GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 82
October 2009
Who is this Man?
Why, of course, its media man Good ‘ol Gus Fraser. What you may have forgotten is that last winter he was appointed as Managing Director of Cricket for Middlesex. No one seems to know what his job description is but it seems to allow plenty of time for him to appear on TMS and in Sky studios. Most Managing Directors are in charge of their businesses, are required to perform to pre-determined targets and are held accountable for their performances. Gus seems to have avoided the need to do any of these.
At the end of his first season in an interview for Radio BBC London he said: “It's been a tough summer and we've not performed as well as we'd have liked. There are holes to fill. We are speaking to people and hopefully some of the people that we are speaking to will sign on the dotted line and we'll have a slightly different squad next year. So we'll be looking at an overseas fast bowler next year, another fast bowler to strengthen our fast bowling resources, a young left-arm spinner and a batsman to add some experience to our youthful batting order."
Unfortunately all Middlesex members knew these shortcomings before the beginning of this season. The only acceptable position for Middlesex is to be challenging Durham for the County Championship in 2011 after promotion in 2010 to the first division. This does not seem to feature on Gus’ agenda, let alone be his prime objective. So stop pissing about Gus and get serious. Give up your media crap and get down to the real task of running Middlesex cricket.
Out and About with the Professor
I wonder how the readers of G&C feel about the two-division set up in the County Championship. Does anyone think it has improved standards? Created a significant gap between, say, the champions, Durham, and the teams at the bottom of Div 2, like Leicester or Middlesex? Should the logic of two-divisions be carried over into relegation into the Minor Counties leagues?
I suppose one definite plus is the interest it keeps up to the end of the season for the minute proportion of the population who follow these things. Sadly, I include myself in that group, and so I took myself off to Headingley this week to see if Yorkshire could get the 6 points to avoid the arithmetical (but unlikely) possibility of relegation…which they did with ease. Bowling out Hampshire for 350 gained 3 points and then the batters provided the rest…but not before we had learned that Sussex had got nothing like the 400 required for maximum points…i.e., we were safe. It was a small elderly crowd but they seemed pleased enough.
There was some good cricket as well. One of the eternal verities is that “old boys” play well on their return and so it was no surprise to see Lumb putting together a very competent 80, and Kruis, in his last game for the Club, bowling with more aggression than anyone could remember heretofore. When it was Yorkshire’s turn to bat, Sayers started, as is his habit, at a snail’s pace, but then played some fluent front and back foot shots through the covers – especially off Cork…who did not seem amused. One little hiccup was that the game did not start on time. In fact it was two hours late. This was for “bad light”. The small elderly crowd did not take well to this delay in the entertainment they had paid for. Indeed there was some slow handclapping and the odd: “Ger on wi’ it” catcall.
And quite right too. I thought the light was plenty good enough. True it didn’t have the crystal clarity which is so readily associated with Leeds in late September, but neither was it exactly crepuscular. I’m convinced that at the end of day One (when they were still on the field) the light was worse than at mid-day (when they hadn’t started). It all adds force to the debate about using a pink ball, and the current fashion to play with a ball the colour of a deep intense burgundy. When they did get started, the ball was so dark as to look almost black. The “nice new cherry” is a thing of the past.
There were, of course, during these two hours of no play also no announcements; no attempt to keep the “crowd” informed. The Headingley authorities, like all cricket authorities these days, treat their public with contempt: “We’re not going to play in this light and if you don’t like it, piss off.” Actually there was one genuflection to the paying public. With incomparable irony the authorities had arranged some lunchtime entertainment. So while the teams were off for bad light, there was a demonstration … by some enthusiastic cricketers…who were visually impaired.
ODI Matters
Simon Hutchinson hosted a box at the Oval for the first Australian ODI for a group of my IFA colleagues. I thought that I had to travel a long way but Phil O’Brien came down from York for the event. I had planned to drive but my car broke down earlier in the week which mercifully forced to let the train take the strain. We met up in the Beehive where, in what is apparently normal pub din, we shouted greetings to each other as the group assembled. There was some confusion since the original plan was for a 2.30 start which was mysteriously brought back to 1pm somewhere along the line.
We made our way to the box and arrived in time to hear that Andrew Strauss had won the toss and elected to field. No one could work out why and I can only surmise that the ODI side does not have the confidence to work out what will be a good score and then set out to achieve it. Or it could be the bravado that all ODI sides seem to have, particularly the West Indians and New Zealanders, “you get them and we can knock them off”.
The ball didn’t swing or apparently deviate and so England’s opening attack of Anderson and Broad were ineffective. Sidebottom also, uncharacteristically, bowled some looseners which were duly despatched. Australia looked set for a huge score with Watson and White taking the score past a hundred without being troubled but then Rashid bowled a spell which will probably mark the end of Monty’s international career. In unhelpful conditions he bowled a beautifully controlled spell and gave almost nothing away. At the other end Collingwood and then Swann kept things tight, with the pace off the ball, and suddenly Australian were struggling to make a game of it. But when Strauss brought his quicks back the unknown Callum Ferguson with Mike Hussey and then Catfish Hopes took the score along to an almost respectable, but hardly challenging 260.
This was about 4.30 pm at which point those of us in boxes had a very belated lunch served. That is not to say that our group had not pigged out since their arrival on pies and tarts. But we then gamely sat down and demolished a three course lunch. I was still chasing the last piece of white chocolate covered in ice cream and jelly around my plate when Brett Lee started reminding Andrew Strauss that at 94mph he was quicker than anything that he had faced in the tests. It wasn’t long before Strauss guided a short but straight delivery to slip which brought in Prior to join Bopara who was opening in place of the injured Denly. I think that I hardly need to make comment on his absurd injury. If he had broken a finger during catching practice so be it but to suffer a high tackle at the knee playing football is absurd. It might be safer to loosen up abseiling from the gasometer or swimming across a tank of piranha fish. However, Prior was the only batsman to show any urgency until Owais replaced him. Bopara seemed content on scoring singles in an attempt to secure a place in the side. In the event he ground out at such a slow pace that when he was eventually stumped blocking Hauritz he had so frustrated the crowd that they all but booed him back to the pavilion. Owais played some crisp shots for four but was becalmed and lost a lot of the strike to Bopara and then Collingwood.
One of the new batting techniques is to play deep in the crease to try to turn the Yorker into something more like a half volley. This strikes me as fraught with problems although I have seen it profitably employed this summer. My biggest fear is hit wicket with the bat but Owais just moved his foot back a few inches and dislodged the bail. Collingwood looked out of sorts and when he pulled a long hop straight to Watson England looked lost at 168 for 5 with only eleven overs to go. But such striking rates don’t faze modern batsmen and Wright and Rashid started clobbering it to all parts. Wright was run out by the wicket keeper off a Lee no ball which was probably a stumping which challenged my knowledge of the laws. Swann came and went but in the penultimate over with 22 required Sidebottom hooked Lee to long stop for four and then edged to fine third man for another four and so an improbable but just gettable thirteen were needed off the final over. Although Rashid gratefully pulled a Bracken full toss for four a single left Sidebottom needing two boundaries off the last three balls which he could not achieve.
The Oval looked spectacular under lights from our vantage point and one wonders why the ECB should ever bother with the likes of Old Trafford again for an international match. The batsmen on both sides struggled to get the ball away particularly when the slower bowlers were in action. Maybe the ball wasn’t coming on quickly or perhaps the batsmen all lacked the confidence to play the big shots. Seven and a half hours is a long time to be entertained in a box and some of our party felt loose enough to join the hoi palloi on the terraces in encouraging England to move less sedately towards their target. Overall it was an intriguing match which held the attention until the final over with either side able to win.
Old Grammarian Matters
Martin Jennings sent me the following
“I read an article by Mike Selvey in the Guardian yesterday (yes, some people do read it) where he mentioned his first cricket game for Old Grammarians v. South Hampstead on 1 August 1965. His first ever wicket he says was Robin Ager bowled Selvey for 0. He got this info from a website www.cricketarchive.com which has scorecards for almost every game of relative importance.”
I replied that this was odd since the information was not supplied by South Hampstead and Bill Hart informs me that the Old Grammarians’ records were destroyed by their custodian in the mistaken belief that no one was interested in them.
Middlesex Matters
The Great Jack Morgan updates us from Middlesex’ miscellaneous home venues
I went to the Vine for the Second XI Championship match against Northants. After winning the toss, Middlesex openers Adam London and Neil Dexter picked up where they left off the previous day in the 50 over match: in that game they shared an unbroken stand of 230 and in this match they again played excellently to put on another 163 before London fell for 70. Captain Dexter cruised on past his century, but when he was finally dismissed for 150 with the score on 246, that was the first of four wickets to go down for 13 runs. Middlesex's supremacy was restored with a fine stand of 149 between Kabir Toor (78) and Dan Housego (93), who was batting down at 7 because he ricked his neck in the warm-up. When Middlesex declared at 424 for 8, visiting skipper Ben Howgego was not fit to take his place at the top of the order and all rounder Neil Turk, who had been listed at 7, was promoted to replace him. Turk, in fact, batted with great determination to make the top score of 87 and other useful contributions came from Paul Harrison (64) and Mark Nelson (62*).
Northants decided to avoid a stalemate by declaring behind on 313 for 4. Middlesex needed to score fairly quickly to set Northants a testing target on this fast scoring ground, but they got themselves into a mess at the start of their second innings. Although Dan Housego made 43, they slumped to 79 for 5 and it needed a quietly impressive 43* from young Will Vanderspar and more explosive contributions from Chris Silverwood (38) and Robbie Williams (39) to move them on to a lunchtime declaration on day 3 at 205 for 8, which set Northants 317 to win in 63 overs, a target which some felt was rather generous to the opposition. The best of the visiting bowlers were 19 year old pace bowler Shaun Bailey (3 for 46) and slow left armer Tom Brett, also 19, with 3 for 55. The twenty one year old Howgego was fit enough to open in the second innings and made a good looking 40, but the main threat this time was Harrison, who kept Northants in the hunt with a well struck 82. Rain had reduced the overs allowed to 55 and if the full 63 had been available, I think Northants would have won from promising positions at 145 for 2 and 232 for 5, but the pitch was now taking spin and Dexter gave slow left armer Ravi Patel (18) a long bowl and Ravi responded with 5 for 65 in 20 overs, though it was weird that the other spinners were used so sparingly: Kabir Toor bowled only two overs in the second innings and Adam London did not get on at all second time around. The result of this was that Middlesex could not take the last two wickets after Northants finally gave up the chase following the dismissal of Harrison and the visitors finished with Dan Bendon and Lee Daggett holding on at 261 for 8.
Dexter relied too heavily on his main seamers Chris Silverwood, Danny Evans and Josh Davey, when the flat track was giving them little assistance, but it was puzzling that promising paceman Tom Hampton bowled only seven overs in the match. Robbie Williams bowled only four overs in the match, but in his case, this was understandable as he was gently feeling his way back to fitness. David Nash injured a finger in the warm-up on day two and took no further part in the match. The keeping duties on day two were shared by London and Dexter, before John Simpson, released from first team duty, arrived to take the gloves on day three.
I have just had five days at Uxbridge. There was not really much chance of our "second team” batting equalling the quality of Kent's Stevens, Kemp (yet another century in my presence), Northeast and van Jaarsfeld, but ex-Kent man Neil Dexter produced easily the best performance of his career with 146 and 118, only his fourth and fifth first class centuries ever, which lift him to the top of the Middlesex batting averages. It seemed weird that Dexter was accorded the "protection" of batting at 5, while the greenhorns (Adam and Dan, in particular) were sacrificed to the new ball. A more sensible order might have seen the relatively experienced Compton, Dexter and Malan in the top three, with London, Housego and Simpson mixed in with Bergy and Shaun in the middle of the batting. Day three was unusually social as not only did Jeff Coleman drop in for good length discussions, but Mick the Scorer came round (we both always sit as straight as possible, but because of the fierce north-easterlies, I had retreated to a sheltered spot square with the wicket) for a general moan about Middlesex, Uxbridge, the weather, the poor view etc, but I was also surprised to be joined by Bob Apricot for a friendly chat... until I remembered that it is election time for the committee! I sat with some good-natured Kent supporters for much of the match and they claimed to have heard that both Silvers and Richo are being released, though Jeff thinks that Richo is being considered for the role of bowling coach and second team captain. It emerged that Silvers is not getting another contract, but might be in discussions with Northants and Kartik is rumoured to be joining Somerset.
Welwyn Garden City Matters
The Professor updates us on his club’s season and makes an announcement
A couple of weeks’ ago I went to see our last home match, against Banbury, which had a distinctly end-of-term feel about it. Both sides were in similar positions in the League in that neither could win it nor be demoted...and it showed. In the end Welwyn lost a game that would have been very close had catches been held, but nobody seemed to care very much. Indeed fairly early on in the season it became clear that we had too good a side to go down but not quite a good enough one (or fit enough one) to challenge for the title. Which is a shame.
What we have had is three players who have very recent first class experience (Hewitt, Laraman and Walker) a lad on the Groundstaff and one in the Middlesex Academy. The last of these, Jamie Southgate, has had an excellent year, and looks to be a real talent. Had all these players been fit, all year, we would have quite possibly been looking at the title. In the event, we have been well beaten on too many occasions, especially by the eventual champions, Henley.
Most teams in this League have a number of former, or present, county players, and it is always interesting to see how club cricketers perform against them. Gareth Berg, for example, played against us twice for Radlett; Chad Keegan for Henley; Dan Housego has turned out for Reading, and so on. I'm sure this can be replicated in other leagues and it is, of course, common to see fringe county players in the Yorkshire League.
The professionals are clearly better than the modal club cricketer, but not, in my observations, that much better. (Housego did get a big hundred for Reading but they are in the division below the Premiership). It is now not uncommon to see someone playing in a club match one day and then to see him on the TV a few days' later. That was not, I think we can agree, the norm when we were lads. There are some obvious reasons for this change but it adds to my view that the gap between club and county is not as big as it once was. A good example of this is the presence of Minor County players. My recollection is that a Minor County cricketer in a club side used to be a subject of note (“They’ve got old so-and-so who plays for Bucks/Beds/Herts” or whatever). Now every team has players with that experience and I think Welwyn Garden have turned out XIs where every player has represented a Minor County or better. This might not represent Clubs getting stronger of course: Minor Counties may be getting weaker, there may be more games, it may be more difficult to find players, etc. But it does pose the question, inter alia, of what Minor County cricket is for. Especially if one suspects that the best clubs would be more than a match for a Minor County; how, for example, would Beds or Hereford get on against, say, Ealing or Scarborough, Wolverhampton or Accrington? There is of course all the development work and the under-this and over-that cricket which is all very important; but one suspects that clubs could do more if they had the resources that, at present, are devoted to the Minor County layer, and if the object of the exercise is producing top class cricketers, (and that is an important presumption), is this a layer we could do without?
It is also interesting to see how the league system has resulted in changes in fortunes. When I first came to Hertfordshire, Watford Town were one of the strongest clubs, who we had little chance of beating. They now play in the same division as our 2nds. Similarly, I notice the lowly status in the Middlesex League of the once-proud clubs like Wembley and Hornsey. Happily, the possibility of promotion enables things to be turned round, as they have splendidly with Shepherds Bush. In the Yorkshire League there is no relegation and so Harrogate have bumped along the bottom for some time now. It would be nice to get some idea of the relative strengths of clubs across the country. There seems to be a proliferation of cricket competitions these days but, at the risk of inventing another, I think a knock out between the winners of the 25 ECB Leagues reported by Wisden plus, say, the two best-known Lancashire Leagues, would be very interesting.
As for the rest of our Club, it has been a moderate season all round with the 4th team the best placed in their league and the 5th's just avoiding the drop. Even our many junior sides have not walked off with the trophies of the past. It has been some years since we have not won a pot or two, so perhaps we were due for a quiet year.
It will also be my last as the Club's President, my 17 year stint coming to an end without me ever finding out what the job description for a President actually is...but it's been great fun.
Hot Water Matters
Paddy Carlin takes issue with the Great Jack Morgan
Without wanting to enter into an epistolatory feud with the Great Jack Morgan, I feel that I need to point out a few facts regarding Hertfordshire County Cricket Club and my own beloved Welwyn Garden City CC. Messrs Walker, Laraman, and Hewitt have all been highly successful this season for Herts as have, on occasion, Simon White and James Southgate from the Middlesex Academy. Can any club match this for representation at Minor Counties level? In addition to the above the following WGCCC players have played for Herts in recent seasons: Martin James, Gavin Baker, Ben Frazer, Paul Barker, Nick lamb Eddie Ballard and Dan Blacktopp, plus a couple of young twelfthers in John Pettel and Liam Mitchell. There are two possible conclusions to be drawn: either Herts aren’t much good or WGCCC under perform most of the time. Both are true.
The Great Jack Morgan takes issue with Paddy Carlin
Paddy Carlin? Who he? And how does he know me? Wigley and Lucas are both better batters than Monty (check their records) and I suspect the England management of negotiating Monty's rise up the order to no 9! Jon Lewis is not that bad a bat at all; a career average of over 14 is quite respectable for a no 9 or 10. Ben Howgego is a promising 21 year old who might or might not make it in first class cricket and gets few first team opportunities, so isn't it ridiculous to dismiss him as "manifestly not good enough" on the evidence of his second or third first class match? I was surprised that you published such superficial crap. Let's hope Paddy never becomes an England selector as he will have ruled out everyone before they have even left university! Ben is at Exeter. David Lucas "quick"? He is a very late developer who has been around for well over a decade, but who has now turned into a very useful purveyor of swing and cut, but at no more than fast medium.
Sex Matters
Eric Tracey spotted an article in which Gary Kirsten proclaimed that sex and cricket are good bed fellows
It used to be said that sexual intercourse close to a sporting event sapped energy. But India’s players have been advised otherwise in a confidential document written by their coach that effectively tells them to boost their performances on the field by hopping into action off it. The four-part paper written by Gary Kirsten, who has helped India to become the leading one-day side in the world, became the talk of the Champions Trophy yesterday as a taboo subject was thrust into the open. The relevant chapter is headlined “Does sex increase performance?” and the answer is explicit: “Yes it does, so go ahead and indulge.” Kirsten’s reasoning is that sex increases levels of testosterone, which leads to greater strength, aggression and competitiveness. “Conversely, not having sex for a period of a few months causes a significant drop in testosterone levels in both males and females, with the corresponding passiveness and decrease in aggression,” he writes. Graeme Swann described the idea of more sex as “the kind of forward thinking the game needs”. The England bowler said: “I assume Kirsten does not mean within the team. Wives and partners must be involved. If the ICC want to make the game more exciting, fly in the wives and girlfriends or other parties to improve the standard of cricket.” But we all remember what happened when the wags went to the World Cup in Germany.
Old Trafford Matters
I had tickets for both of the Twenty20 internationals at Old Trafford this year. I passed the ones for the first match over to Mike Smith and Martin Hurley and felt moderately smug as I watched on television as the game got just far enough, seven balls into the England innings, to show that they were going to lose. Two days later I turned up with Googlies stalwarts the Professor, Andrew Baker, Malcolm Stone and Mike Scott for the second game. We made it onto the terrace where we watched the pantomime enacted whereby the umpires went out of their way to ensure that there would be no play. No one seems to have told them that:
1. They are in the entertainment business
2. Twenty20 cricket is fun and not to be taken too seriously
Much has been reported on this in the media but it was from Andrew Baker that I first heard the next morning:
“There is some serious criticism on the assorted “Blogs” this morning and some sensible suggestions from some “proper” ex international cricketers. All seem to agree that the match should have gone ahead. Shane Warne’s idea of just bowl from one end does actually have some merit and I wonder why they never thought of that. Jeff Thompson – it was fine to play as it was. Others felt that reduced run ups should have been used. An interesting but very sensible suggestion was that a bit of foresight was all that was needed to avoid the problem i.e. get the covers on in time or prepare two wickets one at each side of the square...what’s the worst that can happen here – one doesn’t get used!
Most observers seem outraged that it would be OK for a county match but not for international cricketers and plenty of references relate to views on who might reasonably call themselves an “international” cricketer! I guess the most common sentiment was that most observers felt that the “internationals” just didn’t fancy it, were never intending to play and were hoping that a down pour would save the blushes! What’s the betting they start the county game at 10.30 today!”
Andrew was, of course, right and the county match did start the following morning by which time there had been no drying conditions in the area. But to make his next point he had to make a dreadful confession:
“Coldplay are at Old Trafford this Saturday for a 50,000 sell-out concert. If they do this every other weekend is it any surprise they have ground issues. I went to a concert there a few weeks ago (OK yes it was rather embarrassingly Take That!) – probably 40-50,000 there – pissing down all night with a load of plastic sheeting “protecting” the pitch. Plastic gridding was on top of the plastic sheets on the square. A sizeable proportion of the ladies seemed to turn up in stilettos with the obvious consequences to the plastic sheeting and playing surface of course!”
Oval Matters
Paddy Carlin sent me the following report
From a walking companion of my wife I obtained four tickets for the Northants match at the Oval. And no ordinary tickets did they turn out to be. Rather they were Montpellier Club cards which are issued at £8000 pa, and designed to replicate Arsenal’s Diamond Club at the Emirates Stadium. I attended and enjoyed the sense of isolation and luxury on three days of the match when I was only joined by a couple of others in the luxury accomodation. The preparation of the test match strip must have been a mark of genius. Apparently the wicket was moved at the last minute and the lack of adequate preparation facilitated a result.
Day One. Van de Wath is still bowling in a shiny wristwatch. He looks like the kind of man who could arrange for an enemy to be despatched with extreme prejudice. Batty, whose contract may be terminated, batted all day for a dreary century and only Afzal and Schofield offered much entertainment. Monty still looks forlorn.
Day Two. Much better. Batty out immediately and Northants in. The dour Peters out quickly and Wakely castled first ball by the only straight ball Dernbach bowled all day. Enter Wessels to play beautifully with O’Brien as they crashed the innocuous Surrey bowling all over the Oval. Poor Tudor. At six foot ten inches, a black man with a long threatening run, he looks like an opening batsman’s worst nightmare. But every batsman played him easily. Only Schofield, who is an attractive bat and a good fielder, offered any threat at all. Is Rashid any better than him? O’Brien got his century as did Wessels. White, the sort of batsman who gets forty before you realise he’s been in, scored briskly before he pulled a fetlock late on.
Day Three. South Africa to the fore as Boje, Hall and van der Wath all got fifties in no time at all with Hall clattering the new ball to the midwicket boundary six times before the Surrey skipper, their sixth this season, moved from a six-three to a five-four field. Northants rattled up a lead of over a hundred in less overs and were probably confident of victory. Unfortunately, Panesar was one of their spinners and he darted the ball down Underwood style faster and faster with no appreciable turn. I speculated that perhaps even Deadly Derek might have struggled in this era of covered wickets. Anyway, if Northants had had a spinner to support the impressive Boje(twice as good a fielder as Monty, twice as good a bowler and an infinitely better batsman) they might have got more wickets than three on the third day.
Day Four. This must have been dire and will do nothing to attract Saturday crowds. Surrey scored about 150 for six all day.
All in all I picked the right days to go and am now on friendly speaking terms with Barry, a Surrey member of some influence who was in the box each day and Tony Murphy, a Surrey committee member and ex player who told me of a remarkable club game he had recently played in. This was a Surrey Championship Division Four match in which Woking and Horsell knocked off the runs inside one over after bowling out Maari Oxshot (Murphy’s team) for 4. This puts into context my scathing criticism of WGCCC third and fourth elevens recently. Tony Murphy, who was 0 not out in the game in question assured me that his team were really not that bad. I wonder.
Jim Conroy
Steve Thompson sent me the following
Over 350 friends and former colleagues attended the funeral service for Jim Conroy in early September. Inevitably the vast majority came from the world of the Middlesex League and in particular Southgate, Enfield and Winchmore Hill for whom, through his many years as Master i/c Cricket at The Grammar School in Enfield and Manager of Middlesex Schools under-19s over three decades, he provided literally dozens of young cricketers many of whom went on to play First Class cricket and several Test Cricket.
In my first year at the Grammar School in 1980-81 as a teacher with just two years under my belt I inherited the school Under-15s who by dint of being County Champions represented Middlesex in the Lord's Taverners Trophy. Under Jim's watchful eye he helped guide me with them to the final at Edgbaston having claimed half a dozen notable Public School scalps en route. We lost what was the first all state school final by one wicket to Peterlee School from Durham. It was Jim's day; the fruits of his labours.
Originally a quick bowler, he lost his action relatively early on in his career at Southgate but then manufactured himself into a dependable batsman. Under his captaincy the club built a platform from which it was to achieve great success in the late 70s and early 80s. Ironically in many ways, one of his last games as captain was against South Hampstead in one of the latter rounds of the National Knockout in 1975. As an after-dinner speaker he combined native Yorkshire wit with a wonderful sense of timing, speaking as he did at over 200 dinners.
Jim didn't overcomplicate his coaching of the game. He insisted on serious practice, light bats and bowlers bowling straight. His other major sporting love became golf. I last saw him at his home on the evening of the Friday of the Ashes Test at Lord's in July. For the vast majority of the sporting public this was a weekend of unprecedented administrative sporting mis-management as both Test Match and British Open vied for prominence. What they won't have known is that Jim, a devout Catholic, knowing himself to be in his last Summer will have 'had a word'. He had spent the day with the Open on the TV and TMS on the radio- heaven on earth already for him!
These few words have only scratched the surface as a tribute to a quite remarkable man; the turn out at his funeral was testament to the number of lives he enriched. The last phrase written at the foot of Jim's Order of Service was one he would often use to wind up young Spurs or Arsenal supporting boys at the school and which encapsulated his insistence on always being right, on having the last word, his sense of humour and above all his love of all things Yorkshire.
'ROTHERHAM UNITED - UNDEFEATED IN EUROPE'.
Mervyn Mansell
John Lindley sent me the following announcement from Ealing CC
I have to inform you that Mervyn Mansell MBE DSC passed away peacefully in Ealing Hospital on Wed 26th August at 7.20pm. He had recently undertaken a heart by-pass operation and seemed to be progressing well but this was major surgery for a 91 year old. Our deepest sympathies are extended to June and all members of the family. For those who do not know, Mervyn started the colts section at the club over 60 years ago and managed the colts section for approx 55 years. With June, his ever supportive wife and partner, the colts section was developed year by year with a great deal of hard work, unparalleled dedication and sincerity. He played cricket for Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and also for the club. He was a prolific batsman. Mervyn was a very proud and hardworking human being, who whilst
running his pharmaceutical business full time found time to manage the colts section of Ealing CC. He was also actively involved with Middlesex Colts Association, being a founder member. All his efforts were rewarded with an MBE, truly deserved. Mervyn’s Ashes will be scattered at the club next season hopefully linked to either the colts festival or a match in his honour.
Middlesex League Matters
Congratulations to Ealing on winning the Middlesex Premier League again. Shepherds Bush just avoided relegation to Division Two where South Hampstead just avoided relegation themselves. On the final day of the season Ealing scored 323 for 9 from 65 overs and Hampstead 338 from 66 overs.
Football Matters
Andrew Baker, the Ladies Team’s manager, fell off his horse last weekend and is now recovering from a variety of painful injuries. He blames the recession and the need for his players to take alfresco showers. He tells me that he was trying to gesticulate to his new centre half to get dressed when the accident occurred.
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 82
October 2009
Who is this Man?
Why, of course, its media man Good ‘ol Gus Fraser. What you may have forgotten is that last winter he was appointed as Managing Director of Cricket for Middlesex. No one seems to know what his job description is but it seems to allow plenty of time for him to appear on TMS and in Sky studios. Most Managing Directors are in charge of their businesses, are required to perform to pre-determined targets and are held accountable for their performances. Gus seems to have avoided the need to do any of these.
At the end of his first season in an interview for Radio BBC London he said: “It's been a tough summer and we've not performed as well as we'd have liked. There are holes to fill. We are speaking to people and hopefully some of the people that we are speaking to will sign on the dotted line and we'll have a slightly different squad next year. So we'll be looking at an overseas fast bowler next year, another fast bowler to strengthen our fast bowling resources, a young left-arm spinner and a batsman to add some experience to our youthful batting order."
Unfortunately all Middlesex members knew these shortcomings before the beginning of this season. The only acceptable position for Middlesex is to be challenging Durham for the County Championship in 2011 after promotion in 2010 to the first division. This does not seem to feature on Gus’ agenda, let alone be his prime objective. So stop pissing about Gus and get serious. Give up your media crap and get down to the real task of running Middlesex cricket.
Out and About with the Professor
I wonder how the readers of G&C feel about the two-division set up in the County Championship. Does anyone think it has improved standards? Created a significant gap between, say, the champions, Durham, and the teams at the bottom of Div 2, like Leicester or Middlesex? Should the logic of two-divisions be carried over into relegation into the Minor Counties leagues?
I suppose one definite plus is the interest it keeps up to the end of the season for the minute proportion of the population who follow these things. Sadly, I include myself in that group, and so I took myself off to Headingley this week to see if Yorkshire could get the 6 points to avoid the arithmetical (but unlikely) possibility of relegation…which they did with ease. Bowling out Hampshire for 350 gained 3 points and then the batters provided the rest…but not before we had learned that Sussex had got nothing like the 400 required for maximum points…i.e., we were safe. It was a small elderly crowd but they seemed pleased enough.
There was some good cricket as well. One of the eternal verities is that “old boys” play well on their return and so it was no surprise to see Lumb putting together a very competent 80, and Kruis, in his last game for the Club, bowling with more aggression than anyone could remember heretofore. When it was Yorkshire’s turn to bat, Sayers started, as is his habit, at a snail’s pace, but then played some fluent front and back foot shots through the covers – especially off Cork…who did not seem amused. One little hiccup was that the game did not start on time. In fact it was two hours late. This was for “bad light”. The small elderly crowd did not take well to this delay in the entertainment they had paid for. Indeed there was some slow handclapping and the odd: “Ger on wi’ it” catcall.
And quite right too. I thought the light was plenty good enough. True it didn’t have the crystal clarity which is so readily associated with Leeds in late September, but neither was it exactly crepuscular. I’m convinced that at the end of day One (when they were still on the field) the light was worse than at mid-day (when they hadn’t started). It all adds force to the debate about using a pink ball, and the current fashion to play with a ball the colour of a deep intense burgundy. When they did get started, the ball was so dark as to look almost black. The “nice new cherry” is a thing of the past.
There were, of course, during these two hours of no play also no announcements; no attempt to keep the “crowd” informed. The Headingley authorities, like all cricket authorities these days, treat their public with contempt: “We’re not going to play in this light and if you don’t like it, piss off.” Actually there was one genuflection to the paying public. With incomparable irony the authorities had arranged some lunchtime entertainment. So while the teams were off for bad light, there was a demonstration … by some enthusiastic cricketers…who were visually impaired.
ODI Matters
Simon Hutchinson hosted a box at the Oval for the first Australian ODI for a group of my IFA colleagues. I thought that I had to travel a long way but Phil O’Brien came down from York for the event. I had planned to drive but my car broke down earlier in the week which mercifully forced to let the train take the strain. We met up in the Beehive where, in what is apparently normal pub din, we shouted greetings to each other as the group assembled. There was some confusion since the original plan was for a 2.30 start which was mysteriously brought back to 1pm somewhere along the line.
We made our way to the box and arrived in time to hear that Andrew Strauss had won the toss and elected to field. No one could work out why and I can only surmise that the ODI side does not have the confidence to work out what will be a good score and then set out to achieve it. Or it could be the bravado that all ODI sides seem to have, particularly the West Indians and New Zealanders, “you get them and we can knock them off”.
The ball didn’t swing or apparently deviate and so England’s opening attack of Anderson and Broad were ineffective. Sidebottom also, uncharacteristically, bowled some looseners which were duly despatched. Australia looked set for a huge score with Watson and White taking the score past a hundred without being troubled but then Rashid bowled a spell which will probably mark the end of Monty’s international career. In unhelpful conditions he bowled a beautifully controlled spell and gave almost nothing away. At the other end Collingwood and then Swann kept things tight, with the pace off the ball, and suddenly Australian were struggling to make a game of it. But when Strauss brought his quicks back the unknown Callum Ferguson with Mike Hussey and then Catfish Hopes took the score along to an almost respectable, but hardly challenging 260.
This was about 4.30 pm at which point those of us in boxes had a very belated lunch served. That is not to say that our group had not pigged out since their arrival on pies and tarts. But we then gamely sat down and demolished a three course lunch. I was still chasing the last piece of white chocolate covered in ice cream and jelly around my plate when Brett Lee started reminding Andrew Strauss that at 94mph he was quicker than anything that he had faced in the tests. It wasn’t long before Strauss guided a short but straight delivery to slip which brought in Prior to join Bopara who was opening in place of the injured Denly. I think that I hardly need to make comment on his absurd injury. If he had broken a finger during catching practice so be it but to suffer a high tackle at the knee playing football is absurd. It might be safer to loosen up abseiling from the gasometer or swimming across a tank of piranha fish. However, Prior was the only batsman to show any urgency until Owais replaced him. Bopara seemed content on scoring singles in an attempt to secure a place in the side. In the event he ground out at such a slow pace that when he was eventually stumped blocking Hauritz he had so frustrated the crowd that they all but booed him back to the pavilion. Owais played some crisp shots for four but was becalmed and lost a lot of the strike to Bopara and then Collingwood.
One of the new batting techniques is to play deep in the crease to try to turn the Yorker into something more like a half volley. This strikes me as fraught with problems although I have seen it profitably employed this summer. My biggest fear is hit wicket with the bat but Owais just moved his foot back a few inches and dislodged the bail. Collingwood looked out of sorts and when he pulled a long hop straight to Watson England looked lost at 168 for 5 with only eleven overs to go. But such striking rates don’t faze modern batsmen and Wright and Rashid started clobbering it to all parts. Wright was run out by the wicket keeper off a Lee no ball which was probably a stumping which challenged my knowledge of the laws. Swann came and went but in the penultimate over with 22 required Sidebottom hooked Lee to long stop for four and then edged to fine third man for another four and so an improbable but just gettable thirteen were needed off the final over. Although Rashid gratefully pulled a Bracken full toss for four a single left Sidebottom needing two boundaries off the last three balls which he could not achieve.
The Oval looked spectacular under lights from our vantage point and one wonders why the ECB should ever bother with the likes of Old Trafford again for an international match. The batsmen on both sides struggled to get the ball away particularly when the slower bowlers were in action. Maybe the ball wasn’t coming on quickly or perhaps the batsmen all lacked the confidence to play the big shots. Seven and a half hours is a long time to be entertained in a box and some of our party felt loose enough to join the hoi palloi on the terraces in encouraging England to move less sedately towards their target. Overall it was an intriguing match which held the attention until the final over with either side able to win.
Old Grammarian Matters
Martin Jennings sent me the following
“I read an article by Mike Selvey in the Guardian yesterday (yes, some people do read it) where he mentioned his first cricket game for Old Grammarians v. South Hampstead on 1 August 1965. His first ever wicket he says was Robin Ager bowled Selvey for 0. He got this info from a website www.cricketarchive.com which has scorecards for almost every game of relative importance.”
I replied that this was odd since the information was not supplied by South Hampstead and Bill Hart informs me that the Old Grammarians’ records were destroyed by their custodian in the mistaken belief that no one was interested in them.
Middlesex Matters
The Great Jack Morgan updates us from Middlesex’ miscellaneous home venues
I went to the Vine for the Second XI Championship match against Northants. After winning the toss, Middlesex openers Adam London and Neil Dexter picked up where they left off the previous day in the 50 over match: in that game they shared an unbroken stand of 230 and in this match they again played excellently to put on another 163 before London fell for 70. Captain Dexter cruised on past his century, but when he was finally dismissed for 150 with the score on 246, that was the first of four wickets to go down for 13 runs. Middlesex's supremacy was restored with a fine stand of 149 between Kabir Toor (78) and Dan Housego (93), who was batting down at 7 because he ricked his neck in the warm-up. When Middlesex declared at 424 for 8, visiting skipper Ben Howgego was not fit to take his place at the top of the order and all rounder Neil Turk, who had been listed at 7, was promoted to replace him. Turk, in fact, batted with great determination to make the top score of 87 and other useful contributions came from Paul Harrison (64) and Mark Nelson (62*).
Northants decided to avoid a stalemate by declaring behind on 313 for 4. Middlesex needed to score fairly quickly to set Northants a testing target on this fast scoring ground, but they got themselves into a mess at the start of their second innings. Although Dan Housego made 43, they slumped to 79 for 5 and it needed a quietly impressive 43* from young Will Vanderspar and more explosive contributions from Chris Silverwood (38) and Robbie Williams (39) to move them on to a lunchtime declaration on day 3 at 205 for 8, which set Northants 317 to win in 63 overs, a target which some felt was rather generous to the opposition. The best of the visiting bowlers were 19 year old pace bowler Shaun Bailey (3 for 46) and slow left armer Tom Brett, also 19, with 3 for 55. The twenty one year old Howgego was fit enough to open in the second innings and made a good looking 40, but the main threat this time was Harrison, who kept Northants in the hunt with a well struck 82. Rain had reduced the overs allowed to 55 and if the full 63 had been available, I think Northants would have won from promising positions at 145 for 2 and 232 for 5, but the pitch was now taking spin and Dexter gave slow left armer Ravi Patel (18) a long bowl and Ravi responded with 5 for 65 in 20 overs, though it was weird that the other spinners were used so sparingly: Kabir Toor bowled only two overs in the second innings and Adam London did not get on at all second time around. The result of this was that Middlesex could not take the last two wickets after Northants finally gave up the chase following the dismissal of Harrison and the visitors finished with Dan Bendon and Lee Daggett holding on at 261 for 8.
Dexter relied too heavily on his main seamers Chris Silverwood, Danny Evans and Josh Davey, when the flat track was giving them little assistance, but it was puzzling that promising paceman Tom Hampton bowled only seven overs in the match. Robbie Williams bowled only four overs in the match, but in his case, this was understandable as he was gently feeling his way back to fitness. David Nash injured a finger in the warm-up on day two and took no further part in the match. The keeping duties on day two were shared by London and Dexter, before John Simpson, released from first team duty, arrived to take the gloves on day three.
I have just had five days at Uxbridge. There was not really much chance of our "second team” batting equalling the quality of Kent's Stevens, Kemp (yet another century in my presence), Northeast and van Jaarsfeld, but ex-Kent man Neil Dexter produced easily the best performance of his career with 146 and 118, only his fourth and fifth first class centuries ever, which lift him to the top of the Middlesex batting averages. It seemed weird that Dexter was accorded the "protection" of batting at 5, while the greenhorns (Adam and Dan, in particular) were sacrificed to the new ball. A more sensible order might have seen the relatively experienced Compton, Dexter and Malan in the top three, with London, Housego and Simpson mixed in with Bergy and Shaun in the middle of the batting. Day three was unusually social as not only did Jeff Coleman drop in for good length discussions, but Mick the Scorer came round (we both always sit as straight as possible, but because of the fierce north-easterlies, I had retreated to a sheltered spot square with the wicket) for a general moan about Middlesex, Uxbridge, the weather, the poor view etc, but I was also surprised to be joined by Bob Apricot for a friendly chat... until I remembered that it is election time for the committee! I sat with some good-natured Kent supporters for much of the match and they claimed to have heard that both Silvers and Richo are being released, though Jeff thinks that Richo is being considered for the role of bowling coach and second team captain. It emerged that Silvers is not getting another contract, but might be in discussions with Northants and Kartik is rumoured to be joining Somerset.
Welwyn Garden City Matters
The Professor updates us on his club’s season and makes an announcement
A couple of weeks’ ago I went to see our last home match, against Banbury, which had a distinctly end-of-term feel about it. Both sides were in similar positions in the League in that neither could win it nor be demoted...and it showed. In the end Welwyn lost a game that would have been very close had catches been held, but nobody seemed to care very much. Indeed fairly early on in the season it became clear that we had too good a side to go down but not quite a good enough one (or fit enough one) to challenge for the title. Which is a shame.
What we have had is three players who have very recent first class experience (Hewitt, Laraman and Walker) a lad on the Groundstaff and one in the Middlesex Academy. The last of these, Jamie Southgate, has had an excellent year, and looks to be a real talent. Had all these players been fit, all year, we would have quite possibly been looking at the title. In the event, we have been well beaten on too many occasions, especially by the eventual champions, Henley.
Most teams in this League have a number of former, or present, county players, and it is always interesting to see how club cricketers perform against them. Gareth Berg, for example, played against us twice for Radlett; Chad Keegan for Henley; Dan Housego has turned out for Reading, and so on. I'm sure this can be replicated in other leagues and it is, of course, common to see fringe county players in the Yorkshire League.
The professionals are clearly better than the modal club cricketer, but not, in my observations, that much better. (Housego did get a big hundred for Reading but they are in the division below the Premiership). It is now not uncommon to see someone playing in a club match one day and then to see him on the TV a few days' later. That was not, I think we can agree, the norm when we were lads. There are some obvious reasons for this change but it adds to my view that the gap between club and county is not as big as it once was. A good example of this is the presence of Minor County players. My recollection is that a Minor County cricketer in a club side used to be a subject of note (“They’ve got old so-and-so who plays for Bucks/Beds/Herts” or whatever). Now every team has players with that experience and I think Welwyn Garden have turned out XIs where every player has represented a Minor County or better. This might not represent Clubs getting stronger of course: Minor Counties may be getting weaker, there may be more games, it may be more difficult to find players, etc. But it does pose the question, inter alia, of what Minor County cricket is for. Especially if one suspects that the best clubs would be more than a match for a Minor County; how, for example, would Beds or Hereford get on against, say, Ealing or Scarborough, Wolverhampton or Accrington? There is of course all the development work and the under-this and over-that cricket which is all very important; but one suspects that clubs could do more if they had the resources that, at present, are devoted to the Minor County layer, and if the object of the exercise is producing top class cricketers, (and that is an important presumption), is this a layer we could do without?
It is also interesting to see how the league system has resulted in changes in fortunes. When I first came to Hertfordshire, Watford Town were one of the strongest clubs, who we had little chance of beating. They now play in the same division as our 2nds. Similarly, I notice the lowly status in the Middlesex League of the once-proud clubs like Wembley and Hornsey. Happily, the possibility of promotion enables things to be turned round, as they have splendidly with Shepherds Bush. In the Yorkshire League there is no relegation and so Harrogate have bumped along the bottom for some time now. It would be nice to get some idea of the relative strengths of clubs across the country. There seems to be a proliferation of cricket competitions these days but, at the risk of inventing another, I think a knock out between the winners of the 25 ECB Leagues reported by Wisden plus, say, the two best-known Lancashire Leagues, would be very interesting.
As for the rest of our Club, it has been a moderate season all round with the 4th team the best placed in their league and the 5th's just avoiding the drop. Even our many junior sides have not walked off with the trophies of the past. It has been some years since we have not won a pot or two, so perhaps we were due for a quiet year.
It will also be my last as the Club's President, my 17 year stint coming to an end without me ever finding out what the job description for a President actually is...but it's been great fun.
Hot Water Matters
Paddy Carlin takes issue with the Great Jack Morgan
Without wanting to enter into an epistolatory feud with the Great Jack Morgan, I feel that I need to point out a few facts regarding Hertfordshire County Cricket Club and my own beloved Welwyn Garden City CC. Messrs Walker, Laraman, and Hewitt have all been highly successful this season for Herts as have, on occasion, Simon White and James Southgate from the Middlesex Academy. Can any club match this for representation at Minor Counties level? In addition to the above the following WGCCC players have played for Herts in recent seasons: Martin James, Gavin Baker, Ben Frazer, Paul Barker, Nick lamb Eddie Ballard and Dan Blacktopp, plus a couple of young twelfthers in John Pettel and Liam Mitchell. There are two possible conclusions to be drawn: either Herts aren’t much good or WGCCC under perform most of the time. Both are true.
The Great Jack Morgan takes issue with Paddy Carlin
Paddy Carlin? Who he? And how does he know me? Wigley and Lucas are both better batters than Monty (check their records) and I suspect the England management of negotiating Monty's rise up the order to no 9! Jon Lewis is not that bad a bat at all; a career average of over 14 is quite respectable for a no 9 or 10. Ben Howgego is a promising 21 year old who might or might not make it in first class cricket and gets few first team opportunities, so isn't it ridiculous to dismiss him as "manifestly not good enough" on the evidence of his second or third first class match? I was surprised that you published such superficial crap. Let's hope Paddy never becomes an England selector as he will have ruled out everyone before they have even left university! Ben is at Exeter. David Lucas "quick"? He is a very late developer who has been around for well over a decade, but who has now turned into a very useful purveyor of swing and cut, but at no more than fast medium.
Sex Matters
Eric Tracey spotted an article in which Gary Kirsten proclaimed that sex and cricket are good bed fellows
It used to be said that sexual intercourse close to a sporting event sapped energy. But India’s players have been advised otherwise in a confidential document written by their coach that effectively tells them to boost their performances on the field by hopping into action off it. The four-part paper written by Gary Kirsten, who has helped India to become the leading one-day side in the world, became the talk of the Champions Trophy yesterday as a taboo subject was thrust into the open. The relevant chapter is headlined “Does sex increase performance?” and the answer is explicit: “Yes it does, so go ahead and indulge.” Kirsten’s reasoning is that sex increases levels of testosterone, which leads to greater strength, aggression and competitiveness. “Conversely, not having sex for a period of a few months causes a significant drop in testosterone levels in both males and females, with the corresponding passiveness and decrease in aggression,” he writes. Graeme Swann described the idea of more sex as “the kind of forward thinking the game needs”. The England bowler said: “I assume Kirsten does not mean within the team. Wives and partners must be involved. If the ICC want to make the game more exciting, fly in the wives and girlfriends or other parties to improve the standard of cricket.” But we all remember what happened when the wags went to the World Cup in Germany.
Old Trafford Matters
I had tickets for both of the Twenty20 internationals at Old Trafford this year. I passed the ones for the first match over to Mike Smith and Martin Hurley and felt moderately smug as I watched on television as the game got just far enough, seven balls into the England innings, to show that they were going to lose. Two days later I turned up with Googlies stalwarts the Professor, Andrew Baker, Malcolm Stone and Mike Scott for the second game. We made it onto the terrace where we watched the pantomime enacted whereby the umpires went out of their way to ensure that there would be no play. No one seems to have told them that:
1. They are in the entertainment business
2. Twenty20 cricket is fun and not to be taken too seriously
Much has been reported on this in the media but it was from Andrew Baker that I first heard the next morning:
“There is some serious criticism on the assorted “Blogs” this morning and some sensible suggestions from some “proper” ex international cricketers. All seem to agree that the match should have gone ahead. Shane Warne’s idea of just bowl from one end does actually have some merit and I wonder why they never thought of that. Jeff Thompson – it was fine to play as it was. Others felt that reduced run ups should have been used. An interesting but very sensible suggestion was that a bit of foresight was all that was needed to avoid the problem i.e. get the covers on in time or prepare two wickets one at each side of the square...what’s the worst that can happen here – one doesn’t get used!
Most observers seem outraged that it would be OK for a county match but not for international cricketers and plenty of references relate to views on who might reasonably call themselves an “international” cricketer! I guess the most common sentiment was that most observers felt that the “internationals” just didn’t fancy it, were never intending to play and were hoping that a down pour would save the blushes! What’s the betting they start the county game at 10.30 today!”
Andrew was, of course, right and the county match did start the following morning by which time there had been no drying conditions in the area. But to make his next point he had to make a dreadful confession:
“Coldplay are at Old Trafford this Saturday for a 50,000 sell-out concert. If they do this every other weekend is it any surprise they have ground issues. I went to a concert there a few weeks ago (OK yes it was rather embarrassingly Take That!) – probably 40-50,000 there – pissing down all night with a load of plastic sheeting “protecting” the pitch. Plastic gridding was on top of the plastic sheets on the square. A sizeable proportion of the ladies seemed to turn up in stilettos with the obvious consequences to the plastic sheeting and playing surface of course!”
Oval Matters
Paddy Carlin sent me the following report
From a walking companion of my wife I obtained four tickets for the Northants match at the Oval. And no ordinary tickets did they turn out to be. Rather they were Montpellier Club cards which are issued at £8000 pa, and designed to replicate Arsenal’s Diamond Club at the Emirates Stadium. I attended and enjoyed the sense of isolation and luxury on three days of the match when I was only joined by a couple of others in the luxury accomodation. The preparation of the test match strip must have been a mark of genius. Apparently the wicket was moved at the last minute and the lack of adequate preparation facilitated a result.
Day One. Van de Wath is still bowling in a shiny wristwatch. He looks like the kind of man who could arrange for an enemy to be despatched with extreme prejudice. Batty, whose contract may be terminated, batted all day for a dreary century and only Afzal and Schofield offered much entertainment. Monty still looks forlorn.
Day Two. Much better. Batty out immediately and Northants in. The dour Peters out quickly and Wakely castled first ball by the only straight ball Dernbach bowled all day. Enter Wessels to play beautifully with O’Brien as they crashed the innocuous Surrey bowling all over the Oval. Poor Tudor. At six foot ten inches, a black man with a long threatening run, he looks like an opening batsman’s worst nightmare. But every batsman played him easily. Only Schofield, who is an attractive bat and a good fielder, offered any threat at all. Is Rashid any better than him? O’Brien got his century as did Wessels. White, the sort of batsman who gets forty before you realise he’s been in, scored briskly before he pulled a fetlock late on.
Day Three. South Africa to the fore as Boje, Hall and van der Wath all got fifties in no time at all with Hall clattering the new ball to the midwicket boundary six times before the Surrey skipper, their sixth this season, moved from a six-three to a five-four field. Northants rattled up a lead of over a hundred in less overs and were probably confident of victory. Unfortunately, Panesar was one of their spinners and he darted the ball down Underwood style faster and faster with no appreciable turn. I speculated that perhaps even Deadly Derek might have struggled in this era of covered wickets. Anyway, if Northants had had a spinner to support the impressive Boje(twice as good a fielder as Monty, twice as good a bowler and an infinitely better batsman) they might have got more wickets than three on the third day.
Day Four. This must have been dire and will do nothing to attract Saturday crowds. Surrey scored about 150 for six all day.
All in all I picked the right days to go and am now on friendly speaking terms with Barry, a Surrey member of some influence who was in the box each day and Tony Murphy, a Surrey committee member and ex player who told me of a remarkable club game he had recently played in. This was a Surrey Championship Division Four match in which Woking and Horsell knocked off the runs inside one over after bowling out Maari Oxshot (Murphy’s team) for 4. This puts into context my scathing criticism of WGCCC third and fourth elevens recently. Tony Murphy, who was 0 not out in the game in question assured me that his team were really not that bad. I wonder.
Jim Conroy
Steve Thompson sent me the following
Over 350 friends and former colleagues attended the funeral service for Jim Conroy in early September. Inevitably the vast majority came from the world of the Middlesex League and in particular Southgate, Enfield and Winchmore Hill for whom, through his many years as Master i/c Cricket at The Grammar School in Enfield and Manager of Middlesex Schools under-19s over three decades, he provided literally dozens of young cricketers many of whom went on to play First Class cricket and several Test Cricket.
In my first year at the Grammar School in 1980-81 as a teacher with just two years under my belt I inherited the school Under-15s who by dint of being County Champions represented Middlesex in the Lord's Taverners Trophy. Under Jim's watchful eye he helped guide me with them to the final at Edgbaston having claimed half a dozen notable Public School scalps en route. We lost what was the first all state school final by one wicket to Peterlee School from Durham. It was Jim's day; the fruits of his labours.
Originally a quick bowler, he lost his action relatively early on in his career at Southgate but then manufactured himself into a dependable batsman. Under his captaincy the club built a platform from which it was to achieve great success in the late 70s and early 80s. Ironically in many ways, one of his last games as captain was against South Hampstead in one of the latter rounds of the National Knockout in 1975. As an after-dinner speaker he combined native Yorkshire wit with a wonderful sense of timing, speaking as he did at over 200 dinners.
Jim didn't overcomplicate his coaching of the game. He insisted on serious practice, light bats and bowlers bowling straight. His other major sporting love became golf. I last saw him at his home on the evening of the Friday of the Ashes Test at Lord's in July. For the vast majority of the sporting public this was a weekend of unprecedented administrative sporting mis-management as both Test Match and British Open vied for prominence. What they won't have known is that Jim, a devout Catholic, knowing himself to be in his last Summer will have 'had a word'. He had spent the day with the Open on the TV and TMS on the radio- heaven on earth already for him!
These few words have only scratched the surface as a tribute to a quite remarkable man; the turn out at his funeral was testament to the number of lives he enriched. The last phrase written at the foot of Jim's Order of Service was one he would often use to wind up young Spurs or Arsenal supporting boys at the school and which encapsulated his insistence on always being right, on having the last word, his sense of humour and above all his love of all things Yorkshire.
'ROTHERHAM UNITED - UNDEFEATED IN EUROPE'.
Mervyn Mansell
John Lindley sent me the following announcement from Ealing CC
I have to inform you that Mervyn Mansell MBE DSC passed away peacefully in Ealing Hospital on Wed 26th August at 7.20pm. He had recently undertaken a heart by-pass operation and seemed to be progressing well but this was major surgery for a 91 year old. Our deepest sympathies are extended to June and all members of the family. For those who do not know, Mervyn started the colts section at the club over 60 years ago and managed the colts section for approx 55 years. With June, his ever supportive wife and partner, the colts section was developed year by year with a great deal of hard work, unparalleled dedication and sincerity. He played cricket for Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and also for the club. He was a prolific batsman. Mervyn was a very proud and hardworking human being, who whilst
running his pharmaceutical business full time found time to manage the colts section of Ealing CC. He was also actively involved with Middlesex Colts Association, being a founder member. All his efforts were rewarded with an MBE, truly deserved. Mervyn’s Ashes will be scattered at the club next season hopefully linked to either the colts festival or a match in his honour.
Middlesex League Matters
Congratulations to Ealing on winning the Middlesex Premier League again. Shepherds Bush just avoided relegation to Division Two where South Hampstead just avoided relegation themselves. On the final day of the season Ealing scored 323 for 9 from 65 overs and Hampstead 338 from 66 overs.
Football Matters
Andrew Baker, the Ladies Team’s manager, fell off his horse last weekend and is now recovering from a variety of painful injuries. He blames the recession and the need for his players to take alfresco showers. He tells me that he was trying to gesticulate to his new centre half to get dressed when the accident occurred.
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