Category: Cricket

Middlesex County Cricket Club Pre Season Events Culminating With The Seaxe Club 40th Anniversary Dinner, Thomas Lord Suite, 15 April 2008

An unusual pre-season events itinerary for me in what turned out to be a most unusual season.

2 April 2008 – Seaxe Club AGM and Panel – Which I Missed For Once

I normally go to the Seaxe Club AGM, which I enjoy a great deal; not for the AGM bit, which is usually pretty dull, but for the always-excellent panel discussion after the AGM and for the delgihtful company of the Seaxe Club regulars.

But this year had a very full diary in early April and needed to find space to visit my mum, so was one event I had to miss. In any case, there was to be an anniversary dinner in a couple of weeks, which I had booked, so I felt that I was doing my Seaxe Club bit.

I was in Peckham on business that afternoon, so my diary infers that I drove straight from Peckham to Streatham to see mum. Quintessentially “Sarf London” and not at all Middlesex.

9 April 2008 – Middlesex CCC AGM

Middlesex’s AGM is an event shrouded in mystery for non-members. It is a private meeting for members’ only and the club takes the confidentiality of the meeting seriously. In those days I was still editing the Middlesex Till We Die (MTWD) website and I am delighted to see that we didn’t break any rules that year by reporting on the AGM.

I don’t recall anything much about the meeting; but I do recall that the minority members’ rebellion that kicked off a few weeks into the 2008 season came as a bit of a surprise to me, so I don’t think there was much, if any, wind of it at the AGM and panel that followed.

So the panel discussion (which in any case is technically after the AGM and therefore not embargoed) was probably the usual pre-season optimism from most, peppered with the odd whinge about over rates, fielding positions and names/numbers on jerseys. No doubt Fingers had the last word.

There will have been a members’ party afterwards which will have been jolly. In those days, I think those meetings were still being held in the Warner Restaurant (Warner Stand Mezzanine) and the parties were still being held in the Middlesex Room (Allen Stand).

15 April 2008 –  Seaxe Club 40th Anniversary Dinner

A special event indeed, held in the Thomas Lord Suite. I don’t much go for the grand evening dinners, but for the Seaxe Club I felt I wanted to lend my support.

I helped to promote the event thus – click here – on MTWD.

Mike Brearley was the guest of honour.

I remember that I found myself chatting for some time with the delightful Mrs Brearley – I’m not quite sure how or why that happened. I don’t think I realised that she was Mrs Brearley until we had been chatting for a few minutes.

I remember also having a brief conversation with Mike Brearley about the state of the Lord’s pitches, in which he disagreed with me when I said that they are getting so low and slow now, that they are no longer “good” in my view. Plus ca change; or perhaps now he would agree.

It was a good meal (although I would say that the quality of Lord’s catering has improved since then) but more importantly a wonderful occasion for the Seaxe Club and a great opportunity to see and chat with so many Middlesex mainstays just before the start of the season.

Middlesex County Cricket Club Members Forum, MTWD Report, Lord’s, 3 March 2008

In truth I only vaguely remember this particular members forum.

But the world has Seaxe Man to thank for an astonishingly detailed account of the event, which will surely enable anyone who was there to relive the occasion.

For some reason, perhaps connected with “will to live” issues or more likely our imminent departure for Spain, Barmy Kev agreed to edit this piece for the Middlesex Till We Die (MTWD) website.

Fortunately for detailed completists out there (but perhaps unfortunately for some who would just like a summary), Barmy Kev’s definition of editing was “slapping it all up there and seeing what happens”. So brace yourselves for a long one.

Here is a link to MTWD to read the article in its native place.

Alternatively, if anything has happened to MTWD in the meantime, I have scraped the article to here.

The report doesn’t mention me being there…nor does it state that I wasn’t. I don’t recall, frankly, but the e-mail chat makes it clear that I was there, as was Barmy Kev, but we agreed that I had time for no more than a quick post forum imbibe before getting back to nose and grindstone activities that week.

Hirsute Pursuits Over The 2007 Festive Season, 28 December 2007

I went into the 2007 festive season clean-shaven and came out the other side of it bearded.

Before
After

I have been inspired to write this matter up on Ogblog now (in November 2019), as King Cricket has written a very entertaining, speculative piece about cricketer Chris Woakes “rebranding” as a hirsute chap:

Chris Woakes has a beard now and that definitely says something although we’re not exactly sure what

This made me wonder about my own “rebrand” 12 years ago.

I had often before let my facial hair grow for a while, during holiday time, but always previously had relented once work beckoned again or sooner if the itches came before the return to work.

This time I decided to play through the itches and go for the bearded look from the start of 2008 onwards.

I’m not sure I actually made the decision on 28 December, but it was a Friday and I probably at least made a decision not to shave that day before heading off for Sandall Close.

I do recall that Daisy liked the look once it got beyond 48 hour shadow to become a proper, albeit short, beard and tash.

Freudians might point out that the festive holiday in question was the first significant break from work I’d had since my father’s death and I do recall consciously thinking that I wouldn’t have attempted “the beard thing” while dad was alive. I cannot explain that, I merely note it. The same inexplicable/nonsensical rule applied to hats as well.

I especially recall my business partner, Michael Mainelli recoiling at the sight of my new look at the start of 2008. When I asked him why he didn;t like it, he was uncharacteristically lost for words until he finally said:

I don’t really know. I guess I don’t like change.

While on the business angle of this, just for the record, I would suggest that my five most successful years commercially were 2008-2012. Coincidence? Who knows.

Here’s hoping for at least five cracking cricketing years ahead for Chris Woakes from November 2019 onwards now he too is hirsute.

MTWD Lost Masterpiece: Barmy Kev’s 2007 End of Season Forum Report – Unedited Version, 26 September 2007

For reasons known only to himself, Barmy Kev didn’t tend to upload his own masterpieces, he sent them to me for editing/uploading.

This is one of the “Sportnetwork lost masterpieces” of 2007, rescued only by dint of that e-mailing for editing/upping process.

Any edits I might or might not have made are lost for ever, but here is the unexpurgated text as submitted by Barmy Kev.

More Questions than Answers or
Barmy Kev’s End of Season Forearm


A packed house at forum with standing room only for late arrivals. Using the Long Room was muted to dinosaurs at MCC as alternative, but all attendees would have to dress suitably, which would have severely restricted crowd, as Chris Lowe put it “with you scruffy lot”.

Chris Lowe congratulated team on Pro 40 promotion and 2nd X1 cup. Rapturous applause followed.

Chairman said some encouraging words about our fans support, youngsters in team, our conveyor belt for England, lack of Kolpak and legacy left by Phil Edmonds.

As question and answer session was about to start I had 3 questions in mind to ask.
1, What we are going to do about Katrik no ball problem?
2/ Whether go down Kolpak route?
3/ Questioning our lack of urgency in trying to beat Notts in LVCC at home.

The one I would ask would depend on what covered and my feeling at time.

My hand up, but a gentleman well known to panel was asked first. He stood up saying he had 3 questions. My view was that these were rambling statements and he was only allowed 2, “in fairness to everyone else”.

His gist was underachievement of team having not won trophy in years and batting this year. Neither were denied, although Ed made reference to poor pitches when batting first.

The 2nd statement was regarding coach and I’m sure he mentioned Duncan Fletcher as option, which around me was met with derision under people’s breath. The Pybus situation was explained and really covered MTWD speculation at time, with excuses ranging from our facilities, to wifey not settling and offer of old job. Agreed this was not satisfactory state of affairs regardless.

With my hand in air, next question was about comings and goings. 5 people mentioned leaving in strictest of confidence so I can’t reveal. Ok Ill tell you, one. Vaas won’t be coming back next year. Comings-an all-rounder who has done well in 2nds. Name not mentioned but assuming is Berg.

A Kolpak being sought after- (Muted applause). Someone close to signing. Clues. Is an all rounder seam bowler, bowling better than batting. On fringe of Test side and reading between lines South African. –not Johan Louw.


My hand still in air, a gentleman after tiresome long speech as retired MD seemed to want to stir up issues re how Ed Smith was elected as captain and that our hierarchy involved too many people. He did not seem happy that Ed was elected via Paul Downtown Working Party. Vinny was called from his spectator’s role to answer. While it was confirmed this was case, the decision was ratified by Embers but whether he had much choice difficult to stay. It was agreed that the hierarchy needed streamlining but everyone had role.

My hand still in air, but some legal boffin chipped in with 3 challenges to panel. He claimed the restriction of right to work for non-British born players could be challenged in court of law. He then spouted something off about Equal Opportunities. Finally non Kolpaks reduces our potential quality.

The points raised weren’t answered directly. Embers did say Kolpaks was not a policy but a “recommendation” by Committee. This arguably contradicts what Phil Edmonds has previously said.
My hand still in air desperate to ask something based on team and performance as felt debates were digressing from this. Next question asking if Kartik returning- confirmed yes.

Follow up about whether we will have squad nos. on shirts for LVCC and the size of nos. There was a vote in room with even result (subject for future poll here). Vinny said he would oppose these as long as he can, but chance that ECB will enforce these next season.
At this stage it was 7:45 and really felt there was not much time for relevant cricket discussion. I was relieved that a good question was asked about John Lever’s role and whether the improved performance of young bowlers was down to him or co-incidence. Embers actually thought it was co-incidence and felt strength and conditioning coach had big say in our bowlers. He mentioned one rookie with no name given “who needs to listen more”- any guesses?

Someone then asked Ed Smith whether he liked his job and what he found the most demanding. Ed obviously, said yes and used some standard corporate speak using the word “challenge in every sentence.

Murray then had his token rant stating Ed said he was “Autocratic”-which he disputed.

He also suggested our Kolpak should be an all-rounder spinner to replace Rymps. Embers stated none around if we went down this road.

As approaching 8:00-my hand still in air- old chestnut about whether Middx can have more say in Lords wickets preparation, in which a just seen pigs fly like response was given.

Then a good point about catches being dropped especially in slips, although the suggestion of sports psychologist to help was met with cynicism, as was whether distraction of captaincy affects Eds catching. I personally can’t imagine as ball comes to you at 80mph he will hardly be thinking who is going to bowl next over. Ed did state, especially in Pro 40 fielding was good and won us matches.

It was 8:00 and lots of hands including mine in air and Chris allowed 2 more. One was enquiring about Nash health and whether cover in place. It was stated problems stress related, but actual root cause not established, although his Benefit mentioned (We were asked to support Ace next year as he does not need distraction). Embers stated wickie cover not discussed at this stage, although we have a couple of promising ones from 2s.

Next question was asking for better tannoy at games and up to date scorecards. Stated matter will be taken on board. We shall see but I am not holding my breath.

Question of out grounds for next season. Southgate safe for another year and hope to have full festival.

One final question was it going to be me. No the gentleman at beginning was allowed a 3rd. I did not take note at this stage, but recall he wanted to have another dig at Ed and say nothing constructive.

Summary.
I admit I was disappointed for first time at forum, did not have chance to ask question. However, I felt there were a lot of questions and statements that served no purpose and wasted time. Compared with last forum where there was great discussion on how processes were going to change, there was very little that can be taken from this effort.

The brevity of official website report http://www.middlesexccc.com/news-detail.asp?NewsID=958 confirms this.

Party

The end of season party proved an enjoyable occasion.

Dial M received his Seaxe player of season award and I enjoyed his comment about “preferring it this side of river”.

Weekesey got deserved award on our Hall of Fame. His dad was entertaining as ever. I was happy Weeks spoke to me and commented how grateful he was for Legends flag, but found it when saw it intimidating living up to it.

Ed gave me a lot of time one to one basis to answer some points, more than I would have hoped for at forum.

Chris Lowe when challenged said he did not see my hand up, but there was a political reason why the 3 question ranter was allowed such time and promised me first question at next forum if I remind him. By then I was on 7th, I think, glass of wine so I was past caring.
A good mingle was had by all as another season officially came to a close

Subterranean Homesick Highs, “MTWD Lost Masterpiece”, Middlesex v Leicestershire at Southgate Day 2, 12 September 2007

This is the last of my MTWD lost masterpieces. The background to the phenomenon of MTWD “lost masterpieces” is explained in this link – click here. In short, Sportnetwork permanently lost a swathe of published features from 2007.

But fear not; I tend to keep everything.

I need to explain some terms here. “Lover” is Gerry The Bookseller. The Special One and Special K is Murali Kartik. I wasn’t really reading ethics stuff for the Worshipful Company of Estate Realists (no, really not), but I was on the BCS Ethics Panel by then, so I suspect that I was reading papers pertaining to that role.

Subterranean Homesick Highs

 

“Ged feat. Lover” reports from a cavern beneath the mound that is The Walker Ground in Southgate. It was an up and down sort of day; Middlesex in the ascendancy and Leicestershire zooming in the other direction. Ged arrives late and misses lots of action, but Lover provides the vital update to enable Ged to complete his report.  Confused?  You will be.

 

Lover steps up to the plate and comes to the party

Ged had some business to attend to this morning, so he arrived at The Walker Ground 11:30/11:40 ish.  Ged neatly parked the Gedmobile (named Nobby) and spotted Lover chatting to someone at the Adelaide end.  Recalling that Lover is usually a punctual sort of chap, and recalling that Lover owed Ged a quid from a transaction earlier in the season, Ged spotted two opportunities.

“Morning Lover” says Ged, pausing only to watch his first ball of the day, with which Special K dispensed with Sadler – a nick through to Ben Scott.  “Seems I’ve brought the team some luck”, says Ged.  “Not really”, replies Lover, “that must be the fifth wicket this morning”.  “Cruumbs”, says Ged, ”good job I’ve run into you then; you can help be to cover the bit of the match I’ve missed”.  “Happy to help”, says Lover, “what do you need to know?”  “Tell me about all these wickets”, I ask.  And thus spake Lover.

“Well, it didn’t look too promising at first.  Lots of good deliveries but nothing quite coming off for Middlesex.  Then all the wickets started to fall.  That’s it really”

“Tell us about the wickets, Lover, the readers like to know about wickets,” Ged interjected.

“Kartik took most of them, I think, although Murtagh got one (or was it two?).  Anyway, they’re coming thick and fast now,” Lover mumbled.

“A little more detail, perhaps, Lover” Ged politely enquired.  “Means of dismissal, for instance?”.

“Who knows?  Who cares?  Make it up.  No-one will notice.  Say what you like and credit it to me.”  Lover had clearly reached his limit.

“I think I’ll suggest that Nixon signalled and then attempted a massive reverse sweep as part of the captain’s campaign to restore order to the innings, overbalanced and was stumped off a wide one when Scott did an acrobatic take and swipe”, I said, half expecting Lover to correct me and thus to glean the information I wanted that way.

“Yeh, it went something like that”, Lover muttered.

“Gosh, thanks Lover”, I said, “and by the way, you owe me a quid”.

 

In a Heap

Ged tries to set up his stall in a quiet corner of the Phil Edmonds excavation, but a particularly helpful steward tells him that he is too close to the scoreboard (about 15 yards away from it), so he’ll have to muck in with the rest further round.  Ged was especially impressed by the nice couple who subsequently set themselves up on the exact same spot, only to be confronted by the steward.  “Thank you”, they said, “we’ll move in a few minutes, when we’re ready” and then sat there for the rest of the day.  Civil disobedience; don’t ya love it?

Ged then saw the rest of Leicestershire collapse in a heap.  Henderson nicked one through to Scotty.  Masters played an ugly stroke to get caught at slip by Strauss off Special K (that was Special K’s fivefer), Jerome Taylor nicked Finn’s first ball of the day through to Scotty (fivefer for Scotty too) and Naik was soon to follow as a sixth for The Special One.

By this point, Ged was well placed in the Phil Edmonds excavation sitting near a couple of Leicestershire fans (one of whom coincidentally turned out to be John Maunders dad – people really will start to talk about Ged!).  They seemed unsurprised at the collapse and at least glad that Maunders had top scored for his team.

 

Batting again

By this time, Ged had made a start on his work.  The Worshipful Company of Estate Realists have asked Ged to help them put together a paper on ethics in the estate agency profession.  Unsurprisingly, there is little material to be had on this subject, but Ged wanted to have a look through the little that does exist (and remember that Government and Quango papers cannot weigh in at under 100 pages).  Best part of a day at the cricket would be ideal for such a task.

Middlesex started unsurprisingly slowly and seemed little troubled by Masters and Taylor up front – the latter being clearly the more challenging of the two.  Soon, Masters gave up in favour of Henderson, who bowled tight but didn’t look as tricky as The Special One.

Straussy decided to go the sweep route and Hendo had him LBW.  Billy the Kid and Captain Ted set a “steady as she goes” course through till tea.

Half an hour (eight overs to be precise) before tea, for some reason, Leics took a drink break.  Seemed odd.

Ged made some good headway with his reading and even made some notes, despite occasional interruptions from friends and neighbours.

 

Evening session

It was a beautiful late afternoon at Southgate – just as Ged always likes to ponder about the place – but it wasn’t to be a beautiful evening session for Billy the Kid.  First ball after tea, Hendo hits the Kid’s pad.  The umpire thinks for a moment, raises the finger and Billy the Kid looks back at the umpire with a look of utter astonishment.  The Kid drags himself off, with a couple of backward stares and then enters the players’ tent.  There is then the sound of willow on something other than leather from within the tent.  Big Perce would be apoplectic at this point; thank heavens he wasn’t there to see it.

Captain Ted and Joycey looked steady – indeed during this phase they looked to get on top of the bowling and the score advanced rapidly.  Jigar Naik (which sounded like a term of abuse when his name was announced over the tannoy) was mostly tight but also gave away a few.  Ryan Cummins (Ged wondered, Pooter-like, whether he was always goin’) was expensive.

Then the softest of dismissals for Joycey (he’s had that sort of season) and only a short stay for Captain Morgan who nicked the hapless Cummins through to Nixon for 1, which was 1 better than his first innings.  Ged lamented that he has yet to see Morgan demonstrate his budding, tremendous talent in a first class match.

Fifteen minutes before stumps (with just four overs remaining in the day) Leics take another drinks break.  The turkeys go bananas over in the Phil Edmonds excavation and a near riot is only averted by some excellent stewarding, especially the steward who has such precise ideas on where chairs can and cannot be placed in the excavation.

At this point, Ged decided that he didn’t want to get mixed up in crowd trouble and anyway he needed to avoid the traffic on a big footie night, and so Ged made an early exit.  Apparently Captain Ted reached his ton before stumps.  Perhaps someone who remained till the end could describe that moment and also let us know if there were further crowd incidents at the end of play.

So that’s it for Ged – no more live cricket this season.  Ged did get home in time to see the last 7 overs of Zimbabwe teaching the Aussies a lesson and Ged might as well get used to televised cricket for a while now.  But the memory of an early autumn evening at Southgate when the weather is spot on and Middlesex are doing well really does take some beating.  Which is probably more than can be said for Leicestershire just now.

If by any chance anyone is still reading and cannot guess what happened in the match, here is a link to the scorecard.

England v India 7th ODI, Lord’s, 8 September 2007

Who’d have thought that a seven match ODI series between these two teams would go down to the wire?

I booked this one mostly because Janie was at that time expressing a preference for ODIs and it seemed a rare opportunity to take in some late season cricket at Lord’s.

Still a bit numb from all that had happened this summer, my recall of this match is not great. We’d been out to dinner with Charlotte the night before – she left quite early in the morning while we prepared the picnic.

Judging from the scorecard, it looks as though India finally ran out of steam at the end of a long tour.  Lord’s tends to get lower and slower by the end of the season. Perhaps the Indian batsmen set off trying to score far more than would be possible. Perhaps England bowled well.

No perhaps about our picnic – it would have been a good one.

Thank Evans For Little Gullys, “MTWD Lost Masterpiece”, Middlesex v Gloucestershire at Lord’s Day 3, 24 August 2007

The background to the phenomenon of MTWD “lost masterpieces” is explained in this link – click here. In short, Sportnetwork permanently lost a swathe of published features from 2007.

But fear not; I tend to keep everything.

Readers will be delighted to learn that I didn’t really chair the judging of double-glazing awards, but I was chairing the National Payroll Giving Awards in those days.

Connoisseurs will notice Ged (that’s me) using the Vaughanian third person a great deal in this report.

Thank Evans For Little Gullys – Middlesex v Glos Day 3

Early Doors

Ged decided to do a day’s work at Lord’s today.  He has been asked to Chair a panel of the great and good judging for a prestigious awards event.  The UK Double Glazing Awards, sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Double-Glaziers and Sealed Unitarians.  Goodness alone knows why Ged has been asked to fulfil this important and pivotal role in the wheels of UK commerce, but some senior figures from industry, the civil service and the charity world are set to have their casting vote cast by Ged.

So, Ged gathered 28 award applications, his trusty digital tranny, a small bag of rations and off he set to Lord’s to spend the day watching cricket and marking award applications.

He didn’t leave home until 10:30, which would still enable him to get to Lord’s on time for the start by use of public transport or a Hackney Carriage, but part of Ged’s pleasure on such days is the 35 minute walk, so, suitably comforted and watered  he got to a seat in the middle tier of the pavilion between 10 and quarter past.  Ed Smith had added half a dozen runs to the overnight score.

 

Down to Business

While Strauss and Smith got down to business trying to build a score worth having, Ged got down to the alternative business of reading through several applications for the “Best Excuse For Dodgy Double-Glazing Craftsmanship 2007” Award.  The repetitive nature of the applicants’ claims chimed nicely with the metronomic accuracy of Lewis’ and Kirby’s bowling.  Both were unlucky not to take wickets, as they bowled well, although Smith and Strauss were rarely troubled that much.  Ged felt that seeing off the new ball pair would be vital.

Around an hour into play, Ged moved on to the “Best Use of Attractive Daughter as Decoy on Double-Glazing Sales Visit 2007” award; the delightful young lady who had accompanied such a salesman on a visit to Daisy’s house earlier in the year strangely had not been nominated.  And around that time Hardinges (announced by Mr Perambulate the announcer in the singular; “Harding”) came on to replace Kirby at the Pavilion End to bowl pies that were suitably despatched square (ahh, “square pies” I hear you all sigh) and in front of wicket for four with delightful regularity.

Lewis seemed to want to bowl at the Nursery End all morning, but eventually made way for debutant Tom Stayt.  This seemed to be a suitable time to move on to the “Best Repair of Double Glazing Damaged by a Cricket Ball 2007” award.  Straussy, by now motoring, clearly thought similarly, but on 75, just before lunch, he holed out attempting a big one off debutant Stayt; 135/2 and that’s lunch.

 

Lunch

Ged was very much aware that he wanted to follow the England game on his radio as well as the Middlesex game before his eyes.  And while he can cope with two sets of stimulation (Middlesex and Glazing), three simultaneous sources might blow his mind.  So he swiftly moved on to the largest category, “Best Telesales Bullshit About Discounts Only Being Available If You Sign Up For Double-Glazing Today 2007” award.  Abstemiously, Ged merely munched an apple and a small bag of almonds while he marked.  Such can be the glories of a pavilion lunch.

 

Afternoon Delight, Glaws Style

In the 35 minutes between the resumption and the start of the England game, Ged marked the last two categories quickly; only two applicants for each which made it easy; “Most Ludicrous Freebie Thrown In With Double-Glazing Order 2007” and “Most Flagrant Extra Charge For Something That Wasn’t Included in the Original Price”.  Meanwhile Joyce and Smith were going great guns.  Ged read the proposed eulogy for the “Special Award for Carbon-Neutral-New-PVC of the Year Award”, plugged in his ears for the England game and then set to, summarising his scores and filling in forms.

At this point, unbeknown to Ged at that time (Ged remaining in the Pav until completing his work), Barmy Kev arrived at Lord’s and took his seat in the Upper Eddy.  The score was 197/2 and Middlesex seemed to be cruising.  Then, against the run of play (although Kirby had been brought back at the Pavilion End), Joyce got one that really flew across him and he was caught well at slip.  Two balls later, Rymps played on trying to leave one.  Next over,  Stayt got Smith caught at slip.  And only one scratchy extra was added before Scott was caught behind of Stayt for a blob.  197/2 had becomme 198/6 and everyone was wondering whether or not Middlesex would manage even one batting bonus point.

By all accounts, at this point the Turkeys in the Upper Eddy offered Barmy Kev considerable sums of money to go away and never ever come back.  And by those same accounts Barmy “Goes4cash” Kev seriously considered their offer.

But Middlesex rallied a bit, Vaas and Murtagh eventually getting that vital 1st batting point.  Ged finished his work and decided to wander round to the Upper Eddy for a change of view.  Despite (or perhaps because of) his abstemious lunch, he accidentally bumped into the ice cream van and felt obliged to help out on a chilly day by parting company with £1.70 for a small cone with flake.

As Ged emerged at the top of the Upper Eddy, cone already long gone, the light was offered and accepted in return for an early tea, with 44 overs still remaining.

 

We Had Joy, We Had Fun, We Had Evans and Some Evening Sun

The Upper Eddy was the place to be for that evening session.  Early tea was a wise move, as no overs were lost and the light improved considerably in those 20 minutes and there were even hints of possible sunshine – indeed the sun shone for a reasonable chunk of that session.

Middlesex pressed on to 300+, despite losing Murtagh soon after tea, Murali Kartik managed, with minimal footwork, to support Cha Cha Vaas to a respectable Middlesex score.  305/7 was enough to convince Ed Smith that we wanted 30 overs at them tonight, so declaration came and there was much debate about whether this was too soon, too late or about right.

At 50/0 it looked as though Middlesex had goofed, but Ed called on debutant Danny Evans from the Pavilion End, who looked quicker than the “medium-fast” tag on  his cricnfo sheet and who induced a hoik behind square from Spearman, caught well by Joyce, a big first wicket in 1st class cricket. 1-1-0-1 read Evans figures after his 1st 1st class over.

But then the clouds returned briefly and Ed entered into negotiations with the umpires.  On came Kartik at the Nursery End and Rymps at the Pavilion End.  Soon Kartik had induced stumpings off Hodnett and Ali; Ed almost shook hands with umpire Burgess to thank him for the enforced but inspired owling change.

And when the sunlight returned, Murtagh and Richardson managed to snare one each before the close.

Could Middlesex induce a follow-on even from here?  Can Middlesex dictate terms to some extent to agree a sensible declaration, joke bowl and chase.  Glaws are -5 on over rate at the moment – pitiful really even without a spinner – play finished about 19:15 – so they might see such a scenario as a way to bag 2.5 points.

It’s really hard to get a match done in 2 days, but Middlesex did all the right things Day 3 to try to make that happen.

An excellent day of cricket at Lord’s, given the dire weather-affected match situation at the start of Day 3.

If by any chance anyone is still reading and keen to know what happened in the match – here is a link to the scorecard.

England v India, 3rd Test, Day 2, Oval, 10 August 2007

I remember very little about this day. It was between dad’s passing away on the Monday and the funeral, all scheduled and arranged for the following Monday.

I considered not going, but mum and Janie both saw no sense in me moping around at home instead – there was nothing left to arrange. My original plan had been to go Beer Festing with the Z/Yen crowd the night before, but I am sure I pulled out of that event that year; there had been and would be other years.

But with the Oval so close to mum and dad’s house, it would be an easy hop over to mum’s after stumps, which is exactly what I did.

The guests that day were Harish Gohil (Charles was down to join us but ducked out, I think because he had needed to take so much time off for other reasons that summer), David Highton (formerly of Broadcasting Support Services), Shums Cassim (who was trying to get SpecialZm going), Stuart Caplin (a very charming gentleman from St James’s Place – Shums choice of guest).

Judging from the scorecard – here – India spent the day making England suffer having made England suffer the day before – gosh India were a strong test side at that time.

I think I made my excuses a little early to beat the crush and get to mum’s at a reasonable hour. I guess I travelled to the house from the Oval using the tube and then a minicab from Balham – not the pocket-money-preserving tuppence bus fare of my childhood.

Janie came to the house and I recall mum was in a very dark mood by that evening. We tried to distract her and lighten the mood a little (which I think is what you are supposed to do in these circumstances) and then got told off for inappropriate levity.

It Took Four Balls, “MTWD Lost Masterpiece”, Middlesex v Glamorgan Day 3, Lord’s, 2 August 2007

Having written up my recollection of this morning/lunch at Lord’s with Peter Cox, I realise that one of the Middlesex Till We Die (MTWD) “lost masterpieces” (click this link to read the background to those pieces) relates to that very same visit to Lord’s. Intriguing (at least for me) to read the differences and similarities. Very long match report for a short session of cricket – perhaps that was meant to be the joke. Another one for connoisseurs, this.

It Took Four Balls

Ged Ladd reports on the abridged Third Day of the Middlesex v Glamorgan match at Lord’s.  Ged meets up with Peter Granny-Hyphen-Smith to watch the denouement of this shortened match. And here, indeed is a “brief” match report, albeit almost as long as today’s session of play.

In early enough

Ged had arranged to meet up with his friend Peter Granny-Hyphen-Smith for an afternoon of business and cricket chat, so it needed a few phone calls and a very early start to enable Ged to switch to a morning/lunch meet instead.  But Ged has seen so little first class cricket this season, and Peter is about to go off on his travels, so appropriate action simply had to be taken.

Peter said he’d get to Lord’s early for a pre-match bacon sarny, but when Ged arrived at about 10:50 Peter was nowhere to be seen.  Ged did a tour of the Pavilion, exchanged pleasantries with several of the regulars and then, confident that Peter was not yet there, plonked himself in the Long Room – the place he knew to be Peter’s favoured view.

Vaastly Experienced

Ged was concerned that Peter might miss the whole thing if he had been delayed for too long, with Chaminda Vaas bowling well from the Nursery End straight away.  Silverwood looked even more threatening from the Pavilion End, but of course Croft and Wharf are no rabbits and looked determined to bat for a good while.

In any case, Peter arrived soon enough and the pitch seemed to be doing absolutely nothing.  As Ged expected, Peter was keen to watch from the Long Room high chairs – something Ged has only ever done for the odd few minutes before, so it was an interesting experience to watch a whole (albeit shortened) session of play from there.

Word from those who had been around the day before was that Glamorgan’s batting performance on Wednesday had been inexplicably awful – indeed some said that Middlesex’s 361 was woefully below par and that the Glamorgan response to being given a chance had been pathetic.

Brains

Silverwood had looked the more threatening of the opening bowlers and it was always going to be a simple matter of time.  Peter and I agreed that Murali “Special K” Kartik should be given the ball pretty quickly from the Nursery End and so he was.  But Silverwood struck first with an LBW shout against Croft that looked pretty handy and it was no surprise to see Vanburn Holder’s finger go up.

Croft marched through the Long Room looking pretty dejected and then out strode Dean Cosker.  Peter and I debated the relative merits of 9-10-Jack, Peter favouring Cosker and Ged favouring both of the others ahead of him.

Meanwhile Alex Wharf was not giving up without a bit of a fight, using his feet to good effect and clattering a couple of decent boundaries, including a well-struck six.

All too soon after his arrival, Dean Cosker decided that he knew how to handle “The Special One” and danced down the wicket to a flat, quicker one.  It was certainly missing leg and it was certainly missing off.  It was also certainly a quicker ball because it took middle peg right out of it slot.  Always good fun to witness that.

As Dean Cosker marched off, I noticed the promotional message on his chest, Brains Beer, and observed to Peter that Cosker’s shot was hardly a good advert for that product.  A more brainless shot while attempting to save a match I couldn’t imagine.

Salivating Thoughts of a Win

So, out comes Waters and Alex Wharf continues to bat well.  Another big six entertains the tiny crowd.  Wharf seemed particularly assured against Special K, but set against both.  Soon enough, Richardson replaces Silverwood at the Pavilion End and eventually Murtagh replaces Special K at the Nursery End.  I suppose, to be fair, Ed Smith was holding out on Kartik’s behalf in the hope he could get a tenfer.  Indeed, he probably deserved a tenfer given that he had taken 9 good ones on a track that was offering him the square root of naff-all.

Tim Murtagh was putting the ball in the right place straight away.  Peter and I discussed that dreadful clichéd expression “putting the ball in the right areas”.  We even discussed whether the plural was a reference to Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle.  I think a journalist should ask a player that question next time he uses the offending expression.  It would be good to hear the answer.

By now it was a little after 12:30.  Peter announced that he was mighty hungry and had a crazy craving for the bacon sarny he missed earlier by arriving later than intended.  He even got up and wandered into the Long Room Bar to see what was available and toyed with the idea of skiving off to eat before the end of the match and/or lunch.

Mercifully, such sentiments can induce a wicket or two.  So, it wasn’t long before Murtagh put his hand up, stepped up to the plate, came to the party and put the ball in enough of the right areas to induce a false shot from Waters.  Attempting to clip the ball off his legs, Waters mistimed it high into the air, indeed almost over Nick Compton’s head at square leg and it took a good leaping catch (perhaps milked a tad) to bring about the wicket.

And very soon after that, one from Richardson kept low to Alex Wharf.  When Ged says “that’s got to be out” for an LBW shout the finger rarely fails to go up.  Vanburn Holder duly raised his finger, the Middlesex boys did a little jig of delight to celebrate an emphatic win and the Ged/Peter combo dipped out of the Long Room sharpish to ensure that they were first in the queue for grubsy and beer.

Only Two Ducks Today

So there were only two ducks today – the two that appeared on Peter and Ged’s plates.  Washed down with a decent beer each, the conversation turned to matters of playing cricket as well as watching cricket.  Oh, and the occasional business matter, which had allegedly been the object of the exercise in the first place.

Had Glamorgan shown as much spirit for the first 16 wickets that they showed for the last four, they might have made a bit more of a fight of this match.  But they didn’t.  And Middlesex have a fine bowling attack this season, so we can exploit weakness when weakness is shown.

Peter Granny-Hyphen-Smith is still optimistic that Middlesex can go up; he thinks that we can beat Notts at Lord’s and that our games in hand, coming in (hopefully) better weather conditions, stand us in better stead than the league table looks at the moment.  Ged remains quietly hopeful but not quite so optimistic.  But for today, let’s enjoy the moment of a big win and hope for more such wins to come.

 

Lunch With Peter Cox/Middlesex v Glamorgan Day 3 at Lord’s, 2 August 2007

This was a slightly strange day. Peter Cox and I had agreed to meet for an informal catch-up at Lord’s this afternoon, during this Middlesex v Glamorgan match. The match was unfolding quickly, with Glamorgan following on and ending the second day six down, second time around. With the prospect of very little play, Peter and I re-jigged our plans to meet up at Lord’s in the morning and have a spot of lunch together for our catch up.

Meanwhile, I had visited mum and dad the evening before and realised that dad must be dying – he just looked so frail and spaced out. I said as much to Janie as I was driving home, indeed wondering how dad even had the strength to get upstairs to bed. (Answer – the following night; the early hours of Friday morning, he didn’t have the strength).

My diary says I had a training session at the gym with Becca at 6:30 that Thursday morning, so I guess I had time to go home and clear my morning e-mails before ambling over to Lord’s for 11:00.

The cricket didn’t take long to unfold – Wharf and Croft showed some resistance for a few minutes but then Croft fell and soon after the inevitable happened. I’m not sure that Peter and I even left the cosseted splendour of the Long Room that August morning. It was nice to witness a match win and the end of match formalities from the Long Room.

Peter and I then went to the Long Room Bar (a place where I rarely dine) for lunch and to continue our conversation, which naturally drifted into ageing parents territory as well as the cricket and bit of business we’d planned to discuss.