GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 81
September 2009
Ashes Matters
This was a very strange series after the 2005 series of close games. Australia all but won by an innings at Cardiff and did by an innings and plenty at Headingley. England bowled Australia out cheaply in the first innings at Lords and the Oval then set them over 500 to win on both occasions and, even though they threatened to win at both venues, Australia succumbed, ultimately feebly, twice. At Edgbaston England looked to be in charge but the longer it went on Australia seemed to have the upper hand.
There were two big surprises. The first was that Prior’s wicket keeping stood the test of a whole series. I’m still not a fan but there were no match losing howlers. The second was the success of Shane Watson as an opening bat. Before the tour you could have got very long odds against him playing in the side let alone opening the batting. Can anyone remember Phil Hughes? Watson has not just stood in; he seems to have made the job his. Jaques and Co must be sick.
The role of the roller is much ignored these days and is hardly ever referred to by the commentators. They reckon that the heavy roller calms volatile pitches for at least forty five minutes and this often accounted for the relative ease in this series with which the openers contended the initial overs after the previous batting side had struggled on the pitch. The best example recently was the Old Trafford test last summer when on the Saturday the wicket was truly unplayable when Monty skittled New Zealand, but after a dose of the heavy roller the wicket was placid as England knocked off, with ease, a substantial target with few problems.
Is this the end of Monty’s test career? His bowling has been ineffective at all levels this summer and Anil Rashid is getting very good press after substantial all round performances. But Monty has a central contract and I suspect that we will see him in the ODIs. Freddie has retired from tests but the whispers are already abounding that he may be finished in all forms. His knee problems are likened to Simon Jones’ and ten overs may prove too much. Lancashire are unlikely to extend his contract on a one day basis, apparently. He could end up a sort of circus act wandering round the globe looking for lucrative 20/20 matches. But in even this form of the game he was the most expensive bowler in the IPL last year and, of course, contributed no significant runs.
Jonathan Agnew inveigled Lily Allen into the TMS box at the Oval and got hot under the collar in discussions about her wardrobe moments. She hastened him onto other topics and her knowledge of cricket seemed pretty scant but she returned to sartorial matters when at the end of the session she perceptively put in a plea that England should return to playing in creams and proper sweaters like their Australian counterparts. I immediately put her up a few slots in my estimation.
Headingley Matters I was delighted when the Professor invited me to join him for the first day of the Headingley test match. I was up early and the Radio 4 weather forecast assured me that it would be dry. I decided to set out on the scenic route via Glossop, the Snake Pass and Barnsley. By the time I reached Barnsley it was raining. Perhaps it always rains in Barnsley. I parked in the strangely named Park and Stride which was odd since they provided a coach to take us to the ground. As I got off the coach I spotted the Barmy Army’s mascot, Jimmy. He may have been looking forlorn because the ground authorities were clamping down on him and his mates and, indeed, had banned the trumpeter completely.
Jimmy, hornless, and Frank Foreman and the Professor at Headingley
My pleasant morning was then rudely interrupted by the goons who pass for security on these occasions. They joyously found a pair of scissors in my bag and started waving them around for all to see. I confessed that I had planned to go on a rampage once in the ground and advised them to retain the offending weapon. I then waited the mandatory twenty minutes to be served a coffee despite being third in the queue. I chose not to avail myself of a four and six card and resisted the temptation to purchase a large spontex hand with a raised finger despite the fact that I could have had my choice of English or Australian colours. I then found my way to the upper deck of the North East stand, which affords a magnificent view of the playing arena.
I was soon joined by the Professor whose other guests turned out to be Frank Foreman and Vernon Bradbury. On my right was a chap dressed in a Burnley shirt. I suggested that Strauss was wrong when he said that he was disappointed that England had failed to win at Edgbaston since they were actually losing by the end. He then added the usual platitude that they were taking plenty of positives from that game. My neighbour said that the only thing he was positive about was that England had been “crap”.
My visits to Headingley for international matches have previously witnessed much drunken behaviour on the west terrace. The closing of the bars at 2pm for an hour and a half inhibited such indulgence, as did the maximum booking of four tickets per applicant, which broke up the blocks of Barmy Army spectators. In fact the only ridiculous behaviour for the first few hours apart from England’s batting was the singing of Jerusalem at the start.
At teatime my Burnley neighbour opened his plastic box and his pack of sandwiches had a handwritten message from his wife on them saying “ham”. Presumably this was to enable him to differentiate them from any other Lancastrian delicacy he may have been tempted by. On another culinary note, after tea Graham Onions was switched to the Kirkstall Lane end and in a weird serendipitous, if not surreal, moment a waft of fried onions swept across the terrace.
However, by this time the bars had re-opened and the easily pleased, jolly Yorkshiremen started constructing their plastic snakes to the chagrin of the stewards. They also sang various football style terrace songs but there were no Mexican waves. The final hour’s play was strangely subdued after all that had gone before. Play continued for an extra half hour until 6.30pm but the spectators were still cheated of seven overs play out of the specified minimum ninety. Perhaps a proportionate rebate should be paid to the spectators out of the players’ central contract remuneration.
A Despatch from the Professor’s Study
The muted reaction to the winning of the great prize seems to have had a variety of explanations. I have heard that:
1. In 2005 it had been such a long time since we had won that a greater celebration was appropriate. A second win, while hardly a habit, is of its nature less euphoric.
2. The teams were not as good this time. The great men of Australia had (almost) all retired and even the England team lacked Trescothick, Vaughan, Jones the Ball, and Flintoff in his prime.
3. The matches were less exciting. Indeed the three results were very one-sided matches - except not the same side each time. The closest match was, of course, at Cardiff; but this, unhelpfully, came at the start of the series, diminishing the drama - it was rather like starting with the finale.
4. There needed to be a sort of quasi-Puritan backlash to the "excesses" of 2005. Why? Because, apparently, the metaphorical (rather than the real) hangover infused English cricket for the next couple of years leading to the 5-0 thrashing in Australia. Just how a booze-up in London in September can lead to a defeat in Adelaide 18months later, in a game that was almost won, I can't determine, but perhaps the amateur psychologists at Headquarters have an answer. There seems to be no talk of OBEs this time, although personally I would give a knighthood to the Surrey groundsman: "Arise Sir Bill!"
5. What I haven't read, is any discussion of the most obvious reason for the reduced public acclaim...namely, that fewer of the public actually saw it. Many fewer. Something like a sixth, (if you believe these audience figures) of the people who saw the Oval draw in 2005 watched the Oval win this time round.
Why?
We know why. Last time the cricket was available to anyone who had a TV, and this time only to those who had Sky Sports.
Why?
We know why. The cricket establishment (principally the first class counties) had sold out to the highest bidder and tough luck to anyone who couldn't afford the pay-to-view channel.
The county apologists excuse this act of venality (for which they are the main beneficiaries suggesting it is in the long-term interests of cricket. The money can be invested in development of cricket to the future benefit of the national side. It is, in other words, in cricket's best interests to ensure that a fraction of the public is able to watch our national side beat our longest-standing opponents.
There may, of course, be some truth in this. That is in the putting-money-into-development bit. I was encouraged to see Kent field a Pro-40 side the other day with several young players present including the much-discussed Sam Northeast. In Yorkshire there is much interest in marking the development of Wainwright, Bairstow and Rashid. Other counties have similar examples.
However, the suspicion remains that much of the Sky money has gone to other purposes than developing young talent and indeed a great deal of it has gone to contracts for players who are not eligible to play for England. As proof, one might look at the debate surrounding the replacement of Bopara. Who could we find, throughout the whole of county cricket, to bat in England's middle order? The attention focused on: a man who had not played test cricket for more than half-a-dozen years (Ramprakash), one who had retired from test cricket on health grounds (Trescothick), another who had not played in a test for a number of years and was in poor form (Key) and Trott. Retrospectively, it doesn't seem too hard a decision to make.
Perhaps the Sky money will bring forth a plethora of young talent in the future, perhaps it doesn't matter that many fewer people watch the national side. It clearly doesn't matter to the counties whose only interest is, and always has been... the counties. But I think it matters to those of us who want cricket to survive as a popular national sport. You will be pleased to know that the Adams household eschewed this mood of national abstemiousness and celebrated long into the night. Bollocks to the kill-joys.
South Hampstead Matters Bill Hart organised a reunion of the South Hampstead 1963 side in August and he sent me this report of the proceedings
We met in the Middlesex Room, which is in the Allen Stand. Don was a little late as he now moves very, very slowly, due to Achilles Heel problems. Bob Peach then informed us that we should go into the pavilion to get most enjoyment for the day, which led to an immediate problem as neither Bruce, nor I, had a tie. Bob shot off and obtained ties for us.
When we got to the gate another problem arose when Bruce's zip-up jacket was not considered acceptable. Bob then took the rest of us for a free drink in the Middlesex Committee Room, leaving us under the supervision of some Middlesex bigwig, whilst he sought a borrowed blazer for Bruce. You may appreciate that with my life-long allegiance to Surrey, and detestation of "Poncy Middlesex", I felt acutely uncomfortable, but with enormous fortitude, I soldiered on.
Terry Cordaroy, Robin Ager, Alvin Nienow, Bob Peach, Bruce Tutton and Don Wallis in the Middlesex Committee Room at Lords
Once the blazer had been obtained for Bruce, and he had been admitted, the rest of the day was extremely enjoyable. We moved to a comfortable position in the Bowlers Bar, and proceeded to enjoy ourselves and generate a lot of noise. Later we ate in the "Long Room Bar", where the food was pleasant but expensive. I thought £7.50 for a salad roll was a touch over the top, although they were nice rolls.
Because we were having fun, the time flew by, and it was soon time to go. Alvin & Bruce had to go home straight away, but the remaining five, Don, Robin, Terry, Bob & I, set out for a curry. We eventually found one in Maida Vale and I got home by 11 p.m.
Carlin Matters Paddy Carlin sent me the following observations
In July I attended four days of county cricket that took in Middlesex v Surrey, Gloucestershire v Northants and Middlesex v Northants.
Northants, who are going for promotion, played the same side at Cheltenham and Lords. They won both games without batting particularly well. Middlesex made five changes between the two Lords games, got few points, drew one match and should have won the other.
Northants top order batting is uninspiring with Howgego manifestly not good enough as a batter or fielder, but he was seen giving the young twelfth man, Willey, a long cuddle on the Lords dressing room balcony. Surely this is not allowed in the pavilion at Lords? But their South African engine room of Wessels, Boje, Hall and van der Wath is much better than anything Middlesex or Gloucester can construct.
Northants lower order is a mystery. Panesar is pretty useless. How did he save a test match? He could be used as a batsman who gives the slips practice. When he comes in to bat they all line up expectantly and are rewarded quickly. The number eleven, Wigley, can bat and he must have upset the captain big time to cause a demotion behind Panesar and Lucas.
The Northants bowling is pretty good with a lot of variety. Van der Wath is fast and nasty and is surprisingly allowed to bowl with a very shiny wrist watch on his left wrist. Lucas, who took twelve wickets at Cheltenham, is left arm quick and brings the ball in to right hand batters. He got eight LBWs at Cheltenham and several more at Lords. Hall is a clever bowler and the two left arm spinners are both ex test players. If they could bat up the order they could challenge in Division One.
Gloucester, like Middlesex, are not very good. Three Kiwis, one Irishman, a couple of Yorkshire rejects and a few others do not make a good side. I don’t think that they have won at Cheltenham for several years and they lost this one in two days. I carry three main memories from this match:
Middlesex v Northants.
First day- Finn bowled like an England fast bowler and also took a great catch. The bounce from the pavilion end looks double that from the nursery end and I could see why they couldn’t get the ball away from Flintoff during the test match.
Last day- Finn bowled like a WGCCC third teamer and Northants were allowed thirty runs too many. Middlesex needed only 222 but never looked like getting them. The happiest men were Lucas with more LBWs and van der Wath allowed at last to bowl from the pavilion end and wrecking the tail. He was still bowling with his shiny wristwatch.
General. All the bowlers are quick and there seem to be no medium pace swingers or cutters. There were very few no balls perhaps because of the two run penalty. Maybe we should introduce this to club cricket where there are far too many. About 20-25% of deliveries from the quicks are unplayable bouncers and about half the deliveries are wide or very wide of the off stump. Most batsmen don’t play at these and so I could see why Phil Hughes was so successful initially. He scores many runs from deliveries that the bowler will assume is a dot ball.
Straight balls or just to the offside are hit to leg. Lucas got many of his LBWs as a result of the batsmen trying to work straight deliveries to leg. There is very little cutting of the wide balls. A quarter of the runs are scored down to the vacant third man area with the bowler being charged four runs after he has defeated the bat.
Finally, there are some very peculiar people in the members’ area- a cross between a CAMRA outing and a day trip from the local asylum. I don’t look at all out of place.
Middlesex Matters
The Great Jack Morgan continues an agonising summer watching Middlesex
With Toby departing, Nashy retiring, Scotty (R Scotty that is) promoted and rumours of Weekesy returning in some coaching capacity, it seems to be all-change at Middlesex. A further change seems to be that Gus is taking a more hands-on role with the 2s: is he just filling a temporary gap or is he angling for a more active role in team affairs to replace his unknown talking and thinking non-role?
I went to all four days of the Northants game: it was so infuriating; I do not think I can write about it.
I was extremely annoyed with the weather forecasters for preventing my going to the Oval on Wednesday for the 2s one-dayer. The forecasters were unanimous that it was going to be cloudy all day with frequent outbreaks of rain; in fact it was dry, warm and mainly sunny. It was also irritating to miss out on a 2s game at the Oval: even though I do not like the place much, it is easily the best ground on which to watch 2s cricket. Most of the Surrey outgrounds are nice picturesque club grounds, but one cannot get a scorecard or even a team sheet and the scoreboarding (that is a new verb I have just invented) is atrocious. At the Oval, one gets a proper scorecard and one of the electronic scoreboards gives full details of batsmen, bowlers and catchers... heaven! It was even more frustrating to miss out on a comprehensive Middlesex win (one needs to savour these rarities) as the lads romped home by 9 wickets. Surrey: 207 (R Burns 54, he's the 2s keeper at present; T Henderson 3-28); Middlesex 209-1 (A London 61*, J Simpson 131*). D Nash did not feature in the match, but Toby Roland-Jones (he's one of ours) was playing for Surrey and so was someone called MT Dunn (surely not?) who batted no 11 and bowled two expensive overs.
Blimey! What a game at Canterbury. I did not have enough confidence in the lads to attend of course, but what a turn up with the bottom beating the top. It's the first match Shaun has missed and the first that Middx have won. With Gareth and Murali doing so well, how will Shaun get his place back? As mentioned previously, some of the bowling figures do not look too bad, though it is really only the top four who are excelling: Kartik 17 @ 19.9, Murtagh 39 @ 21.6, Finn 40 @ 27.8 and Udal 24 @ 29. I praised Finny at the Bush, but in the Northants second innings he was back to his worst and his last day performance (3-0-32-0) did as much as anything to lose the game; you could see the lads' confidence evaporating. 40 wickets at a decent average flatters his performances this season, but he is taking wickets (which he didn't do in the 2s) whether he bowls well or not! Silvers took 2 wickets at Canterbury and brought his average crashing down from 221 to 90.3. The batting situation is more worrying; if we ignore Straussy and Hughesy, then only four batters have an average above 30: Shah (whose batting against N'hants made your praise of him at the Bush look like nonsense), Kartik, Compton and Malan, who is also now the top catcher (after Nash). Many of the batsmen (like Eoin, for example) are chaps who thrive on confidence, which is a quality that has been sadly absent in recent matches, so let's hope the win at Canterbury restores it in large dollops! Murtagh is another who has been batting without a glimmer of confidence: his 11* at Canterbury was the first time he had reached double figures since his maiden fifty for the club back in April! Sometimes he looks like a right-hander trying to bat left-handed! What is Amjad doing at no 11? He should bat 4 against Middlesex! Will Dexy be fit for the next one and will he replace Robbo? Dunno about Shaun.
The Essex game was just as infuriating as the Northants match. The bowling is now looking much worse than the batting again: how did they bowl out Kent twice? Richo (though he wasn't the only culprit, of course) was much worse than I have ever seen him; I have two possible explanations for this: i) he is not properly fit and may not have been all season; and ii) he was trying to bowl too fast, possibly trying to prove that (unlike Silvers) he has not "lost his nip". Given the weak bowling resources, Middlesex's declaration (quite likely to have been Shaun's decision apparently) was far too generous. I am not exonerating all the batsmen: Owais is having a terrible spell at the moment and Eoin is not in England form either. As you know, Robbo was retained and made his maiden ton, but the best batting came from Malan. It was R ten D who won the match for Essex: the required rate was 9 an over and rising when he took control with a very impressive 40 off 20 balls, after which it was easy. One of his sixes came straight at me in the Edrich Stand and I might have caught it if I were the sort of prat who attempts such things; as far as I recall, it was only the third time that I have seen a six hit into the upper tier in 50 years of watching. The character of the last day crowds is changing with the decision to allow concessions in for free: the fourth day crowd has improved in terms of quantity, but not quality. The contemplations of the connoisseurs are now disturbed by booing, barracking and bellowing and people are unashamed to reveal the full extent of their ignorance at full volume.
I went to RAF Vine Lane for the Second Eleven Trophy game against Northants, who won the toss and chose to bat and after ten overs, were 59 for four. Nineteen year old Rob Newton (79) led the recovery with some stylish shots and he was supported by Neil Turk (ex-Sussex) with 36 and Ryan Cummings (ex-Leics) with 36* as they were all out for 229. Chris Silverwood took 3 wickets in 10 overs of medium pace and Kabir Toor also took 3 with his leg-spin. On a good track and fast outfield, I made Middlesex favourites, but I think we were all surprised and delighted that Middlesex romped home by ten wickets as left-hander Adam London and skipper Neil Dexter both made magnificent centuries, London finishing on 111* and Dexter on 107*. Academy coach Keerthi Ranasinghe is in charge of the 2s at present, but Gus was there all day and finally found some useful employment by supervising the tardy swaddling of the sightscreens with black drapes (hastily borrowed from Uxbridge CC, I understand) to accommodate the white ball now used in the SET competition, the need for which had not been communicated to Dougie, the groundsman at the Vine, and caused a delay of half an hour.
That was another dire performance at Swansea wasn't it? The batting has reverted to pathetic mode (only Owais (42) and Dawid (38) now have acceptable averages, though Shah's last six innings have been disastrous) and our no 6 (Scotty) averages 12! I hope England are not banking on too many runs from Owais and Eoin. Neither is a pace attack of Murts, Finny and Bergy strong enough. The top four bowlers have pulled further away from the rest; the only others with wicket totals in double figures are Bergy, with 12 @ 42.5 and Richo with 11 @ 56.
We are heading for our first wooden spoon in 120 years of the County Championship.
Minor Counties Matters
The Great Jack Morgan keeps us posted on Minor County matches
I went to Slough for the top of the table clash in the Minor Counties Eastern Division between Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, Bucks leading Herts at the start by 22 points, but having played a game more. If you remember the somewhat urban old ground at Chalvey Road East, the new(ish) ground at Upton Court Park will be a shock as it is a huge prairie of a place set amongst parkland and other sports grounds. Laudable attempts have been made to make the place attractive: they have planted trees, shrubs and flowers; there are streams and paths and cycle tracks; but the big problem is the noise. The M4 is now shrouded from view by foliage, but as it is only a six-hit away over the southern sightscreen, there is no mistaking the sound of it; aeroplanes are constantly roaring into the skies (or descending from them) from the Heathrow runways which seem to be only a kilometre away; and, probably worst of all, incredibly irritating model aeroplanes are regularly flown in the adjacent field. I have been suffering badly from inadequate scoreboarding (it's that word again) this season and Slough was no different on day one, when both electronic scoreboards were out of action during the first session. I found this very annoying and was complaining that I would never attend the ground again, when a story reached me that they had suffered a break-in overnight and all the electronic equipment had been stolen. Therefore I had to forgive them, of course, and in fact, they probably did rather well to get the boards working after lunch.
Ex-Middlesex man Jamie Hewitt (who I believe was one of four Welwyn Garden City players in the Herts team, but no doubt your favourite correspondent will correct me if I am wrong about that) has been having an unsuccessful season for Herts, but he opened the batting and batted rather well in making 43, sharing an opening stand of 64 with Will Jones (39). Herts suffered something of a collapse, however, and lunched on 132 for 5 in 36 overs, but their fortunes were restored by skipper Andy Lewis (73), all-rounders Rob Clements (38) and Nick Lamb (42), both of whom have played for Middlesex 2s and no 10 Simon White (another WGCCC man), who made a more than useful 34* to take Herts up to 300 all out. For Bucks, off-spinner Sam Cherry with 5 for 76 was the pick of the bowlers, but left arm swinger Paul Sawyer, another ex-Middlesex 2s man, claimed three of the top four batters for 67, all caught by impressive keeper, David Cranfield-Thompson, a difficult name to fit on one's scorecard. Bucks started slowly in reply, but had reached 175 before they lost their third wicket. Opener Warren Miller reached his fifty in the fifty-first over, but went on to a valuable 83, while there were handy contributions from nightwatchman Matt Watson, who has played for Oxford UCCE and MCCYCs (31), skipper Jason Harrison, another ex-Middlesex man (40), Sawyer (30), Matt Jones of Cardiff UCCE (39) and keeper DRJCT (also 39). Acceleration towards the end of the innings enabled Bucks to scrape a narrow first innings lead of 7, the best of the Herts bowlers being off-spinner Shatab Khalid with 4 for 110, whom I am assuming was the deputy for absent Ben Frazer (ex-Middlesex 2s), while seamer Lamb picked up 3 for 52.
Some time was lost to rain on day 2 and Herts needed to press on in order to set a challenging target. Eddie Ballard (76) was the main contributor to their second innings, but nobody else made more than Clements's 27 and they could manage only 228 all out. Left arm swing held sway for Bucks with George Harper returning fine figures of 5 for 43 and Sawyer picking up 3 for 95. This, however, set Bucks an interesting target of 222 to win in 51 overs, but they never looked like achieving the required rate. Wickets fell regularly, Miller (34) and ex-Gloucester all-rounder Mark Hardinges (32) being the top scorers. In the end, Herts were closer to winning as Bucks finished on 156-8, with Khalid again to the fore with an excellent 5 for 50 and 9 for 160 in the match. If this were to reach the eyes of any WGCCC supporters who wondered how their other representatives got on, the answer is not very well: ex-county players Aaron Laraman and Nick Walker managed 18 runs between them in four innings and one wicket in 28 overs, all bowled by Laraman as Walker did not bowl at all, presumably because of injury. In the drawn match, my estimate is that both teams took 11 points from the game, leaving Herts needing to win their match in hand, which is against Norfolk at Horsford next weekend, with the final fixtures pitting Herts against Northumberland at Long Marston and Bucks travelling to Stone to play Staffs.
Middlesex League Matters
In the Premier League after sixteen matches Ealing continue to head the table although they failed to beat Winchmore Hill last Saturday. Winchmore Hill and Richmond are in the relegation slots, which is good news for Shepherds Bush who could stay up in their first season in this exalted company.
However, the news is not so good for South Hampstead who are heading for the drop with Uxbridge in Division Two. For those who think that high scoring previously reported was a freak, try these for week sixteen scores:
Brentham 270 (48.3 overs), Acton 272-8 (50.4 overs)
Southgate 277-7 (49 overs), Enfield 279-6 (50.2 overs)
South Hampstead 245-7(52 overs), Twickenham 246-2 (44.2 overs)
Stop Press: Week seventeen and South Hampstead claw their way out of the drop zone with a win against Uxbridge! In the Premier League both Finchley and Teddington score in excess of 300.
Music Matters
I cringed when I heard that a group calling themselves The Duckworth Lewis Method had made an album of cricket songs, fearing terrible puns and corny rhymes. However, my interest was stimulated when no lesser authorities than Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie were praising the album’s musical merits and were playing tracks from it on their weekday evening show. In due course the duo, Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh, appeared on the show and turned out to be genuine cricket buffs and lovers of the game and their songs were witty and musical. And then the duo appeared with Aggers on TMS and gained more plaudits. The music sounds rather like a late sixties Beatles album with harmonies and juxtaposed styles. If you get a chance listen to the album if only to enjoy the whimsical “Meeting Mr Miandad”. Meanwhile, spare a thought for Jim Revier who will have to pool all his Christmas money to put a deposit down for the first Blue Ray Neil Young Retrospective box collection covering 1963-1972, which is expected to retail at c£300.
Football Matters
Andrew Baker has been counting the pennies carefully recently but decided to dip into the transfer market when the opportunity to purchase a bunch of American players for a song appeared. It was only after the deal was completed and the medicals completed that Kelvin West pointed out to Andrew that all these ladies were over fifty years old!
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 81
September 2009
Ashes Matters
This was a very strange series after the 2005 series of close games. Australia all but won by an innings at Cardiff and did by an innings and plenty at Headingley. England bowled Australia out cheaply in the first innings at Lords and the Oval then set them over 500 to win on both occasions and, even though they threatened to win at both venues, Australia succumbed, ultimately feebly, twice. At Edgbaston England looked to be in charge but the longer it went on Australia seemed to have the upper hand.
There were two big surprises. The first was that Prior’s wicket keeping stood the test of a whole series. I’m still not a fan but there were no match losing howlers. The second was the success of Shane Watson as an opening bat. Before the tour you could have got very long odds against him playing in the side let alone opening the batting. Can anyone remember Phil Hughes? Watson has not just stood in; he seems to have made the job his. Jaques and Co must be sick.
The role of the roller is much ignored these days and is hardly ever referred to by the commentators. They reckon that the heavy roller calms volatile pitches for at least forty five minutes and this often accounted for the relative ease in this series with which the openers contended the initial overs after the previous batting side had struggled on the pitch. The best example recently was the Old Trafford test last summer when on the Saturday the wicket was truly unplayable when Monty skittled New Zealand, but after a dose of the heavy roller the wicket was placid as England knocked off, with ease, a substantial target with few problems.
Is this the end of Monty’s test career? His bowling has been ineffective at all levels this summer and Anil Rashid is getting very good press after substantial all round performances. But Monty has a central contract and I suspect that we will see him in the ODIs. Freddie has retired from tests but the whispers are already abounding that he may be finished in all forms. His knee problems are likened to Simon Jones’ and ten overs may prove too much. Lancashire are unlikely to extend his contract on a one day basis, apparently. He could end up a sort of circus act wandering round the globe looking for lucrative 20/20 matches. But in even this form of the game he was the most expensive bowler in the IPL last year and, of course, contributed no significant runs.
Jonathan Agnew inveigled Lily Allen into the TMS box at the Oval and got hot under the collar in discussions about her wardrobe moments. She hastened him onto other topics and her knowledge of cricket seemed pretty scant but she returned to sartorial matters when at the end of the session she perceptively put in a plea that England should return to playing in creams and proper sweaters like their Australian counterparts. I immediately put her up a few slots in my estimation.
Headingley Matters I was delighted when the Professor invited me to join him for the first day of the Headingley test match. I was up early and the Radio 4 weather forecast assured me that it would be dry. I decided to set out on the scenic route via Glossop, the Snake Pass and Barnsley. By the time I reached Barnsley it was raining. Perhaps it always rains in Barnsley. I parked in the strangely named Park and Stride which was odd since they provided a coach to take us to the ground. As I got off the coach I spotted the Barmy Army’s mascot, Jimmy. He may have been looking forlorn because the ground authorities were clamping down on him and his mates and, indeed, had banned the trumpeter completely.
Jimmy, hornless, and Frank Foreman and the Professor at Headingley
My pleasant morning was then rudely interrupted by the goons who pass for security on these occasions. They joyously found a pair of scissors in my bag and started waving them around for all to see. I confessed that I had planned to go on a rampage once in the ground and advised them to retain the offending weapon. I then waited the mandatory twenty minutes to be served a coffee despite being third in the queue. I chose not to avail myself of a four and six card and resisted the temptation to purchase a large spontex hand with a raised finger despite the fact that I could have had my choice of English or Australian colours. I then found my way to the upper deck of the North East stand, which affords a magnificent view of the playing arena.
I was soon joined by the Professor whose other guests turned out to be Frank Foreman and Vernon Bradbury. On my right was a chap dressed in a Burnley shirt. I suggested that Strauss was wrong when he said that he was disappointed that England had failed to win at Edgbaston since they were actually losing by the end. He then added the usual platitude that they were taking plenty of positives from that game. My neighbour said that the only thing he was positive about was that England had been “crap”.
My visits to Headingley for international matches have previously witnessed much drunken behaviour on the west terrace. The closing of the bars at 2pm for an hour and a half inhibited such indulgence, as did the maximum booking of four tickets per applicant, which broke up the blocks of Barmy Army spectators. In fact the only ridiculous behaviour for the first few hours apart from England’s batting was the singing of Jerusalem at the start.
At teatime my Burnley neighbour opened his plastic box and his pack of sandwiches had a handwritten message from his wife on them saying “ham”. Presumably this was to enable him to differentiate them from any other Lancastrian delicacy he may have been tempted by. On another culinary note, after tea Graham Onions was switched to the Kirkstall Lane end and in a weird serendipitous, if not surreal, moment a waft of fried onions swept across the terrace.
However, by this time the bars had re-opened and the easily pleased, jolly Yorkshiremen started constructing their plastic snakes to the chagrin of the stewards. They also sang various football style terrace songs but there were no Mexican waves. The final hour’s play was strangely subdued after all that had gone before. Play continued for an extra half hour until 6.30pm but the spectators were still cheated of seven overs play out of the specified minimum ninety. Perhaps a proportionate rebate should be paid to the spectators out of the players’ central contract remuneration.
A Despatch from the Professor’s Study
The muted reaction to the winning of the great prize seems to have had a variety of explanations. I have heard that:
1. In 2005 it had been such a long time since we had won that a greater celebration was appropriate. A second win, while hardly a habit, is of its nature less euphoric.
2. The teams were not as good this time. The great men of Australia had (almost) all retired and even the England team lacked Trescothick, Vaughan, Jones the Ball, and Flintoff in his prime.
3. The matches were less exciting. Indeed the three results were very one-sided matches - except not the same side each time. The closest match was, of course, at Cardiff; but this, unhelpfully, came at the start of the series, diminishing the drama - it was rather like starting with the finale.
4. There needed to be a sort of quasi-Puritan backlash to the "excesses" of 2005. Why? Because, apparently, the metaphorical (rather than the real) hangover infused English cricket for the next couple of years leading to the 5-0 thrashing in Australia. Just how a booze-up in London in September can lead to a defeat in Adelaide 18months later, in a game that was almost won, I can't determine, but perhaps the amateur psychologists at Headquarters have an answer. There seems to be no talk of OBEs this time, although personally I would give a knighthood to the Surrey groundsman: "Arise Sir Bill!"
5. What I haven't read, is any discussion of the most obvious reason for the reduced public acclaim...namely, that fewer of the public actually saw it. Many fewer. Something like a sixth, (if you believe these audience figures) of the people who saw the Oval draw in 2005 watched the Oval win this time round.
Why?
We know why. Last time the cricket was available to anyone who had a TV, and this time only to those who had Sky Sports.
Why?
We know why. The cricket establishment (principally the first class counties) had sold out to the highest bidder and tough luck to anyone who couldn't afford the pay-to-view channel.
The county apologists excuse this act of venality (for which they are the main beneficiaries suggesting it is in the long-term interests of cricket. The money can be invested in development of cricket to the future benefit of the national side. It is, in other words, in cricket's best interests to ensure that a fraction of the public is able to watch our national side beat our longest-standing opponents.
There may, of course, be some truth in this. That is in the putting-money-into-development bit. I was encouraged to see Kent field a Pro-40 side the other day with several young players present including the much-discussed Sam Northeast. In Yorkshire there is much interest in marking the development of Wainwright, Bairstow and Rashid. Other counties have similar examples.
However, the suspicion remains that much of the Sky money has gone to other purposes than developing young talent and indeed a great deal of it has gone to contracts for players who are not eligible to play for England. As proof, one might look at the debate surrounding the replacement of Bopara. Who could we find, throughout the whole of county cricket, to bat in England's middle order? The attention focused on: a man who had not played test cricket for more than half-a-dozen years (Ramprakash), one who had retired from test cricket on health grounds (Trescothick), another who had not played in a test for a number of years and was in poor form (Key) and Trott. Retrospectively, it doesn't seem too hard a decision to make.
Perhaps the Sky money will bring forth a plethora of young talent in the future, perhaps it doesn't matter that many fewer people watch the national side. It clearly doesn't matter to the counties whose only interest is, and always has been... the counties. But I think it matters to those of us who want cricket to survive as a popular national sport. You will be pleased to know that the Adams household eschewed this mood of national abstemiousness and celebrated long into the night. Bollocks to the kill-joys.
South Hampstead Matters Bill Hart organised a reunion of the South Hampstead 1963 side in August and he sent me this report of the proceedings
We met in the Middlesex Room, which is in the Allen Stand. Don was a little late as he now moves very, very slowly, due to Achilles Heel problems. Bob Peach then informed us that we should go into the pavilion to get most enjoyment for the day, which led to an immediate problem as neither Bruce, nor I, had a tie. Bob shot off and obtained ties for us.
When we got to the gate another problem arose when Bruce's zip-up jacket was not considered acceptable. Bob then took the rest of us for a free drink in the Middlesex Committee Room, leaving us under the supervision of some Middlesex bigwig, whilst he sought a borrowed blazer for Bruce. You may appreciate that with my life-long allegiance to Surrey, and detestation of "Poncy Middlesex", I felt acutely uncomfortable, but with enormous fortitude, I soldiered on.
Terry Cordaroy, Robin Ager, Alvin Nienow, Bob Peach, Bruce Tutton and Don Wallis in the Middlesex Committee Room at Lords
Once the blazer had been obtained for Bruce, and he had been admitted, the rest of the day was extremely enjoyable. We moved to a comfortable position in the Bowlers Bar, and proceeded to enjoy ourselves and generate a lot of noise. Later we ate in the "Long Room Bar", where the food was pleasant but expensive. I thought £7.50 for a salad roll was a touch over the top, although they were nice rolls.
Because we were having fun, the time flew by, and it was soon time to go. Alvin & Bruce had to go home straight away, but the remaining five, Don, Robin, Terry, Bob & I, set out for a curry. We eventually found one in Maida Vale and I got home by 11 p.m.
Carlin Matters Paddy Carlin sent me the following observations
In July I attended four days of county cricket that took in Middlesex v Surrey, Gloucestershire v Northants and Middlesex v Northants.
Northants, who are going for promotion, played the same side at Cheltenham and Lords. They won both games without batting particularly well. Middlesex made five changes between the two Lords games, got few points, drew one match and should have won the other.
Northants top order batting is uninspiring with Howgego manifestly not good enough as a batter or fielder, but he was seen giving the young twelfth man, Willey, a long cuddle on the Lords dressing room balcony. Surely this is not allowed in the pavilion at Lords? But their South African engine room of Wessels, Boje, Hall and van der Wath is much better than anything Middlesex or Gloucester can construct.
Northants lower order is a mystery. Panesar is pretty useless. How did he save a test match? He could be used as a batsman who gives the slips practice. When he comes in to bat they all line up expectantly and are rewarded quickly. The number eleven, Wigley, can bat and he must have upset the captain big time to cause a demotion behind Panesar and Lucas.
The Northants bowling is pretty good with a lot of variety. Van der Wath is fast and nasty and is surprisingly allowed to bowl with a very shiny wrist watch on his left wrist. Lucas, who took twelve wickets at Cheltenham, is left arm quick and brings the ball in to right hand batters. He got eight LBWs at Cheltenham and several more at Lords. Hall is a clever bowler and the two left arm spinners are both ex test players. If they could bat up the order they could challenge in Division One.
Gloucester, like Middlesex, are not very good. Three Kiwis, one Irishman, a couple of Yorkshire rejects and a few others do not make a good side. I don’t think that they have won at Cheltenham for several years and they lost this one in two days. I carry three main memories from this match:
- Jonathan Lewis’ batting. It is just like Bob Willis’. Throw the bat at the ball, turn wrists to the right sharply and send the ball high down to third man, where, of course, there is no fielder.
- Steve Kirby engaging van der Wath in a bumper war. There was only ever going to be one winner. The South African is a better bat and a more accurate bowler. Kirby is very wild and a rabbit with the bat. It amused the beer tent, though.
- Pedigree beer for the average punter is $1 cheaper at Cheltenham than at Lords and in the tents there were many other choices.
Middlesex v Northants.
First day- Finn bowled like an England fast bowler and also took a great catch. The bounce from the pavilion end looks double that from the nursery end and I could see why they couldn’t get the ball away from Flintoff during the test match.
Last day- Finn bowled like a WGCCC third teamer and Northants were allowed thirty runs too many. Middlesex needed only 222 but never looked like getting them. The happiest men were Lucas with more LBWs and van der Wath allowed at last to bowl from the pavilion end and wrecking the tail. He was still bowling with his shiny wristwatch.
General. All the bowlers are quick and there seem to be no medium pace swingers or cutters. There were very few no balls perhaps because of the two run penalty. Maybe we should introduce this to club cricket where there are far too many. About 20-25% of deliveries from the quicks are unplayable bouncers and about half the deliveries are wide or very wide of the off stump. Most batsmen don’t play at these and so I could see why Phil Hughes was so successful initially. He scores many runs from deliveries that the bowler will assume is a dot ball.
Straight balls or just to the offside are hit to leg. Lucas got many of his LBWs as a result of the batsmen trying to work straight deliveries to leg. There is very little cutting of the wide balls. A quarter of the runs are scored down to the vacant third man area with the bowler being charged four runs after he has defeated the bat.
Finally, there are some very peculiar people in the members’ area- a cross between a CAMRA outing and a day trip from the local asylum. I don’t look at all out of place.
Middlesex Matters
The Great Jack Morgan continues an agonising summer watching Middlesex
With Toby departing, Nashy retiring, Scotty (R Scotty that is) promoted and rumours of Weekesy returning in some coaching capacity, it seems to be all-change at Middlesex. A further change seems to be that Gus is taking a more hands-on role with the 2s: is he just filling a temporary gap or is he angling for a more active role in team affairs to replace his unknown talking and thinking non-role?
I went to all four days of the Northants game: it was so infuriating; I do not think I can write about it.
I was extremely annoyed with the weather forecasters for preventing my going to the Oval on Wednesday for the 2s one-dayer. The forecasters were unanimous that it was going to be cloudy all day with frequent outbreaks of rain; in fact it was dry, warm and mainly sunny. It was also irritating to miss out on a 2s game at the Oval: even though I do not like the place much, it is easily the best ground on which to watch 2s cricket. Most of the Surrey outgrounds are nice picturesque club grounds, but one cannot get a scorecard or even a team sheet and the scoreboarding (that is a new verb I have just invented) is atrocious. At the Oval, one gets a proper scorecard and one of the electronic scoreboards gives full details of batsmen, bowlers and catchers... heaven! It was even more frustrating to miss out on a comprehensive Middlesex win (one needs to savour these rarities) as the lads romped home by 9 wickets. Surrey: 207 (R Burns 54, he's the 2s keeper at present; T Henderson 3-28); Middlesex 209-1 (A London 61*, J Simpson 131*). D Nash did not feature in the match, but Toby Roland-Jones (he's one of ours) was playing for Surrey and so was someone called MT Dunn (surely not?) who batted no 11 and bowled two expensive overs.
Blimey! What a game at Canterbury. I did not have enough confidence in the lads to attend of course, but what a turn up with the bottom beating the top. It's the first match Shaun has missed and the first that Middx have won. With Gareth and Murali doing so well, how will Shaun get his place back? As mentioned previously, some of the bowling figures do not look too bad, though it is really only the top four who are excelling: Kartik 17 @ 19.9, Murtagh 39 @ 21.6, Finn 40 @ 27.8 and Udal 24 @ 29. I praised Finny at the Bush, but in the Northants second innings he was back to his worst and his last day performance (3-0-32-0) did as much as anything to lose the game; you could see the lads' confidence evaporating. 40 wickets at a decent average flatters his performances this season, but he is taking wickets (which he didn't do in the 2s) whether he bowls well or not! Silvers took 2 wickets at Canterbury and brought his average crashing down from 221 to 90.3. The batting situation is more worrying; if we ignore Straussy and Hughesy, then only four batters have an average above 30: Shah (whose batting against N'hants made your praise of him at the Bush look like nonsense), Kartik, Compton and Malan, who is also now the top catcher (after Nash). Many of the batsmen (like Eoin, for example) are chaps who thrive on confidence, which is a quality that has been sadly absent in recent matches, so let's hope the win at Canterbury restores it in large dollops! Murtagh is another who has been batting without a glimmer of confidence: his 11* at Canterbury was the first time he had reached double figures since his maiden fifty for the club back in April! Sometimes he looks like a right-hander trying to bat left-handed! What is Amjad doing at no 11? He should bat 4 against Middlesex! Will Dexy be fit for the next one and will he replace Robbo? Dunno about Shaun.
The Essex game was just as infuriating as the Northants match. The bowling is now looking much worse than the batting again: how did they bowl out Kent twice? Richo (though he wasn't the only culprit, of course) was much worse than I have ever seen him; I have two possible explanations for this: i) he is not properly fit and may not have been all season; and ii) he was trying to bowl too fast, possibly trying to prove that (unlike Silvers) he has not "lost his nip". Given the weak bowling resources, Middlesex's declaration (quite likely to have been Shaun's decision apparently) was far too generous. I am not exonerating all the batsmen: Owais is having a terrible spell at the moment and Eoin is not in England form either. As you know, Robbo was retained and made his maiden ton, but the best batting came from Malan. It was R ten D who won the match for Essex: the required rate was 9 an over and rising when he took control with a very impressive 40 off 20 balls, after which it was easy. One of his sixes came straight at me in the Edrich Stand and I might have caught it if I were the sort of prat who attempts such things; as far as I recall, it was only the third time that I have seen a six hit into the upper tier in 50 years of watching. The character of the last day crowds is changing with the decision to allow concessions in for free: the fourth day crowd has improved in terms of quantity, but not quality. The contemplations of the connoisseurs are now disturbed by booing, barracking and bellowing and people are unashamed to reveal the full extent of their ignorance at full volume.
I went to RAF Vine Lane for the Second Eleven Trophy game against Northants, who won the toss and chose to bat and after ten overs, were 59 for four. Nineteen year old Rob Newton (79) led the recovery with some stylish shots and he was supported by Neil Turk (ex-Sussex) with 36 and Ryan Cummings (ex-Leics) with 36* as they were all out for 229. Chris Silverwood took 3 wickets in 10 overs of medium pace and Kabir Toor also took 3 with his leg-spin. On a good track and fast outfield, I made Middlesex favourites, but I think we were all surprised and delighted that Middlesex romped home by ten wickets as left-hander Adam London and skipper Neil Dexter both made magnificent centuries, London finishing on 111* and Dexter on 107*. Academy coach Keerthi Ranasinghe is in charge of the 2s at present, but Gus was there all day and finally found some useful employment by supervising the tardy swaddling of the sightscreens with black drapes (hastily borrowed from Uxbridge CC, I understand) to accommodate the white ball now used in the SET competition, the need for which had not been communicated to Dougie, the groundsman at the Vine, and caused a delay of half an hour.
That was another dire performance at Swansea wasn't it? The batting has reverted to pathetic mode (only Owais (42) and Dawid (38) now have acceptable averages, though Shah's last six innings have been disastrous) and our no 6 (Scotty) averages 12! I hope England are not banking on too many runs from Owais and Eoin. Neither is a pace attack of Murts, Finny and Bergy strong enough. The top four bowlers have pulled further away from the rest; the only others with wicket totals in double figures are Bergy, with 12 @ 42.5 and Richo with 11 @ 56.
We are heading for our first wooden spoon in 120 years of the County Championship.
Minor Counties Matters
The Great Jack Morgan keeps us posted on Minor County matches
I went to Slough for the top of the table clash in the Minor Counties Eastern Division between Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, Bucks leading Herts at the start by 22 points, but having played a game more. If you remember the somewhat urban old ground at Chalvey Road East, the new(ish) ground at Upton Court Park will be a shock as it is a huge prairie of a place set amongst parkland and other sports grounds. Laudable attempts have been made to make the place attractive: they have planted trees, shrubs and flowers; there are streams and paths and cycle tracks; but the big problem is the noise. The M4 is now shrouded from view by foliage, but as it is only a six-hit away over the southern sightscreen, there is no mistaking the sound of it; aeroplanes are constantly roaring into the skies (or descending from them) from the Heathrow runways which seem to be only a kilometre away; and, probably worst of all, incredibly irritating model aeroplanes are regularly flown in the adjacent field. I have been suffering badly from inadequate scoreboarding (it's that word again) this season and Slough was no different on day one, when both electronic scoreboards were out of action during the first session. I found this very annoying and was complaining that I would never attend the ground again, when a story reached me that they had suffered a break-in overnight and all the electronic equipment had been stolen. Therefore I had to forgive them, of course, and in fact, they probably did rather well to get the boards working after lunch.
Ex-Middlesex man Jamie Hewitt (who I believe was one of four Welwyn Garden City players in the Herts team, but no doubt your favourite correspondent will correct me if I am wrong about that) has been having an unsuccessful season for Herts, but he opened the batting and batted rather well in making 43, sharing an opening stand of 64 with Will Jones (39). Herts suffered something of a collapse, however, and lunched on 132 for 5 in 36 overs, but their fortunes were restored by skipper Andy Lewis (73), all-rounders Rob Clements (38) and Nick Lamb (42), both of whom have played for Middlesex 2s and no 10 Simon White (another WGCCC man), who made a more than useful 34* to take Herts up to 300 all out. For Bucks, off-spinner Sam Cherry with 5 for 76 was the pick of the bowlers, but left arm swinger Paul Sawyer, another ex-Middlesex 2s man, claimed three of the top four batters for 67, all caught by impressive keeper, David Cranfield-Thompson, a difficult name to fit on one's scorecard. Bucks started slowly in reply, but had reached 175 before they lost their third wicket. Opener Warren Miller reached his fifty in the fifty-first over, but went on to a valuable 83, while there were handy contributions from nightwatchman Matt Watson, who has played for Oxford UCCE and MCCYCs (31), skipper Jason Harrison, another ex-Middlesex man (40), Sawyer (30), Matt Jones of Cardiff UCCE (39) and keeper DRJCT (also 39). Acceleration towards the end of the innings enabled Bucks to scrape a narrow first innings lead of 7, the best of the Herts bowlers being off-spinner Shatab Khalid with 4 for 110, whom I am assuming was the deputy for absent Ben Frazer (ex-Middlesex 2s), while seamer Lamb picked up 3 for 52.
Some time was lost to rain on day 2 and Herts needed to press on in order to set a challenging target. Eddie Ballard (76) was the main contributor to their second innings, but nobody else made more than Clements's 27 and they could manage only 228 all out. Left arm swing held sway for Bucks with George Harper returning fine figures of 5 for 43 and Sawyer picking up 3 for 95. This, however, set Bucks an interesting target of 222 to win in 51 overs, but they never looked like achieving the required rate. Wickets fell regularly, Miller (34) and ex-Gloucester all-rounder Mark Hardinges (32) being the top scorers. In the end, Herts were closer to winning as Bucks finished on 156-8, with Khalid again to the fore with an excellent 5 for 50 and 9 for 160 in the match. If this were to reach the eyes of any WGCCC supporters who wondered how their other representatives got on, the answer is not very well: ex-county players Aaron Laraman and Nick Walker managed 18 runs between them in four innings and one wicket in 28 overs, all bowled by Laraman as Walker did not bowl at all, presumably because of injury. In the drawn match, my estimate is that both teams took 11 points from the game, leaving Herts needing to win their match in hand, which is against Norfolk at Horsford next weekend, with the final fixtures pitting Herts against Northumberland at Long Marston and Bucks travelling to Stone to play Staffs.
Middlesex League Matters
In the Premier League after sixteen matches Ealing continue to head the table although they failed to beat Winchmore Hill last Saturday. Winchmore Hill and Richmond are in the relegation slots, which is good news for Shepherds Bush who could stay up in their first season in this exalted company.
However, the news is not so good for South Hampstead who are heading for the drop with Uxbridge in Division Two. For those who think that high scoring previously reported was a freak, try these for week sixteen scores:
Brentham 270 (48.3 overs), Acton 272-8 (50.4 overs)
Southgate 277-7 (49 overs), Enfield 279-6 (50.2 overs)
South Hampstead 245-7(52 overs), Twickenham 246-2 (44.2 overs)
Stop Press: Week seventeen and South Hampstead claw their way out of the drop zone with a win against Uxbridge! In the Premier League both Finchley and Teddington score in excess of 300.
Music Matters
I cringed when I heard that a group calling themselves The Duckworth Lewis Method had made an album of cricket songs, fearing terrible puns and corny rhymes. However, my interest was stimulated when no lesser authorities than Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie were praising the album’s musical merits and were playing tracks from it on their weekday evening show. In due course the duo, Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh, appeared on the show and turned out to be genuine cricket buffs and lovers of the game and their songs were witty and musical. And then the duo appeared with Aggers on TMS and gained more plaudits. The music sounds rather like a late sixties Beatles album with harmonies and juxtaposed styles. If you get a chance listen to the album if only to enjoy the whimsical “Meeting Mr Miandad”. Meanwhile, spare a thought for Jim Revier who will have to pool all his Christmas money to put a deposit down for the first Blue Ray Neil Young Retrospective box collection covering 1963-1972, which is expected to retail at c£300.
Football Matters
Andrew Baker has been counting the pennies carefully recently but decided to dip into the transfer market when the opportunity to purchase a bunch of American players for a song appeared. It was only after the deal was completed and the medicals completed that Kelvin West pointed out to Andrew that all these ladies were over fifty years old!
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