June 2024 – Page 2

The World T20 Cup Latest

A look at developments in the T20 World Cup, including the eliminations of Sri Lanka and new Zealand, a revival in England’s fortunes and the situation currently unfolding in Florida. Also a large photo gallery.

This post looks at recent developments in the men’s T20 World Cup. I am typing it while waiting on developments in Florida (of which more later).

SRI LANKA AND NEW ZEALAND ELIMINATED

Sri Lanka became the first full member nation to be eliminated from the tournament, after a washed out match left them too far adrift to qualify. New Zealand’s elimination was confirmed in the small hours of this morning UK time when Afghanistan beat Papua New Guinea comfortably, a result which left Afghanistan and the West Indies both with three wins out of three, making the match between Afghanistan and West Indies a contest for who wins the group outright, with both sides certain of qualification.

ENGLAND THROW THEMSELVES A LIFELINE

Last night England played Oman in a match which they not only had to win, they had to win it by a very big margin due to net run rate being a factor. Had England been permitted to invent a result for this game to suit themselves they would not have dared to come up with what actually happened – they bowled Oman out for 48, Rashid taking 4-11 and Mark Wood and Jofra Archer each snaring three victims, and then blasted their way to the target in a preposterous 3.1 overs. This means that net run rate is effectively no longer a factor – if England beat Namibia and Australia beat Scotland then England will qualify for the super eights,

AN ODD QUADRANGULAR IN FLORIDA

I call this one a quadrangular because there are four factors, three present at the Lauderhill ground (unlike the pop-up stadium at Nassau County, New York this is an authentic cricket ground) and one watching nervously on the outcome. The Lauderhill ground is situated close enough to Fort Lauderdale railway station for the railway to be useful for visiting journalists. The three participants who are present are respectively The USA cricket team, the Ireland cricket team and some decidedly grim local weather. The fourth participant in the drama, watching from afar, and desperately hoping that the weather will allow some cricket as a washout would mean elimination for them are the Pakistan cricket team. It hosed down in Florida earlier today, though Lauderhill was less badly hit than some parts of the state. At the moment it is dry, and the sun has even been spotted, but the ground is not yet dry enough for play to proceed, although there is an inspection due in 22 minutes time if the weather hold. Ireland need a match to happen, as like Pakistan they hanging on by their fingernails, while a washout would guarantee the USA qualification, so they will be the least bothered of the three teams waiting on developments.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

An interesting bug that I spotted today.

A Tactical Possibility for Australia

A look at an interesting tactical situation facing Australia in the T20 World Cup, and also a note on the state of play in today’s match between the USA and India, and a huge photo gallery.

In the small hours of this morning UK time Australia hammered Namibia at the T20 World Cup, a victory that ensures their progress to the next stage of the competition. England have Oman and Namibia to play and need to win both games, while Australia’s match against Scotland could decide which of England and Scotland qualify if England manage that. This post looks at the possibilities in more detail.

THE NET RUN RATE SITUATION

If England and Scotland both end on five points the fact that the match between the two was a washout means that it if Australia as would be expected beat Scotland (I would NEVER advocate that a side actually seek to lose a match – Brian Rose as Somerset skipper in the late 1970s was quite rightly hammered for doing exactly that to exploit a badly thought through qualifying system) it will be a matter of the margin by which they do so. While deliberately losing would clearly be wrong, if Australia find themselves chasing and know that completing the chase within a certain number of overs means England get through rather than Scotland then they would be perfectly justified in ensuring they take long enough over the chase to let Scotland qualify – I would expect England to do the same if they had Australia’s fate in their own hands. Also I would say that no one could object to Australia choosing to rest some of their big names for this match. Deliberately setting out to lose the match would be unacceptable, but deciding that one does not need to strain every nerve and sinew when one has already qualified is another matter entirely.

USA v INDIA SO FAR

Today’s match is between the United States of America and India. The USA need a win from either this match or their final match against Ireland to be sure of qualifying. USA were restricted to 110-8 from their 20 overs, with Arshdeep Singh recording figures of 4-0-9-4 for India. However, Saurabh Netravalkar, himself born in India before moving to the USA, has shaken things up early in the Indian innings – he got Virat Kohli for a golden duck, and has just added the wicket of Indian skipper Rohit Sharma. As I type this India are 13-2 in the fourth over, and have work to do.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

inter-species ci0operation – the magpie is performing cleaning services for the muntjac (on the grassland outside my front window)

Men’s T20 World Cup in Full Swing

A look at developments in the ongoing men’s T20 world cup and a large photo gallery.

Things have moved on at the men’s T20 world cup since the USA’s great victory over Pakistan. There have been several more upsets since then, and more than one of the big name teams is in danger of falling at the first hurdle. In this post I look at some of the more significant developments.

IRELAND v CANADA

The day after the USA downed Pakistan in a match that went to a super over full member nation Ireland took on associate member nation Canada. Canada not only won the match, they did so without the need for a super over, and indeed without any result other than a win for Canada ever looking very likely.

ENGLAND IN JEOPARDY

England started their world cup with a match against neighbours Scotland. This match was ruined by rain, but England cannot claim to have been robbed of the points since in the ten overs that were possible Scotland amassed 90-0, and this in a tournament in which big scores have been very much the exception rather than the rule. In England’s second match of the tournament they faced Australia, and at no stage of that match did any result other than a comfortable Australian victory look likely. That result duly eventuated. Scotland, having had a potential big day out ruined by rain now faced Oman, and although Oman fared respectably with the bat, scoring 150 in their 20 overs, Scotland left no doubt as to their intentions in the run chase. George Munsey gave them a flying start with 41 off 21 balls, Brandon McMullen continued the good work with 61 not out in 31 balls and Matthew Cross weighed win 15 not out off 8 balls to see Scotland to an eight wicket victory with 6.5 overs to spare, which gave them a massive net run rate boost. England cannot now do more than equal Scotland’s points tally, which since the two countries would in that event have identical win/ loss records would mean that it comes down to net run rate. My own opinion based on what England have done in the tournament so far is that they do not deserve to qualify for the next stage of the competition. If cricketing justice is done and England do indeed fall at the first hurdle that should see the end of Matthew Mott as white ball coach and of Jos Buttler as white ball captain.

PAKISTAN IN TROUBLE

In many ways it would have been typical of Pakistan to come off the back of a loss to the USA and beat India a few days later, and when India could do no better than 119 from their 20 overs it looked on. However Pakistan messed up the run chase appallingly, and India won by 12 runs, meaning that Pakistan are looking at an early exit.

NEW ZEALAND THRASHED

I cannot say much about this match as I missed it due to the fact that it happened between 1:30AM and 4:30AM my time. However, Afghanistan won it comfortably, and New Zealand at least for the present must be a trifle worried.

SOUTH AFRICA TOP ORDER WOES

South Africa are not in danger of failing to qualify, but they have not been entirely convincing either – they took 17 overs to chase 77 in their first match, almost the full 20 to chase 103 in their second – at one stage of that pursuit they were 12-4 before David Miller rescued them. They are currently in action against Bangladesh, batting first this time, and they are 23-4 in the fifth over, having just lost the fourth wicket as I was typing this – a third successive top order collapse.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Comrie 2024 – Wrap Up

Concluding my account of my Scottish holiday with the return journey.

This will be the final post in my series about my Scottish holiday (28-31 May inclusive. I will briefly mention the birthday festivities which took place a day early – the day itself (May 31) was to be a day of travelling home, before covering the return journey.

THE BIRTHDAY MEAL

One of the shops Comrie possesses is a butcher, and the centrepiece of the meal was three large rib eye steaks purchased from that establishment. We also had Jersey Royals and locally grown asparagus, while there were locally grown raspberries for pudding. There was sparkling wine before the meal, and still wine with it.

THE RETURN JOURNEY

I was due to leave Perth at 11:15AM on May 31st, a time which was tailored to the fact that we had to be out of the building in Comrie by 10 at the latest – it was late enough not hurry our departure and early enough that the wait at Perth station would not be too long. This train was running a Perth to Edinburgh route and stopped at a number of places. There were some fine views, although I had put myself on the less good side of the train. I was worrying at one point as it ran late, and indeed I had only eight minutes to make the connection at Edinburgh, but I was never actually in any danger of missing that connection. The train from Edinburgh to Peterborough ran smoothly, though my reserved seat was on the less good side of the train for photography. At Peterborough I had a wait of about 20 minutes for the bus to King’s Lynn. This part of the journey also ran smoothly, and I arrived at the bus station a little before 6:40PM, and was home just before 7PM.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my photographs from the return journey..,

The train for the Perth-Edinburgh leg of the journey.

Comrie 2024 – Crieff

Continuing my account of my Scottish holiday with a look at Crieff.

This is the penultimate post in my series about my recent holiday in Scotland. After Cultybraggan Camp and Ardoch Roman Fort we headed for Crieff. There is an excellent visitor centre, with a small museum about the cattle drovers who back in the day travelled from the far west of Scotland to Stirling with their cattle, with Crieff being an important staging post on the route. In the 19th century some of these people migrated to the US and Canada in search of better lives, and this was also covered in the museum. Crieff is home to some very fine buildings but time constraints limited our exploration of the town itself.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my photos relating to Crieff…

Here is a waterfall video…

The Biggest Upset In Men’s Cricket History

My view on USA’s amazing victory over Pakistan in the T20 World Cup. Also a large photo gallery.

Yesterday the Men’s T20 World Cup being co-hosted by the United States of America and the West indies got a massive story, which could just end up being very important indeed in cricket history. This post looks back at an extraordinary match.

THE USA v PAKISTAN

The USA were taking part in a world cup tournament for the first time, while Pakistan have played every world cup, and are former winners, and they would certainly have come to this tournament with hopes of adding to their list of successes. The USA had won the opening match of the tournament, against neighbours Canada, in a reprise of the first ever international cricket match, played in 1844, but this time they were facing opponents of much greater stature. I missed the start of the match because yesterday was a work day for me. I joined the coverage with Pakistan endeavouring to recover from a poor start. They did so to the extent of reaching 159 -7 from their 20 overs. Nothush Kenjige had figures of 3-30 for the USA, Saurabh Netravalkar a remarkable 2-18 from his four overs. He will reappear later in this story. Babar Azam top scored for Pakistan with 44, but took 43 balls to score them – an ODI type innings in a T20I, not for the first time in his career. Shadab Khan had 40 off 25 balls, a better innings in this type of match. Still Pakistan’s bowling is their greatest strength, and 159 should have been enough for them defend. However the USA came out fighting, and were never out of the running. Pakistan had their best period with the ball from overs 12-19 of the USA innings. USA needed 16 when the final over began and got 15 of them, levelling the scores and causing the match to go to a super over. The USA batted first for this, and sensibly sent Aaron Jones, their most explosive batter, in, accompanied by the left handed Harmeet Singh. Pakistan chose Mohammad Amir to bowl the over – which turned out to be a very poor choice – he was all over the place, bowling nine deliveries in total to get through the over, and all three of the wides yielded extra runs. Helped by this the USA tallied 18 from the over, a stiff ask for Pakistan. Pakistan correctly sent Ifitkhar Ahmed and Fakhar Zaman in to bat for them, while Saurabh Netravalkar who had been so economical earlier was trusted with the ball for the USA. Pakistan were 5-0 after two balls, but then Iftikhar was caught off the third, and suddenly the target was 14 off the last three balls. The first two of those balls yielded seven, including a wide, and Pakistan needed six off the final ball to force a second super over. This was too big an ask, and the greatest upset in men’s international cricket had happened. Monank Patel, scorer of a 35 ball 50 for the USA, was named Player of the Match. This win for the USA over one of the top sides in the world should give the game there a massive boost. With two wins out of two they are now well placed to qualify, while Pakistan are in serious jeopardy. A full scorecard of the match is available here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are some recent photographs of mine…

Comrie 2024 – Cultybraggan Camp and a Roman Fort

Continuing my account of my Scottish holiday with a look back at Cultybraggan Camp, Ardoch Roman Fort and the stone packhorse bridge over the river Earn.

Welcome to the latest post in my series about my recent Scottish holiday. In this post I look at the visit to Cultybraggan Camp and also a Roman fort in the area.

CULTYBRAGGAN

This is a perfectly preserved WWII camp. There is a museum which contains a large amount of memorabilia from the 1940s. Some of the Nissen huts that made up the camp have been modernized and are now rented out as holiday apartments, and some house businesses or parts thereof. There are also allotments.

THE ROMAN FORT

There were actually two forts built in the same area but at different alignments – the first by Julius Agricola, governor of Britain late in the reign of Vespasian, who had served in Britain as a young man and took more interest in it than most Roman emperors, and the second some 60 years later in the reign of Antoninus Pius. There are in consequence of this history a number of walls and ditches that nowadays overlap one another. There is also a medieval era stone packhorse bridge across the river Earn located close to the fort, which we got a look at after we had finished at the fort.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my photos from this part of the holiday…

Comrie 2024 – The Earthquake Walk

Continuing my account of my recent holiday in Scotland with an account of the earthquake walk.

Comrie lies close to a fault line, and at one time was known as the ‘shaky toon’ because of this. It had earthquake recording equipment as early as the 18th century, and the building that housed that equipment still stands, and contains a more modern piece of recording equipment – a seismoscope, which records earthquakes and their intensity but not the times at which they occur. This post looks at our walk that took in that house, and features some information about earthquakes as well.

FIRST PORT OF CALL: COMRIE POST OFFICE

Comrie Post Office has some information about earthquakes on display. Apparently the post office itself shook when an earthquake hit Greece in March of this year.

THE WALK PROPER

The walk begins by heading past the church and on to the road that passed the frontage of the church – heading at this point in the direction of Crianlarich. The first noteworthy point after the church is a magnificent stone bridge across the river Earn. The ‘Earthquake House’ itself stands alone in a field, and is accessed by a path which leads off a side road – the gate from the main road into that field is very firmly locked. The house has plenty of information, and although one cannot go in one can look through the window and get a decent view of the seismoscope, though the window is reinforced in a way that renders photographing the seismoscope a virtual impossibility – I tried.

We hoped to walk along a bit of disused railway – the former Lochearnhead, St Fillans and Comrie Railway, a route that was in operation between 1901 and 1951 when it was closed – but a small spring was bubbling on to the path rendering too wet and muddy to be walking, so we saw only the start of it. Thus in the end we went back the way we had come.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my photographs from this walk…

Comrie 2024 – The Deil’s Caldron Walk

Continuing my account of my Scottish holiday with a look at the Deil’s Caldron walk.

I continue my account of my recent Scottish holiday with a post about the Deil’s Caldron walk. In Comrie Village there is a restaurant called The Deil’s Caldron, about which I cannot comment further as it was closed while i was there so I had no opportunity to sample it. The restaurant is named after a natural landmark.

THE WALK

Just out of Comrie (literally yards past a sign indicating the end of the speed limit) is a path that is signposted to the Deil’s Caldron. It is a very well maintained path, in better shape than most English paths, and the walk at this time of year is not a challenging one. One hears the caldron before seeing it, and there is a superb viewing area overlooking it, which we made full use of. We did not continue onwards to make a circular walk of it, but went back the way we came.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are the pictures from this walk…

Today’s waterfall video…

Comrie 2024: House and Riverside

A look at the Charles Rennie Mackintosh building, the village of Comrie and the river Earn. Also a waterfall video.

Welcome to the next post in my series about my holiday in Scotland. This post looks at the house itself and the the village of Comrie including the river Earn. It is in the nature of clearing the decks for the more specific posts that will follow. This is an outside view of the house itself:

This is the outside view of our accommodation. The sitting room includes the turret, although there is an internal ceiling which means we don’t get to see the whole of the inside of the turret.

THE SETTING OF THE HOUSE

The house is directly opposite Comrie Community Centre, a building that looks remarkably like a church but is not (though it clearly used to be) – Comrie Church is about a five minute walk away. Next door it in one direction is an estate agent housed in what clearly used to be a local bank in the dim and distant days when such things existed while on the other side is a pet shop. Down one side of the house is a path that provides pedestrian access to the car parking area. There is a small shopping area, while the river, not quite visible from the house, is just the other side of the community centre from it.

On the Wednesday morning I explored the river a little way in each direction. One way is a path that leads to Cultybraggan. In the other direction I got as far as Legion Park. From certain locations a hill top monument is visible – I photographed it more than once.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are the pictures for this post…

A community centre that looks like a church.

For those who made it to this point, here is the first of a series of waterfall videos which will feature in this series:

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