G&C 281
GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 281
May 2026
Spot the Ball
Ben Stokes: I hear there are going to be some changes this year?
Baz: Yeah
Ben Stokes: It doesn’t mean that I will have to play more cricket does it?
Baz: You won’t be fit enough to do that.
Ben Stokes: So, what are the changes?
Baz: We are going to do away with Dot balls.
Ben Stokes: You mean that the bowlers won’t have to keep track of them?
Baz: No.
Ben Stokes: So, what do you mean?
Baz: The batsmen must score off every ball they face.
Ben Stokes: What happens if they don’t?
Baz: I will retire them Out.
Ben Stokes: Gulp.
Out and About with the Professor
Yorkshire have a new Ten-Year Strategic Plan, called “Chasing Glory”. Isn’t that nice!
It was revealed to members at a special meeting last week. “Revealed” is perhaps a generous word, “exhumed” might be better, since its essence is that the club should be “demutualised” (aka “sold”) and this proposal is one that board members and the chief exec have been floating for at least a couple of years. There have been extensive “consultations” and “road shows” but in effect this has been a lengthy softening-up process for the inevitable sale of the Club. “Inevitable”, because of finance. The Hundred money has allowed Yorkshire for the first time in a generation to be free of debt: some £42 million has been paid out in debt cancellation. The remainder gives a small capital base, but unless some new income streams are found we will be back here again in a few years.
The biggest problem is the one that is generic to all cricket clubs – what non-cricket income do you have? The meeting was told that 3% of Yorkshire’s income comes from non-cricket sources. By comparison, the figure for Lancashire is 53% and Surrey’s non-cricket income is greater than the whole of YCCC’s annual budget. In addition, the player’s facilities are not up to an acceptable (modern) standard. The great ugly green building which masquerades as a pavilion was built largely as a university teaching facility. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t adapt too well for its current use. In particular, county grounds now need four changing rooms (men’s, women’s, home, away) for days when two short-form matches take place on the same day. We were told that the interior of the green carbuncle was decidedly deficient in that regard. I went around the building a few years’ back, when it had just been finished, and there were indeed numerous seminar rooms with smart boards, etc. Useful perhaps for tactical discussions which McGrath doubtless has with his players, but not for much else. There have been complaints, and Bairstow confirmed that visiting teams have “taken the mickey”. Unhappily, that has resulted in a reduction of Test match allocation (none in 2027 and 2028). Without a Test, we were told, the Club loses £1.5 million pa. In addition, Yorkshire has been unable to match player’s wage demands, and lost out in numerous contract bidding.
How will demutualisation help? Well, there are many investors “out there” who are keen to put money into YCCC, but will not invest in a members’ club. Some degree of control is needed. Inward investment will “re-energise the Club”. Yorkshire has many natural advantages over other counties: more people are interested in cricket in Yorkshire and identify with the county, 15% of all cricket teams in England are in Yorkshire, YCCC produces more England players than any other county, but we need to “Inspire” the local community and be “transparently inclusive” (not a strength, it has to be said, in the past), and so on. No one actually said MAKE YORKSHIRE GREAT AGAIN, but we were not far from it.
A “master plan” for the ground was unveiled, Phase One of which was to remove the green cladding from the monstrosity and convert it into something like a cricket pavilion with steps from the players areas onto the ground and even a “sky bar” at the top which will give “panoramic views of Leeds” (umm…). We all thought this looked fine but, guess what, it would only be possible with demutualisation…I think we got the idea.
There was only one dissenting contribution, a very frail Geoff Boycott spoke right at the end of the meeting in a trembling voice (the throat cancer has, sadly, returned) about the possibilities of the Club “falling into the wrong hands”. (Mike Ashley got several mentions during the meeting.) Sir Geoffrey was clearly very unwell but, typical of the man, he had got to the ground to have his say. There was not a great deal of support for his view, but warm and sympathetic applause for the man that he is.
Actually, I did hear one other voice of dissent, since the man sitting next to me said, under his breath: “Never mind ‘bout 10-year bloody plan, what us needs is 10-week plan t’ win a bloody cricket match”.
…And in truth it has not been a great start to the season: two draws and one defeat (at the time of writing). The defeat against Hampshire by 214 runs was particularly grim. Yorkshire fielded two “overseas” players: Logan Van Beek, a New Zealander who plays for the Netherlands (what would Lord Hawke have said?) and the Western Australian (and former Northants player) Sam Whiteman, who at least had the decency and good manners to be born in Doncaster. Neither made much of an impact, although “LVB” (as we call him) took a five-fer of sorts in Hampshire’s second innings: four dismissals and a finger-tip run out of the backing-up batter, Prest, from a fiercely hit straight drive from Lehmann. Unfortunately, his was the only success for Yorkshire as Hants went to 351-5 declared (not out hundred to the experienced Ben Brown and 92 to Lehmann fils, who looks a fine young player).
LVB acknowledging the applause for his “five-fer”
The second home match was the run-fest against Sussex which saw hundreds for Bean and the Doncaster man, as well as 96 for Joe Root who spent a fair part of the first afternoon fielding at long on.
Yorkshire’s deep long on
One slightly odd experience was to see the subs arrangement in operation so that Ben Cliff bowled in the second innings against Hampshire, having not been in the team for the first. To be frank if Yorkshire had played 12 from the start the result would have been the same…but that will all change with demutualisation.
This and That
In their away match at Derby Gloucestershire proved the old adage that “it aint over till its over”. They won the toss and batted first and after Miles Hammond had made 145 found themselves 301 for 8, but Henry Brookes (89) and Will Williams (98) took their total 498 before they were all out. Then Sussex found themselves 92 for 7 after being put in at the Oval only for Huson-Prentice (53), Carson (105) and Robinson (100 not out) to take them to 398 for8 declared. Ollie Robinson is captain of the Sussex Championship side and many think should be in the England bowling ranks. At 6’ 5” he is tall enough for the current set up but he doesn’t play for Durham.
In their match at Canterbury Northants batted first and scored 684 for 2. All four batsmen who reached the crease made centuries – Vasconcelos (127), Procter (261 not out), Harrison (153) and McSweeney (101 not out). But Kent were able to hold out for a draw after following on with Ben Compton in his element scoring a six-hour unbeaten 114.
Middlesex alumni continue to excel away from Lords. John Simpson scored a hundred for Sussex at Headingley whilst Martin Andersson was the first to score a double century in the Championship this season. Many have suggested that Ben Foakes should replace his Surrey teammate as England’s wicket keeper. His first-class record before this season was 9332 runs at an average of 38.08. Simpson’s was 11351 at 36.73. Foakes had 493 catches and 39 stumpings, Simpson 721 catches and 41 stumpings. Simpson also performed creditably in the Covid era LOIs.
Could this be Joe Clarke’s season to make it big? He transferred from Worcestershire to Notts in 2019 with much expected of him but has struggled to find consistency and has primarily been a one-day player. However, this season he is the leading run scorer in Division 1 of the Championship and could be ready to step up. Other names that are regularly mentioned are James Rew and Emilio Gay. Miles Hammond at last seems to be blossoming for Gloucestershire but however many runs he scores, Dom Sibley is unlikely to get a recall under the current England regime.
The IPL continues in its mercurial way with batting dominating the proceedings. The Sunrisers’ (SRH) Abishek Sharma tops the list of run scorers with 425 at an average of 53 and a strike rate of 209. But this unprecedented record is overshadowed by the extraordinary exploits of the fifteen-year-old, Sooryavanshi. He is almost impossible to bowl at. He has scored 400 runs already at the unbelievable strike rate of 238. He scored his hundred from just 33 balls.
But the quality of the wickets and the advances in batting technique have led to changing perceptions of the game. To post 200 is not an occasional feature and by no means guarantees victory. In Match 35 the Delhi Capitals captain, KL Rahul, scored 152 not out from just 67 balls taking his side to 264 for 2. In any previous year the DCs would have expected a comfortable win, but the Punjab Kings cantered to victory with 7 balls to spare. In Match 36 on the same day as PK’s extraordinary run chase, the RRs scored 228 for 6 only for SRH to knock them off with 9 balls to spare.
KL Rahul has been a revelation using an expanded array of “proper” cricket shots. Sanju Samson is another who doesn’t resort to reverse sweeps etc. I have been a critic in recent years of Kohli’s batting but this season he has been exceptional marching out of his crease to take on all bowlers, and he averages 54 with a strike rate of 165. His opening partner Phil Salt suffered an injury and has been replaced by the West Indian, Jacob Bethell. Bethell adopts a Kamikaze approach and despite hitting a 104 metre six has only managed 39 runs in three innings.
Two days after their 264 for 2, the DCs were reduced to 13 for 6 in the Power Play, the lowest score ever in a PP, by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood and their total of 75 was easily knocked off by RCB.
There have been eight Hundreds in the IPL this season. The all-time list of the highest scores now reads:
Chris Gayle 175
Brendon McCullum 158
KL Rahul 152
Abishek Sharma 141
Quinton de Kock 140
Abishek Sharma 135
Staffordshire cricketer, fast bowler Myles Davis completed the double hat-trick playing for Penkridge against Pelsall in the Premier Division of the South Staffordshire County League. Penkridge had won the toss and made 168 all out, Pelsall, were 49-2 after eight overs, with Davies having already picked up his first wicket in his third over. He started the ninth over with a wide but then bowled two batsmen with the final two deliveries of this over. His hat trick arrived to a catch down the legside to the wicketkeeper, after the next batsman was bowled. Davies then knocked out the middle stump of the next batsman and sealed his sixth wicket in six balls by removing the off stump of another to leave Pelsall 49-9.
Thompson Matters
I only once heard my dad use the F-word. I was probably about ten or eleven and was standing with him under a floodlight at the Ellerslie Road end of Loftus Road. Reading had scored a last minute equaliser in an evening kick-off in the old Division 3 and I was old enough to know that it was a ‘bad word’.Not that my father would have used the expletive solely on this one occasion since as Second Chef at the House of Commons for thirty years I have no doubt his lexicon of expletives was fairly comprehensive. That he was so (expletive deleted) disappointed in the late loss of what then would have been one point spoke volumes of the passion that support for your football team engenders.
Whilst the Editor and his brother celebrate their eighth decade of support for Rangers I am a decade behind and like a number of Googlies aficionados share with them the Danes, Rangers and Middlesex County Cricket Club bond which was never more loyally demonstrated than by the Great Jack Morgan. I cannot claim to have had anything like his degree of steadfast commitment to the support of either club and there have been times down the years when life simply got in the way that I have to admit that I didn’t really know my R’s from my elbow, but it was and always has been the first score to look out for even in the most unfaithful of times.
However, there can be few who can claim that as a direct consequence of their support for the Superhoops they received two strokes of the cane! I was in the third year. Rangers had an early evening kick-off and inevitably dozens of lads were going straight from school. Sometime during the afternoon we were due to have an RE lesson but our RE teacher, Tim Venner, was also the choirmaster and was rehearsing his ensemble for a concert that evening. Everyone in the class was sitting around the outside of the hall except me and three fellow Rangers-supporting mates in a row of four right in the middle of an otherwise empty space. When Land of Hope and Glory was in full flow three of them decided to take out their Rangers’ scarves and sway them, arms aloft, as was de rigueur at the time. Almost immediately a booming voice descended from the balcony behind. ‘You four boys go to my room!’ The strong Cornish burr told us immediately that it was Alan Nichols the Deputy Head and two strokes of the cane, times four, was the inevitable consequence. That I was ‘innocent’ still rankles! And we lost!
Reference to the GJM in the last edition had me thinking about the decades of ups and downs since the 70’s for both Rangers and Middlesex and a sense I have that over the years the two clubs’ fortunes have been somewhat mirrored. In 1975-6 Rangers achieved their highest ever league place, last-minute Runners-up to Liverpool in the old First Division. The burning hot Whispering Death of a summer that followed saw Middlesex win the first of a string of County Championships. During those Brearley years Rangers plied their trade in the top tier. Even post-relegation in the early 80s they fared pretty well in Division 2 as Middlesex clocked up title after title. By the mid-80s Rangers were back in Division One with a string of top half finishes and Lord’s welcomed more Championship and one-day cup successes. It had been a pretty good couple of decades. As the years have rolled on those dizzy heights have been fewer and farther between and now both teams slumber in the nether regions. This is of course not a study of precise statistical excellence but one does feel that the good times have rolled together as have the bad.
Only one man has played for both QPR and Middlesex and appropriately he was born in Turnham Green. Strictly speaking he didn’t actually play for Rangers but was on their books before moving more successfully to Brentford. Patsy Hendren’s cricketing prowess was of course in a different league but it’s a pretty safe bet that he was the first and will be the last.
In late August I wrote that I’d been the sole spectator in a Portuguese bar as Rangers lost 7-1 to Coventry. I suppose it could all have gone very badly, but it didn’t. Middlesex on the other hand started this year’s campaign with the suggestion of good things to come but then along came Worcestershire.
It’s a certain type of Old Danes’ lot I suppose......
Meaningless Statistics
It was good to hear from Ralph Adelman following my comments in the last issue. He replied:
“I have just finished reading the latest Googlies. I just wanted to say how much the “Pointless and Meaningless Statistics” item resonated with me. I agreed with every point made.”
It is always good to hear that someone agrees with me.
However, I have belatedly realised that, of course, it is just another marketing ploy. Somebody steps forward and proffers some cash in return for their name being mentioned during the broadcast and so something has to be made up for them. Even the broadcasters who are obligated to go through the motions seem to find, for example the “RuPay On-The-Go most Fours in the match and in the season so far” not worthy of comment.
So inevitably it will be adopted for our domestic season and we can look forward to the Whitbread “Highest Hits of the Match”, the AETNA “Most Left-Handed Stops in the Outfield” and the Thames Water “Most Balls Bowled Wide of the Stumps” statistics to enhance our viewing pleasure.
Impact Sub
Cricket has become a twelve a side game with the IPL introducing the Impact Sub and it being adopted in one form or another by other leagues including the English Championship. It got me wondering how it might have been applied in our playing days.
I immediately thought of freezing days at Milverton Road when Len Stubbs would shelter in the dressing room in every sweater he could lay his hands on before going out to bat and then afterwards returning to his sanctuary. He would no doubt have appointed the Impact Sub to take over from him for fielding duties.
But then I thought of it the other way round and who would be the ideal Impact Sub? Well, it had to be Nigel Ross who would have been only to pleased to take over from anyone to give him a bat, bowl or any other role.
Premier League Tactics
When Brendan Rodgers made his Liverpool team play out from the back in 2013/14 and was booed by the fans, who would have thought it would still be the principal route out from defense thirteen seasons later. But there are growing indications that it will change with several managers allowing their goalkeepers to revert to the good old fashion thump up-field. Why is this? It is because they know their players are not up to retaining possession particularly when the opposition applies a high-press. It is laughable seeing goalkeepers, central defenders and full backs tentatively shuffling the ball between themselves when they and we know it is going to a result in a turnover and an almost certain goal conceded. This is particularly perverse when at the kick off nearly all sides pass back to their goalkeeper who then punts it as far as he can into the opposition half.
When the handball in the penalty area rules changed a few years ago and any touch on the arm or hand led to a penalty being awarded the coaches started making their defenders link their hands behind their backs to avoid any contact with the ball. This seemed like a piss take of the rules at the time, which fortunately have changed, but some defenders still do it. John Stones is a good example. As an opposition player advances on him in the penalty area he grasps his wrists behind his back and plants his feet firmly on the ground. This has the automatic effect of stopping him advancing and making a tackle. Bad enough but it also gives the advancing player sufficient time to shoot or make a critical pass. Coaches need to get a grip on this.
It is always amusing to see substitutes being prepared by the coaching staff particularly late on in the game when it is likely that they won’t even get a kick before the final whistle. Somebody who speaks a different language gives them verbal instructions whilst gesticulating at a handheld laptop. If their role was going to be that significant why did they not come on sooner?
Other Premier League Matters
George asked me why Pep City were having a good run. I replied that I couldn’t understand why no-one had mentioned that the turnaround in their performances almost exactly coincided with the regular return of Rodri to their side.
The Sunderland fans added themselves to the shameful ranks of those who leave the stands before half time if their side is losing. Notts Forest put on an excellent display which any football fan would have wanted to watch to the end.
Why did Pep City use a change kit of pale mauve with fluorescent lime green trim?
Barnet Matters
What does Richarlison ask of his barber as he enters the salon? It usually seems to be “Make me look as scary as possible”. His latest version has a bleached top of the head with serpents wriggling through it.
Old Danes Gathering
The biennial Old Danes Gathering has come round again and, as usual, it will be held at Shepherds Bush CC on the Friday of their Cricket Week - July 24. Old Danes their wives and friends will all be welcome. The clubhouse and bar will be open from noon, and visitors normally arrive around 2pm. Please advise me at the email address below if you plan to attend so that I can add you to the attendees list which I will circulate to encourage others to come.
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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James Sharp
Broad Lee House
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High Peak
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 281
May 2026
Spot the Ball
Ben Stokes: I hear there are going to be some changes this year?
Baz: Yeah
Ben Stokes: It doesn’t mean that I will have to play more cricket does it?
Baz: You won’t be fit enough to do that.
Ben Stokes: So, what are the changes?
Baz: We are going to do away with Dot balls.
Ben Stokes: You mean that the bowlers won’t have to keep track of them?
Baz: No.
Ben Stokes: So, what do you mean?
Baz: The batsmen must score off every ball they face.
Ben Stokes: What happens if they don’t?
Baz: I will retire them Out.
Ben Stokes: Gulp.
Out and About with the Professor
Yorkshire have a new Ten-Year Strategic Plan, called “Chasing Glory”. Isn’t that nice!
It was revealed to members at a special meeting last week. “Revealed” is perhaps a generous word, “exhumed” might be better, since its essence is that the club should be “demutualised” (aka “sold”) and this proposal is one that board members and the chief exec have been floating for at least a couple of years. There have been extensive “consultations” and “road shows” but in effect this has been a lengthy softening-up process for the inevitable sale of the Club. “Inevitable”, because of finance. The Hundred money has allowed Yorkshire for the first time in a generation to be free of debt: some £42 million has been paid out in debt cancellation. The remainder gives a small capital base, but unless some new income streams are found we will be back here again in a few years.
The biggest problem is the one that is generic to all cricket clubs – what non-cricket income do you have? The meeting was told that 3% of Yorkshire’s income comes from non-cricket sources. By comparison, the figure for Lancashire is 53% and Surrey’s non-cricket income is greater than the whole of YCCC’s annual budget. In addition, the player’s facilities are not up to an acceptable (modern) standard. The great ugly green building which masquerades as a pavilion was built largely as a university teaching facility. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t adapt too well for its current use. In particular, county grounds now need four changing rooms (men’s, women’s, home, away) for days when two short-form matches take place on the same day. We were told that the interior of the green carbuncle was decidedly deficient in that regard. I went around the building a few years’ back, when it had just been finished, and there were indeed numerous seminar rooms with smart boards, etc. Useful perhaps for tactical discussions which McGrath doubtless has with his players, but not for much else. There have been complaints, and Bairstow confirmed that visiting teams have “taken the mickey”. Unhappily, that has resulted in a reduction of Test match allocation (none in 2027 and 2028). Without a Test, we were told, the Club loses £1.5 million pa. In addition, Yorkshire has been unable to match player’s wage demands, and lost out in numerous contract bidding.
How will demutualisation help? Well, there are many investors “out there” who are keen to put money into YCCC, but will not invest in a members’ club. Some degree of control is needed. Inward investment will “re-energise the Club”. Yorkshire has many natural advantages over other counties: more people are interested in cricket in Yorkshire and identify with the county, 15% of all cricket teams in England are in Yorkshire, YCCC produces more England players than any other county, but we need to “Inspire” the local community and be “transparently inclusive” (not a strength, it has to be said, in the past), and so on. No one actually said MAKE YORKSHIRE GREAT AGAIN, but we were not far from it.
A “master plan” for the ground was unveiled, Phase One of which was to remove the green cladding from the monstrosity and convert it into something like a cricket pavilion with steps from the players areas onto the ground and even a “sky bar” at the top which will give “panoramic views of Leeds” (umm…). We all thought this looked fine but, guess what, it would only be possible with demutualisation…I think we got the idea.
There was only one dissenting contribution, a very frail Geoff Boycott spoke right at the end of the meeting in a trembling voice (the throat cancer has, sadly, returned) about the possibilities of the Club “falling into the wrong hands”. (Mike Ashley got several mentions during the meeting.) Sir Geoffrey was clearly very unwell but, typical of the man, he had got to the ground to have his say. There was not a great deal of support for his view, but warm and sympathetic applause for the man that he is.
Actually, I did hear one other voice of dissent, since the man sitting next to me said, under his breath: “Never mind ‘bout 10-year bloody plan, what us needs is 10-week plan t’ win a bloody cricket match”.
…And in truth it has not been a great start to the season: two draws and one defeat (at the time of writing). The defeat against Hampshire by 214 runs was particularly grim. Yorkshire fielded two “overseas” players: Logan Van Beek, a New Zealander who plays for the Netherlands (what would Lord Hawke have said?) and the Western Australian (and former Northants player) Sam Whiteman, who at least had the decency and good manners to be born in Doncaster. Neither made much of an impact, although “LVB” (as we call him) took a five-fer of sorts in Hampshire’s second innings: four dismissals and a finger-tip run out of the backing-up batter, Prest, from a fiercely hit straight drive from Lehmann. Unfortunately, his was the only success for Yorkshire as Hants went to 351-5 declared (not out hundred to the experienced Ben Brown and 92 to Lehmann fils, who looks a fine young player).
LVB acknowledging the applause for his “five-fer”
The second home match was the run-fest against Sussex which saw hundreds for Bean and the Doncaster man, as well as 96 for Joe Root who spent a fair part of the first afternoon fielding at long on.
Yorkshire’s deep long on
One slightly odd experience was to see the subs arrangement in operation so that Ben Cliff bowled in the second innings against Hampshire, having not been in the team for the first. To be frank if Yorkshire had played 12 from the start the result would have been the same…but that will all change with demutualisation.
This and That
In their away match at Derby Gloucestershire proved the old adage that “it aint over till its over”. They won the toss and batted first and after Miles Hammond had made 145 found themselves 301 for 8, but Henry Brookes (89) and Will Williams (98) took their total 498 before they were all out. Then Sussex found themselves 92 for 7 after being put in at the Oval only for Huson-Prentice (53), Carson (105) and Robinson (100 not out) to take them to 398 for8 declared. Ollie Robinson is captain of the Sussex Championship side and many think should be in the England bowling ranks. At 6’ 5” he is tall enough for the current set up but he doesn’t play for Durham.
In their match at Canterbury Northants batted first and scored 684 for 2. All four batsmen who reached the crease made centuries – Vasconcelos (127), Procter (261 not out), Harrison (153) and McSweeney (101 not out). But Kent were able to hold out for a draw after following on with Ben Compton in his element scoring a six-hour unbeaten 114.
Middlesex alumni continue to excel away from Lords. John Simpson scored a hundred for Sussex at Headingley whilst Martin Andersson was the first to score a double century in the Championship this season. Many have suggested that Ben Foakes should replace his Surrey teammate as England’s wicket keeper. His first-class record before this season was 9332 runs at an average of 38.08. Simpson’s was 11351 at 36.73. Foakes had 493 catches and 39 stumpings, Simpson 721 catches and 41 stumpings. Simpson also performed creditably in the Covid era LOIs.
Could this be Joe Clarke’s season to make it big? He transferred from Worcestershire to Notts in 2019 with much expected of him but has struggled to find consistency and has primarily been a one-day player. However, this season he is the leading run scorer in Division 1 of the Championship and could be ready to step up. Other names that are regularly mentioned are James Rew and Emilio Gay. Miles Hammond at last seems to be blossoming for Gloucestershire but however many runs he scores, Dom Sibley is unlikely to get a recall under the current England regime.
The IPL continues in its mercurial way with batting dominating the proceedings. The Sunrisers’ (SRH) Abishek Sharma tops the list of run scorers with 425 at an average of 53 and a strike rate of 209. But this unprecedented record is overshadowed by the extraordinary exploits of the fifteen-year-old, Sooryavanshi. He is almost impossible to bowl at. He has scored 400 runs already at the unbelievable strike rate of 238. He scored his hundred from just 33 balls.
But the quality of the wickets and the advances in batting technique have led to changing perceptions of the game. To post 200 is not an occasional feature and by no means guarantees victory. In Match 35 the Delhi Capitals captain, KL Rahul, scored 152 not out from just 67 balls taking his side to 264 for 2. In any previous year the DCs would have expected a comfortable win, but the Punjab Kings cantered to victory with 7 balls to spare. In Match 36 on the same day as PK’s extraordinary run chase, the RRs scored 228 for 6 only for SRH to knock them off with 9 balls to spare.
KL Rahul has been a revelation using an expanded array of “proper” cricket shots. Sanju Samson is another who doesn’t resort to reverse sweeps etc. I have been a critic in recent years of Kohli’s batting but this season he has been exceptional marching out of his crease to take on all bowlers, and he averages 54 with a strike rate of 165. His opening partner Phil Salt suffered an injury and has been replaced by the West Indian, Jacob Bethell. Bethell adopts a Kamikaze approach and despite hitting a 104 metre six has only managed 39 runs in three innings.
Two days after their 264 for 2, the DCs were reduced to 13 for 6 in the Power Play, the lowest score ever in a PP, by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood and their total of 75 was easily knocked off by RCB.
There have been eight Hundreds in the IPL this season. The all-time list of the highest scores now reads:
Chris Gayle 175
Brendon McCullum 158
KL Rahul 152
Abishek Sharma 141
Quinton de Kock 140
Abishek Sharma 135
Staffordshire cricketer, fast bowler Myles Davis completed the double hat-trick playing for Penkridge against Pelsall in the Premier Division of the South Staffordshire County League. Penkridge had won the toss and made 168 all out, Pelsall, were 49-2 after eight overs, with Davies having already picked up his first wicket in his third over. He started the ninth over with a wide but then bowled two batsmen with the final two deliveries of this over. His hat trick arrived to a catch down the legside to the wicketkeeper, after the next batsman was bowled. Davies then knocked out the middle stump of the next batsman and sealed his sixth wicket in six balls by removing the off stump of another to leave Pelsall 49-9.
Thompson Matters
I only once heard my dad use the F-word. I was probably about ten or eleven and was standing with him under a floodlight at the Ellerslie Road end of Loftus Road. Reading had scored a last minute equaliser in an evening kick-off in the old Division 3 and I was old enough to know that it was a ‘bad word’.Not that my father would have used the expletive solely on this one occasion since as Second Chef at the House of Commons for thirty years I have no doubt his lexicon of expletives was fairly comprehensive. That he was so (expletive deleted) disappointed in the late loss of what then would have been one point spoke volumes of the passion that support for your football team engenders.
Whilst the Editor and his brother celebrate their eighth decade of support for Rangers I am a decade behind and like a number of Googlies aficionados share with them the Danes, Rangers and Middlesex County Cricket Club bond which was never more loyally demonstrated than by the Great Jack Morgan. I cannot claim to have had anything like his degree of steadfast commitment to the support of either club and there have been times down the years when life simply got in the way that I have to admit that I didn’t really know my R’s from my elbow, but it was and always has been the first score to look out for even in the most unfaithful of times.
However, there can be few who can claim that as a direct consequence of their support for the Superhoops they received two strokes of the cane! I was in the third year. Rangers had an early evening kick-off and inevitably dozens of lads were going straight from school. Sometime during the afternoon we were due to have an RE lesson but our RE teacher, Tim Venner, was also the choirmaster and was rehearsing his ensemble for a concert that evening. Everyone in the class was sitting around the outside of the hall except me and three fellow Rangers-supporting mates in a row of four right in the middle of an otherwise empty space. When Land of Hope and Glory was in full flow three of them decided to take out their Rangers’ scarves and sway them, arms aloft, as was de rigueur at the time. Almost immediately a booming voice descended from the balcony behind. ‘You four boys go to my room!’ The strong Cornish burr told us immediately that it was Alan Nichols the Deputy Head and two strokes of the cane, times four, was the inevitable consequence. That I was ‘innocent’ still rankles! And we lost!
Reference to the GJM in the last edition had me thinking about the decades of ups and downs since the 70’s for both Rangers and Middlesex and a sense I have that over the years the two clubs’ fortunes have been somewhat mirrored. In 1975-6 Rangers achieved their highest ever league place, last-minute Runners-up to Liverpool in the old First Division. The burning hot Whispering Death of a summer that followed saw Middlesex win the first of a string of County Championships. During those Brearley years Rangers plied their trade in the top tier. Even post-relegation in the early 80s they fared pretty well in Division 2 as Middlesex clocked up title after title. By the mid-80s Rangers were back in Division One with a string of top half finishes and Lord’s welcomed more Championship and one-day cup successes. It had been a pretty good couple of decades. As the years have rolled on those dizzy heights have been fewer and farther between and now both teams slumber in the nether regions. This is of course not a study of precise statistical excellence but one does feel that the good times have rolled together as have the bad.
Only one man has played for both QPR and Middlesex and appropriately he was born in Turnham Green. Strictly speaking he didn’t actually play for Rangers but was on their books before moving more successfully to Brentford. Patsy Hendren’s cricketing prowess was of course in a different league but it’s a pretty safe bet that he was the first and will be the last.
In late August I wrote that I’d been the sole spectator in a Portuguese bar as Rangers lost 7-1 to Coventry. I suppose it could all have gone very badly, but it didn’t. Middlesex on the other hand started this year’s campaign with the suggestion of good things to come but then along came Worcestershire.
It’s a certain type of Old Danes’ lot I suppose......
Meaningless Statistics
It was good to hear from Ralph Adelman following my comments in the last issue. He replied:
“I have just finished reading the latest Googlies. I just wanted to say how much the “Pointless and Meaningless Statistics” item resonated with me. I agreed with every point made.”
It is always good to hear that someone agrees with me.
However, I have belatedly realised that, of course, it is just another marketing ploy. Somebody steps forward and proffers some cash in return for their name being mentioned during the broadcast and so something has to be made up for them. Even the broadcasters who are obligated to go through the motions seem to find, for example the “RuPay On-The-Go most Fours in the match and in the season so far” not worthy of comment.
So inevitably it will be adopted for our domestic season and we can look forward to the Whitbread “Highest Hits of the Match”, the AETNA “Most Left-Handed Stops in the Outfield” and the Thames Water “Most Balls Bowled Wide of the Stumps” statistics to enhance our viewing pleasure.
Impact Sub
Cricket has become a twelve a side game with the IPL introducing the Impact Sub and it being adopted in one form or another by other leagues including the English Championship. It got me wondering how it might have been applied in our playing days.
I immediately thought of freezing days at Milverton Road when Len Stubbs would shelter in the dressing room in every sweater he could lay his hands on before going out to bat and then afterwards returning to his sanctuary. He would no doubt have appointed the Impact Sub to take over from him for fielding duties.
But then I thought of it the other way round and who would be the ideal Impact Sub? Well, it had to be Nigel Ross who would have been only to pleased to take over from anyone to give him a bat, bowl or any other role.
Premier League Tactics
When Brendan Rodgers made his Liverpool team play out from the back in 2013/14 and was booed by the fans, who would have thought it would still be the principal route out from defense thirteen seasons later. But there are growing indications that it will change with several managers allowing their goalkeepers to revert to the good old fashion thump up-field. Why is this? It is because they know their players are not up to retaining possession particularly when the opposition applies a high-press. It is laughable seeing goalkeepers, central defenders and full backs tentatively shuffling the ball between themselves when they and we know it is going to a result in a turnover and an almost certain goal conceded. This is particularly perverse when at the kick off nearly all sides pass back to their goalkeeper who then punts it as far as he can into the opposition half.
When the handball in the penalty area rules changed a few years ago and any touch on the arm or hand led to a penalty being awarded the coaches started making their defenders link their hands behind their backs to avoid any contact with the ball. This seemed like a piss take of the rules at the time, which fortunately have changed, but some defenders still do it. John Stones is a good example. As an opposition player advances on him in the penalty area he grasps his wrists behind his back and plants his feet firmly on the ground. This has the automatic effect of stopping him advancing and making a tackle. Bad enough but it also gives the advancing player sufficient time to shoot or make a critical pass. Coaches need to get a grip on this.
It is always amusing to see substitutes being prepared by the coaching staff particularly late on in the game when it is likely that they won’t even get a kick before the final whistle. Somebody who speaks a different language gives them verbal instructions whilst gesticulating at a handheld laptop. If their role was going to be that significant why did they not come on sooner?
Other Premier League Matters
George asked me why Pep City were having a good run. I replied that I couldn’t understand why no-one had mentioned that the turnaround in their performances almost exactly coincided with the regular return of Rodri to their side.
The Sunderland fans added themselves to the shameful ranks of those who leave the stands before half time if their side is losing. Notts Forest put on an excellent display which any football fan would have wanted to watch to the end.
Why did Pep City use a change kit of pale mauve with fluorescent lime green trim?
Barnet Matters
What does Richarlison ask of his barber as he enters the salon? It usually seems to be “Make me look as scary as possible”. His latest version has a bleached top of the head with serpents wriggling through it.
Old Danes Gathering
The biennial Old Danes Gathering has come round again and, as usual, it will be held at Shepherds Bush CC on the Friday of their Cricket Week - July 24. Old Danes their wives and friends will all be welcome. The clubhouse and bar will be open from noon, and visitors normally arrive around 2pm. Please advise me at the email address below if you plan to attend so that I can add you to the attendees list which I will circulate to encourage others to come.
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
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