude that watching cricket wasn’t for them.
This & That
In their recent match against Western Australia Victoria racked up 616 for 4 declared of which their skipper, Peter Handscomb, made 281 not out. Presumably this was the sort of contribution he had been expected to make when employed at Middlesex? He added 338 unbroken for the fifth wicket with Sam Harper.
Whilst England were finishing off their entertaining T20 series in Pakistan, India and South Africa were playing their own warm up T20 series. In the first match India won a low scoring affair but things really hotted up in the second match. Rahul, Rohit and Kohli all scored at impressive rates but Suryakumar hit 61 from just 22 balls at the end of the innings to enable India to finish on 237 for 3. In reply the South Africans reached 47 for 3 before David Miller joined de Kock and they added 174 in 14 overs to finish just 16 short in their chase. Miller made 106 not out from 47 balls.
In the third match South Africa batted first and reached 227 for 3 in their 20 overs with Rilee Rossouw making 100 not out. India could only manage 178 in reply. These totals suggest that when the T20 WC gets properly underway this weekend we can expect some huge scores from the serious teams. These won’t include the West Indies though as they have already been knocked out after suffering defeats against Scotland and Ireland.
After the unexciting England win over Afghanistan the T20WC proper got underway on Sunday morning from the MCG. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh managed to swing the white Kookaburra ball both ways in their opening spells and it seemed almost unfair when Mohammed Shami came on as a change bowler and achieved the same movement. So what now is the status of these balls that will only swing for two overs if at all? Will we be hearing, as of the Duke balls, that they came from a rogue batch?
The drone cameras produce fabulous panoramic pictures of the stadiums and the new WACA ground looked fabulous for the England Afghanistan match. It apparently holds 61,000 but there were probably less than 5,000 in for this match. These were spread around except for a small group of Barmy Army supporters who were packed in tight together. One of their throng had a trombone. Just imagine sitting in front of this guy and every over having the slide scrape against your ear or even worse smack into the back of your head.
I continue to be baffled by modern football and cannot get to grips with this concept of a wing back. The position seems to be filled by a wannabee forward who is no good at defending. Liverpool have leaked goals consistently down their right-hand side this season because of Alexander-Arnold’s woeful defending. He is always out of position and his tackling leaves much to be desired. Interestingly Klopp eventually dropped him for the visit of Manchester City last weekend and played James Milner at Right Back up against the in form mercurial Foden. Milner gave a classic display of full back play and rendered Foden impotent.
City had another of these wing backs, Cancelo, in their line up and when Alisson pumped the ball up field Salah easily brushed him aside and went on to score the only goal of the game. In fact, Nunes later also took Cancelo to the cleaners and almost scored a second. Costly mediocre defending. Spurs have Sessegnon who the diminutive Almiron muscled aside and went on to score at the THS. Graham Potter came up with his own solution having inherited two very expensive left backs in his squad at Chelsea, Chilwell and Cucurella. He decided to play them both at Aston Villa!
Morgan Matters
J Bairstow has confirmed that he will not play again this year following the severe injuries he received playing that dangerous game known as golf! Jonny's consolation is that he has won the inaugural Bob Willis Trophy after being voted England's Player of the Year by the Cricket Writer's Club.
Moeen Ali has ruled out a Test comeback for England's tour of Pakistan in December saying he is "done with Test cricket".
Rs had a great win away at leaders Blades, thrashing them 0-1 with a goal from Willock. Rs are 4th in the Championship, 3 points behind the leaders Sheff U and Norwich.
Ex-Middlesex man Gareth Berg (41) has agreed a new deal with Northants for the 2023 season, Middx thought he was past it in 2014!
Both J Root and D Malan have signed new contracts with relegated Yorks.
Jack Brooks (Som), Andrew Gale (Yorks), Eve Jones (Birmingham), Azeem Rafiq (Yorks) and Danni Wyatt have all been reprimanded by the ECB for "historical social media posts of a racist nature". Azeem Rafiq, Andrew Gale, Danni Wyatt, Evelyn Jones and Jack Brooks have been found guilty of "racist and discriminatory conduct" and have "acted in a way that was prejudicial to the interests of cricket".
Leus du Ploy has replaced ex-Middx man Billy Godleman as captain of Derbys after 7 years in the role.
England have announced their central contracts for 2022-23, the names of Dawid Malan and Jason Roy are noticeably absent while Ben Foakes and Liam Livingstone both earn their first central contracts.
Middlesex spinner Thilan Walallawita (SL) has signed a contract extension, is now committed to the club until the end of the 2024 season and has been granted British citizenship.
Middlesex are celebrating "Black History Month" with "special feature articles" on Wayne "the Diamond" Daniel and Wilf "Slacky" Slack then with a further six players in the coming weeks plus "a special interview at the end of the month with Alf Langley from SBCC, a man who has had such a positive impact in so many ways over many years".
Ex-Yorks spinner Azeem Rafiq has been accused of anti-semitism, homophobia and "fat shaming children" by former team-mates and officials, which he says are a "never-ending co-ordinated campaign of lies".
29 year old Liam Livingstone believes that he is finally ready for Test cricket!
Reece Topley is out of the T20WC with an ankle injury. He is replaced by Tymal Mills.
Rs boss Michael Beale has turned down an offer from Wolves to be their new manager. Wolves thought it would be a smooth and easy process, but Beale made it clear that he wants to stay at Loftus Rd. Good man!
Rs had a good 3-0 win over Cardiff (Lyndon Dykes 2 and Ken Paal) and are now top on 27 points and ahead of Blackburn (who have played a game more) on goal difference.
J Archer is now fit enough to join the Eng Lions squad next month at their training camp in UAE, also attending will be S Mahmood, B Carse, J Anderson, J Overton, O Robinson, J Leach and W Jacks.
The November Cricketer tells us that:
1. the first class counties look poised to reject proposals to alter the structure of the domestic game proposed by A Strauss's Review, the counties object to proposals to cut the County Championship and the Blast;
2. five Ashes Tests will be squashed in between June 16 and July 31 next year just to accommodate the ridiculous hundred;
3. the Cricket Writers Club have made J Bairstow their England Player of the Year (Bob Willis Trophy) and K Barker their Championship PotY;
4. Robin Marlar has died aged 91;
5. head coach Ian Salisbury has left Sussex after a non-cricketing dispute relating to off-spinner Jack Carson;
6. Tom Moody has left his role as SL's director of cricket;
7. Tanya Aldred's Championship team of the season is: Keaton Jennings, Emilio Gay, Shan Masood, Ollie Pope, Harry Brook, Sam Northeast, John Simpson (wk), Simon Harmer, Liam Norwell, Hasan Ali, Sam Cook and 12th man Ed Barnard;
8. six retiring stalwarts have their careers assessed : James Hildreth, Darren Stevens, Nathan Buck, Adam Wheater, Steven Patterson and Michael Hogan;
Durham's record first class wicket-taker (he has 603) Chris Rushworth is leaving the county "for personal reasons".
Richard Gould (son of Bobby and currently chief exec of Bristol City, but he also spent 16 years at Somerset and Surrey) is the new chief exec of the E(&W)CB. This is seen as a sign that the governing body is trying to rebuild bridges with the counties after the divisive Tom Harrison era and it is hoped that it will lead to changes to the dreaded Hundred.
Phil Simmons is stepping down as WI's men's coach.
Miller Matters
Douglas Miller liked the last edition
This was, in many ways, one of the very best Googlies that I have read with the Professor at his incomparable best from Sicily of all places. The magazine was also free from the normal typos – only Mickey (instead of Micky) Stewart letting the show down. It was good, too, to see Tanya Aldred bringing a little relief from contributions that are otherwise submitted, as far as I can tell, exclusively by elderly (or even very old) white males. With an 85th birthday looming I am certainly in that brigade.
I have long been saying that we golden oldies have far too much say in the way cricket is run in this country. The thousand or so sheltering under the limes for the average county match lead the way in condemning The Hundred as an irrelevance, when it has certainly attracted a new audience and brought top cricket back to terrestrial television. As one who attended the finals day, I show my age by abhorring the music but the fireworks were quite fun and contributed to an atmosphere of relaxed enjoyment and excitement.
The Hundred is here to stay for a while. Judged purely on its merits as entertainment, it is an unquestionable success and has comfortably generated the income needed to give the counties their annual lifeline. The pity, I admit, is that we have managed to end up with a three-piece jigsaw puzzle of fixtures in which we must accommodate four. Yet the outcry at the Strauss proposal to reduce championship matches to ten reflects the views of the pensioners for whom free bus passes and cheap haircuts are not enough. They must have their county cricket as it was back in the fifties and sixties – regardless of what benefits the programme may bring besides the chance for nostalgic talk from the deck chairs.
A first love of music does not come from enforced listening to Wagner’s Ring Cycle, and The Hundred is in keeping with the impatience of youth. Yet despite the loss of the six-ball over and the ditching of old mantra – ‘Play yourself in’, ‘Never run on a mis-field’ and the rest of it – the essence of cricket’s gladiatorial battle between batter and bowler remains, while fielding has been lifted to levels never contemplated in the days when saving your flannels was a normal priority.
Spurious arguments are advanced about retaining pathways to Test cricket. No other Test-playing nation has a domestic championship of more than ten matches. Yet the Sheffield Shield, Plunket Shield, Ranji Trophy and other comparable competitions serve well enough to sustain the conveyor belt of new international stars – and, for what little it may be worth, Virat Kohli has not played a single Ranji match in the past decade. A major benefit of a reduced championship programme is that matches have less need to be crammed into early April and late September. Each match played becomes more of an event, and by confining the top division to six teams the cream rises to the top, raising the standard of play.
It’s tough for Leicestershire, Derbyshire and many of the others including my own Gloucestershire, to be forced to lead a life a little more akin to that of the National Counties, and agreement to the Strauss Plan involves putting country before county and those finding their way to the game ahead of those reminiscing about the days of Compton and Edrich. I have little confidence that sensible change will come about so long as we have 18 first-class counties with twelve empowered to veto proposals. But I live in hope.
The benefits that The Hundred has brought to women’s cricket are widely acknowledged and certainly to be welcomed. Yet those who see it as filling some of the entertainment gaps from a reduced men’s programme should recognise how far it has still to travel. No doubt mindful of a rather deserted pavilion for the World Cup triumph in 2016, MCC took steps to make it easier for friends to be introduced for this year’s women’s ODI against India. As an indicator of perceived value I have been required to pay £140 to bid for an allocation of a single Rover ticket for one day of the forthcoming men’s Ashes Test, but for the women’s ODI I am allowed to ask for four – and they will cost me just £25 each.
County Championship Division One 2022 team of the season
The Cricketer picks of the team of the season from LV= Insurance County Championship Division One
1. Keaton Jennings (Lancashire)
(11 matches, 1,233 runs, batting average 72.52, five centuries, two fifties)
Either side of leading Lancashire to two domestic white-ball finals, the left-hander compiled his best first-class season since 2016 - the only other campaign he has reached four figures. Owner of the highest individual knock in Division One (318 against Somerset) Jennings is again being spoken about as an England opener with Pakistan on the horizon.
2. Ben Compton (Kent)
(13 matches, 1,193 runs, batting average 54.22, four centuries, six fifties)
One of the stories of the season. Compton, the grandson of Denis, was cast aside by Nottinghamshire at the end of last term, joining Kent without a first-class hundred. By the end of April, he had three, adding a fourth against Northamptonshire in mid-May. Compton passed 1,000 red-ball runs in May and played a major role in Kent's survival.
3. Tom Abell (Somerset)
(13 matches, 1,039 runs, batting average 51.95, five centuries, four fifties)
No batter in the top division reached three figures more times than Somerset's captain. It was a landmark campaign for Abell: he brought up four figures in a five-class season, a career-best 150* and averaged more than 50 for the first time all in the same summer. Signed off his Taunton season with hundreds in both innings against Northants.
4. Sam Hain (Warwickshire)
(12 matches, 1,137 runs, batting average 63.16, three centuries, six fifties)
Another player who enjoyed a career-best first-class season. Hain looks every bit an England player of the future (perhaps that chance comes first in the 50-over game). Who knows what would have become of Warwickshire had it not been for Hain reaching 1,000 runs for the season? The highlight came in May when he added a century to a double ton against Northants.
5. Harry Brook (Yorkshire)
(8 matches, 967 runs, batting average 107.44, three centuries, six fifties)
Ultimately, Brook's (blameless) absence beyond July may have played a major role in Yorkshire dropping into Division Two, but he could have done little more in the opening weeks of the season. He produced a remarkable hot streak - 101, 56*, 84, 77*, 194, 123, 41, 82*, 82, 76 - in his first 10 innings and forced England's hand for the New Zealand series.
6. Ben Foakes (Surrey)
(9 matches, 586 runs, batting average 73.25, one century, three fifties, 45 dismissals)
Credit to Foakes for playing the majority of Surrey's Championship-winning campaign while attempting to nail down an England place. Opened the season with his one and only century while only James Bracey of Gloucestershire pulled off more dismissals, despite playing fewer games than many of his contemporaries.
7. Keith Barker (Hampshire)
(14 matches, 595 runs, batting average 29.75, four fifties, 52 wickets, bowling average 22.38, three five-fors)
Barker got through more overs than any seamer, bar Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Sam Connors, in the County Championship and was a regular wicket-taker across the season. Consistent with his first-class career, Barker proved handy with the bat and narrowly fell short of 600 runs for the season for the first time since 2016, the season of his last hundred.
8. Jamie Overton (Surrey)
(10 matches, 355 runs, batting average 29.58, two fifties, 34 wickets, bowling average 25.64, two five-fors)
Injury probably denied him an extended run in England's Test team, but he forced the issue with 19 wickets in the first four Championship matches of the season. Forty-nine boundaries in 15 innings with the bat (he struck 97 on Test debut against New Zealand) will keep Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum interested too, not least his ability to hit 90 mph.
9. Kyle Abbott (Hampshire)
(11 matches, 58 wickets, bowling average 19.98, four five-fors, one 10-for)
The South African quick passed 50 wickets for the season for the fourth time in five campaigns (he has 323 at 19.57 for Hants) to underpin his side's title push. Abbott finished with the best strike rate of any bowler to take more than 36 wickets and claimed a sixth first-class 10-for against Yorkshire to keep Hampshire's title hopes alive.
10. Sam Cook (Essex)
(11 matches, 51 wickets, bowling average 16.23, one five-for, one 10-for)
The definitive leader of the Essex seam battery attack earned comparisons with James Anderson during a campaign in which he collected a third 10-wicket haul against Kent. Indeed, he signed off with 25 wickets in September and while Essex were never in title contention following an uneven start to the campaign Cook was one of the positives to emerge from Chelmsford.
11. Simon Harmer (Essex)
(11 matches, 59 wickets, bowling average 20.67, seven five-fors, two 10-fors)
No team of the season is complete without the South African, who remained as influential as ever despite not being available for the whole campaign. He still topped the tree in Division One with 59 wickets, bringing his Essex first-class tally to 1,000 in July and his number of 10-wicket hauls to nine in 75 matches.
County Championship Division Two 2022 team of the season
The Cricketer picks the team of the season from the LV= Insurance County Championship Division Two
1. Haseeb Hameed (Nottinghamshire)
(14 matches, 1,235 runs, batting average 58.80, four centuries, seven fifties)
After a troubling Ashes series in Australia, it was heartening to see the ever-popular Notts batter rediscover his best form with a career-best first-class season. The leading opening batter in the country hit four centuries across the season to help Nottinghamshire return to Division One.
2. Mark Stoneman (Middlesex)
(14 matches, 1,025 runs, batting average 48.80, three centuries, four fifties)
Out-scored by teammate John Simpson, but there is no doubting the importance of Stoneman's runs in English cricket's problem position. This was the sixth time Stoneman had brought up four figures during a first-class season but the first since he dropped out of the England Test team, underpinning Middlesex's promotion.
3. Sam Northeast (Glamorgan)
(14 matches, 1,189 runs, batting average 59.45, two centuries, five fifties)
Northeast made the highest County Championship score for 127 years when he roared to 410 not out against Leicestershire in July, and the best in first-class cricket in the 21st century. It came during a memorable middle of the summer for the former Kent and Hampshire man, who a week earlier had gone to three figures against Notts having gone past 3,000 T20 runs in June.
4. Wayne Madsen (Derbyshire)
(14 matches, 1,273 runs, batting average 60.61, three centuries, 10 fifties)
The highest run-scorer in the Championship, Madsen, was unerringly consistent, reaching 13 milestone scores from the 20 innings in which he recorded a run. A 38-year-old whose hunger shows little sign of fading (this was his best first-class return over a season since 2016), he registered hundreds in both games against Sussex and in the visit of Glamorgan.
5. Cheteshwar Pujara (Sussex)
(8 matches, 1,094 runs, batting average 109.40, five centuries)
Just eight games were enough for the India batter to go past 1,000 runs for the season, thanks to his five centuries. Pujara signalled his intent with a double ton on debut against Derbyshire, putting on 351 with Tom Haines for the third wicket. He plundered a second against Durham and completed his hat-trick against Middlesex.
6. Anuj Dal (Derbyshire)
(13 matches, 957 runs, batting average 73.61, three centuries, five fifties, 34 wickets, bowling average 29.88, one five-for)
Appointed PCA vice chair in February 2021, Dal is as important on the field for Derbyshire as he is off it. In the top 12 for runs and wickets in Division Two, he was the driving force behind the Mickey Arthur revolution. There can be no doubting the outstanding moment of his summer, a first-innings 55, backed up by an unbeaten 112, was capped by a maiden five-for to help beat Worcestershire at New Road.
7. Brooke Guest (Derbyshire)
(14 matches, 923 runs, batting average 38.45, four centuries, two fifties, 52 dismissals)
Only Chris Cooke finished the Division Two season with more dismissals than Guest, who did justice to Arthur's insistence Derbyshire would cope with a single senior wicketkeeper. The 25-year-old very nearly scored twice as many first-class runs this season as in his whole career. He added four tons to his maiden hundred against Essex last season and was a staple of the top three.
8. Liam Patterson-White (Nottinghamshire)
(11 matches, 41 wickets, bowling average 27.95, two five-fors)
The leading spinner in the second tier, with 41 wickets for the title winners. Patterson-White hit the ground running with eight scalps in the season opener against Sussex including one of two five-fors in the first innings. Notts' first choice red-ball spinner since Samit Patel stepped away, he is revelling in the responsibility.
9. Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex)
(13 matches, 67 wickets, bowling average 18.80, four five-fors, one 10-for)
September's shoot-out for promotion went the way of Middlesex thanks in part to the performances of their 34-year-old seamer. Roland-Jones helped break down Glamorgan (two in four balls) and then Leicestershire (three in 15) to give the Lord's county the upper hand. The ex-England bowler was consistent throughout the campaign, the top wicket-taker in the Championship, and picked up a fifth career five-for against Durham in May.
10. Matthew Potts (Durham)
(10 matches, 58 wickets, bowling average 17.87, six five-fors, two 10-fors)
Thirty-five wickets in the opening six rounds of the County Championship forced England's hand, leading to the Durham quick debuting in the New Zealand series. Potts is now a central part of Brendon McCullum's squad and it is nothing less than the 23-year-old deserves. He ended the campaign, after only one South Africa Test, as he began it with a career-best 13 for 101 against Leicestershire while taking 24 in the final three games.
11. Dane Paterson (Nottinghamshire)
(12 matches, 56 wickets, bowling average 22.35, two five-fors, one 10-for)
Only Roland-Jones and Potts picked up more Division Two wickets than Paterson. But the South African didn't rip through line-ups, only collecting two five-fors and a single 10-wicket haul. That latter performance came virtue of a first-innings 8 for 52 against Worcestershire. Positioned at first change behind Luke Fletcher, Stuart Broad or James Pattinson, Paterson had a handy knack for picking up wickets whatever the circumstances.
Barnet Watch
West Ham’s Gianluca Scamacca has his hair trimmed short but has bleached white some of it in striations leaving the likeness of a frosty February morning whist Newcastle’s Joelinton has gone the whole hog and died the whole top white looking light a light dusting of snow.
Meanwhile at Chelsea Chalobah has short dreadlocks all over his head which for some reason he has dyed ginger. He looks like an overripe bunch of bananas.
Reece James is out injured but the TV cameras picked him out in the stand with a new hair colouring, emerald green. He looks like pitch 41 on Wormwood Scrubs.
Kingaby Matters
John (Mac) McLoughlin sent me these notes about an Old Dane
I was lucky enough to be at the Swanage Blues Festival this past 4 days and to be at a tremendous gig by the Mustangs. The first time I'd heard them (or heard of them!!) but also the last gig for founder-member and blues harp player, Derek Kingaby. A distinctive name, so I spoke to him and - yes, he is an Old Dane (1958-65?). The other founder-member, Adam, waxed lyrical in his praise of Derek and made a presentation to him of a gold harmonica and a collage of their 14 albums together. I asked him if his harmonica playing was the result of Percy Taylor's careful nurturing and advice and he said "No, I was completely unmusical at school".
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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