G&C 247
GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 247
July 2023
Spot the Ball
Ben Stokes: How can we make Jonny look a better keeper?
Baz: We won’t play a spinner.
England Batting Coach: Jonny, you give it the charge before the ball is bowled, not after.
Ollie Pope: Harry, why have you got a National Baseball League sticker on your bat?
Harry Brook: It helps make me feel the part when I step up to the plate.
David Gower: I didn’t know that they were admitting Millwall fans to the MCC these days.
Enlightened Realist: But if Jonny had done it you would all have been saying what a smart bit of quick thinking he had demonstrated.
Jimmy Anderson: Why am I still doing this?
Out and About June 2023
The Professor saves us from having to read it
One of the less than completely enthralling tasks confronting people who work in universities is the reading of research reports. Some (I suspect a very small percentage) are doubtless important, but most of those that came my way were long, long-winded, otiose and, while claiming to be original, were often derivative or simply elaborate statements of the bleedin’ obvious. I remember in one case reading that a principal cause of poverty was “irregular and low paid employment”. Oh really? Who would ever have thought it.
The ICEC report, published on the first day of the Lord’s Test, shares some of these characteristics; it is, for example, certainly long - 317 (unread, in my case) pages. It also, any reasonable person would say, specifies any number of woeful (indeed shameful) features of contemporary cricket in this country that need to change…and we have all known this, and known it for a very long time. The Report, as any reader of Googlies will know, concludes that cricket suffers (and has for very many years suffered) from institutional racism, sexism and class bias.
While the image that cricket likes to portray is that of openness and fair play:
“In reality, however, racism, sexism, elitism and class-based discrimination have a long history within the
culture and institutions of English cricket
Indeed, our evidence shows that elitism alongside deeply rooted and widespread forms of
structural and institutional racism, sexism and class-based discrimination continue to exist across the game.”
“Institutional” does not mean, and has never meant, that individuals are racist, sexist or snobs (although some may be all three); the issue is about outcomes. Those in Yorkshire who deny any overt racism have to explain the tiny level of representation of Asian heritage cricketers in the Yorkshire side in the past fifty or so years. Indeed the Yorkshire experience (referenced in the Report, of course) is almost an object lesson in this regard. Following the high profile evidence of Azeem Rafiq, one section of the Club sought to make rapid changes targeted, especially, at redressing the lack of “outreach” to the Asian-heritage community. But the untimely exit of Lord Patel as Chair has left the reactionaries with a cosy glow of victory: “there never was a problem; we did try to involve the Bradford league – they just didn’t turn up; Rafiq is an unreliable self-serving witness (and worse)” and on and on. “Institutional denial” is, of course, a more cogent indictment than it is a defence, and the Report does not miss this:
“In the last two years, confidence in the game, and in those who run it, has been severely undermined
following public revelations of racism and wider discrimination. There have also been widespread concerns
both within the game, and externally, about how these matters have been handled by those in leadership
positions.”
The problem that confronts those in denial, those who greeted the Report with a dismissive sneer and a puerile smirk of “wokeism”, is evidence. And the Report is stuffed with evidence: 4,400 individuals gave evidence, 79 organisations, 636 documents were submitted. Against this weight of data, “woke” is a pathetic response – even by those who know what it means.
The Report spends some considerable time on the issue of elitism:
“The evidence also drew our attention to the prevalence of an elitist and exclusionary culture within English
and Welsh cricket. This culture is, in part, enforced through the dominance of private school networks within
cricket’s talent pathway, together with sexist, racist and other discriminatory practices and policies that lead
to discriminatory outcomes across the game. The percentage of male England players who were privately educated was 57% in 2012, and was similar at 58% in 2021 - significantly higher than the 7% of the general population who are privately educated.”
…and this took me back to what might seem like a trivial matter to some (also referenced in the Report) of the Eton-Harrow match at Lord’s.
If you were seeking for a better example of the visceral protection of privilege ingrained in part of the cricket community, you need look no further than this little story. Some months’ ago the MCC decided that the time for this annual fixture at Lord’s between two teams of privileged children had come to an end. Clearly the relevant committee thought that a fixture like this was no longer appropriate but they were ahead of (some of) the membership. Equality always feels like oppression for the privileged and so an informal committee was formed, using the facile euphemism of “historical fixture” to describe this bit of class prejudice, and “The Committee for the Reinstatement of the Historical Fixtures” was formed. Lots of lobbying and outrage resulted in the MCC submitting and agreeing to survey the members. 44% of the 8,907 members who replied wanted the Eton-Harrow match restored…and so it has been. The MCC capitulated and the fixtures will now be “reviewed” in 2027.
The MCC membership had done the ICEC’s work for it.
I had this report on my lap, sitting at the Nursery end on the first day of the Second Test and I looked through binoculars at the pavilion and I tried to imagine how a young, poor, boy or girl from an ethnic minority might view the scene. They wouldn’t, of course, have been there – my seat cost £180 – but what they would have seen is row, after row, after row, of old white privileged men and I somehow doubt that they would have concluded that the ICEC’s report was wrong.
This &That
On my first day back in the UK I noticed that the Surrey v Middlesex T20 match was being televised and so I planned to watch it after first going through the highlights of the firsttest match days. At 6.25 I switched to the cricket channel only to be greeted by the girlie Ashes test which ran on for another hour as they made up for lost play through bad weather. Who decides that this second rate stuff takes precedence over real cricket? Anyway, it turned out to be something of a blessing as I was greeted by a score of Surrey 202 for 2 after fifteen overs, achieved in the hour that had not been broadcast. Laurie Evans was first out for 85 with the score on 177 and Will Jacks had just been dismissed after hitting five sixes from the first five balls of a Luke Hollman over and then clothing a full toss off the final ball. Middlesex did rather well in the final five overs of the innings restricting Surrey to just another 50 whilst taking 5 wickets. But this did mean that Middlesex, who had lost all ten T20 matches this season, had to score a monumental 253 to win.
Eskinazi laid into Sam Curran’s first over taking four boundaries and after three overs Middlesex were 52 for 0. Eskinazi reached his 50 from 21 balls and it took Chris Jordan, who fielded wearing a watch, to slow things down. Perhaps this a computerised device that enables him to receive tactical advice from Alec Stewart during the match. Cracknell was run out in the seventh over for 36 and when Eskinazi holed out in the twelfth over the score was 138 and Middlesex were ahead of the required rate. All we had to do was wait for the expected collapse.
Higgins came in at four and pulled his first ball for six and found ways to score from virtually every ball he faced. At the other end Max Holden played strange smear shots to most deliveries but didn’t get out. Higgins was eventually given out caught behind from the fifth ball of the penultimate over. Jack White came in and took a single off the final ball which gave him the strike for the final over from which 9 were required. The commentators “ummed and ahed” over the wisdom of this tactic with Holden at the other end on 68. However, White stepped inside England hopeful Atkinson’s first ball and flipped it over fine leg for six and then slashed his second, a full toss, to third man for 4. Middlesex had done the impossible and won with the huge margin, in this context, of four balls to spare.
Middlesex’s chase was the most successful run chase in T20 Blast history and their total batting second is second only to South Africa’s 259 for 4 against the West Indies earlier this year at Centurion. Middlesex had the chance to repeat their newfound chasing skills at Canterbury the next night as they conceded 228 for 3 to Kent. Their response was a feeble 173 all out and a loss by 55 runs. Normal service resumed.
Earlier, in the County Championship, Surrey had had their own significant chase when they chased down 501 to beat Kent. Jamie Smith, a name to keep an eye on, made 114 out of 139 for the third wicket and then Foakes made 124 out of 207 for the fourth wicket. At the other end throughout the chase was Dom Sibley who ended up 140 not out from 415 balls. However meritorious this effort I don’t see it getting him an invite to play Bazball any time soon.
Joe Clarke has had mixed fortunes since his move from Worcestershire to Nottinghamshire but in the match against Warwickshire after following on 416 runs behind he steered his side to safety with a career best 229 not out with Notts finishing on 464 for 6.
Daniel Bell-Drummond made his debut for Kent in 2011 at the age of eighteen and has never quite lived up to his early promise but against Northamptonshire wrote himself into the Kent record books with a score of 300 not out. Northamptonshire’s second innings lasted 112 overs of which Joe Denly bowled a staggering 47 whilst taking 4 for 164. He will presumably have developed Moeen’s finger fatigue syndrome.
Atherton’s offspring, the puzzlingly named Josh de Caires, was initially used by Middlesex a couple of years ago as a top order batsman but this year has magically reappeared as an off spinner who bats in the tail. At the Rose Bowl he was given 47 overs and took 7 for 144 but all was revealed when Middlesex batted as Liam Dawson took 6 for 40 and then when Middlesex followed on another 6 for 90. Dawson, of course, is yet to turn a ball in his long career.
At the Oval Surrey built a useful first innings lead of 86 against Lancashire thanks to a last wicket stand of 130 between Abbott and Worrall. Abbott made 87 not out from 69 balls. Surrey then bowled Lancashire out for 293 leaving them a gettable 207 for victory. The Lancashire seamers had other ideas and slipped them out for 84.
There have been some significant performances in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers. Scotland beat Ireland by 1 wicket off the last ball of the match. The West Indies racked up 374 for 6 against the Netherlands, mainly thanks to Nicholas Pooran’s 104 not out from 65 balls. In reply the Netherlands made 374 for 9 with Teja Nidamanuru scoring 111. This meant that a one over shoot out ensued. Netherlands surprisingly sent out Edwards and van Beek to face Jason Holder since they had batted at six and eight in the fifty over segment. Edwards need not have bothered as van Beek hit each of Holder’s deliveries to the boundary, three sixes and three fours. Not content with this extraordinary performance he then bowled the over and took his side to a memorable victory taking 2 for 8. On the same day Zimbabwe reached 408 for 6 against the USA with Brandon Williams making 174 from 101 deliveries.
Whatever the format it doesn’t take Paul Stirling long to announce himself with a significant innings and it was the UAE that found itself on the wrong end of his bat as he scored 162 from 134 balls which took his side to a winning 349 for 4.
When Ben Duckett came onto the county scene at Northants he scored a staggering number of runs, found himself in the England camp and then blotted his copybook when he poured a gin and tonic over Joe Root’s head. He then disappeared from the England set up and transferred to Nottinghamshire. He then found himself back in the England team in the Baz regime. More surprisingly he quickly became established as the first-choice opener. During the Lord’s test the commentators noted that his technique involved playing the ball and that he rarely let the ball go. The staggering statistic was then produced that in the last twelve matches he had only not played a shot at twelve balls faced!
The arrival and elevation of Josh Tongue will have an interesting impact on the careers of several other quicks and medium pacers. Those who have been leapfrogged include Carse, Potts, Sam Cook, Olly Stone and Helm; those whose recall seems even less likely include Roland-Jones, Jake Ball and Woakes ; and those whose retirement edges ever closer include Jimmy Anderson and Broad,
Morgan Matters
As you know, I do not take any interest in the nonsense 20 over "Blast", but I happened to notice today that Middlesex are comfortably bottom of the T20 South Group with 0 points from 5 matches all lost and easily the worst run rate in either group. Perhaps they now agree with me that T20 is a bunch of crap?
People are concerned about Stokes and his fitness: he did next to nothing in the Test, which did not matter much v Ire but many think someone who makes a contribution should take his place. Stokes says that he is "definitely on course to bowl in the first Test" v Oz.
Joe Root is the 11th player to reach 11,000 Test runs and only the second Englishman after Alistair Cook (12,472 in fifth place overall).
T20: Middlesex now have 0 points from 6 matches and Leicestershire, who were in the same position as Middlesex in the North group, have now won a match, so Middlesex are comfortably the worst in the country... and it has got me interested in T20 for the first time! I am now looking out for their results!
T20: Middlesex lost again to Hampshire at Radlett: played 7 lost 7!
The June Cricketer tells us that:
The Hundred is likely to survive until 2028;
A Strauss is stepping down from his ECB roles after the rejection of aspects of his performance review;
Tim Murtagh grew up wanting to play for England but saw his career peak with a 5 wicket haul for Ireland against Eng at Lord's in 2019, but unfortunately his favourite band is Take That!;
Mike Selvey tells us that "The Hundred is a black hole emptying the ECB exchequer";
Elgan Alderman (Times sportswriter) tells us that his favourite cricketer is keeper Geraint Jones;
Glenn Hoddle tells us of his great love of cricket;
Nasser Hussain finds Tests much more memorable and enjoyable than T20s;
Jack Russell has agreed to paint 60 pictures to mark his 60th birthday;
Readers have voted Duncan Hamilton's "Harold Larwood: the Ashes bowler who whipped our Australia" their favourite book;
There is a long article on Katherine Sciver-Brunt who has retired after 267 international appearances and 335 wickets;
Tim Murtagh insists that the 1,000 wicket landmark for Middlesex that he reached in the win over Kent had not been on his mind despite being reminded of it during pre-season;
Sri Lanka completed 100 Test wins as they beat Ireland 2-0 in their Test series;
West Brom striker Jeff Astle was a "decent fast bowler" but because of football commitments could only play 2 or 3 times per year.
Six England batters (Bairstow, Pope, Root, Crawley, Stokes and Foakes) have all increased their strike rates under the Bazball strategy... but I am still waiting to hear what Bazball is!
Ex-Rs man John Hollins has died aged 76. Gordon McQueen has died aged 70 after " a very cruel battle against dementia".
According to Ali Martin in the G, C Broad has "edged out" M Wood for the Edgbaston Test, but he does not actually tell us the team.
The world's top 6 batters according to the ICC are 1 M Labuschagne (Oz) 2 S Smith (Oz) 3 T Head (Oz) 4 K Williamson (NZ) 5 Babar Azam (Pak) and 6 Joe Root (Eng).
T20: Middlesex lost to Kent at Lord's by 13 runs and are still (of course) bottom of the South Group table with 0 points from 9 matches. There was one ray of hope as Max Holden contributed 121* for Middlesex.
T20: Middlesex lost a rain affected T20 to Essex at Lord's according to DLS and have now lost 10 out of 10.
Edgbaston: If Australia win this, it will be their best winning run chase in Eng since Don Bradman's Invincibles won at Headingley in 1948 ("it was a very good year") and they got there by 2 wkts, England should never have been in this position as Stupid Stokes should never have declared on day 1 (as I pointed out a few days ago) with Root going well on 118*, Robinson doing OK on 17* and Anderson still to bat... they could have made it a matchwinning total, but nobody seems to have the nerve to say that Stokes got it totally wrong!
Thanks for Googlies 246... such a good edition that I have not found anything to argue about! Nice photo of John and Frank: their clothing and facial expressions make it look like a New Year's football match!
Brendon McCullum thinks that it was only bad luck that caused England's defeat in the Edgbaston Test: what about that daft declaration then?
The July Cricketer tells us that:
The directors of cricket at the first class counties have issued a statement calling for a greater voice in the decision-making of the ECB;
Jason Roy has asked for his ECB contract to be cancelled so that he can sign a deal with Los Angeles Knight Riders;
6 ex-Yorks players have received these punishments for racial abuse: Andrew Gale (£6,000 fine and a 4 week suspension from coaching), Tim Bresnan (£4,000 and 3 match suspension), Matthew Hoggard (£4,000), John Blain (£2,500), Richard Pyrah (£2,500 and 2 weeks suspension) and Gary Ballance (£3,000 and 6 match ban);
The supreme court of Pakistan ordered the immediate release of former PM Imran Khan after 2 days, declaring his arrest "unlawful";
Ireland's Harry Tector has risen to 7th in the ODI rankings;
Jonathan Trott is now coaching Afghanistan;
Four of the Cricketer's six experts expect England to win the Ashes series;
David Gower also predicts that "England's longer batting will see the urn come home";
Vic Marks thinks that there is something about the Ashes that riles journalists; Simon Barnes thinks that "Test cricket is diminished when you remove the sense of jeopardy".
Ex-Eng keeper Paul Nixon has been sacked as head coach of Leicestershire after 6 years in the role.
Leicestershire (and ex-Middlesex) seamer Chris Wright (37) has signed for Sussex on a 2 year deal starting next year. He has taken 567 wickets in 196 first class matches for Leicestershire. Colin Ackermann and Callum Parkinson will also leave.
J Root says "I wish I'd captained in the way Stokes does" ie making daft declarations when I am going well and that lose us the match!
Blimey! Middlesex had an excellent T20 win over Surrey at the Oval. Middlesex are still bottom of the table with 1 win out of 11, no other team has less than 4 wins! The lads have another T20 today (23/6) v Kent at Canters... but lost it by 55runs.
In the G, M Ramprakash's advice to B McCullum and B Stokes is "bat time and things get easier".
Azeem Rafiq: the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (IEC) has now published its report and Middlesex have emphasised their "commitment to making positive change to ensure that cricket is a game for all". B Stokes says he is "deeply sorry" for those who have experienced racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination and agreed that the game "needs to become more inclusive and diverse".
Team of the Week
The Cricketer picks its round eight County Championship team of the week:
He broke the record for the slowest County Championship century, both in terms of balls faced (368) and minutes spent at the crease (511). For Surrey, it was their highest-ever successful fourth-innings chase and the eighth-highest in first-class history.
Googlies Website
All the back editions of Googlies can be found on the G&C website. There are also many photographs most of which have never appeared in Googlies.
www.googliesandchinamen.com
Googlies and Chinamen
is produced by
James Sharp
Broad Lee House
Combs
High Peak
SK23 9XA
tiksha@btinternet.com
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 247
July 2023
Spot the Ball
Ben Stokes: How can we make Jonny look a better keeper?
Baz: We won’t play a spinner.
England Batting Coach: Jonny, you give it the charge before the ball is bowled, not after.
Ollie Pope: Harry, why have you got a National Baseball League sticker on your bat?
Harry Brook: It helps make me feel the part when I step up to the plate.
David Gower: I didn’t know that they were admitting Millwall fans to the MCC these days.
Enlightened Realist: But if Jonny had done it you would all have been saying what a smart bit of quick thinking he had demonstrated.
Jimmy Anderson: Why am I still doing this?
Out and About June 2023
The Professor saves us from having to read it
One of the less than completely enthralling tasks confronting people who work in universities is the reading of research reports. Some (I suspect a very small percentage) are doubtless important, but most of those that came my way were long, long-winded, otiose and, while claiming to be original, were often derivative or simply elaborate statements of the bleedin’ obvious. I remember in one case reading that a principal cause of poverty was “irregular and low paid employment”. Oh really? Who would ever have thought it.
The ICEC report, published on the first day of the Lord’s Test, shares some of these characteristics; it is, for example, certainly long - 317 (unread, in my case) pages. It also, any reasonable person would say, specifies any number of woeful (indeed shameful) features of contemporary cricket in this country that need to change…and we have all known this, and known it for a very long time. The Report, as any reader of Googlies will know, concludes that cricket suffers (and has for very many years suffered) from institutional racism, sexism and class bias.
While the image that cricket likes to portray is that of openness and fair play:
“In reality, however, racism, sexism, elitism and class-based discrimination have a long history within the
culture and institutions of English cricket
Indeed, our evidence shows that elitism alongside deeply rooted and widespread forms of
structural and institutional racism, sexism and class-based discrimination continue to exist across the game.”
“Institutional” does not mean, and has never meant, that individuals are racist, sexist or snobs (although some may be all three); the issue is about outcomes. Those in Yorkshire who deny any overt racism have to explain the tiny level of representation of Asian heritage cricketers in the Yorkshire side in the past fifty or so years. Indeed the Yorkshire experience (referenced in the Report, of course) is almost an object lesson in this regard. Following the high profile evidence of Azeem Rafiq, one section of the Club sought to make rapid changes targeted, especially, at redressing the lack of “outreach” to the Asian-heritage community. But the untimely exit of Lord Patel as Chair has left the reactionaries with a cosy glow of victory: “there never was a problem; we did try to involve the Bradford league – they just didn’t turn up; Rafiq is an unreliable self-serving witness (and worse)” and on and on. “Institutional denial” is, of course, a more cogent indictment than it is a defence, and the Report does not miss this:
“In the last two years, confidence in the game, and in those who run it, has been severely undermined
following public revelations of racism and wider discrimination. There have also been widespread concerns
both within the game, and externally, about how these matters have been handled by those in leadership
positions.”
The problem that confronts those in denial, those who greeted the Report with a dismissive sneer and a puerile smirk of “wokeism”, is evidence. And the Report is stuffed with evidence: 4,400 individuals gave evidence, 79 organisations, 636 documents were submitted. Against this weight of data, “woke” is a pathetic response – even by those who know what it means.
The Report spends some considerable time on the issue of elitism:
“The evidence also drew our attention to the prevalence of an elitist and exclusionary culture within English
and Welsh cricket. This culture is, in part, enforced through the dominance of private school networks within
cricket’s talent pathway, together with sexist, racist and other discriminatory practices and policies that lead
to discriminatory outcomes across the game. The percentage of male England players who were privately educated was 57% in 2012, and was similar at 58% in 2021 - significantly higher than the 7% of the general population who are privately educated.”
…and this took me back to what might seem like a trivial matter to some (also referenced in the Report) of the Eton-Harrow match at Lord’s.
If you were seeking for a better example of the visceral protection of privilege ingrained in part of the cricket community, you need look no further than this little story. Some months’ ago the MCC decided that the time for this annual fixture at Lord’s between two teams of privileged children had come to an end. Clearly the relevant committee thought that a fixture like this was no longer appropriate but they were ahead of (some of) the membership. Equality always feels like oppression for the privileged and so an informal committee was formed, using the facile euphemism of “historical fixture” to describe this bit of class prejudice, and “The Committee for the Reinstatement of the Historical Fixtures” was formed. Lots of lobbying and outrage resulted in the MCC submitting and agreeing to survey the members. 44% of the 8,907 members who replied wanted the Eton-Harrow match restored…and so it has been. The MCC capitulated and the fixtures will now be “reviewed” in 2027.
The MCC membership had done the ICEC’s work for it.
I had this report on my lap, sitting at the Nursery end on the first day of the Second Test and I looked through binoculars at the pavilion and I tried to imagine how a young, poor, boy or girl from an ethnic minority might view the scene. They wouldn’t, of course, have been there – my seat cost £180 – but what they would have seen is row, after row, after row, of old white privileged men and I somehow doubt that they would have concluded that the ICEC’s report was wrong.
This &That
On my first day back in the UK I noticed that the Surrey v Middlesex T20 match was being televised and so I planned to watch it after first going through the highlights of the firsttest match days. At 6.25 I switched to the cricket channel only to be greeted by the girlie Ashes test which ran on for another hour as they made up for lost play through bad weather. Who decides that this second rate stuff takes precedence over real cricket? Anyway, it turned out to be something of a blessing as I was greeted by a score of Surrey 202 for 2 after fifteen overs, achieved in the hour that had not been broadcast. Laurie Evans was first out for 85 with the score on 177 and Will Jacks had just been dismissed after hitting five sixes from the first five balls of a Luke Hollman over and then clothing a full toss off the final ball. Middlesex did rather well in the final five overs of the innings restricting Surrey to just another 50 whilst taking 5 wickets. But this did mean that Middlesex, who had lost all ten T20 matches this season, had to score a monumental 253 to win.
Eskinazi laid into Sam Curran’s first over taking four boundaries and after three overs Middlesex were 52 for 0. Eskinazi reached his 50 from 21 balls and it took Chris Jordan, who fielded wearing a watch, to slow things down. Perhaps this a computerised device that enables him to receive tactical advice from Alec Stewart during the match. Cracknell was run out in the seventh over for 36 and when Eskinazi holed out in the twelfth over the score was 138 and Middlesex were ahead of the required rate. All we had to do was wait for the expected collapse.
Higgins came in at four and pulled his first ball for six and found ways to score from virtually every ball he faced. At the other end Max Holden played strange smear shots to most deliveries but didn’t get out. Higgins was eventually given out caught behind from the fifth ball of the penultimate over. Jack White came in and took a single off the final ball which gave him the strike for the final over from which 9 were required. The commentators “ummed and ahed” over the wisdom of this tactic with Holden at the other end on 68. However, White stepped inside England hopeful Atkinson’s first ball and flipped it over fine leg for six and then slashed his second, a full toss, to third man for 4. Middlesex had done the impossible and won with the huge margin, in this context, of four balls to spare.
Middlesex’s chase was the most successful run chase in T20 Blast history and their total batting second is second only to South Africa’s 259 for 4 against the West Indies earlier this year at Centurion. Middlesex had the chance to repeat their newfound chasing skills at Canterbury the next night as they conceded 228 for 3 to Kent. Their response was a feeble 173 all out and a loss by 55 runs. Normal service resumed.
Earlier, in the County Championship, Surrey had had their own significant chase when they chased down 501 to beat Kent. Jamie Smith, a name to keep an eye on, made 114 out of 139 for the third wicket and then Foakes made 124 out of 207 for the fourth wicket. At the other end throughout the chase was Dom Sibley who ended up 140 not out from 415 balls. However meritorious this effort I don’t see it getting him an invite to play Bazball any time soon.
Joe Clarke has had mixed fortunes since his move from Worcestershire to Nottinghamshire but in the match against Warwickshire after following on 416 runs behind he steered his side to safety with a career best 229 not out with Notts finishing on 464 for 6.
Daniel Bell-Drummond made his debut for Kent in 2011 at the age of eighteen and has never quite lived up to his early promise but against Northamptonshire wrote himself into the Kent record books with a score of 300 not out. Northamptonshire’s second innings lasted 112 overs of which Joe Denly bowled a staggering 47 whilst taking 4 for 164. He will presumably have developed Moeen’s finger fatigue syndrome.
Atherton’s offspring, the puzzlingly named Josh de Caires, was initially used by Middlesex a couple of years ago as a top order batsman but this year has magically reappeared as an off spinner who bats in the tail. At the Rose Bowl he was given 47 overs and took 7 for 144 but all was revealed when Middlesex batted as Liam Dawson took 6 for 40 and then when Middlesex followed on another 6 for 90. Dawson, of course, is yet to turn a ball in his long career.
At the Oval Surrey built a useful first innings lead of 86 against Lancashire thanks to a last wicket stand of 130 between Abbott and Worrall. Abbott made 87 not out from 69 balls. Surrey then bowled Lancashire out for 293 leaving them a gettable 207 for victory. The Lancashire seamers had other ideas and slipped them out for 84.
There have been some significant performances in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers. Scotland beat Ireland by 1 wicket off the last ball of the match. The West Indies racked up 374 for 6 against the Netherlands, mainly thanks to Nicholas Pooran’s 104 not out from 65 balls. In reply the Netherlands made 374 for 9 with Teja Nidamanuru scoring 111. This meant that a one over shoot out ensued. Netherlands surprisingly sent out Edwards and van Beek to face Jason Holder since they had batted at six and eight in the fifty over segment. Edwards need not have bothered as van Beek hit each of Holder’s deliveries to the boundary, three sixes and three fours. Not content with this extraordinary performance he then bowled the over and took his side to a memorable victory taking 2 for 8. On the same day Zimbabwe reached 408 for 6 against the USA with Brandon Williams making 174 from 101 deliveries.
Whatever the format it doesn’t take Paul Stirling long to announce himself with a significant innings and it was the UAE that found itself on the wrong end of his bat as he scored 162 from 134 balls which took his side to a winning 349 for 4.
When Ben Duckett came onto the county scene at Northants he scored a staggering number of runs, found himself in the England camp and then blotted his copybook when he poured a gin and tonic over Joe Root’s head. He then disappeared from the England set up and transferred to Nottinghamshire. He then found himself back in the England team in the Baz regime. More surprisingly he quickly became established as the first-choice opener. During the Lord’s test the commentators noted that his technique involved playing the ball and that he rarely let the ball go. The staggering statistic was then produced that in the last twelve matches he had only not played a shot at twelve balls faced!
The arrival and elevation of Josh Tongue will have an interesting impact on the careers of several other quicks and medium pacers. Those who have been leapfrogged include Carse, Potts, Sam Cook, Olly Stone and Helm; those whose recall seems even less likely include Roland-Jones, Jake Ball and Woakes ; and those whose retirement edges ever closer include Jimmy Anderson and Broad,
Morgan Matters
As you know, I do not take any interest in the nonsense 20 over "Blast", but I happened to notice today that Middlesex are comfortably bottom of the T20 South Group with 0 points from 5 matches all lost and easily the worst run rate in either group. Perhaps they now agree with me that T20 is a bunch of crap?
People are concerned about Stokes and his fitness: he did next to nothing in the Test, which did not matter much v Ire but many think someone who makes a contribution should take his place. Stokes says that he is "definitely on course to bowl in the first Test" v Oz.
Joe Root is the 11th player to reach 11,000 Test runs and only the second Englishman after Alistair Cook (12,472 in fifth place overall).
T20: Middlesex now have 0 points from 6 matches and Leicestershire, who were in the same position as Middlesex in the North group, have now won a match, so Middlesex are comfortably the worst in the country... and it has got me interested in T20 for the first time! I am now looking out for their results!
T20: Middlesex lost again to Hampshire at Radlett: played 7 lost 7!
The June Cricketer tells us that:
The Hundred is likely to survive until 2028;
A Strauss is stepping down from his ECB roles after the rejection of aspects of his performance review;
Tim Murtagh grew up wanting to play for England but saw his career peak with a 5 wicket haul for Ireland against Eng at Lord's in 2019, but unfortunately his favourite band is Take That!;
Mike Selvey tells us that "The Hundred is a black hole emptying the ECB exchequer";
Elgan Alderman (Times sportswriter) tells us that his favourite cricketer is keeper Geraint Jones;
Glenn Hoddle tells us of his great love of cricket;
Nasser Hussain finds Tests much more memorable and enjoyable than T20s;
Jack Russell has agreed to paint 60 pictures to mark his 60th birthday;
Readers have voted Duncan Hamilton's "Harold Larwood: the Ashes bowler who whipped our Australia" their favourite book;
There is a long article on Katherine Sciver-Brunt who has retired after 267 international appearances and 335 wickets;
Tim Murtagh insists that the 1,000 wicket landmark for Middlesex that he reached in the win over Kent had not been on his mind despite being reminded of it during pre-season;
Sri Lanka completed 100 Test wins as they beat Ireland 2-0 in their Test series;
West Brom striker Jeff Astle was a "decent fast bowler" but because of football commitments could only play 2 or 3 times per year.
Six England batters (Bairstow, Pope, Root, Crawley, Stokes and Foakes) have all increased their strike rates under the Bazball strategy... but I am still waiting to hear what Bazball is!
Ex-Rs man John Hollins has died aged 76. Gordon McQueen has died aged 70 after " a very cruel battle against dementia".
According to Ali Martin in the G, C Broad has "edged out" M Wood for the Edgbaston Test, but he does not actually tell us the team.
The world's top 6 batters according to the ICC are 1 M Labuschagne (Oz) 2 S Smith (Oz) 3 T Head (Oz) 4 K Williamson (NZ) 5 Babar Azam (Pak) and 6 Joe Root (Eng).
T20: Middlesex lost to Kent at Lord's by 13 runs and are still (of course) bottom of the South Group table with 0 points from 9 matches. There was one ray of hope as Max Holden contributed 121* for Middlesex.
T20: Middlesex lost a rain affected T20 to Essex at Lord's according to DLS and have now lost 10 out of 10.
Edgbaston: If Australia win this, it will be their best winning run chase in Eng since Don Bradman's Invincibles won at Headingley in 1948 ("it was a very good year") and they got there by 2 wkts, England should never have been in this position as Stupid Stokes should never have declared on day 1 (as I pointed out a few days ago) with Root going well on 118*, Robinson doing OK on 17* and Anderson still to bat... they could have made it a matchwinning total, but nobody seems to have the nerve to say that Stokes got it totally wrong!
Thanks for Googlies 246... such a good edition that I have not found anything to argue about! Nice photo of John and Frank: their clothing and facial expressions make it look like a New Year's football match!
Brendon McCullum thinks that it was only bad luck that caused England's defeat in the Edgbaston Test: what about that daft declaration then?
The July Cricketer tells us that:
The directors of cricket at the first class counties have issued a statement calling for a greater voice in the decision-making of the ECB;
Jason Roy has asked for his ECB contract to be cancelled so that he can sign a deal with Los Angeles Knight Riders;
6 ex-Yorks players have received these punishments for racial abuse: Andrew Gale (£6,000 fine and a 4 week suspension from coaching), Tim Bresnan (£4,000 and 3 match suspension), Matthew Hoggard (£4,000), John Blain (£2,500), Richard Pyrah (£2,500 and 2 weeks suspension) and Gary Ballance (£3,000 and 6 match ban);
The supreme court of Pakistan ordered the immediate release of former PM Imran Khan after 2 days, declaring his arrest "unlawful";
Ireland's Harry Tector has risen to 7th in the ODI rankings;
Jonathan Trott is now coaching Afghanistan;
Four of the Cricketer's six experts expect England to win the Ashes series;
David Gower also predicts that "England's longer batting will see the urn come home";
Vic Marks thinks that there is something about the Ashes that riles journalists; Simon Barnes thinks that "Test cricket is diminished when you remove the sense of jeopardy".
Ex-Eng keeper Paul Nixon has been sacked as head coach of Leicestershire after 6 years in the role.
Leicestershire (and ex-Middlesex) seamer Chris Wright (37) has signed for Sussex on a 2 year deal starting next year. He has taken 567 wickets in 196 first class matches for Leicestershire. Colin Ackermann and Callum Parkinson will also leave.
J Root says "I wish I'd captained in the way Stokes does" ie making daft declarations when I am going well and that lose us the match!
Blimey! Middlesex had an excellent T20 win over Surrey at the Oval. Middlesex are still bottom of the table with 1 win out of 11, no other team has less than 4 wins! The lads have another T20 today (23/6) v Kent at Canters... but lost it by 55runs.
In the G, M Ramprakash's advice to B McCullum and B Stokes is "bat time and things get easier".
Azeem Rafiq: the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (IEC) has now published its report and Middlesex have emphasised their "commitment to making positive change to ensure that cricket is a game for all". B Stokes says he is "deeply sorry" for those who have experienced racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination and agreed that the game "needs to become more inclusive and diverse".
Team of the Week
The Cricketer picks its round eight County Championship team of the week:
- Jake Libby (Worcestershire)
- Dom Sibley (Surrey)
He broke the record for the slowest County Championship century, both in terms of balls faced (368) and minutes spent at the crease (511). For Surrey, it was their highest-ever successful fourth-innings chase and the eighth-highest in first-class history.
- Shan Masood (Yorkshire)
- Joe Clarke (Nottinghamshire)
- Leus du Plooy (Derbyshire)
- Jamie Smith (Surrey)
- Chris Cooke (Glamorgan, wk)
- Matt Critchley (Essex)
- Simon Harmer (Essex)
- Matthew Fisher (Yorkshire)
- Chris Wright (Leicestershire)
Googlies Website
All the back editions of Googlies can be found on the G&C website. There are also many photographs most of which have never appeared in Googlies.
www.googliesandchinamen.com
Googlies and Chinamen
is produced by
James Sharp
Broad Lee House
Combs
High Peak
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tiksha@btinternet.com
