June 2022 – aspiblog

All Time XIs: Ultimate Talents

A look at a selection of record breaking and utterly unique cricketers by way of explaining the unanswerability of the question “who was the greatest ever cricketer”.

This post was provoked by a question I saw posted on twitter yesterday: who was the greatest cricketer of all time. This question is of course unanswerable and to explain why this is so I have assembled a touring party of 17 all of whom were about as good as players of their type can be. All of these players have attributes that mean that the claim that they stand alone in cricket history is unassailable, and I explain why in the course of my look at that them.

FIRST XI IN BATTING ORDER

JB Hobbs – right handed opening batter, occasional right arm medium pacer. ‘The Master’, scorer of more FC runs and more FC centuries than anyone else in the history of the game.
*WG Grace – right handed opening batter, right arm bowler of various types through his career. The most dominant player of any era, towering over his contemporaries both literally and metaphorically.
DG Bradman – right handed batter, occasional leg spinner. A test batting average of 99.94, maintained over 52 matches at level needs no further comment.
SR Tendulkar – right handed batter, occasional bowler. The only player to have scored 100 centuries across formats in international cricket.
FE Woolley – left handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner. The only cricketer to tally over 10,000 FC runs, take over 1,000 wickets and hold over 1,000 catches in the course of a first class career.
GS Sobers – left handed batter, left arm bowler of every type known to cricket. The most complete cricketer the game has ever seen.
GH Hirst – right handed batter, left arm fast medium bowler. Achieved the feat of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in first class matches in each of 10 successive seasons, including the only ever instance of 2,000 runs and 200 wickets in the same FC season.
+RW Taylor – wicket keeper, right handed batter. The most wicket keeping dismissals (1,649 of them – 1,473 catches and 176 stumpings) of anyone in first class cricket history.
W Rhodes – left arm orthodox spinner, right handed batter. More first class wickets than anyone else in the game’s history, even though there was a phase in his career when he hardly bowled. He also scored almost 40,000 runs in FC cricket.
SF Barnes – right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter. The best wickets per game ratio of anyone to play 20 or more tests – 189 in 27 matches, at 16.43 each = seven wickets per match. Generally regarded as the greatest of all bowlers.
T Richardson – right arm fast bowler, right handed batter. The fastest to the career landmarks of 1,000 FC wickets (134 matches) and 2,000 (327 matches). From the start of the 1894 season to the end of the 1897 season he took just over 1,000 wickets, a period of wicket taking unique in cricket history.

This is a well balanced XI of awesome power. Now onto…

THE RESERVES

These are my six designated reserves:

H Sutcliffe, right handed opening batter. My reserve opener was the ultimate big game player. His overall FC average was 52.02, his overall test average 60.73 and his overall Ashes average 66.85. As he himself once said to Pelham Warner “ah Mr Warner, I love a dogfight”.
JH Kallis, right handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler. Has a fair claim to be regarded as the best batting all rounder ever to play the game. He didn’t master the full range of skills that Sobers did, hence his place as a reserve rather than in the starting XI.
GA Faulkner, right handed batter, leg spinner. The only cricketer to have finished a career of over 20 test matches with a batting average of over 40 and a bowling average of less than 30.
GL Jessop, right handed batter, right arm fast bowler. The most consistently fast scorer ever to play the game.
+LEG Ames, right handed batter, wicket keeper. The only recognized keeper to have scored 100FC hundreds, also holds the record for most career stumpings in first class cricket – 418.
GA Lohmann, right arm medium fast bowler, right handed batter. The man with the lowest career bowling average of anyone take 100 test wickets – 10.75.

CONCLUSIONS

This little collection of players fully illustrates why there is no definitive answer to the question I saw on twitter yesterday. I also missed the taker of 800 test wickets (Muralidaran), the only player to score 5,000 test runs and take 400 test wickets (Kapil Dev), the holder of the record test and first class individual scores (Lara), and quite a few others who have and deserve to have legions of fans. If forced to provide a single player as answer to this question I would consider WG Grace to be less far wrong than any other single answer.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

England 3 New Zealand 0: A Retrospective

A look back at the England v New Zealand test series.

Having finally concluded my series about my Scottish holiday I now look back at the series between England and New Zealand that concluded yesterday.

MATCH ONE: A NEW ERA DAWNS

The length of England’s injury list in the fast bowling department and well justified concerns about the top order batting made what already seemed a tough ask appear even tougher. However, Matt Potts of Durham, given his call up to fill one of the vacant slots in the pace bowling department had a superb debut, Broad and Anderson both bowled well on their return to the side, and England won impressively.

MATCH TWO: A DRAMATIC TURNAROUND

Prospects didn’t seem too rosy when England put New Zealand in on a flat pitch and the visitors racked up 550 in the first innings. However, England responded in kind, with Ollie Pope, whose presence at number three, where he had never previously batted in FC cricket, was a cause of some disquiet making a big hundred, Joe Root confirming his status as the greatest England batter of the 21st century with 176 and various other players producing runs. NZ managed to set England 299 to win, having looked in trouble at one stage of their second innings. When Root departed early and England were three down still needing well over 200 for the win the prognosis looked grim. Jonny Bairstow, enjoying a remarkable revival to his career in red ball cricket, played a remarkable innings, with Ben Stokes providing his principal support. Bairstow scored the second fastest test century by an England batter ever, beaten only by Gilbert Jessop’s 1902 effort against Australia, also in a fourth innings run chase. The Yorkshireman was 136* when England completed a five wicket win, with keeper Foakes undefeated at the other end in support.

MATCH 3: 55-6 AND THEN…

James Anderson was unable to play this match, meaning that Devonian born Surrey fast bowler and lower middle order batter Jamie Overton got a first test cap. New Zealand tallied 329 in the first innings, Leach the left armspinner answering some increasingly vociferous critics with 5-100. When Jamie Overton walked out to bat the score was 55-6 and NZ were probably contemplating enforcing the follow on. They were to end up in deficit on first innings. Overton on debut was 89* by the end of the second day, and the seventh wicket stand between him and Bairstow was worth 209, England being 264-6. On day three Overton agonisingly failed to complete a debut century, falling on 97. Bairstow went on to 162, the lower order providing some support, and England, all out for 360, led by 31 on first innings. NZ mustered 326 second time round, with Mitchell and Blundell sharing yet another long partnership in the middle order. Leach, remarkably, achieved a second five wicket haul, 5-66 this time, on a pitch that has seldom been kind to spinners in recent times. England thus need 296 to win. Lees was out early on this occasion, Crawley made a very fortuitous 25 before a chance offered to the slip/ gully region (a mode of dismissal he suffers unacceptably often), but Joe Root and Ollie Pope saw England to 183-2 by the end of day four, 113 more needed and eight wickets standing. Pope did not last long on the final morning, but his departure merely signalled more Bairstow fireworks. Bairstow was a little too brilliant on this occasion, depriving his fellow tyke Root of what would have been that worthy’s 28th test century. England won by seven wickets and taken the series 3-0. Leach was named Player of the Match for his bowling effort, while Root just pipped Bairstow to the Player of the Series award.

POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES

The new mindset that Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum has instilled in his charges has been a huge positive. The comeback from the depths of 55-6 in reply to 329 in the third match illustrated the spirit in the camp. Pope finally seems to be reproducing his first class form in the test arena, Bairstow has been a revelation, reigniting a test career that looked done not so long ago. Potts and J Overton have both shown great promise early in their test careers, with Potts in particular seeming destined for great career. Leach has ended any discussion about who England’s no1 test spinner is with his bowling at Headingley (with a tour to Pakistan coming at the end of the summer the question of back up spinners will need looking at, and I have several ideas there which I will explore more fully nearer the time). Although temporarily indisposed (lower back pains which turned out to be an early symptom of Covid) Foakes remains first choice keeper. Lees has played a couple of decent knocks at the top this series, and Pope is looking good at three (and in any case that experiment needs rather more time than one three match series before it can be judged). A new opener is needed to replace Crawley. After 24 test matches Crawley averages 26.68 overall, and much less than that as on opener – in the course of this series Crawley’s average as an opener dipped below that of Mike Brearley, and of course for a lot of Brearley’s career his batting was not the main reason for him having a place in the side. While I can understand that it would have been difficult to call up a replacement opener for the one-off match against India that starts on Friday I am absolutely certain that there should be a new name up top (for me one of Chris Dent or Ben Compton) by the time the series against South Africa gets underway.

Overall this series has been hugely positive for England, and although India are likely to prove tougher opposition England are better placed than one could have imagined when they left the West Indies a few months ago with a record showing one victory in their last 17 test matches.

PHOTOGRAPHS

As always I conclude this post by sharing some of my photos…

Scotland 2022: Homeward Bound

Concluding my account of my Scottish holiday with a look at the journey home.

Welcome to the final post in my series on my Scottish holiday. This one deals with my return to King’s Lynn.

A LATE CHANGE OF PLANS

On the Friday evening after getting back from the visit to Eigg I picked up an email warning me that the train I was supposed to be travelling on from Fort William to Glasgow had been cancelled. I was able to establish that I could get back on track by taking a train from Crianlarich (where the Oban and Mallaig lines diverge), but it still meant that I missed the most scenic part of the train journey. It also meant an earlier start to the day.

CRIANLARICH – EDINBURGH

Barring a delay getting into Glasgow, which is was of no relevance given how far ahead of schedule I was due to having had to alter my travel plans there were no hitches on this section of the journey, and I arrived in Edinburgh still miles ahead of schedule…

EDINBURGH TO PETERBOROUGH

I opted to spend time waiting at Waverley station and travel on the train on which I had a booked seat rather than take my chances on earlier train, a decision that although it did not work out for me I still regard as having been the correct one. Unfortunately, the last London bound train before the one I was booked on was cancelled due to someone running about on the tracks, which meant that the train on which I was booked had to take two trainloads worth of passengers. I am cautious about long distance trains and always look to board early, which was a lucky decision on this occasion – I was seated in the seat that was technically reserved to me well in advance of departure time, which was just as well, as an onboard computer malfunction meant that the only way a reservation could actually be enforced was in the way that I had done so – by actually being sat in the seat. The addition of an extra unscheduled stop at Berwick on Tweed, and a couple of other minor delays had me briefly worried about my onward connection at Peterborough, but we actually got to Peterborough 15 minutes before my next train was due to depart, and not even the shocking organization of that station (it is not easy to find general departure information there) could make me miss that train – I was safely seated comfortably ahead of departure time.

PETERBOROUGH TO KING’S LYNN

The train from Peterborough arrived at Ely, my last change point, bang on schedule, and there was never a chance of me missing the train on to King’s Lynn. That train also ran to schedule, and I arrived in King’s Lynn just after 10:30PM. I then walked home, and was unpacked by 11:00PM.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my pictures from this eventful day:

Scotland 2022: Eigg to Acharacle via Mallaig

Finishing the account of the Friday of my Scottish Holiday.

This post continues my series about my holiday in Scotland with an account of the journey back from Eigg to Acharacle which included a diversion north to Mallaig. This is my fourth post about Friday’s activities and the penultimate post in this series.

EIGG TO MALLAIG

The voyage back to the mainland was calm as the outward voyage had been, and we set off along the coast road to Mallaig (there is a quicker main road which we used on the way from Mallaig to Acharacle). This route is very scenic. Mallaig was very busy when we got there but we found a parking space not too far from the centre.

MALLAIG AND BACK TO ACHARACLE

Mallaig well repaid a brief visit – there a few things of interest to be seen there, including a good account of the coming of the railway (late by British standards, early 20th century), and some splendid views. I first passed through Mallaig nearly three decades ago, when I arrived by ferry from the Isle of Skye and travelled on by train to Oban (one change at Crianlarich), and also saw the area immediately around the train station much more recently when I travelled on The Jacobite between Fort William and Mallaig in 2017.

The journey back to Acharacle passed without incident, bringing to an end the active part of a very enjoyable final full day the holiday.

Scotland 2022: Exploring Eigg

Continuing my account of my Scottish holiday with a look at the beautiful and interesting island of Eigg.

I continue my account of my Scottish holiday with a look at our explorations of the island of Eigg, the third of four posts devoted to Friday (see here and here).

THE EXPLORATION

There are a cafe and a shop right where the boat drops one on the island of Eigg. Having noted the existence of these establishments we began our explorations. The first point of interest was some information about the island itself:

We then came to a memorial…

Then it was walk uphill, until we came to a footpath that we took. Conscious of time constraints we did not go massively far along the path, though what we saw was very scenic…

There were some more information boards before we got back to the cafe, which we were now ready to patronise. First this, about the geology of the inner Hebrides:

Then this about electricity and green issues:

The cafe proved to be excellent. I ate a bacon bap and drank a reasonably local beer that proved to be of splendid quality.

POST LUNCH

We did a little more exploring after lunch, before heading back to the boat, which we boarded in good time for the journey back to Arisaig. Eigg was very interesting as well as very scenic, and I enjoyed my visit there.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my remaining pictures from Eigg…

Scotland 2022: The Crossing to Eigg

Continuing my account of my Scottish holiday with a look at the crossing from Arisaig to Eigg.

I continue my account of my recent Scottish holiday with a look at the boat trip from Arisaig to Eigg. This post picks up where yesterday’s left off.

THE BOAT TRIP TO EIGG

Though not by any means a large craft the boat taking us to Eigg was considerably larger and stouter than the one on which we travelled between Alderney and Guernsey earlier this year. Additionally, the presence of so many islands so tightly clustered together means that the Sound of Arisaig is not by any means as savage as one might expect of sea of the coast of Scotland. Finally, there was very little wind about, which further contributed to the crossing being a smooth one.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are the pictures between Arisaig and Eigg…

Scotland 2022: An Adventurous Friday

Starting an account of the Friday of my Scottish holiday. There will be several more posts about the day.

I continue my coverage of my Scottish holiday with a multi-part account of Friday’s activities. In this post I set the scene for several more post.

THE PLAN IN OUTLINE

We had arranged to visit the island of Eigg, which involved journeying to Arisaig (home of mainland Britain’s most westerly railway station) to catch the boat. We would explore Eigg, get the boat back and then pay a quick visit to Mallaig before returning to Acharacle. To ensure not missing the boat we were underway by eight AM.

ACHARACLE TO ARISAIG

The journey from Acharacle to Arisaig is exceedingly scenic. Capturing said scenery on camera was rendered slightly challenging due the problems created by being in the back seat of a car with rather small rear windows, but I did get some good pictures. We arrived in Arisaig in good time, and were seated aboard the boat by 9:30, for a 10AM sailing.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my photographs from leaving home to getting on the boat…

Scotland 2022: Acharacle

Welcome to the next post in my series about my Scottish holiday. This post focusses on Acharacle where we were staying, and the surrounding area. It covers Wednesday evening and Thursday of the week in question.

Birthday Meal

The evening of Wednesday June 1st featured a belated birthday meal at an excellent restaurant. I opted for smoked venison for a starter and steak for the main course, washed down by a rather good local beer.

THURSDAY: TWO LOCAL WALKS

Thursday had been forecast to be the least good day of the week weatherwise, and it was (although for western Scotland it was far from being bad). During the two periods when the weather was good enough to go out we did first a walk to the village shop, visiting the church on the way back, and then in the late afternoon/ early evening a walk over the Shiel bridge and then part way along one side of the loch that the river turns into in that direction (the Shiel is a very short river). There is a small settlement called Moss, and indeed mosses and lichens grow very luxuriantly in this part of the world.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my photographs taken in and around Acharacle…

Scotland 2022: Singing Sands – Beach and Back

Continuing my account of my Scottish holiday with my second post about the Singing Sands.

Welcome to my latest post about my Scottish holiday, my second about the walk centred on the Singing Sands.

ON THE BEACH

We spent a little time on the beach, crossing the river that runs across it at a carefully picked spot that enabled us not to get our shoes wet. While we were on the beach I refreshed myself, having been sensible enough to equip myself with water and a little food. It was a truly splendid location, and I was careful to ensure that I left nothing other than footprints and took nothing other than photographs.

THE WALK BACK

We walked back the way we had come, seeing a few new things on the way. It had been a very enjoyable walk, and I recommend it to anyone who is in that part of western Scotland.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my photographs from this second part of the walk…

Scotland 2022: The Walk to the Singing Sands

Continuing my account of my Scottish holiday with the first of two posts about the walk that formed the centrepiece of the Wednesday.

Welcome to the latest post in my account of my Scottish holiday which ended a week ago today. This post is the first of two posts covering the walk we did on the Wednesday. This involved a short car journey to the car park from which the walk began (doing it this way the walk was in region of six miles, three out and three back, which is manageable for all of us).

A LOCAL LANDMARK

The Singing Sands is the name given to a beach because when the wind is blowing it does indeed sound like the sand is singing, and it is approached by way of a good track which runs through what used to MOD territory and then more recently was managed by the Forestry Commission. The beach is accessed by a side path off this track.

THREE DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS

The walk starts alongside a patch of mud flats, then after the crossing of a bridge from which the remains of at least two earlier river crossings can be seen the track heads into the woods, and then finally one emerges to a sight of the beach which is remarkable. I will be covering the beach and the walk back in my next post.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are some photographs from the parts of the walk covered in this post: