G&C 257
GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 257
May 2024
Spot the Ball
Travis Head barely bothers to take guard before teeing off
Out and About with the Professor
At the start of the season there was considerable optimism in the Yorkshire cricket world. Otis Gibson, the team coach, was quoted as saying that the side was “fully focussed” on a quick return to Division One. Captain Masood thought that they could “get off to a flyer”, while Adam Lyth felt that with Root and Brook in the side they had the potential to win all their early games. Indeed, the middle order of: Masood, Root and Brook was talked about as being not just the best in Division Two, or even the County Championship but the best middle order of any cricket club in the world.
Well…it hasn’t quite worked out like that. While Brook and Masood have both got hundreds, the first match was, unsurprisingly a rain affected washout, the second saw Gloucester batting out a comfortable draw and the third was a comprehensive defeat against Middlesex (never easy to take in these parts) with the fab-three collecting just 79 in six innings. So not exactly a “flyer” then.
Never mind, two less than great results away from home could be understood at this time of year, and the fourth April Championship fixture (against Derbyshire) was at Headquarters and looked like it might bring a result; so, there was some anticipation on the terraces. Nothing too demonstrative, of course, nothing approaching excitement which would impinge on the innate curmudgeonly nature of a Yorkshire crowd but, well, …anticipation.
A cooling of any enthusiasm was provided by the Yorkshire weather. Cricket is a summer sport – as we all know – but a casual inspection of the crowd on the first day would have thrown doubt on that description. It was clear, bright and bone-numbingly cold. Looking around I could see numerous heaps of clothing: coats, hats, scarves, gloves, dotted around the terraces each of which, somewhere inside, contained a person. Two women sitting near me (in addition to wearing just about every outer garment they might have owned) had arranged scarves to cover their faces with only their eyes showing – a sort of secular burka for the cricket fan. In amongst all this was, of course, the obligatory slightly chubby young man wearing jeans and a tee-shirt, with only his fire breathing dragon tattoos to keep him warm.
But what about the cricket? Well Derbyshire won the toss and since the Headingly pitch could not really conceal the fact that it has rained almost every day since Christmas, “elected”, as they say, to field. This would have been a good decision, had they fielded well. They didn’t. They dropped three slip catches in the first 40 minutes. To be fair, it was not a day to find oneself in the slips. We have all had the experience. It was so cold that an amputation was more likely than a catch and indeed Madsen, who dropped the second chance, left the field and took no farther part in the play. His place was taken by the formidable frame of Samit Patel who, for some bizarre reason, borrowed Madsen’s jumper – it didn’t fit.
With the ball moving about and the fielders declining to catch the edges, Yorkshire had a very enterprising day. Lyth had almost added a third hundred this season when he snicked one to the keeper and Root batted, as Root does, collecting runs all around, completing a hundred on Day Two. But it was the two smaller contributions of the day that caught the eye. It wasn’t an easy pitch to bat on but Masood (having had the missed slip chance that Derbyshire gave to everyone) scored 40 runs with ten scoring strokes. And strokes they were: elegant, effortless and delightful. His former teammates just did the collecting.
The second smaller contribution (which also became a hundred on Day Two) was that of Brook. Against Middlesex, Brook had scored 3 and 0. He wasn’t going to continue that run. Every Googlies reader will have seen Brook bat on numerous occasions, in many cases live. But it is difficult to convey the brutality of the thing when you’re close-up in a county game, and the sound as the ball hits the bat. All these top players hit the ball hard, of course, but Brook just belts the ball all over the place. He bats like someone who doesn’t believe the opposition know how to bowl – and in this sort of mood they don’t…at least to him. The Derby attack is not, it might be conceded, top class - but Blair Tickner is a more than useful international bowler and Zak Chappell isn’t exactly slow. And a flat belter it was not. No matter. It wouldn’t have mattered who had been bowling, Brook clearly thought that they shouldn’t. Full length? Smack through the covers. A little shorter? Bosh over the top. Shorter still? Whack over mid-wicket. By close of play Lloyd, the Derby captain, had used seven bowlers (including himself) and clearly run out of ideas. Had he asked my advice, I would have said: “Surrender”. What salvation there was came from a dose of Mancunian weather which washed out the last 30 overs or so. Without it, 400 would have been a distinct possibility. And indeed 400 arrived on Day Two, before Root was out, with the weather just as cold as before.
Lyth and Root after a successful pre-lunch session on Day One
But then came the second of Yorkshires problems. A first innings of 450 and three quick wickets had all the signs of a solid win and lots of points. Gloucester had gone from 94-4 to 405-6, to easily save that game and now Derby went from 23-3 to 190-3 as it got colder and colder and darker and darker.
Yorkshire, having looked at the pitch, had decided not to play their one spinner, the recently recruited Moriarty, which meant that they fielded five right-arm over medium quick bowlers. A couple use swing rather than seam but it all does look a bit samey.
All this endeavour was wrecked, of course, on Day Three, when some more Lancastrian weather washed out any chance of play and Day Four petered out as a tame draw.
The “flyer” has yet to take off.
This & That
In recent years you didn’t want to lose the toss at Lord’s in April as you knew you would be put in and almost certainly be bowled out by tea. This year’s exceptionally wet Spring would also support such an approach. Toby Roland -Jones won the toss in Middlesex’ opening match against Glamorgan at Lord’s and followed precedent. Perhaps he didn’t even look at the wicket or take into consideration that he would be bowling with a Kookaburra ball. In the event Glamorgan racked up an enormous 620 for 3 with Sam Northeast scoring 335 not out which gave him the highest individual first-class score at Lord’s beating Graham Gooch’s 333 against India.
Hardened Middlesex fans were by then expecting the worst, probably an innings defeat inside three days but the conditions were so good for batting that Middlesex actually took a first innings lead with Ryan Higgins scoring 222.
Roll forward to the following week when Middlesex found themselves playing at Northampton. TJ-R’s luck persisted as he won the toss again and invited his hosts to bat first which cannot have been a popular decision in the visitors’ dressing room. Northants said “thanks very much” as they plundered 552 for 6 before they declared. But once again Middlesex’ batting surprised us all with Max Holden scoring 211 not out, Leus du Plooy 196 not out and debutant Max Fernandes103 as Middlesex reached 553 for 2.
Back at Lord’s the next week and T R-J wins the toss again and predictably slips Yorkshire in. The dressing room can have expected no less. This time it worked and Yorkshire were bowled out for 159 in 38 overs. Middlesex went on to take a useful lead and after Yorkshire were bowled out cheaply again cantered to victory. Leus du Plooy was the principal run scorer in both innings. So, ecstasy for Middlesex fans. Life in the Second Division is good!
There have been plenty of big scores around in both divisions as captains have been willing to let their batsmen enjoy the batting friendly conditions. Warwickshire scored 698 for 3 against Durham with captain Alex Davies leading the way with 256. Sussex scored 694 for 9 at Leicester with new captain, John Simpson, scoring 205 not out. Northants scored 605 for 6 against Glamorgan with Karun Nair scoring 202 not out. Presumably the bowlers haven’t been impressed with the Kookaburra experiment.
The nature of the IPL has completely changed in this the 17th edition. A number of players, who are not necessarily those that you would have guessed beforehand, are attacking the bowling from the outset and they keep going throughout their innings and their lead is continued by those who follow. In the last edition I noted the record-breaking Match 8 in which the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) scored 277 for 3 and the Mumbai Indians responded with 246 for 5. In Match 16 The Kolkata Nightriders (KKR) scored 272 for 7 and then in match the Sunrisers exceeded their own record my amassing an extraordinary 287 for 3, to which, in reply, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) scored 262 for 7, thus beating the earlier highest total in a match statistic. In Match 31 The Rajasthan Royals (RR) knocked off KKR’s 223 for 6. In Match 35 SRH scored 266 for 7. In Match 42 KKR scored 262 for 6 and then the Punjab Kings knocked them off with only two wickets down and with more than an over to spare.
Batsmen are rapidly having to adjust their batting styles. Perhaps the one with most to do is Virat Kholi who is adored by both the fans and the commentators. At present he is leading the race for the Orange Cap with most runs in the competition, but his side (RCB) are bottom of the table, which indicates that he is occupying the crease for too long without scoring fast enough. Getting his side to 180 and scoring 90 not out no longer cuts it. The key statistic is now a batsman’s scoring rate (SR). Kohli’s is 145 and anyone spending time at the crease has to have at minimum a strike rate of 150. He is sadly also showing signs of requiring the umpires to follow his interpretation of the laws of the game. After having been given out caught off a full toss and the umpires decision of below waist height being upheld by the third umpire he then screamed a volley of abuse at the on field umpire. Needless to say, RCB are also bottom of the Fair Play League.
The experts expected that Heinrick Klaasen would feature strongly and he hasn’t disappointed but in the SRH line up he has become the cream on top after, for example, in the match against Delhi Capitals Travis Head (89 from 32 balls) and Abhishek Sharma (46 from 12 balls) added 131 from just 38 balls. SRH scored 125 in the 6 over powerplay. At this point in the competition Klaasen (SR 199) has hit 27 sixes, Abhishek (SR 218) 26 and Head (SR 212) 18.
A few years ago at KKR Sunil Narine was utilised as what, at that time, was called a pinch hitter which meant that he opened the batting and swung freely until he got out. He was moderately successful at this for a time but was dropped down the order over the last three seasons. However, he is now 36 and has returned to his opening slot where he has been remarkably successful. He is second in line for the orange cap behind Kholi and has hit 24 sixes (SR 184) along the way. He is partnered by Phil Salt (SR 176) who is the quintessential modern batsman. He wasn’t awarded a contract by KKR in the draft but was recruited as a replacement for Jason Roy. Salt, like Head, lays into the bowling from ball one and doesn’t slow down.
The biggest impact on this year’s IPL has, perhaps, come from the Australian Jake Fraser-McGurk who, like Salt, was added to his team, the Delhi Capitals (DC), after the draft. He missed the first three games but when he debuted, he hit his first two deliveries for six. He was promptly promoted to open the innings and has hit 27 sixes with a SR of 237. In his innings against the Mumbai Indians he scored 84 from 27 balls (SR 311).
Many of the big names have not registered a significant impact. Maxwell and Bairstow were both dropped after a series of failures with the bat. Jaiswal who last year was outstanding and bullied his way into the test side through weight of runs has promised much but not delivered. There have been ten centuries up to Match 44, including, incidentally, one from Bairstow after he was recalled. Buttler has scored two and it is interesting that he continues to bat in his own style, starting slowly and exploding at the backend. He is truly unbowlable to at this stage of an innings. He seems to play his best cricket in the IPL. It is probably because he doesn’t keep wicket or captain the side. Mott take note!
It will be interesting to see how many of the stars of the IPL feature in the dreaded Hundred this summer. It has always been almost totally devoid of Indians, and I doubt whether many of this year’s outstanding performers will bother with it.
Thompson Matters
Steve reflects on The South Hampstead Double which was 50 years ago
This is an unashamedly, self-indulgent, parochial piece for which the overwhelming majority of Googlies readers deserve an apology. That said Googlies has a good part of its roots in the club game and more especially South Hampstead Cricket Club and whilst it has moved wonderfully on from its younger days a trip down memory lane may be welcome for some.
1974 was the third season of the Middlesex County League. South Hampstead hadn’t made much of an impression in the first season but were early leaders in the second but I have no recollection of any sense of title-winning ambition in the April of ‘74. I was however still a teenager, fresh from school and if I’m honest acclimatising to my first full season of first team cricket.
There were some signs of potential success in the previous season coming fourth behind champions Finchley, but it was arguably the arrival of spinners Scottish international Keith Hardie (brother of Essex’s Brian) and New South Walean Steve Hatherall and the timely availability of Middlesex’s Nigel Ross which finally turned us into a title winning prospect.
The following extract is from 50 Years of the Middlesex County Cricket League by Don Shelley:
The year produced one of the most dramatic finishes to the season with the title decider going into the final weekend with any one of five clubs in with a chance of winning the league. Going into the final weekend, Finchley were top with 87 points, followed by South Hampstead (86), Brondesbury (84), Southgate (81) and Winchmore Hill (78).
Finchley stalled at Brentham where the home side made 148-6 declared, (Graham Barlow 62*, Richard Hayward 43) and in the remaining 37 overs Finchley replied with 104-9 to gain 4 points. Alan Holley taking 5-41. Brondesbury had bowled Stanmore out for 73 and won by 8 wickets and after Southgate had declared on 193-3 in an all-day match, they lost to Hornsey who passed their total in the 62nd over, Huw Pearman making 92.
South Hampstead were made to work hard to secure the title clinching a win at Ealing where the home side batted through 66.5 overs to reach 160 all out (A. Cox 4-50 in 23.5 overs, Colin Price 3-50 in 16 overs and Ossie Burton 1-19 in 15 overs) South Hampstead were made to struggle but they got home by three wickets in the 42nd over with Lincoln Sylburne top-scoring with 43 and 38 from Nigel Ross.’
It was a game that captain Ian Jerman was sadly forced to miss as he had to attend the 150th anniversary celebrations of his employer Glenlivet whisky in Scotland - no doubt he raised a glass or two of a special malt when he received the news that evening.
Don Shelley continues:
‘Opening batsman Terry Cordaroy scored 458 runs (average 41.64) with Len Stubbs scoring 372 runs (average 46.50) Steve Thompson 288 runs (average 32.00) and Nigel Ross (who played the last five matches of the South Hampstead campaign) 294 runs (average 58.8) including an innings of 132 in the penultimate match against Finchley.
The team were skippered by seam bowler Ian Jerman (15 wickets @14.47) with spinners Steve Hatherall (22 wickets @ 17.55) and Keith Hardie (25 wickets @ 15.56) to the fore.’
From my perspective in ‘Keir’ Hardie, Steve Hatherall and Alan Cox we had the perfect balance of finger spin; notwithstanding Keith’s occasional Chinaman. He and Alan whilst both slow left arm were very different, the latter all rhythmical flight with the occasional arm ball whilst the former could and often would bowl six different deliveries in an over. At the other end Steve Hatherall spun the ball prodigiously and had a perfectly disguised quicker one- which was genuinely quick - I shall never forget Martin Edney’s face as he surveyed his splattered stumps in the match against Brondesbury. A nick would not have been held anywhere behind the wicket but they were almost always dead straight! It was no surprise to hear of Steve taking 5 for 37 against England for Northern New South Wales a few years later. Whilst not mentioned directly in Don Shelley’s summary the role of the wonderful Ossie Burton in setting up the spinners was crucial in so many games. He rarely went for more than two an over and that economy allied to the speed with which he got through an over meant you were facing a spinner again within minutes and so as a consequence every draw was a faster scoring draw - ultimately that proved crucial.
The overall league record in a rain affected season with some abandonments was:
Played 13 Won 6 Winning Draw 6 Losing Draw 0 Abandoned 1
In all but two of the league games we scored more runs than the opposition.
Our league batting was generally good enough to support the bowlers and Terry Cordaroy’s reliability was the perfect foil for the more flamboyant Len Stubbs, Lincoln Sylburne and latterly Nigel Ross.
This was clearly not the modern era as five of the six front line bowlers had economy rates for the season below three and all of them took 50 wickets or more. Terry Cordaroy and Len Stubbs both scored 1000 runs, Terry 1511.
Wills Cup winners 1974 (from l to r) Nigel Ross,Colin Price, Steve Hatherall, Alan Cox, Len Stubbs, Mike Langley, Ian Jerman, Ossie Burton, Terry Cordaroy, Allen Bruton, Steve Thompson, Lincoln Sylburne. Scorer, Audrey Hawdon.
As defending holders of the Wills Cup the early rounds saw victories over non-league competition. First round opponents North London were beaten by 161 runs thanks largely to unbeaten fifties from Ron Hooker (71*) and Len Stubbs (81*). Alan Cox and Keith Hardie proved too good for the opposition batting taking 4-31 and 4-22 respectively.
West Drayton suffered an even bigger defeat in round two with Colin Price (65) and Lincoln Sylburne (53) steering the home side to 236 for 8. West Drayton lost wickets to all the bowlers and were 67 all out.
Barnet also struggled against our attack being 89 all out on a difficult wicket, Alan Cox’s 3-24 again reflecting his value in limited overs. A seven-wicket win was probably easier than the scoreboard looked.
Teddington posted 184 in the semi-final at Milverton Road with Ted Clark’s 76 the highlight with Ossie Burton taking 4-28. A first wicket partnership of 120 between Cordaroy (87*) and Thompson (59) set up a comfortable 9 wicket win.
Winchmore Hill had home advantage in the final but Thompson (55) and Lincoln Sylburne (65) set up a challenging total of 236 for 7 which the home side were always struggling to reach. Fittingly it was the spinners Hatherall (3-18) and Cox (3-21) who did most to secure a second successive cup win and the first league and cup double as the Hill finished 157 all out. It was an especially sweet victory for captain Ian Jerman who had missed the Ealing game a fortnight earlier.
The side were only beaten twice that season in all games winning 26 and drawing 18. It was a really special year and being a part it is something for which I shall forever be grateful. It also meant that the club entered its Centenary Year as League and Cup Champions.
I’ve chosen two sides to reflect the League matches but in doing so for the League XI there were so many other less ‘decorated’ club players who would have graced such a side that year. My apologies go to them unnamed though they remain.
SHCC XI 1974 Middlesex League XI 1974
Terry Cordaroy Richard Hayward (Brentham CC, Hants CCC )
Colin Price David Hays (WK and C) (Finchley CC and Middlesex)
Nigel Ross Mike Gatting (Brondesbury CC, Middx and England)
Lincoln Sylburne Roland Butcher (Enfield CC, Middx and England)
Len Stubbs Larry Gomes (Enfield CC, Middx and West Indies)
Steve Hatherall Chris Payne (Southgate CC and Middlesex)
Mike Langley (WK) Micky Dunn (Edmonton CC)
Keith Hardie Alan Price (Ealing CC)
Ian Jerman (C) Robin Johns (Southgate CC)
Ossie Burton Peter Ray (Wembley CC)
Alan Cox Brian Reid (Brentham CC)
12th Man
Geoff Howe
Carlin Matters
Paddy makes a welcome return to these pages
I’m still cross at the phasing out of County Cricket and the inability to see it unless its in April/early May or September. Perhaps when the authorities realise (or the bribery stops at the ECB) that the Hundred is a dead duck (does anyone understand it?) there will be more “proper cricket”.
In the meantime, there is the club version to enjoy. There seems a bit of a death wish in cricket for clubs at the moment. At WGCCC we only really play League cricket plus a Cricket Week in July. There are only ten teams in the league so the effective season lasts from early May to the end of August. In Herts there used to be a League Championship and also a Trophy to be played for by the top four clubs (two semi finals and a final) at the end of the season( we usually competed in the playoffs) and so interest at WGCCC was extended for a couple of weeks into mid-September. In their wisdom the Herts League management stopped this last season so for most clubs the interest in the league waned.
In my view, as it seems most people only want to play League cricket, we must move as soon as possible to a twelve-team league thus guaranteeing another four weeks of cricket starting in late April and going through to late September. The season for me is now too short and the club game must be rescued.
Barnet Matters
Chelsea is always a colourful club and a current team photo looks like a tribal gathering in the Congo as published in National Geographic magazine.
Old Danes Gathering
The Next Old Danes Gathering will be held at Shepherds Bush CC on Friday 26 July. The event will be held during the afternoon and all Old Danes, their wives and friends will be welcome.
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
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 257
May 2024
Spot the Ball
Travis Head barely bothers to take guard before teeing off
Out and About with the Professor
At the start of the season there was considerable optimism in the Yorkshire cricket world. Otis Gibson, the team coach, was quoted as saying that the side was “fully focussed” on a quick return to Division One. Captain Masood thought that they could “get off to a flyer”, while Adam Lyth felt that with Root and Brook in the side they had the potential to win all their early games. Indeed, the middle order of: Masood, Root and Brook was talked about as being not just the best in Division Two, or even the County Championship but the best middle order of any cricket club in the world.
Well…it hasn’t quite worked out like that. While Brook and Masood have both got hundreds, the first match was, unsurprisingly a rain affected washout, the second saw Gloucester batting out a comfortable draw and the third was a comprehensive defeat against Middlesex (never easy to take in these parts) with the fab-three collecting just 79 in six innings. So not exactly a “flyer” then.
Never mind, two less than great results away from home could be understood at this time of year, and the fourth April Championship fixture (against Derbyshire) was at Headquarters and looked like it might bring a result; so, there was some anticipation on the terraces. Nothing too demonstrative, of course, nothing approaching excitement which would impinge on the innate curmudgeonly nature of a Yorkshire crowd but, well, …anticipation.
A cooling of any enthusiasm was provided by the Yorkshire weather. Cricket is a summer sport – as we all know – but a casual inspection of the crowd on the first day would have thrown doubt on that description. It was clear, bright and bone-numbingly cold. Looking around I could see numerous heaps of clothing: coats, hats, scarves, gloves, dotted around the terraces each of which, somewhere inside, contained a person. Two women sitting near me (in addition to wearing just about every outer garment they might have owned) had arranged scarves to cover their faces with only their eyes showing – a sort of secular burka for the cricket fan. In amongst all this was, of course, the obligatory slightly chubby young man wearing jeans and a tee-shirt, with only his fire breathing dragon tattoos to keep him warm.
But what about the cricket? Well Derbyshire won the toss and since the Headingly pitch could not really conceal the fact that it has rained almost every day since Christmas, “elected”, as they say, to field. This would have been a good decision, had they fielded well. They didn’t. They dropped three slip catches in the first 40 minutes. To be fair, it was not a day to find oneself in the slips. We have all had the experience. It was so cold that an amputation was more likely than a catch and indeed Madsen, who dropped the second chance, left the field and took no farther part in the play. His place was taken by the formidable frame of Samit Patel who, for some bizarre reason, borrowed Madsen’s jumper – it didn’t fit.
With the ball moving about and the fielders declining to catch the edges, Yorkshire had a very enterprising day. Lyth had almost added a third hundred this season when he snicked one to the keeper and Root batted, as Root does, collecting runs all around, completing a hundred on Day Two. But it was the two smaller contributions of the day that caught the eye. It wasn’t an easy pitch to bat on but Masood (having had the missed slip chance that Derbyshire gave to everyone) scored 40 runs with ten scoring strokes. And strokes they were: elegant, effortless and delightful. His former teammates just did the collecting.
The second smaller contribution (which also became a hundred on Day Two) was that of Brook. Against Middlesex, Brook had scored 3 and 0. He wasn’t going to continue that run. Every Googlies reader will have seen Brook bat on numerous occasions, in many cases live. But it is difficult to convey the brutality of the thing when you’re close-up in a county game, and the sound as the ball hits the bat. All these top players hit the ball hard, of course, but Brook just belts the ball all over the place. He bats like someone who doesn’t believe the opposition know how to bowl – and in this sort of mood they don’t…at least to him. The Derby attack is not, it might be conceded, top class - but Blair Tickner is a more than useful international bowler and Zak Chappell isn’t exactly slow. And a flat belter it was not. No matter. It wouldn’t have mattered who had been bowling, Brook clearly thought that they shouldn’t. Full length? Smack through the covers. A little shorter? Bosh over the top. Shorter still? Whack over mid-wicket. By close of play Lloyd, the Derby captain, had used seven bowlers (including himself) and clearly run out of ideas. Had he asked my advice, I would have said: “Surrender”. What salvation there was came from a dose of Mancunian weather which washed out the last 30 overs or so. Without it, 400 would have been a distinct possibility. And indeed 400 arrived on Day Two, before Root was out, with the weather just as cold as before.
Lyth and Root after a successful pre-lunch session on Day One
But then came the second of Yorkshires problems. A first innings of 450 and three quick wickets had all the signs of a solid win and lots of points. Gloucester had gone from 94-4 to 405-6, to easily save that game and now Derby went from 23-3 to 190-3 as it got colder and colder and darker and darker.
Yorkshire, having looked at the pitch, had decided not to play their one spinner, the recently recruited Moriarty, which meant that they fielded five right-arm over medium quick bowlers. A couple use swing rather than seam but it all does look a bit samey.
All this endeavour was wrecked, of course, on Day Three, when some more Lancastrian weather washed out any chance of play and Day Four petered out as a tame draw.
The “flyer” has yet to take off.
This & That
In recent years you didn’t want to lose the toss at Lord’s in April as you knew you would be put in and almost certainly be bowled out by tea. This year’s exceptionally wet Spring would also support such an approach. Toby Roland -Jones won the toss in Middlesex’ opening match against Glamorgan at Lord’s and followed precedent. Perhaps he didn’t even look at the wicket or take into consideration that he would be bowling with a Kookaburra ball. In the event Glamorgan racked up an enormous 620 for 3 with Sam Northeast scoring 335 not out which gave him the highest individual first-class score at Lord’s beating Graham Gooch’s 333 against India.
Hardened Middlesex fans were by then expecting the worst, probably an innings defeat inside three days but the conditions were so good for batting that Middlesex actually took a first innings lead with Ryan Higgins scoring 222.
Roll forward to the following week when Middlesex found themselves playing at Northampton. TJ-R’s luck persisted as he won the toss again and invited his hosts to bat first which cannot have been a popular decision in the visitors’ dressing room. Northants said “thanks very much” as they plundered 552 for 6 before they declared. But once again Middlesex’ batting surprised us all with Max Holden scoring 211 not out, Leus du Plooy 196 not out and debutant Max Fernandes103 as Middlesex reached 553 for 2.
Back at Lord’s the next week and T R-J wins the toss again and predictably slips Yorkshire in. The dressing room can have expected no less. This time it worked and Yorkshire were bowled out for 159 in 38 overs. Middlesex went on to take a useful lead and after Yorkshire were bowled out cheaply again cantered to victory. Leus du Plooy was the principal run scorer in both innings. So, ecstasy for Middlesex fans. Life in the Second Division is good!
There have been plenty of big scores around in both divisions as captains have been willing to let their batsmen enjoy the batting friendly conditions. Warwickshire scored 698 for 3 against Durham with captain Alex Davies leading the way with 256. Sussex scored 694 for 9 at Leicester with new captain, John Simpson, scoring 205 not out. Northants scored 605 for 6 against Glamorgan with Karun Nair scoring 202 not out. Presumably the bowlers haven’t been impressed with the Kookaburra experiment.
The nature of the IPL has completely changed in this the 17th edition. A number of players, who are not necessarily those that you would have guessed beforehand, are attacking the bowling from the outset and they keep going throughout their innings and their lead is continued by those who follow. In the last edition I noted the record-breaking Match 8 in which the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) scored 277 for 3 and the Mumbai Indians responded with 246 for 5. In Match 16 The Kolkata Nightriders (KKR) scored 272 for 7 and then in match the Sunrisers exceeded their own record my amassing an extraordinary 287 for 3, to which, in reply, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) scored 262 for 7, thus beating the earlier highest total in a match statistic. In Match 31 The Rajasthan Royals (RR) knocked off KKR’s 223 for 6. In Match 35 SRH scored 266 for 7. In Match 42 KKR scored 262 for 6 and then the Punjab Kings knocked them off with only two wickets down and with more than an over to spare.
Batsmen are rapidly having to adjust their batting styles. Perhaps the one with most to do is Virat Kholi who is adored by both the fans and the commentators. At present he is leading the race for the Orange Cap with most runs in the competition, but his side (RCB) are bottom of the table, which indicates that he is occupying the crease for too long without scoring fast enough. Getting his side to 180 and scoring 90 not out no longer cuts it. The key statistic is now a batsman’s scoring rate (SR). Kohli’s is 145 and anyone spending time at the crease has to have at minimum a strike rate of 150. He is sadly also showing signs of requiring the umpires to follow his interpretation of the laws of the game. After having been given out caught off a full toss and the umpires decision of below waist height being upheld by the third umpire he then screamed a volley of abuse at the on field umpire. Needless to say, RCB are also bottom of the Fair Play League.
The experts expected that Heinrick Klaasen would feature strongly and he hasn’t disappointed but in the SRH line up he has become the cream on top after, for example, in the match against Delhi Capitals Travis Head (89 from 32 balls) and Abhishek Sharma (46 from 12 balls) added 131 from just 38 balls. SRH scored 125 in the 6 over powerplay. At this point in the competition Klaasen (SR 199) has hit 27 sixes, Abhishek (SR 218) 26 and Head (SR 212) 18.
A few years ago at KKR Sunil Narine was utilised as what, at that time, was called a pinch hitter which meant that he opened the batting and swung freely until he got out. He was moderately successful at this for a time but was dropped down the order over the last three seasons. However, he is now 36 and has returned to his opening slot where he has been remarkably successful. He is second in line for the orange cap behind Kholi and has hit 24 sixes (SR 184) along the way. He is partnered by Phil Salt (SR 176) who is the quintessential modern batsman. He wasn’t awarded a contract by KKR in the draft but was recruited as a replacement for Jason Roy. Salt, like Head, lays into the bowling from ball one and doesn’t slow down.
The biggest impact on this year’s IPL has, perhaps, come from the Australian Jake Fraser-McGurk who, like Salt, was added to his team, the Delhi Capitals (DC), after the draft. He missed the first three games but when he debuted, he hit his first two deliveries for six. He was promptly promoted to open the innings and has hit 27 sixes with a SR of 237. In his innings against the Mumbai Indians he scored 84 from 27 balls (SR 311).
Many of the big names have not registered a significant impact. Maxwell and Bairstow were both dropped after a series of failures with the bat. Jaiswal who last year was outstanding and bullied his way into the test side through weight of runs has promised much but not delivered. There have been ten centuries up to Match 44, including, incidentally, one from Bairstow after he was recalled. Buttler has scored two and it is interesting that he continues to bat in his own style, starting slowly and exploding at the backend. He is truly unbowlable to at this stage of an innings. He seems to play his best cricket in the IPL. It is probably because he doesn’t keep wicket or captain the side. Mott take note!
It will be interesting to see how many of the stars of the IPL feature in the dreaded Hundred this summer. It has always been almost totally devoid of Indians, and I doubt whether many of this year’s outstanding performers will bother with it.
Thompson Matters
Steve reflects on The South Hampstead Double which was 50 years ago
This is an unashamedly, self-indulgent, parochial piece for which the overwhelming majority of Googlies readers deserve an apology. That said Googlies has a good part of its roots in the club game and more especially South Hampstead Cricket Club and whilst it has moved wonderfully on from its younger days a trip down memory lane may be welcome for some.
1974 was the third season of the Middlesex County League. South Hampstead hadn’t made much of an impression in the first season but were early leaders in the second but I have no recollection of any sense of title-winning ambition in the April of ‘74. I was however still a teenager, fresh from school and if I’m honest acclimatising to my first full season of first team cricket.
There were some signs of potential success in the previous season coming fourth behind champions Finchley, but it was arguably the arrival of spinners Scottish international Keith Hardie (brother of Essex’s Brian) and New South Walean Steve Hatherall and the timely availability of Middlesex’s Nigel Ross which finally turned us into a title winning prospect.
The following extract is from 50 Years of the Middlesex County Cricket League by Don Shelley:
The year produced one of the most dramatic finishes to the season with the title decider going into the final weekend with any one of five clubs in with a chance of winning the league. Going into the final weekend, Finchley were top with 87 points, followed by South Hampstead (86), Brondesbury (84), Southgate (81) and Winchmore Hill (78).
Finchley stalled at Brentham where the home side made 148-6 declared, (Graham Barlow 62*, Richard Hayward 43) and in the remaining 37 overs Finchley replied with 104-9 to gain 4 points. Alan Holley taking 5-41. Brondesbury had bowled Stanmore out for 73 and won by 8 wickets and after Southgate had declared on 193-3 in an all-day match, they lost to Hornsey who passed their total in the 62nd over, Huw Pearman making 92.
South Hampstead were made to work hard to secure the title clinching a win at Ealing where the home side batted through 66.5 overs to reach 160 all out (A. Cox 4-50 in 23.5 overs, Colin Price 3-50 in 16 overs and Ossie Burton 1-19 in 15 overs) South Hampstead were made to struggle but they got home by three wickets in the 42nd over with Lincoln Sylburne top-scoring with 43 and 38 from Nigel Ross.’
It was a game that captain Ian Jerman was sadly forced to miss as he had to attend the 150th anniversary celebrations of his employer Glenlivet whisky in Scotland - no doubt he raised a glass or two of a special malt when he received the news that evening.
Don Shelley continues:
‘Opening batsman Terry Cordaroy scored 458 runs (average 41.64) with Len Stubbs scoring 372 runs (average 46.50) Steve Thompson 288 runs (average 32.00) and Nigel Ross (who played the last five matches of the South Hampstead campaign) 294 runs (average 58.8) including an innings of 132 in the penultimate match against Finchley.
The team were skippered by seam bowler Ian Jerman (15 wickets @14.47) with spinners Steve Hatherall (22 wickets @ 17.55) and Keith Hardie (25 wickets @ 15.56) to the fore.’
From my perspective in ‘Keir’ Hardie, Steve Hatherall and Alan Cox we had the perfect balance of finger spin; notwithstanding Keith’s occasional Chinaman. He and Alan whilst both slow left arm were very different, the latter all rhythmical flight with the occasional arm ball whilst the former could and often would bowl six different deliveries in an over. At the other end Steve Hatherall spun the ball prodigiously and had a perfectly disguised quicker one- which was genuinely quick - I shall never forget Martin Edney’s face as he surveyed his splattered stumps in the match against Brondesbury. A nick would not have been held anywhere behind the wicket but they were almost always dead straight! It was no surprise to hear of Steve taking 5 for 37 against England for Northern New South Wales a few years later. Whilst not mentioned directly in Don Shelley’s summary the role of the wonderful Ossie Burton in setting up the spinners was crucial in so many games. He rarely went for more than two an over and that economy allied to the speed with which he got through an over meant you were facing a spinner again within minutes and so as a consequence every draw was a faster scoring draw - ultimately that proved crucial.
The overall league record in a rain affected season with some abandonments was:
Played 13 Won 6 Winning Draw 6 Losing Draw 0 Abandoned 1
In all but two of the league games we scored more runs than the opposition.
Our league batting was generally good enough to support the bowlers and Terry Cordaroy’s reliability was the perfect foil for the more flamboyant Len Stubbs, Lincoln Sylburne and latterly Nigel Ross.
This was clearly not the modern era as five of the six front line bowlers had economy rates for the season below three and all of them took 50 wickets or more. Terry Cordaroy and Len Stubbs both scored 1000 runs, Terry 1511.
Wills Cup winners 1974 (from l to r) Nigel Ross,Colin Price, Steve Hatherall, Alan Cox, Len Stubbs, Mike Langley, Ian Jerman, Ossie Burton, Terry Cordaroy, Allen Bruton, Steve Thompson, Lincoln Sylburne. Scorer, Audrey Hawdon.
As defending holders of the Wills Cup the early rounds saw victories over non-league competition. First round opponents North London were beaten by 161 runs thanks largely to unbeaten fifties from Ron Hooker (71*) and Len Stubbs (81*). Alan Cox and Keith Hardie proved too good for the opposition batting taking 4-31 and 4-22 respectively.
West Drayton suffered an even bigger defeat in round two with Colin Price (65) and Lincoln Sylburne (53) steering the home side to 236 for 8. West Drayton lost wickets to all the bowlers and were 67 all out.
Barnet also struggled against our attack being 89 all out on a difficult wicket, Alan Cox’s 3-24 again reflecting his value in limited overs. A seven-wicket win was probably easier than the scoreboard looked.
Teddington posted 184 in the semi-final at Milverton Road with Ted Clark’s 76 the highlight with Ossie Burton taking 4-28. A first wicket partnership of 120 between Cordaroy (87*) and Thompson (59) set up a comfortable 9 wicket win.
Winchmore Hill had home advantage in the final but Thompson (55) and Lincoln Sylburne (65) set up a challenging total of 236 for 7 which the home side were always struggling to reach. Fittingly it was the spinners Hatherall (3-18) and Cox (3-21) who did most to secure a second successive cup win and the first league and cup double as the Hill finished 157 all out. It was an especially sweet victory for captain Ian Jerman who had missed the Ealing game a fortnight earlier.
The side were only beaten twice that season in all games winning 26 and drawing 18. It was a really special year and being a part it is something for which I shall forever be grateful. It also meant that the club entered its Centenary Year as League and Cup Champions.
I’ve chosen two sides to reflect the League matches but in doing so for the League XI there were so many other less ‘decorated’ club players who would have graced such a side that year. My apologies go to them unnamed though they remain.
SHCC XI 1974 Middlesex League XI 1974
Terry Cordaroy Richard Hayward (Brentham CC, Hants CCC )
Colin Price David Hays (WK and C) (Finchley CC and Middlesex)
Nigel Ross Mike Gatting (Brondesbury CC, Middx and England)
Lincoln Sylburne Roland Butcher (Enfield CC, Middx and England)
Len Stubbs Larry Gomes (Enfield CC, Middx and West Indies)
Steve Hatherall Chris Payne (Southgate CC and Middlesex)
Mike Langley (WK) Micky Dunn (Edmonton CC)
Keith Hardie Alan Price (Ealing CC)
Ian Jerman (C) Robin Johns (Southgate CC)
Ossie Burton Peter Ray (Wembley CC)
Alan Cox Brian Reid (Brentham CC)
12th Man
Geoff Howe
Carlin Matters
Paddy makes a welcome return to these pages
I’m still cross at the phasing out of County Cricket and the inability to see it unless its in April/early May or September. Perhaps when the authorities realise (or the bribery stops at the ECB) that the Hundred is a dead duck (does anyone understand it?) there will be more “proper cricket”.
In the meantime, there is the club version to enjoy. There seems a bit of a death wish in cricket for clubs at the moment. At WGCCC we only really play League cricket plus a Cricket Week in July. There are only ten teams in the league so the effective season lasts from early May to the end of August. In Herts there used to be a League Championship and also a Trophy to be played for by the top four clubs (two semi finals and a final) at the end of the season( we usually competed in the playoffs) and so interest at WGCCC was extended for a couple of weeks into mid-September. In their wisdom the Herts League management stopped this last season so for most clubs the interest in the league waned.
In my view, as it seems most people only want to play League cricket, we must move as soon as possible to a twelve-team league thus guaranteeing another four weeks of cricket starting in late April and going through to late September. The season for me is now too short and the club game must be rescued.
Barnet Matters
Chelsea is always a colourful club and a current team photo looks like a tribal gathering in the Congo as published in National Geographic magazine.
Old Danes Gathering
The Next Old Danes Gathering will be held at Shepherds Bush CC on Friday 26 July. The event will be held during the afternoon and all Old Danes, their wives and friends will be welcome.
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
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