GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 67
July 2008
Caption Competition
Graeme Smith: Correct, but Marcus Trescothick isn’t.
This year Gloucestershire CCC decided to open the Gloucester Festival with a champagne breakfast. Gloucester is a tidy step from our home in North Yorkshire, but a glass of bubbly is not to be refused and so at the somewhat unusual time of 8 am I found myself in a marquee on a dampish cricket ground drinking wine and eating eggs and bacon.
The guest speaker was the Chairman of the ECB, Giles Clark. Since there has been some criticism of the ECB in the pages of G&C, I thought it might be interesting to hear what he had to say. Sadly, it wasn’t. Or at least wasn’t very interesting. Cricket was in good shape apparently, the game was thriving. Most of the media speculation was wrong and we have nothing to fear from the IPL. He made this latter point several times. It’s not a problem, were not worried, nothing much will change, etc, etc.
The IPL, as we all know, runs on franchises which the Chairman regarded as a “ludicrous concept”. It was not a model we would follow in this country, (presumably for the very good reason that the ECB would never be able to find any willing sponsors). What model we would pursue we never found out, (the Chairman did not take questions) but there was talk of two-innings 20/20. Whatever happened, England was “the home of test cricket” and we must nurture county cricket so that new test players can emerge.
He concluded by noting that women’s cricket, in particular, was very popular. Personally, I think that is great, but my suspicions are always aroused when a (male) cricket bureaucrat starts to talk about the success of women’s cricket. Breakfast over, the game (Gloucester v. Warwickshire) started on time.
The venue was a new one to me – The King’s School at Archdeacon Meadow. This is, of course, a public school and I was introduced to the headmaster who was, very properly, proud that his school could host a first class fixture. For my part, I can’t help but notice the disparity between the facilities that the private education sector can command as compared to the state sector. Only 10% of secondary schools now play cricket and I doubt if any of those has a ground anything like the quality. For the same generation of children, provision is grossly unfair.
Gloucester won the toss, batted, and made a very good job of it. Porterfield was making his debut and batted in the “compact organised left-hander” style, while Spearman belted anything in his half down the ground. 133-0 at lunch. In truth, the Warwick’s seam attack didn’t look too threatening; Tahir and Woakes would not, on this form, worry a good club side and Carter had endless trouble with his run up. The pick of the bowlers was Anyon who was quicker than anything else on show and who, after lunch, started to get rewards for beating the bat. The day ended with the diminutive Taylor going well, and he subsequently went on to get a hundred.
The other dignitary I was introduced to was the Gloucester Chief Executive, Tom Richardson. He is a charming man, much focussed on youth cricket and the development of cricket in the county. Unsurprisingly, I sought his views about overseas players (Gloucester had Spearman, Marshall, North and Ireland in the side) and he made the point that, at present, the financial inducement to play England-qualified cricketers was insufficient. I also asked what they would do if they didn’t get ECB cash payments and his reply was that they would play much less First Class cricket (perhaps as few as 12 matches per year) and more cricket that “the public wanted to watch”…also known as: “20/20”.
Middlesex Matters
Following Middlesex’s appalling start to the season a member, Professor David Silverman, collected enough supporters for his “no confidence in the committee” motion to be put before a Special General Meeting of the club. Ironically, as soon as this motion had been tabled Middlesex went on an unprecedented winning spree beating Derbyshire and Essex in the Championship and winning eight of their ten Twenty20 zonal matches. I suspect that the action is more a registering of frustration than any real plan to replace the committee. Mutterings around Lords has suggested that the captain’s position is far from secure and that the Chief Executive, Vinny Codrington, may need to refresh his CV. The latter did his cause no favours when he explained why Middlesex would be playing their Twenty20 quarter final at the Oval rather than at one of their home venues when he said: “All match arrangements, ticketing, stewarding, health and safety, security and policing, will be Surrey’s responsibility.” Well this should make life easier for you Vinny, a small price for the club to pay for losing home advantage.
The Great Jack Morgan has at last got into his cricket watching stride and he sent me this report
I managed two days of the deserved win over Derbyshire I doubt that Derbyshire are the best team in the division, but any win is welcome in our circumstances. Smith, Shah, Joyce, Morgan, Scott and Udal all batted well at times, but I wouldn’t say that all the problems are over. The bowling is still more of a worry, however, though Vernon Philander looked a good bowler to me. He has a short run up like a medium pacer, but varies his pace between medium and quick; he is also accurate and gets some bounce and movement too... shame he has to leave soon. Dirk was less convincing, but let’s give him a bit longer, though some of the Lord’s “sages” are unwilling to do so. He’s lively left arm over who gets bounce and seam movement... but he couldn’t get his line right against Derbyshire. We have serious need of Richo.
We had glorious weather for the last two days of the Essex match and the track just got easier and easier. Middlesex at last piled up a huge first innings score, but it would have been sinful not to given the placid pitch and the undemanding bowling. I give most credit for the big total to Shah and Godleman for their determined batting through difficult conditions on Friday night and Saturday morning: this ensured that Middlesex were still batting when the easy batting conditions arrived later on Saturday and on Sunday. This is exactly what did not happen last year when so many batting points were missed and so many good match positions were lost because the likes of Compton, Smith and Strauss kept getting out early. On this occasion, nearly everyone looked comfortable at the crease, though the tail (apart from Udal) folded quickly. Dirk might be one of the truest no 11s of all time, while Murtagh’s batting again disappointed me... he used to bat well for Surrey. The Essex bowling looked terribly weak; Kaneria got his reward for his perseverance and was the only spinner in the match who extracted spin from the comatose pitch, while Masters was the only other bowler who could achieve the accuracy necessary to keep the scoring under control.
They did better with the bat second time around as they should have done and they have century makers right down to no 10. They do need to look at the top of the order, however: G Flower failed twice against the stiffs at the Vine, yet that was considered good enough for promotion to the first team! There were times on Sunday when Middlesex were struggling for ideas in the field and it was only Dirk’s aggression that flogged some life from the pitch and brought him three much needed wickets. Monday looked as if it would be no better with Finn unthreatening and Berg off the field, but fortunately the new ball restarted Murtagh’s engines and the victory was achieved an hour after lunch. I don’t think Essex will be a promotion threat unless they can do something about their bowling and Middlesex will surely get tougher tests than this one. Still, things are improving and we still have Kartik, Silvers and Richo to strengthen the team.
I watched the whole of the 2nd XI match between Middlesex and Kent at Richmond and although Middlesex did well in the first half of the game, there was no happy ending. Middlesex won the toss and put in the visitors, but Middlesex have a weak pace attack at present comprising the summer contracted Dave Burton plus two colts and might have done better, on a greenish track, than dismissing Kent for 252, of which 18 year old Charlie Hemphrey made an impressive 67. The only Kent players you will have heard of were Martin Saggers (ex-England), captain Matt Walker (ex-captain of England U-19s) whose father played for Middlesex 2s and Amjad Khan (ex-Denmark and England A, though injury forced him to withdraw from the England A tour) who contributed three overs on day 1 before he departed to join the T20 squad. Saggers took 4 for 58 in the Middlesex first innings and Billy Godleman (77), Dan Housego (52) and Kabir Toor (42) were the top scorers before captain Peploe declared at 300 for 9. Pepsi relied heavily on his spinners in the second innings (Middlesex used five spinners in the match including a trio of leg-spinners), but they made little impression on 19 year old Alex Blake (114), skipper Walker (69) and 17 year old James Goodman (49) whose fine batting allowed Walker to declare at lunch on day 3, setting Middlesex 279 to win in 62 overs, a target that the lads must have fancied. The best Middlesex bowlers were Burton (5 wickets in the match), Peploe (4) and Toor (3).
Unfortunately, the Middlesex batting, which looked fairly strong on paper, subsided without resistance to the rarely used medium pace of Blake (who did not bowl in the first innings and bowled only 23 overs for the 2s last season) who took five cheap wickets and (if there had been one) the man of the match award. Other visiting bowlers to impress were lively 20 year old paceman Warren Lee and leg-spin and googly merchant Danny Doran, who both took four wickets in the match. Of the four Middlesex players recently awarded summer contracts, only Burton justified the promotion and the decision to elevate keeper John Simpson continues to baffle. Having comprehensively failed his examination by Finn at the Vine against Essex, he also now failed his examination by spin at Old Deer Park; he also failed twice with the bat and cannot even collect throws-in cleanly... and the mad thing was that David Nash was standing at slip throughout the whole shoddy display! Middlesex were apparently second in the table before this match, but they were clearly second best against a Kent team whose good young batters were better than our good young batters and whose pace attack was way ahead of the Middlesex medium pacers. Richo was practising on the outfield during the intervals and looked to be approaching fitness; Compo was also in attendance, but was not practising. Kent 252 (CR Hemphrey 67); Middlesex 300-9 dec (BA Godleman 77, DM Housego 52, MJ Saggers 4-58); Kent 326-7 dec (AJ Blake 114, MJ Walker 69); Middlesex 129 (AJ Blake 5-17): Kent won by 149 runs.
I told you so Matters
I went to my first Twenty20 international match in June at Old Trafford with the Professor, George and Martin Hurley amongst others. We found ourselves sandwiched between the only two groups of people who were dressed up for the occasion. In front of us there was a long line of Fred Flintstones and behind us there were miscellaneous Superheroes and someone who mysteriously looked like Marc Bolan. To some extent you expect this sort of thing but we were very unlucky to be in the middle of the only bunch in the whole ground. They were tanked up before the match started and continued firing pale liquids down their throats throughout the proceedings. The best bit about this is that the purchasers have to disappear for long periods to get replenishments. This puzzled me at first since at a Twenty20 match any absence from the action represents quite a substantial proportion of the play. But it slowly dawned on me that they have little or no interest in the cricket and are there to amuse themselves, get pissed and throw abuse at other dressed up attendees. And hereby hangs the real problem. They spend much of the time on their feet obliterating any view of the cricket. They also react badly to any suggestion that it would be better for everyone if they remained seated. As the afternoon progressed we got into increasingly heated exchanges with these dolts.
Eventually the Superheroes group started singing insults at the Flintstones who replied by standing on their seats and mooning them. I had a particularly fat and stupid Flintstone directly in front of me. He thought that this was such a good wheeze that he decided to encore the exercise every time he got up. Fortunately just before the final overs his bladder gave up on him and he had to repair to the conveniences. I suppose I had managed to see about half of the cricket actually played.
The game itself suffered from the inevitable Twenty 20 malaise in that if something goes wrong it becomes almost impossible to reverse things in due course. New Zealand made a ridiculously slow start and of all people McCullum failed to score in the first five overs. It became apparent from this stage that New Zealand would never be able to post a challenging total. Consequently the England batsmen were never under any real pressure being required to score at only six an over. I felt slightly cheated when I left the ground. It was all over too quickly and for the most part the result was never in dispute. This will become a problem for those who go to these matches, as opposed to watch on television. There is often not enough cricket to satisfy the purist on such an occasion.
I told the Great Jack Morgan about this experience. He replied: “I just cannot understand what tempts you to attend such events. The cricket, the venue and the company are all screaming “don’t go”, but you are not listening.” Serves me right, I suppose.
Bowling Matters
In the last edition I showed how over the past forty years everything has conspired to make life miserable, if not impossible, for bowlers. That is until Hawkeye and Alim Dar started to hand out front foot LBWs to the slow bowling community. And now it turns out that the development of cricket grounds into modern stadiums is being done to help the bowlers as well. The ball always swings at Lords apparently and this is put down to the micro climate created by the height of the stands around the playing arena. This apparently cuts down the wind, retains moisture and creates conditions conducive to aerial deviation of the ball.
Nottinghamshire CC has been pouring the spondulux into their Trent Bridge headquarters and it looks magnificent. However, along with the pleasing architecture comes the bowling aid as a new microclimate has been created. If you have any doubt about this ask James Anderson who managed late swing in either direction to decimate the New Zealand innings. Who’d be a batsman these days?
You won’t get any micro climatic problems at Old Trafford, though. Here the barren wasteland looks terrible and the gales blow across the ground unhindered by stands of any description, old or new. They are, though, making their own contribution to the bowling fraternity. They have stopped bothering to prepare the wickets for test matches. Two years ago the strip of concrete not only provided vertical bounce off a length but also turned square before lunch on the first day. This year the wicket broke up on the third day with abnormal deviation both laterally and vertically off the wicket as the ball regularly broke through the surface. It’s just as well that the ECB has retired the ground from the test circuit; the bowlers have enough going for them without this.
The KP Column
Charlie Puckett sent me these notes on Lord Ray’s latest PPS diatribe
I am surprised that Lord Ray did not mention the fact that the PPS was recently quoted in the press as saying that international cricketers risked burn-out as a result of the amount of high pressure cricket they are required to undertake. Fortunately the Indian Premier League only play 400+ matches every 24 hours or so which means our and KwaZula-Natal's hero will have plenty of opportunity to put his feet up and fully acquaint himself with his bank balance. Incidentally, I noticed that the old duffer also forgot to mention that Mrs PPS is a super model or pop singer or something or other. I think the old boy is losing it - he's never previously been know to miss a chance to abuse a perceived opponent!
Murray Hedgecock gives the Professor a break and turns his attentions on Lord Ray
The then-Editor of The Times (a fellow Victorian - state of origin, not vintage) informed me last year that with the pending retirement of CM-J, they were considering Mike Atherton as chief cricket correspondent - and what did I think? Musing today on Googlies & Chinamen, I realise I missed a trick. Instead of replying - as I did - that I thought he would be a very good choice, judged by his thoughtful contributions to the Sunday Telegraph and on Sky, I should have offered an imaginative alternative. "There's this chap named Peter Ray who played pretty good club cricket for years, and then became an umpire to make Darrell Hair look feeble, and who has the most forthright views on the game, which he expresses in succinct, hard-hitting prose through selected outlets. Appoint him, and you will acquire a highly saleable modern version of E.M.Wellings" (who for those too young, was the notably acerbic Oxford Blue who had four games with Surrey in 1931, and wrote ferociously on cricket in The London Evening News postwar - treading on so many toes that apart from family, he had just one friend attend his funeral).
Too late now - but at least G&C offers a platform to Peter Ray's finer thoughts. And I record my approval of his spirited attack on Kevin Pietersen, pointing out that the man's extravagant talk, lifestyle and ambition is not these days fully matched by achievement. Having stated my bitter opposition to calculated England recruitment of such outsiders (oh dear - the Prof will accuse me of xenophobia again, no doubt), I can only record my satisfaction every time one of your alien imports falls short.
And when KP, asked if he shouldn't bowl more, responded, "I'm paid to bat", I shuddered at this revelation of the complete mercenary. If the man can't make a token effort to suggest he plays cricket because he loves the game, then he is revealing himself in his true grasping colors. When he arrived on the international scene, I quaked at the prospect of what he would do in real i.e. Ashes cricket, specifically with his near-unique ability to blast balls in front of the wicket almost without regard for the height of the bounce - an astonishing talent. It doesn't seem to happen much these days. Hooray! Now I hope the authorities clear the way for him to go harvest his desperately-coveted millions in Indian Twenty/20, and let others, not least genuine England players, get on with the game that matters.
My pals on the King Cricket website noted
Paul Collingwood’s been banned for four matches for England’s slow over rate and Kevin Pietersen’s picked up the reigns to the haggard, lifeless horse that is the England one-day side. KP said he was ‘humbled’ by this ‘ultimate honour’. This is clearly bollocks. KP’s never been humbled by anything in his life, because he’s got that unusual belief that he’s better than everyone else. Generally speaking this is an insanely irritating characteristic in a person, but it’s a pretty handy attribute for elite sportsmen. We’re not saying that Pietersen’s the best batsman in the world, because he isn’t. He is however an extremely good cricketer and a big part of his cricketing make-up is that self-assurance. That and mascara. So when he pretends that he’s humble, we don’t mind. He knows that he’s supposed to be like that to be more likeable. However, we don’t for one minute want him to actually feel that way for real. So a blatant lie about being ‘humbled’ is the best he can do in our eyes.
Minor Counties Matters
The Great Jack Morgan sent me this
I watched the whole of the Minor Counties Championship (Eastern Division) match between Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire at Gerrards Cross. Cambridgeshire won the toss, batted first and made a very slow start. They were also losing wickets and lunched on a miserable 69 for 4 after 38 overs. But then Lewis Bruce (40) joined the ex-Yorkshire batsman Simon Kellett in a stand of 97, easily the highest of the innings. Kellett could find little support from the rest of his team however and finished on 86 not out as the innings subsided to 205 all out. Most of the damage was done by the Bucks opening bowlers metronomic veteran seamer Simon Stanway and 19 year old left armer George Harper. Harper did not appear to bowl better than Stanway, but he ended with 5 for 48 compared to the meagre two wickets collected by the accurate and persistent Stanway in 41 overs, half of the 82.2 overs bowled.
Bucks started their innings in much more entertaining fashion with Russell Lane outstanding, but they also lost wickets with the ex-Surrey stars coach Keith Medlycott (two balls) and captain Paul Atkins (one ball) adding nothing to the total, which made ex-Middlesex man Jason Harrison’s contribution of two look good. Lane (104) continued to bat splendidly and found support from 19 year old Matt Jones (30), all-rounder Harper (38) and keeper Andy Wynd (34) as the home team gained a lead of 50. The Cambridgeshire attack was led by a very impressive pair of young pace bowlers in “Will” Williams and Mick Nunn, who were considerably quicker than the Bucks medium pacers; again, Williams did not appear to out bowl Nunn, but he finished with 5 for 58, while Nunn had to settle for 2 for 32. When Cambridgeshire batted again, they fared no better than they had done the first time round: Tom Harvey laboured over 46 at one run per over and at the close of the second day, Bucks were well on top with the visitors on 93 for 4 in the 51st over. Captain Gary Freear was suffering from back spasms and could not take his usual place in the order, so Williams was promoted to no 6 and played an entertaining knock of 41 in a stand of 62 with the obdurate Kellett. Freear eventually came in at no 9 with a runner and not only contributed a useful 49, but also inspired Kellett to come out of his shell and play some good shots as the pair added 124 for the eighth wicket.
Freear eventually declared on 308 for 8 in 111 overs after Kellett (105*) had reached his ton and brought his total for the match to 191 without being dismissed. Some spectators thought that Kellett’s innings were far too cautious and dull, but his side would have been in deep trouble without him. Stanway bowled another marathon stint of 50 overs and this time picked up 4 for 92. The declaration, however, asked Bucks to chase 259 in 42 overs which was far too tough (especially when you consider the funereal rate at which Cambridgeshire scored for most of the match) unless some friendly bowling was going to be offered to get Bucks involved in a run chase. This never happened however and the game drifted to a disappointing draw. Cambridgeshire 205 (SA Kellett 86*; GM Harper 5-48); Bucks 255 (RP Lane 104; JD Williams 5-58); Cambridgeshire 308-8 dec (SA Kellett 105*; SF Stanway 4-92); Bucks 123-3 (KT Medlycott 71*); match drawn.
Mansfield Matters
Tim Mansfield sent me the following
I have been playing in the Westmorland League this afternoon and we benefited from two run outs. Twice our opponents' (Kirkby Lonsdale) opening batsman hit the ball to point where the ball was fielded by Robbie Jacques. Our square leg fielder, noting that the batsman had strayed up the pitch screamed "Yes Robbie, yes". The hapless batsman took off running to the non-striker's end to join his bemused colleague. On the first occasion Kirkby’s best bat was the victim, on the second the opener was run out. No gamesmanship was intended, but it was a significant contributor to being able to defend a paltry 99 on a dodgy and sometimes dangerous wicket. Kirkby who were at home could only make 72. Should the umpires have intervened?
I have to pay credit to their no. 7. Horribly out of touch he battled for about 8 overs for four, mercilessly sledged by our short leg. Eventually he edged one on to his pad for his tormentor to make a good catch. The umpire declined to give him out, but the batsman walked. He was wearing an interesting shirt - Law Society tour of Rajasthan.
South Hampstead Matters
In June Bill Hart organized a gathering of some thirty former South Hampstead players in a box at Lords for the first day of the Middlesex/Essex Championship match. Some thought that it was to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the club’s appearance in the first Wills Trophy final there, but I knew that it was actually a wheeze dreamt up to get Colin Price to come over from Australia. Not only did Colin turn up but also Steve Hatherall came over from Thailand and Allan Cox popped over from Ireland.
Back row: Jon Matthews
Middle row: Bill Hart, Jim Sharp, David Simpson
Front row: Russell Bowes, Robin Ager, Bob Denley
On the day Bill Hart was soon complaining that everyone he had spoken to had reminded him of his previous indiscretions during his playing days. But Bill is not one to let such things upset him and he was responsible for recalling one of the club’s great stories: “The Old Meadonians story comes from a second eleven match at Milverton Road, in the presence of many first team players, including myself, who had returned early from an away game. With one ball to go, and with their last pair at the wicket, South Hampstead required three to win. The ball was struck down to the old tea hut, with no fielder in the area. The batsmen ran three while the ball was returned, and the non-striking batsman was past the wicket-keeper when the throw-in eventually broke the wicket. A half-hearted appeal was made by a fieldsman, whereupon the Old Meadonian's umpire uttered the immortal phrase "that's out, one short, and we win". Incidentally, three of the South Hampstead team were present on Friday, including Jim Pearcey, who was the run-out victim. Robin Ager told me that the umpire's son was playing for Old Meadonian's. You couldn't make-up a story like that.”
Bill also sent me this: “Colin and I thought the "magic moment" on Friday was provided by Bruton. When several of us had been trying for some time to work out the fourth batsman to be dismissed in the winning final at Ealing, I approached Allen. As I got near he turned to me and said loudly "bowled Adamson nought".”
It was good to see the new club President, Don Wallis, at the event. He challenged those who were brave enough to engage him in conversation with the following teaser: “Would you prefer to score a hundred and be on the losing side or score nought and be on the winning side?” I asked Bill Hart where he stood and he replied: I can't answer the President's question as a batsman, because the thought of me getting a hundred is inconceivable. However, as a bowler, I would rather take 0-70, and win, than 7-70 and lose. Don't ask me about "all ten".
Hardie Matters
Keith Hardie did not make it for the Lords gathering in June and so I sent him the paperwork that I prepared for the occasion. He replied:
“The documents brought back some good memories from my three years at Milverton Road. I hope the re-union went well; it would have been great to have been there but it's not easy popping over for a weekend from wintery Christchurch. I am planning to be over in the UK in early August for a Vintage Cricket tournament in Stratford-on-Avon. I am managing and playing in a team of Scots at the tournament. Our team name will give a clue to the selection techniques used i.e. The Tartan Ton. We have all stepped on our respective scales and made the weight comfortably. The combined age of our team also is in excess of 600. So you can imagine the pace of the games is fairly comfortable.
Vintage Sports are sponsoring a game on the Sunday immediately prior to the festival. Dennis Amiss (ex-Warwickshire and England) has selected a team to play an over-40s team from the host Stratford CC club. Dennis is not playing but has selected from the various touring teams the following players. Brian and I have been fortunate to be included along with Geoff Howarth, Kevin Pike, Joel Garner, Ricky Clarke,and others.
The Tartan Ton’s games are as follows:
Monday 11th August v Beyond Boundaries of India at Moreton-in-Marsh. Wednesday 13th August v Worcestershire Police at Wellsbourne Cricket Club. Friday 15th August v Worcestershire over 50s at the Dorridge Cricket Club.”
1981 Lambert & Butler Final Matters
Charlie Puckett was an unexpected respondent to my request for anecdotes following my publication of a picture of the Bush side in the last edition
My abiding memory of that match (as a non-Shepherds Bush member) and, I suspect a major part of the reason for Shepherds Bush's success, was the sight of Alf Langley hooking John Snow out of Corfton Road. My memory is that this was first ball (or, rather, second since Snow had dismissed Walker first ball) but, at 53 and after many years of having my ear bent by the Penguin, both on and off the field, my brain no longer functions as it once did. From that moment on Snow kept the ball more in Alf's half of the field. The one thing I know for sure was that Alf didn't destroy Edmonton with his running between the wickets.
Peach Matters
On a recent trip to New York I saw a burlesque show and signed up for a Newsletter from Bustline. I recently received this email from them:
“The Peach Tartes, New York's Juiciest Burlesque Troupe, are joining forces with The World Famous Bob to pitch a tent at Coney Island and give New Yorkers the burlesque circus they have been waiting for. So step right up! Peanuts, popcorn, pasties, souvenirs, soda pop, fringe galore, glitter, tassels, cotton candy, and much much more! Starring the Peach Tartes and the World Famous Bob.”
So this is where nicknames are born.
Old Danes Gathering
The Old Danes Gathering at Shepherds Bush Cricket Club on Friday 1st August 2008 is fast approaching and a good attendance has already been promised. This includes a number of Old Danes who didn’t come last year. There is still plenty of time for you to advise me if you plan to attend. Any non Old Danes would also be welcome, particularly past or present Bush members.
South Hampstead Ladies Day
South Hampstead are hosting a Middlesex Cup Final on Sunday 7th September. The club is designating it a Ladies Day when past and present members will be welcome to attend with their wives, girlfriends, daughters, aunts, nieces etc. The event will start at noon and lunch will be provided. Please advise Bob Peach me or if you will be attending.
Football Matters
Following his recruitment of a whole new squad of players for next season Andrew Baker is keen to re-invent his team and has decided to have a new team kit. He asked Kelvin West to come up with some suggestions and he would now like Googlies readers to help him out with the final selection:
Kit A Kit B Kit C Kit D Kit E
If anyone has a strong preferences on this matter I suggest that they contact Andrew direct. Supporters of his Ladies team will be pleased to hear that he is arranging for serious money to be behind his side next season. He is seen below having just concluded negotiations for the first million with Chris Tarrant.
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 67
July 2008
Caption Competition
- Graeme Smith: OK you English punks, the party’s over now. You’ve had your fun against the Kiwis. Get used to this face. You are going to see plenty of it over the next six weeks.
- Graeme Smith: Kevin? Kevin who?
- KP: I’ve already scored 500 runs this season.
- Graeme Smith: Only one English batsman would get into the South African side.
Graeme Smith: Correct, but Marcus Trescothick isn’t.
- Graeme Smith: What do you mean we haven’t got enough players? If we get any injuries we will just call on our second eleven at Northants.
This year Gloucestershire CCC decided to open the Gloucester Festival with a champagne breakfast. Gloucester is a tidy step from our home in North Yorkshire, but a glass of bubbly is not to be refused and so at the somewhat unusual time of 8 am I found myself in a marquee on a dampish cricket ground drinking wine and eating eggs and bacon.
The guest speaker was the Chairman of the ECB, Giles Clark. Since there has been some criticism of the ECB in the pages of G&C, I thought it might be interesting to hear what he had to say. Sadly, it wasn’t. Or at least wasn’t very interesting. Cricket was in good shape apparently, the game was thriving. Most of the media speculation was wrong and we have nothing to fear from the IPL. He made this latter point several times. It’s not a problem, were not worried, nothing much will change, etc, etc.
The IPL, as we all know, runs on franchises which the Chairman regarded as a “ludicrous concept”. It was not a model we would follow in this country, (presumably for the very good reason that the ECB would never be able to find any willing sponsors). What model we would pursue we never found out, (the Chairman did not take questions) but there was talk of two-innings 20/20. Whatever happened, England was “the home of test cricket” and we must nurture county cricket so that new test players can emerge.
He concluded by noting that women’s cricket, in particular, was very popular. Personally, I think that is great, but my suspicions are always aroused when a (male) cricket bureaucrat starts to talk about the success of women’s cricket. Breakfast over, the game (Gloucester v. Warwickshire) started on time.
The venue was a new one to me – The King’s School at Archdeacon Meadow. This is, of course, a public school and I was introduced to the headmaster who was, very properly, proud that his school could host a first class fixture. For my part, I can’t help but notice the disparity between the facilities that the private education sector can command as compared to the state sector. Only 10% of secondary schools now play cricket and I doubt if any of those has a ground anything like the quality. For the same generation of children, provision is grossly unfair.
Gloucester won the toss, batted, and made a very good job of it. Porterfield was making his debut and batted in the “compact organised left-hander” style, while Spearman belted anything in his half down the ground. 133-0 at lunch. In truth, the Warwick’s seam attack didn’t look too threatening; Tahir and Woakes would not, on this form, worry a good club side and Carter had endless trouble with his run up. The pick of the bowlers was Anyon who was quicker than anything else on show and who, after lunch, started to get rewards for beating the bat. The day ended with the diminutive Taylor going well, and he subsequently went on to get a hundred.
The other dignitary I was introduced to was the Gloucester Chief Executive, Tom Richardson. He is a charming man, much focussed on youth cricket and the development of cricket in the county. Unsurprisingly, I sought his views about overseas players (Gloucester had Spearman, Marshall, North and Ireland in the side) and he made the point that, at present, the financial inducement to play England-qualified cricketers was insufficient. I also asked what they would do if they didn’t get ECB cash payments and his reply was that they would play much less First Class cricket (perhaps as few as 12 matches per year) and more cricket that “the public wanted to watch”…also known as: “20/20”.
Middlesex Matters
Following Middlesex’s appalling start to the season a member, Professor David Silverman, collected enough supporters for his “no confidence in the committee” motion to be put before a Special General Meeting of the club. Ironically, as soon as this motion had been tabled Middlesex went on an unprecedented winning spree beating Derbyshire and Essex in the Championship and winning eight of their ten Twenty20 zonal matches. I suspect that the action is more a registering of frustration than any real plan to replace the committee. Mutterings around Lords has suggested that the captain’s position is far from secure and that the Chief Executive, Vinny Codrington, may need to refresh his CV. The latter did his cause no favours when he explained why Middlesex would be playing their Twenty20 quarter final at the Oval rather than at one of their home venues when he said: “All match arrangements, ticketing, stewarding, health and safety, security and policing, will be Surrey’s responsibility.” Well this should make life easier for you Vinny, a small price for the club to pay for losing home advantage.
The Great Jack Morgan has at last got into his cricket watching stride and he sent me this report
I managed two days of the deserved win over Derbyshire I doubt that Derbyshire are the best team in the division, but any win is welcome in our circumstances. Smith, Shah, Joyce, Morgan, Scott and Udal all batted well at times, but I wouldn’t say that all the problems are over. The bowling is still more of a worry, however, though Vernon Philander looked a good bowler to me. He has a short run up like a medium pacer, but varies his pace between medium and quick; he is also accurate and gets some bounce and movement too... shame he has to leave soon. Dirk was less convincing, but let’s give him a bit longer, though some of the Lord’s “sages” are unwilling to do so. He’s lively left arm over who gets bounce and seam movement... but he couldn’t get his line right against Derbyshire. We have serious need of Richo.
We had glorious weather for the last two days of the Essex match and the track just got easier and easier. Middlesex at last piled up a huge first innings score, but it would have been sinful not to given the placid pitch and the undemanding bowling. I give most credit for the big total to Shah and Godleman for their determined batting through difficult conditions on Friday night and Saturday morning: this ensured that Middlesex were still batting when the easy batting conditions arrived later on Saturday and on Sunday. This is exactly what did not happen last year when so many batting points were missed and so many good match positions were lost because the likes of Compton, Smith and Strauss kept getting out early. On this occasion, nearly everyone looked comfortable at the crease, though the tail (apart from Udal) folded quickly. Dirk might be one of the truest no 11s of all time, while Murtagh’s batting again disappointed me... he used to bat well for Surrey. The Essex bowling looked terribly weak; Kaneria got his reward for his perseverance and was the only spinner in the match who extracted spin from the comatose pitch, while Masters was the only other bowler who could achieve the accuracy necessary to keep the scoring under control.
They did better with the bat second time around as they should have done and they have century makers right down to no 10. They do need to look at the top of the order, however: G Flower failed twice against the stiffs at the Vine, yet that was considered good enough for promotion to the first team! There were times on Sunday when Middlesex were struggling for ideas in the field and it was only Dirk’s aggression that flogged some life from the pitch and brought him three much needed wickets. Monday looked as if it would be no better with Finn unthreatening and Berg off the field, but fortunately the new ball restarted Murtagh’s engines and the victory was achieved an hour after lunch. I don’t think Essex will be a promotion threat unless they can do something about their bowling and Middlesex will surely get tougher tests than this one. Still, things are improving and we still have Kartik, Silvers and Richo to strengthen the team.
I watched the whole of the 2nd XI match between Middlesex and Kent at Richmond and although Middlesex did well in the first half of the game, there was no happy ending. Middlesex won the toss and put in the visitors, but Middlesex have a weak pace attack at present comprising the summer contracted Dave Burton plus two colts and might have done better, on a greenish track, than dismissing Kent for 252, of which 18 year old Charlie Hemphrey made an impressive 67. The only Kent players you will have heard of were Martin Saggers (ex-England), captain Matt Walker (ex-captain of England U-19s) whose father played for Middlesex 2s and Amjad Khan (ex-Denmark and England A, though injury forced him to withdraw from the England A tour) who contributed three overs on day 1 before he departed to join the T20 squad. Saggers took 4 for 58 in the Middlesex first innings and Billy Godleman (77), Dan Housego (52) and Kabir Toor (42) were the top scorers before captain Peploe declared at 300 for 9. Pepsi relied heavily on his spinners in the second innings (Middlesex used five spinners in the match including a trio of leg-spinners), but they made little impression on 19 year old Alex Blake (114), skipper Walker (69) and 17 year old James Goodman (49) whose fine batting allowed Walker to declare at lunch on day 3, setting Middlesex 279 to win in 62 overs, a target that the lads must have fancied. The best Middlesex bowlers were Burton (5 wickets in the match), Peploe (4) and Toor (3).
Unfortunately, the Middlesex batting, which looked fairly strong on paper, subsided without resistance to the rarely used medium pace of Blake (who did not bowl in the first innings and bowled only 23 overs for the 2s last season) who took five cheap wickets and (if there had been one) the man of the match award. Other visiting bowlers to impress were lively 20 year old paceman Warren Lee and leg-spin and googly merchant Danny Doran, who both took four wickets in the match. Of the four Middlesex players recently awarded summer contracts, only Burton justified the promotion and the decision to elevate keeper John Simpson continues to baffle. Having comprehensively failed his examination by Finn at the Vine against Essex, he also now failed his examination by spin at Old Deer Park; he also failed twice with the bat and cannot even collect throws-in cleanly... and the mad thing was that David Nash was standing at slip throughout the whole shoddy display! Middlesex were apparently second in the table before this match, but they were clearly second best against a Kent team whose good young batters were better than our good young batters and whose pace attack was way ahead of the Middlesex medium pacers. Richo was practising on the outfield during the intervals and looked to be approaching fitness; Compo was also in attendance, but was not practising. Kent 252 (CR Hemphrey 67); Middlesex 300-9 dec (BA Godleman 77, DM Housego 52, MJ Saggers 4-58); Kent 326-7 dec (AJ Blake 114, MJ Walker 69); Middlesex 129 (AJ Blake 5-17): Kent won by 149 runs.
I told you so Matters
I went to my first Twenty20 international match in June at Old Trafford with the Professor, George and Martin Hurley amongst others. We found ourselves sandwiched between the only two groups of people who were dressed up for the occasion. In front of us there was a long line of Fred Flintstones and behind us there were miscellaneous Superheroes and someone who mysteriously looked like Marc Bolan. To some extent you expect this sort of thing but we were very unlucky to be in the middle of the only bunch in the whole ground. They were tanked up before the match started and continued firing pale liquids down their throats throughout the proceedings. The best bit about this is that the purchasers have to disappear for long periods to get replenishments. This puzzled me at first since at a Twenty20 match any absence from the action represents quite a substantial proportion of the play. But it slowly dawned on me that they have little or no interest in the cricket and are there to amuse themselves, get pissed and throw abuse at other dressed up attendees. And hereby hangs the real problem. They spend much of the time on their feet obliterating any view of the cricket. They also react badly to any suggestion that it would be better for everyone if they remained seated. As the afternoon progressed we got into increasingly heated exchanges with these dolts.
Eventually the Superheroes group started singing insults at the Flintstones who replied by standing on their seats and mooning them. I had a particularly fat and stupid Flintstone directly in front of me. He thought that this was such a good wheeze that he decided to encore the exercise every time he got up. Fortunately just before the final overs his bladder gave up on him and he had to repair to the conveniences. I suppose I had managed to see about half of the cricket actually played.
The game itself suffered from the inevitable Twenty 20 malaise in that if something goes wrong it becomes almost impossible to reverse things in due course. New Zealand made a ridiculously slow start and of all people McCullum failed to score in the first five overs. It became apparent from this stage that New Zealand would never be able to post a challenging total. Consequently the England batsmen were never under any real pressure being required to score at only six an over. I felt slightly cheated when I left the ground. It was all over too quickly and for the most part the result was never in dispute. This will become a problem for those who go to these matches, as opposed to watch on television. There is often not enough cricket to satisfy the purist on such an occasion.
I told the Great Jack Morgan about this experience. He replied: “I just cannot understand what tempts you to attend such events. The cricket, the venue and the company are all screaming “don’t go”, but you are not listening.” Serves me right, I suppose.
Bowling Matters
In the last edition I showed how over the past forty years everything has conspired to make life miserable, if not impossible, for bowlers. That is until Hawkeye and Alim Dar started to hand out front foot LBWs to the slow bowling community. And now it turns out that the development of cricket grounds into modern stadiums is being done to help the bowlers as well. The ball always swings at Lords apparently and this is put down to the micro climate created by the height of the stands around the playing arena. This apparently cuts down the wind, retains moisture and creates conditions conducive to aerial deviation of the ball.
Nottinghamshire CC has been pouring the spondulux into their Trent Bridge headquarters and it looks magnificent. However, along with the pleasing architecture comes the bowling aid as a new microclimate has been created. If you have any doubt about this ask James Anderson who managed late swing in either direction to decimate the New Zealand innings. Who’d be a batsman these days?
You won’t get any micro climatic problems at Old Trafford, though. Here the barren wasteland looks terrible and the gales blow across the ground unhindered by stands of any description, old or new. They are, though, making their own contribution to the bowling fraternity. They have stopped bothering to prepare the wickets for test matches. Two years ago the strip of concrete not only provided vertical bounce off a length but also turned square before lunch on the first day. This year the wicket broke up on the third day with abnormal deviation both laterally and vertically off the wicket as the ball regularly broke through the surface. It’s just as well that the ECB has retired the ground from the test circuit; the bowlers have enough going for them without this.
The KP Column
Charlie Puckett sent me these notes on Lord Ray’s latest PPS diatribe
I am surprised that Lord Ray did not mention the fact that the PPS was recently quoted in the press as saying that international cricketers risked burn-out as a result of the amount of high pressure cricket they are required to undertake. Fortunately the Indian Premier League only play 400+ matches every 24 hours or so which means our and KwaZula-Natal's hero will have plenty of opportunity to put his feet up and fully acquaint himself with his bank balance. Incidentally, I noticed that the old duffer also forgot to mention that Mrs PPS is a super model or pop singer or something or other. I think the old boy is losing it - he's never previously been know to miss a chance to abuse a perceived opponent!
Murray Hedgecock gives the Professor a break and turns his attentions on Lord Ray
The then-Editor of The Times (a fellow Victorian - state of origin, not vintage) informed me last year that with the pending retirement of CM-J, they were considering Mike Atherton as chief cricket correspondent - and what did I think? Musing today on Googlies & Chinamen, I realise I missed a trick. Instead of replying - as I did - that I thought he would be a very good choice, judged by his thoughtful contributions to the Sunday Telegraph and on Sky, I should have offered an imaginative alternative. "There's this chap named Peter Ray who played pretty good club cricket for years, and then became an umpire to make Darrell Hair look feeble, and who has the most forthright views on the game, which he expresses in succinct, hard-hitting prose through selected outlets. Appoint him, and you will acquire a highly saleable modern version of E.M.Wellings" (who for those too young, was the notably acerbic Oxford Blue who had four games with Surrey in 1931, and wrote ferociously on cricket in The London Evening News postwar - treading on so many toes that apart from family, he had just one friend attend his funeral).
Too late now - but at least G&C offers a platform to Peter Ray's finer thoughts. And I record my approval of his spirited attack on Kevin Pietersen, pointing out that the man's extravagant talk, lifestyle and ambition is not these days fully matched by achievement. Having stated my bitter opposition to calculated England recruitment of such outsiders (oh dear - the Prof will accuse me of xenophobia again, no doubt), I can only record my satisfaction every time one of your alien imports falls short.
And when KP, asked if he shouldn't bowl more, responded, "I'm paid to bat", I shuddered at this revelation of the complete mercenary. If the man can't make a token effort to suggest he plays cricket because he loves the game, then he is revealing himself in his true grasping colors. When he arrived on the international scene, I quaked at the prospect of what he would do in real i.e. Ashes cricket, specifically with his near-unique ability to blast balls in front of the wicket almost without regard for the height of the bounce - an astonishing talent. It doesn't seem to happen much these days. Hooray! Now I hope the authorities clear the way for him to go harvest his desperately-coveted millions in Indian Twenty/20, and let others, not least genuine England players, get on with the game that matters.
My pals on the King Cricket website noted
Paul Collingwood’s been banned for four matches for England’s slow over rate and Kevin Pietersen’s picked up the reigns to the haggard, lifeless horse that is the England one-day side. KP said he was ‘humbled’ by this ‘ultimate honour’. This is clearly bollocks. KP’s never been humbled by anything in his life, because he’s got that unusual belief that he’s better than everyone else. Generally speaking this is an insanely irritating characteristic in a person, but it’s a pretty handy attribute for elite sportsmen. We’re not saying that Pietersen’s the best batsman in the world, because he isn’t. He is however an extremely good cricketer and a big part of his cricketing make-up is that self-assurance. That and mascara. So when he pretends that he’s humble, we don’t mind. He knows that he’s supposed to be like that to be more likeable. However, we don’t for one minute want him to actually feel that way for real. So a blatant lie about being ‘humbled’ is the best he can do in our eyes.
Minor Counties Matters
The Great Jack Morgan sent me this
I watched the whole of the Minor Counties Championship (Eastern Division) match between Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire at Gerrards Cross. Cambridgeshire won the toss, batted first and made a very slow start. They were also losing wickets and lunched on a miserable 69 for 4 after 38 overs. But then Lewis Bruce (40) joined the ex-Yorkshire batsman Simon Kellett in a stand of 97, easily the highest of the innings. Kellett could find little support from the rest of his team however and finished on 86 not out as the innings subsided to 205 all out. Most of the damage was done by the Bucks opening bowlers metronomic veteran seamer Simon Stanway and 19 year old left armer George Harper. Harper did not appear to bowl better than Stanway, but he ended with 5 for 48 compared to the meagre two wickets collected by the accurate and persistent Stanway in 41 overs, half of the 82.2 overs bowled.
Bucks started their innings in much more entertaining fashion with Russell Lane outstanding, but they also lost wickets with the ex-Surrey stars coach Keith Medlycott (two balls) and captain Paul Atkins (one ball) adding nothing to the total, which made ex-Middlesex man Jason Harrison’s contribution of two look good. Lane (104) continued to bat splendidly and found support from 19 year old Matt Jones (30), all-rounder Harper (38) and keeper Andy Wynd (34) as the home team gained a lead of 50. The Cambridgeshire attack was led by a very impressive pair of young pace bowlers in “Will” Williams and Mick Nunn, who were considerably quicker than the Bucks medium pacers; again, Williams did not appear to out bowl Nunn, but he finished with 5 for 58, while Nunn had to settle for 2 for 32. When Cambridgeshire batted again, they fared no better than they had done the first time round: Tom Harvey laboured over 46 at one run per over and at the close of the second day, Bucks were well on top with the visitors on 93 for 4 in the 51st over. Captain Gary Freear was suffering from back spasms and could not take his usual place in the order, so Williams was promoted to no 6 and played an entertaining knock of 41 in a stand of 62 with the obdurate Kellett. Freear eventually came in at no 9 with a runner and not only contributed a useful 49, but also inspired Kellett to come out of his shell and play some good shots as the pair added 124 for the eighth wicket.
Freear eventually declared on 308 for 8 in 111 overs after Kellett (105*) had reached his ton and brought his total for the match to 191 without being dismissed. Some spectators thought that Kellett’s innings were far too cautious and dull, but his side would have been in deep trouble without him. Stanway bowled another marathon stint of 50 overs and this time picked up 4 for 92. The declaration, however, asked Bucks to chase 259 in 42 overs which was far too tough (especially when you consider the funereal rate at which Cambridgeshire scored for most of the match) unless some friendly bowling was going to be offered to get Bucks involved in a run chase. This never happened however and the game drifted to a disappointing draw. Cambridgeshire 205 (SA Kellett 86*; GM Harper 5-48); Bucks 255 (RP Lane 104; JD Williams 5-58); Cambridgeshire 308-8 dec (SA Kellett 105*; SF Stanway 4-92); Bucks 123-3 (KT Medlycott 71*); match drawn.
Mansfield Matters
Tim Mansfield sent me the following
I have been playing in the Westmorland League this afternoon and we benefited from two run outs. Twice our opponents' (Kirkby Lonsdale) opening batsman hit the ball to point where the ball was fielded by Robbie Jacques. Our square leg fielder, noting that the batsman had strayed up the pitch screamed "Yes Robbie, yes". The hapless batsman took off running to the non-striker's end to join his bemused colleague. On the first occasion Kirkby’s best bat was the victim, on the second the opener was run out. No gamesmanship was intended, but it was a significant contributor to being able to defend a paltry 99 on a dodgy and sometimes dangerous wicket. Kirkby who were at home could only make 72. Should the umpires have intervened?
I have to pay credit to their no. 7. Horribly out of touch he battled for about 8 overs for four, mercilessly sledged by our short leg. Eventually he edged one on to his pad for his tormentor to make a good catch. The umpire declined to give him out, but the batsman walked. He was wearing an interesting shirt - Law Society tour of Rajasthan.
South Hampstead Matters
In June Bill Hart organized a gathering of some thirty former South Hampstead players in a box at Lords for the first day of the Middlesex/Essex Championship match. Some thought that it was to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the club’s appearance in the first Wills Trophy final there, but I knew that it was actually a wheeze dreamt up to get Colin Price to come over from Australia. Not only did Colin turn up but also Steve Hatherall came over from Thailand and Allan Cox popped over from Ireland.
Back row: Jon Matthews
Middle row: Bill Hart, Jim Sharp, David Simpson
Front row: Russell Bowes, Robin Ager, Bob Denley
On the day Bill Hart was soon complaining that everyone he had spoken to had reminded him of his previous indiscretions during his playing days. But Bill is not one to let such things upset him and he was responsible for recalling one of the club’s great stories: “The Old Meadonians story comes from a second eleven match at Milverton Road, in the presence of many first team players, including myself, who had returned early from an away game. With one ball to go, and with their last pair at the wicket, South Hampstead required three to win. The ball was struck down to the old tea hut, with no fielder in the area. The batsmen ran three while the ball was returned, and the non-striking batsman was past the wicket-keeper when the throw-in eventually broke the wicket. A half-hearted appeal was made by a fieldsman, whereupon the Old Meadonian's umpire uttered the immortal phrase "that's out, one short, and we win". Incidentally, three of the South Hampstead team were present on Friday, including Jim Pearcey, who was the run-out victim. Robin Ager told me that the umpire's son was playing for Old Meadonian's. You couldn't make-up a story like that.”
Bill also sent me this: “Colin and I thought the "magic moment" on Friday was provided by Bruton. When several of us had been trying for some time to work out the fourth batsman to be dismissed in the winning final at Ealing, I approached Allen. As I got near he turned to me and said loudly "bowled Adamson nought".”
It was good to see the new club President, Don Wallis, at the event. He challenged those who were brave enough to engage him in conversation with the following teaser: “Would you prefer to score a hundred and be on the losing side or score nought and be on the winning side?” I asked Bill Hart where he stood and he replied: I can't answer the President's question as a batsman, because the thought of me getting a hundred is inconceivable. However, as a bowler, I would rather take 0-70, and win, than 7-70 and lose. Don't ask me about "all ten".
Hardie Matters
Keith Hardie did not make it for the Lords gathering in June and so I sent him the paperwork that I prepared for the occasion. He replied:
“The documents brought back some good memories from my three years at Milverton Road. I hope the re-union went well; it would have been great to have been there but it's not easy popping over for a weekend from wintery Christchurch. I am planning to be over in the UK in early August for a Vintage Cricket tournament in Stratford-on-Avon. I am managing and playing in a team of Scots at the tournament. Our team name will give a clue to the selection techniques used i.e. The Tartan Ton. We have all stepped on our respective scales and made the weight comfortably. The combined age of our team also is in excess of 600. So you can imagine the pace of the games is fairly comfortable.
Vintage Sports are sponsoring a game on the Sunday immediately prior to the festival. Dennis Amiss (ex-Warwickshire and England) has selected a team to play an over-40s team from the host Stratford CC club. Dennis is not playing but has selected from the various touring teams the following players. Brian and I have been fortunate to be included along with Geoff Howarth, Kevin Pike, Joel Garner, Ricky Clarke,and others.
The Tartan Ton’s games are as follows:
Monday 11th August v Beyond Boundaries of India at Moreton-in-Marsh. Wednesday 13th August v Worcestershire Police at Wellsbourne Cricket Club. Friday 15th August v Worcestershire over 50s at the Dorridge Cricket Club.”
1981 Lambert & Butler Final Matters
Charlie Puckett was an unexpected respondent to my request for anecdotes following my publication of a picture of the Bush side in the last edition
My abiding memory of that match (as a non-Shepherds Bush member) and, I suspect a major part of the reason for Shepherds Bush's success, was the sight of Alf Langley hooking John Snow out of Corfton Road. My memory is that this was first ball (or, rather, second since Snow had dismissed Walker first ball) but, at 53 and after many years of having my ear bent by the Penguin, both on and off the field, my brain no longer functions as it once did. From that moment on Snow kept the ball more in Alf's half of the field. The one thing I know for sure was that Alf didn't destroy Edmonton with his running between the wickets.
Peach Matters
On a recent trip to New York I saw a burlesque show and signed up for a Newsletter from Bustline. I recently received this email from them:
“The Peach Tartes, New York's Juiciest Burlesque Troupe, are joining forces with The World Famous Bob to pitch a tent at Coney Island and give New Yorkers the burlesque circus they have been waiting for. So step right up! Peanuts, popcorn, pasties, souvenirs, soda pop, fringe galore, glitter, tassels, cotton candy, and much much more! Starring the Peach Tartes and the World Famous Bob.”
So this is where nicknames are born.
Old Danes Gathering
The Old Danes Gathering at Shepherds Bush Cricket Club on Friday 1st August 2008 is fast approaching and a good attendance has already been promised. This includes a number of Old Danes who didn’t come last year. There is still plenty of time for you to advise me if you plan to attend. Any non Old Danes would also be welcome, particularly past or present Bush members.
South Hampstead Ladies Day
South Hampstead are hosting a Middlesex Cup Final on Sunday 7th September. The club is designating it a Ladies Day when past and present members will be welcome to attend with their wives, girlfriends, daughters, aunts, nieces etc. The event will start at noon and lunch will be provided. Please advise Bob Peach me or if you will be attending.
Football Matters
Following his recruitment of a whole new squad of players for next season Andrew Baker is keen to re-invent his team and has decided to have a new team kit. He asked Kelvin West to come up with some suggestions and he would now like Googlies readers to help him out with the final selection:
Kit A Kit B Kit C Kit D Kit E
If anyone has a strong preferences on this matter I suggest that they contact Andrew direct. Supporters of his Ladies team will be pleased to hear that he is arranging for serious money to be behind his side next season. He is seen below having just concluded negotiations for the first million with Chris Tarrant.
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