A look at developments in the county championship, with close looks at Somerset v Nottinghamshire and Kent v Surrey.
The third round of the county championship continues to progress. Essex have already polished off Lancashire by an innings and 124 runs, and Middlesex are close to completing victory over Yorkshire. Other matches are rather closer. This post looks closely at two of the games in progress.
SOMERSET V NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
Somerset took a huge first innings lead over Nottinghamshire – when the eighth Somerset wicket fell the lead looked like being manageable, but then Craig Overton and Migael Pretorius batted very well, Pretorius making 77 from number 10, and Overton being stranded on 95 after a poor shot from Bashir to end the Somerset innings. Nottinghamshire are looking untroubled in their own second innings, but they are only just in credit even so.
KENT V SURREY
This is the game I am now following, and Surrey are in total control – a massive second wicket stand between Dominic Sibley and Dan Lawrence saw them into a first innings lead with nine wickets still standing, and some more aggressive later play, especially from Jamie Smith, Cam Steel and Jordan Clark saw them reach tea at 543-7, an advantage of 299, at which point, as predicted by me they declared to have a go at Kent’s second innings in the evening. Dan Worrall has just accounted for Crawley, the second time in the match he has dismissed that worthy, and Kent are currently 16-1, still 283 adrift.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
Yesterday morning was a ‘just a cuppa’ for autistic adults at King’s Lynn library. This lego archiecture was constrained by how little lego was actually available for us.
A look back at the final day of Six Nations 2024 action, and a bumper photo gallery, presented in three parts.
The 2024 Six Nations rugby tournament concluded late yesterday evening, with France playing England in Lyon in a match that would decide second and third spots in the final table. This match was the third match a final day and that it had no bearing on who won the tournament shows that the schedulers miscalculated somewhat.
THE EARLIER GAMES
The first match of the day saw Wales and Italy facing one another in a game that Wales had to win to avoid the wooden spoon. A win for Italy would make it their best ever Six Nations showing. It was also confirmed as a final international appearance for George North of Wales, and I suspect there may be other members of this Welsh squad who will not be seen at international level again. The Italians were 11-0 up at half time, and a converted try right at the start of the second half extended the lead to 18. At that point Wales finally showed a hint of fighting spirit, and in the end the final score was remarkably close, but Italy’s early dominance had ensured that justice was done, and that they did indeed record the win that gave them their best ever Six Nations showing.
Ireland needed only a single point from their match against Scotland to ensure that they would retain the championship that they won last year. Scotland came out fighting, making it clear from the word go that they were not just there to assist in Ireland’s coronation. Ireland proved good enough in the end, and retained their championship, underlining their status as the current dominant force in European rugby.
FRANCE V ENGLAND
This match would have no bearing on who won the tournament, but no game between these old rivals is ever meaningless, and there was plenty of pride at stake, as well as which of these sides would end up in second place. The match was an absolute belter of a game. The lead changed many times. With only a few minutes to go England got a penalty, and in the situation George Ford opted to kick for the corner hoping to set up a try rather than settle for three points. A superb kick gave England a line out just ten metres from the try line, and some slick work from that line out got them the try, and Ford, as unerring with the boot as he had been all game, duly scored the conversion to put England ahead. Then, with 38 seconds left on the clock France were awarded a penalty. For them, with three points being sufficient to re-establish their lead in the dying seconds it was a ‘must kick’ opportunity, though at 49 metres it was a major challenge to do so. Ramos, the French kicker, managed to put it over and the home crowd celebrated. There was time for the match to restart, but there was never any doubt that the French would retain possession for long enough thereafter to hang on for the win and with it second place in the table.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Yesterday was a very spring like day, and I deliberately extended my walks to and from King’s Lynn library where there was a ‘just a cuppa’ morning for autistic adults to take full advantage of it. Thus comes a gallery three parts…
Friday afternoon’s walk and the walk to the library…
The walk to the library yesterday starts here.
Lego architecture at the coffee morning…
Modification of the roof to include an overhanging observation platform.The final modification – the blue bases used here represent part of a river, with clear blocks forming a stepping stone type crossing thereof.
The walk back from the library…
A brimstone butterfly fluttering around the greenery near Kettlewell Lane (four pics)
A look back at the test match in Dharamsala and at the India v England series as a whole, and a composite XI for the series. Also a huge photo gallery.
The final test match of the India v England series at Dharamsala ended earlier today after barely half the allotted playing time, with India winning by an innings and 64 runs to take the series 4-1. This post looks back at the match (I missed two major chunks of play – on day one because it was a work day and on day two because the West Norfolk Autism Group had a committee meeting, but still got enough of the action to have a decent idea of what went on) and at the series, including naming a composite XI for the series.
THE PRELIMINARIES
Ollie Robinson’s injury forced one change on England, and they opted to recall Mark Wood rather than give Gus Atkinson a game, a mistake IMO, but one that had zero effect on the outcome. This meant that Jonathan Bairstow became without doubt the least deserving ever recipient of 100 test caps. India dropped Patidar (I choose to consider the official line about getting an ankle injury during training to be absolute BS) and brought in Devdutt Paddikal for a test debut, while Bumrah returned after a one match rest. England won the toss and opted to bat first on a flat looking pitch.
DAY ONE
England started well, with Crawley playing nicely and Duckett helping to push the score into the 60s before the first wicket fell. Pope never looked at home and was out to the daftest dismissal of the series, when he gave Kuldeep Yadav the charge, playing for spin that wasn’t there and walking straight past the ball to be stumped by a ridiculous margin. Root and Crawley took the score to 134 before Crawley’s innings ended for 79. Bairstow and Root had taken things to 175-3 but then came an epic collapse, and moments later the score read 183-8. Foakes, left for the second successive innings to attempt to shepherd Bashir and Anderson, did enough that England reached 218, still an obviously inadequate total. I missed most of the start of the Indian innings, but they ended day 1 on 135-1, Jaiswal having gone after taking his series aggregate to 712 runs.
DAY TWO
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill batted superbly and India were in to the lead with only one wicket down. Both these batters notched centuries and got out shortly thereafter, but the debutant Paddikal and Sarfaraz Khan continued to good work and at one stage India looked set for a really mammoth total. However, they lost wickets while I was out, and by the end of the day were 473-8. Shoaib Bashir having conceded 100 in his first 20 overs had hauled things back and was on 4-170 by the close. Anderson had claimed his 699th test wicket.
THE FINAL HUMILIATION
Anderson got his 700th test wicket, and Bashir ended the Indian innings by claiming his fifth wicket, his second test five-for in his debut series. There was little else for England to enjoy. Duckett suffered a crazy bowled dismissal, trying to charge Ashwin who took the new ball alongside Bumrah. Crawley failed cheaply as well, turning one from Ashwin into the hands of Sarfaraz Khan, and Pope fell to catch by Jaiswal off Ashwin. That was 36-3. Bairstow flashed his way to 39 off 30 balls before falling LBW to Kuldeep Yadav and that was 92-4. Right on the stroke of lunch Stokes concluded a wretched series with the bat (and he only bowled at all in this match, taking a wicket with his first ball in nine months but otherwise doing nothing of note) by being bowled by Ashwin, against whom he seemed to have not a scooby, for 2. England at 103-5 needed 147 more just to avoid the innings defeat. Foakes fell for 8, also bowled by Ashwin and it was 113-6. Tom Hartley offered Root some support, but he and Wood were both pinned LBW by Bumrah in the space of three balls (and if Wood knew anything about the intermediate delivery I am a Dutchman) and that was 141-8. Shoaib Bashir offered Root support, and the prospect a century for the Yorkshireman appeared on the horizon. However with the partnership with 48 a delivery from Jadeja kept low and bowled Bashir to make it 189-9. With Anderson at the other end Root aimed a big shot against Kuldeep Yadav and succeeded only in picking out Jasprit Bumrah to fall for 84. England 195 all out, Root 84. Kuldeep Yadav was named Player of the Match for his seven wickets, five of them taken in the first innings, and Yashavsi Jaiswal was named Player of the Series.
ANALYSIS
This series was played on excellent cricket wickets – these were not at any stage of any match raging turners, and everyone had the chance to get in the game. India won 4-1, and are in truth not flattered by that margin, because they have the better cricketers, and they generally played somewhere close to their best. Crawley’s series was reminiscent of the one Shane Watson had in the 2010-11 Ashes – respectable aggregate and average, but no really major innings, and like Watson he was part of a well beaten side. Duckett had his moments, including a superb century, and he and Crawley usually have England a solid start, while not coming close to being a latter day Hobbs and Sutcliffe. Where England failed abysmally was in the number 3-6 positions in the order. The 40 innings played by those players across the series (four players, 10 innings each) yielded exactly three major innings – Pope’s 196 in the first match, Root 122* at Ranchi and Root 84 in the second innings at Dharamsala. When the engine room of the batting is failing to that extent one cannot really expect other than a hammering. In the 1924-5 Ashes Hobbs and Sutcliffe both had superb series, but were largely unsupported by the rest of the order and England lost 4-1. Here Crawley and Duckett were not as good as Hobbs and Sutcliffe had been 99 years ago, and the middle order failed even worse. Only Anderson, who became only the third ever bowler and first ever seamer to record 700 test scalps, was remotely effective among England’s pace bowlers, but India’s pacers were not brilliant either. Hartley and Bashir as front line spinners did more than anyone could have expected of them, and Bashir especially looks hugely promising, but they were unsurprisingly outclassed by their rather more experienced Indian counterparts. Foakes kept impeccably through the series, but Dhruv Jurel also did superbly once he replaced the underachieving Srikar Bharat, and Jurel was a clear cut matchwinner at Ranchi. Thus India were, thanks to Jaiswal, somewhat ahead when it came to openers, in a different league from England in slots 3-6, ahead on pace (Bumrah being better in the series than the veteran Anderson) and ahead on spin, though less one-sidedly so than might have been expected, equal on keeping, and probably equal on captaincy, though to make up for his shocking series as a player Stokes would have had to captain like peak Brearley, and he certainly did not do so. I do not think that either Wood (now 35 and unlike Anderson seriously injury prone) or Oliver Edward Robinson (too many fitness issues) should feature for England again, and it is long past time to confine Bairstow’s activities to white ball cricket. I also feel England need a genuine number three – barring his one great innings at Hyderabad Pope has looked further at sea than Captain Nemo and the Nautilus in this series. Josh Bohannon is the best number three currently playing county cricket, while Jamie Smith (Surrey) and James Rew (Somerset) must in the reckoning to replace Bairstow at number five. Bashir should keep his place as should Anderson for the present. Among younger pace options Matthew Potts, Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson and Tom Lawes should all be considered in the immediate term, and I would have half an eye on the progress of James T Langridge of Somerset who showed signs of promise when thrust into One Day Cup action as a 17 year old last season.
In terms of the team approach, I am all for attacking cricket, but what we saw far too much in this series was brainless batting – large numbers of wickets simply thrown away. Also some of the players public utterances (Duckett’s comments about Jaiswal learning from England’s approach being an example – almost as ridiculous in their way as was Pope’s first innings dismissal at Dharamsala in its way).
COMPOSITE XI FOR THE SERIES
Yashavsi Jaiswal (India, left handed opening batter). Only one Asian opener has ever scored more in a series than his 712 in this one: Sunil Manohar Gavaskar against the West Indies in 1970.
*Rohit Sharma (India, right handed opening batter, captain). His century in the final test and the fact that his rival skipper was effectively un-selectable on any honest reckoning get him in – I have commented on the efforts of Crawley and Duckett earlier in this post.
Shubman Gill (India, right handed batter). He came good as this series progressed, and outside of his Hyderabad display Pope scraped up a mere 117 runs in nine innings.
Joe Root (England, right handed batter, occasion off/ leg spinner). He did well in the fourth and fifth matches, and number four was a problem position for India. Paddikal made 65 in his debut innings, but that was the only innings he played, and Patidar was never remotely convincing. However, he needs to stop trying to play fancy, and settle, as he did in these last two matches, for using the traditional test match methods that have brought him 11,000 runs at 50.
Sarfaraz Khan (India, right handed batter). Solid performances in all matches that he has played.
Ravindra Jadeja (India, left handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner). The veteran Indian all rounder has had a fine series, while Stokes had a wretched one.
+Dhruv Jurel (India, wicket keeper, right handed batter). Both he and Ben Foakes kept very well. The tiebreaker is Ranchi, where Jurel was India’s matchwinner.
R Ashwin (India, off spinner, right handed batter). The veteran bowled better as the series progressed.
Kuldeep Yadav (India, left arm wrist spinner, left handed batter). Has had a superb series with the ball since coming in for Axar Patel, and has played some useful supporting innings with the bat.
Jasprit Bumrah (India, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). The best quick bowler on display in this series.
James Anderson (England, right arm fast medium bowler, left handed batter). Still fit and firing at the age of 41, though England struggled to find anyone to share the new ball with him – neither Robinson nor Wood distinguished themselves in this series. I reckon he would fare better in this XI, with Bumrah at the other end, than he had the opportunity to do for England in this series.
A brief post celebrating the fact that after a week and a half without it I once again have broadband access at home. Ends with a bumper photo gallery, including the first butterfly of 2024.
The engineer came round near the beginning of the official slot of 8AM – 1PM today and connected up my new EE Home Hub, so after a gap of a week and a half I have Broadband at home once again.
A FRIGHTENINGLY WARM FEBRUARY
As I type this it is 12 degrees Celsius outside (53.6 Fahrenheit for USian readers), and that is far from out of keeping with the last week or so, when double figure positives have been the rule rather than the exception. February in high northern latitudes such as England is generally one of the two coldest months of the year alongside January, and the outside temperature hitting double figure positives on a regular basis is way out of kilter. Yesterday while out and about I saw my first butterfly of 2024, a small Tortoiseshell, while the spring flowers are in full bloom.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Saturday and yesterday were both good days for photography, in spite of being cloudy, and I therefore finish this post a king size gallery…
This shot and the next seven after it showcase the Lego architecture that I indulged in at the ‘Just a Cuppa’ morning for Autistic Adults at King’s Lynn Library on Saturday.This close up of the entrance also shows the topmost part of the gothic archway which links the front porch to the main building.A small Tortoiseshell butterfly in the grass alongside Bawsey Drain, heading towards North Lynn.
An illustrated account of a pizza making event to remind folks of my existence, and of course a regular photo gallery. Everything should be back to normal email and internet wise from Monday afternoon.
My internet and email situation will be back to normal on Monday. This Sunday just gone I took part in a pizza making session for autistic adults at the King’s Lynn branch of Pizza Express. The body of this post describes the process.
FROM DOUGH TO PIZZA
Pizza making in these sessions does not start absolutely from scratch – we have preprepared dough to work with. When we get to it we have the following starting position…
an ellipsoid lump of very sticky dough surrounded by flour.
The first stage is to dust the dough (which would otherwise be too sticky to work with) with flour. Then one uses fingers to flatten out the edge of the dough, leaving a dome in the middle (at this stage the dough should be about the same size and shape as a fried egg). Next the dome has to be flattened with the palm of the hand, and then the now flat piece of dough needs to be worked on until it is roughly circular and not too different in size from the tray in which it will be cooked. It then needs to be inserted into the tray, and manipulated once in so that it covers the entire base, and there is a small rise up the side of the tray to keep all the toppings in…
The pizza base ready for the addition of the toppings.
The first addition to the base is a ladleful of tomato puree (Pizza Express do not allow for the making of ‘white pizzas’), which has to be spread out evenly using the back of a spoon…
Next come the optional toppings, the first two of which I accepted being mushrooms and olives…
Then came the meat toppings, of which I accepted pepperoni and passed on the rest…
The penultimate addition when all the optional toppings are in place is the cheese, without which of course it would not be a pizza…
Finally, for those who want it comes that classic Mediterranean flavour enhancer, oregano. For those who, like me, opted to accept this, you take it in your non-dominant hand so that you can sprinkle it evenly over your pizza with your dominant hand…
The pizza, now ready for cooking.
A few minutes later the pizza was ready for eating, and it was excellent.
The pizza, cooked and ready to be eaten.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
It is early in the year for hares to be out and about (the Lewis Carroll character is ‘The March Hare’ for a reason), but here are two in a single shot.
A look back at the Boxing Day test between Australia and Pakistan, a brief comment on the Lamichhane case (some may find this distressing), a mention of the Panto at the Corn Exchange and a photo gallery.
Early yesterday morning the the Boxing Day test match between Australia and Pakistan ended a day ahead of schedule. The main part of this post looks back at that match. There is then a second section that some readers may find distressing, covering a piece of news that should not be overlooked. I end with my usual photo gallery.
A HARD FOUGHT BATTLE
I posted about developments earlier in this match here. Pakistan ended up 61 behind on first innings. They began the Australian second innings breathing fire, reducing their hosts to 16-4 at one point. They had a chance to make it 46-5, but it went to ground as more than one other did in the course of the match. The reprieved batter, Mitchell Marsh, went on to top score with 96 and Australia had 316 to defend in the end. The biggest ever successful chase at The G is 332, by England in 1928-9 in the match that won them that Ashes series, while Pakistan have a horrible record down under – last time they won a test match anywhere in Australia the side was captained by Imran Khan.
However, Pakistan did not surrender meekly, as their subcontinental neighbours had at Centurion in the other Boxing Day test (India 245, South Africa 406, India 131 – South Africa won by an innings and 30 runs), they had a real go at the target.
The got to within 100 of the target with the sixth wicket pairing of Mohammad Rizwan and Agha Salman together and going nicely. Cummins appealed for a catch behind against Rizwan, given not out on the field, with the TMS commentary team also certain that it wasn’t out and Rizwan indicating that it had hit his forearm on the way through. Australia sent it upstairs, and after about five minutes of using every piece of technology available to him the third umpire Richard Illingworth found what he believed was evidence to overturn the decision and instructed Michael Gough, the on field umpire, to do so. My belief is that having studied replays for that long there is no way the evidence Illingworth had could have been convincing enough to warrant an overturn.
The controversial breakthrough thus achieved, Australia did not take long to do the rest of the job, Pakistan being all out for 237 to lose by 79 runs. Pat Cummins in addition to captaining his side took five wickets in each Pakistan innings (5-48 and 5-49 respectively), and there was thus only one candidate for Player of the Match. Nevertheless, for me, the circumstances of Rizwan’s dismissal in the final innings means that this victory by Australia is somewhat tainted. A full scorecard can be seen here.
THE LAMICHHANE CASE
Yesterday it was announced that the a Nepalese jury had found Sandeep Lamichhane, the Nepali leg spinner, guilty of raping a minor, an offence that under Nepali law carries a possible 12 year jail term. In my view the ICC, as cricket’s world governing body, have a duty to respond to this news: Lamichhane should forthwith be banned outright from ever having anything more to do with organized cricket – no playing, no umpiring, no commentary gigs, no coaching (especially this latter given what he has been found guilty of) etc.
THE CHRISTMAS PANTO
This year’s Christmas Panto at the Corn Exchange, King’s Lynn was Dick Whittington, and on Thursday night the West Norfolk Autism Group had block booked seats. The fact that we were buying in bulk got us a substantial discount on the regular price, and members were only asked to pay £5 per ticket by us. It was an excellent production, well worth the minor inconvenience of the timing (a scheduled 5:30PM start, which meant all I had time to do at home between work and the performance was get changed out of my work clothes, and supper had to wait until I got home again at the end of the evening).
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
The Corn Exchange Advertising in the foyer of the Corn Exchange.
An all time XI of players whose given names begin with T, including an honourable mentions section which pays particular attention to four specific areas, and a photo gallery.
Today I look at great players with given names beginning with the letter T. This was a particularly tough XI to select, and I will be starting the honourable mentions section with four disputed areas in this team. Incidentally I offer wholehearted congratulations to India Women on their all time record test victory over England Women. Their star was Deepti Sharma, who scored runs in both innings and was the chief destroyer with the ball as well, claiming 5-7 in the first England innings and 4-32 second time round.
THE XI IN BATTING ORDER
Tom Hayward (England, right handed opening batter, right arm medium pacer). In 1900 he passed his 1,000 FC runs for the season before the end of May, only the second ever to do so after WG Grace, all though the good Doctor scored all his runs actually in May, whereas Hayward’s tally included runs in April. 14 years later Hayward brought up the career landmark of 100 first class hundreds, again second ever to do so after WG. In 1906 he scored 3,518 first class runs in the season, a tally that stood as a record for 41 years, before Denis Compton and Bill Edrich both beat it in the same season. He also ushered on to the scene a fellow native of Cambridge named John Berry Hobbs.
Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh, left handed opening batter). An attack minded left hander to go with the more conservatively minded right hander Hayward, and one with a test average of close to 40.
*Tom Abell (England, right handed batter, right arm medium pacer, captain). I needed a captain for this side, and this was my solution.
Tom Graveney (England, right handed batter, occasional leg spinner). A stylish batter, with a test record of very considerable substance as well.
Travis Head (Australia, left handed batter, occasional off spinner). It has taken a while for him to really establish himself at the very highest level but he is now one of the best batters in the world.
Trevor Goddard (South Africa, left handed batter, left arm medium pacer). A genuine, but massively under-appreciated all rounder, I go into more detail about this slot in the next section of the post. For the moment, suffice it to note that he averaged 34 with the bat and 26 with the ball at test level.
+Tom Blundell (New Zealand, wicket keeper, right handed batter). An accomplished keeper/ batter for New Zealand, his record demands that he be included.
Tom Emmett (England, left arm fast bowler, left handed batter). By the time test cricket was a thing he was past his absolute prime, but his FC averages were the right way around, 14.84 with the bat and 13.55 with the ball, which convert using my usual metric to 22.26 with the bat and 20.23 with the ball in the modern era.
Tom Richardson (England, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). His 14 test appearances yielded 88 wickets. His achievements for Surrey were staggering as well. Between 1894 and 1897 inclusive (four English seasons and one tour of Australia), Richardson claimed 1,005 first class wickets.
Tom Goddard (England, off spinner, right handed batter). He started as a fast bowler, but following advice from Gloucestershire team mate Charlie Parker, who had noted the size of Goddard’s hands and the strength of his fingers he went away and remodelled himself as a spinner, and in that capacity he was one of the greats, ending a very long career (forced because of an attack of pleurisy) as the fifth leading first class wicket taker of all time, with 2,979 scalps at 19.84 each.
Taijul Islam (Bangladesh, left arm orthodox spinner, left handed batter). 44 test appearances have yielded him 192 wickets, sufficient to earn him his place in this XI.
This side is strong in batting, even with the 9, 10, 11 being old style tail enders, and has lots of bowling, with Emmett, Richardson, Tom Goddard, Islam and Trevor Goddard as the main attack and Hayward, Abell and Head all capable of providing support if needed.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
I will start with four particularly contentious areas, in batting order:
First, the number three slot. Technically I should have given this to Tom Latham of New Zealand, but I decided it was worth possibly sacrificing a few runs per innings to have Abell’s captaincy available.
Second, the all rounder position. Many would have opted for Trevor Bailey, but Goddard actually had better records in both departments than the other Trevor. Bailey averaged 29.74 with the bat and 29.21 with the ball at test level, Trevor Goddard 34.46 with the bat and 26.22 with the ball. Goddard also had a better wicket taking rate than Bailey, claiming an average of exactly three per test whereas Bailey averaged just 2.16 per test. Thomas Odoyo of Kenya would be a contender for a limited overs side.
Third, the wicket keeper’s slot. Taslim Arif had an amazing record with the bat for Pakistan in the few tests he got selected for, but he was never first choice keeper. Tim Ambrose of England was a quality keeper and a useful batter, but not quite good enough to displace Blundell. Tom Box, an legendary keeper of the mid 19th century also merits a mention.
Fourth, the new ball pairing. I opted for a pair of outstanding practitioners he never overlapped, rather than a pair with respectable records who bowled in tandem a considerable number of times at the highest level, Trent Boult (LFM) and Tim Southee (RFM), both of New Zealand. My feeling is that Emmett and Richardson were so great as individuals that I am prepared not to pick the established pairing, but I acknowledge that there is a good case for picking the Kiwis.
Thilan Samaraweera of Sri Lanka was a fine batter on flat subcontinental pitches, but did little outside of Asia.
Two quality English seamers who missed out were Tom Cartwright and Tim Bresnan. Tom Wass of Nottinghamshire, a bowler of both fast medium and leg spin who took 1,666 first class wickets at 20 without ever getting an England call up was a challenger for the place I gave to Taijul Islam. Tymal Mills would be in the mix for a T20 side, but concerns over his back have led him to restrict himself to cricket in which he never has to bowl more than four overs at a stretch.
Tim May of Australia was a fine off spinner, but not fine enough to dislodge the fifth leading wicket taker in FC history. Tommy Mitchell of Derbyshire was a good leg spinner, who claimed three wickets at 20 each in his sole test appearance, which came during the 1932-3 Ashes in the one match for which England deemed two specialist spinners necessary.
Tom Walker of Hambledon does not have a complete enough career record to be selected, but needs mention for historic reasons – he was the first to attempt round arm bowling, and also pioneered lob bowling. Thomas Lord, a native of Thirsk, was a negligible cricketer, but the third of the three grounds he arranged for the Marylebone Cricket Club, which opened for business in 1814 is one of the most famous cricketing venues in the world.
Finally, while picking a fictional character is too much even for me to consider, Tom Spedegue of “Spedegue’s Dropper” would certainly have given the bowling extra variety.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
The dates for the next year’s Autism Acceptance just a cuppa sessions at King’s Lynn libraryLego architecture, at today’s Autism Acceptance just a cuppa (six pics)A cormorant swimming in the Gaywood River near Kettlewell Lane was an unexpected sight (features in a number of pics).A title page for my wildlife themed cigarette cards, using one of my own photos.
A look at developments in the cricket world cup, with a special focus on today’s match between Afghanistan and South Africa – a valedictory on Mohammad Nabi and an acknowledgement of a new star in cricket’s firmament, Azmatullah Omarzai. Also a prize winning photograph and one of my regular galleries.
The 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup is approaching its conclusion, with the final round of group fixtures being played. I did not witness a single ball of either Tuesday’s or Thursday’s games because of work commitments, and England’s performance on Wednesday while impressive in isolation merely applied an unwarranted late gloss to what has been an appalling tournament for them. Today’s match was between Afghanistan and South Africa. South Africa are already qualified for the semi-finals, where their opponents will be Australia. Afghanistan had the slenderest of chances of taking the fourth slot going into today (slenderer by far than the threads holding the mythical sword above Damocles).
THE AFGHANISTAN INNINGS
To overhaul current fourth placers New Zealand on net RR Afghanistan needed a record breaking win – they would have to bat first, and would need win by at least 438 runs. They won the toss and chose to bat (no one in their right minds puts this South Africa side into bat even if it is not absolutely mandated by the group situation, do they Jos?). Unfortunately, this was not a pitch for heavy scoring, and it was soon apparent that Afghanistan were not going to score enough to give themselves any chance of qualifying. In the end the main question as their innings headed to towards the end of the scheduled 50 overs was as to whether Azmatullah Omarzai, of whom more later, would manage to complete a century. When he found himself facing the bowling, on 97 not out with three balls to come it looked on, but it was not to be. He failed to score off any of the three deliveries, and the number 11 was run out of the final ball of the innings. Afghanistan had scored 244 from 50 overs, with Gerald Coetzee, a fiery and talented young fast bowler, taking 4-44, and Keshav Maharaj achieving a notably economical analysis with 2-25 from his full 10 overs of left arm spin.
THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPLY
There were times in the innings when it looked like Afghanistan might be signing off with a victory – South Africa never got right away from them. Rashid Khan had 2-37 from 10 overs of leg spin, the veteran Mohammad Nabi topped him with 2-35 from 10 overs of off spin in what may well be the last world cup innings in which he features as a player. Nabi has an extraordinary playing history, having been part of the Afghanistan men’s side for their entire history as a cricketing nation, and having played his part in victories over no fewer than 43 different opposing countries. The least impressive of Afghanistan’s four front line spinners was Mujeeb Ur Rahman, with 1-51 from his 10 overs. He seems to feel an obligation to showcase his variations by bowling six different types of delivery per over, a strategy that in T20s can work very well, but in longer formats he would be better served by bowling his stock ball four or five times in an over and slipping in the variations every so often as a surprise. Andile Phehlukwayo eventually finished things in the 48th over when he hit left arm seamer Naveen-ul-Haq for 6,4,6 in successive balls to get his side over the line. Afghanistan are thus sixth in the group, which is the lowest they can finish. Tomorrow sees Pakistan in action against England. If Pakistan can conjure a win by 287 or more runs they will pip New Zealand to the final qualifying slot, while if they suffer a heavy defeat in going for the huge win they need they might drop below Afghanistan in the standings. The scorecard of today’s match is available here.
Azmatullah Omarzai
The young Afghan all rounder (RHB, RMF) has had an excellent tournament, and I regretted that he missed out on his century today, though of course that particular tally only has significance because we use base 10. I am sufficiently convinced by what he has done this tournament that although I usually base my judgements for such things on long form cricket I am prepared to change my all time Os XI – he displaces Irish seam bowling all rounder of yesteryear Alec O’Riordan from the number six slot in that XI. He has been one of the finds of this tournament as an individual, just as teams wise his team have been THE find of the tournament.
PHOTOGRAPHS
The results of the West Norfolk Autism Group autumn photography competition are in, and I won a £10 Amazon gift voucher for this picture:
When I took this picture on October 10th this autumnal leaf on which you can see both a snail with a very dark shell and much lighter coloured slug was still attached to it’s branch, though clearly almost ready to fall. I got a second picture out of this shot, focussing more closely on the snail.
Now for my usual sign off – some photographs from the last few days (to view any of these at a larger size just click on them)…
Some pictures from Wednesday evening when WNAG had an adult’s meal at Knight’s Hill.My parents are currently away travelling, and this postcard from Australia arrived yesterday.This, the feature image for this post, and the one from which the next four pictures after this one were extracted may be the last hurrah of 2023 insects wise.
A look at developments in the world cup since England disgraced themselves on Saturday. A decent match between India and new Zealand yesterday, and today’s match between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Also a photo gallery.
This post looks at what has happened in the 2023 ODI World Cup since England’s humiliation on Saturday.
INDIA v NEW ZEALAND
This was a match between the only two teams to still be unbeaten. I missed a lot of it because I had to go through the annual torture known as a check for signs of Glaucoma (there is family history which makes this a necessity), and that knocked out most of the morning, since the appointment was at 10AM. I also had a commitment in the afternoon which took out a chunk of play – the West Norfolk Autism Group had a bowling session booked at Strikes for 4:00.
India won the toss and put New Zealand in. With ten overs to go a total of 300 looked on the cards for NZ, but some excellent Indian death bowling restricted them to 273. I only witnessed the start and end of the Indian innings. They eventually won by four wickets with two overs to spare, Kohli scoring 96 and getting out just before the end.
AFGHANISTAN V PAKISTAN
Pakistan won the toss and quite correctly chose to bat first. Afghanistan’s spinners bowled well, but a late flurry from Ifitkhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan, and a bizarre decision to trust the very ordinary medium pacer Azmatullah Omarzai over Mujeeb Ur Rahman at the death allowed Pakistan to get to 283, a formidable total on a slow surface. The Afghanistan is just underway, and I will be missing a lot of it, but the key will be Rahmanullah Gurbaz – to get anywhere close Afghanistan will need him to produce a major innings. So far all is progressing nicely for them – 25-0 in the fourth over.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Yesterday was sunny, and the walk back from my appointment (this location is borderline in terms of distance from my home, so I usually get the bus there and walk back, as I did yesterday) gave the photo gallery a welcome boost…
The pictures from the walk back from my appointment start here.And end here.This is the time when being an early riser and having an east facing front window enables one to capture the dawn (three pics)
A brief account of Pride in the Park, and the first part of a two part All Time XIs post, plus my regular photo gallery.
Welcome to the first in a two part all time XIs post. Today I present the first of two XIs to do battle, each comprising four pairs and one trio of related cricketers. Today I start with an unrelated feature after which I will introduce the first of the two XIs to feature in this envisaged contest. Tomorrow will see the second XI make their appearance, followed by an honourable mentions section and a comparison between the two XIs.
PRIDE IN THE PARK
Yesterday was King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Pride. There were two elements to the day, a march from the Tuesday Market Place to the Recreation Field, part of The Walks, and the festivities at the Recreation Field. I was not involved with the march, but the West Norfolk Autism Group had a stall in the Recreation Field, and I was there from set up until about 3PM. We had a some information cards about our group, a display board, two stand up banners, one horizontal banner, one large pride flag and were running two activities for which we charged – a lucky dip at £1 per go and a “guess the teddy’s name”, also at £1 per go. Our little stall attracted a stream of visitors through the day, especially once the march arrived. The occasion benefitted from impeccable weather.
WG GRACE’S XI
We meet the first of our two XIs mentioned in the introduction, listed as usual in batting order.
*WG Grace (right handed opening batter, bowler of various styles and captain). One of the greatest of all cricketers, and although he was already 32 by the time he played in the first test on English soil in 1880 he twice topped 150 at that level, 152 on debut in 1880 and 170 six years later.
EM Grace (right handed opening batter, occasional lob bowler, daring close fielder). Until his brother overhauled him he was the greatest of all Victorian era cricketers. A one cap wonder at The Oval in 1880, but in the first innings there he shared an opening stand of 91 with his brother.
Ian Chappell (right handed batter, occasional leg spinner, vice captain). A fine number three and a shrewd skipper, which latter I have acknowledged by naming him as WG’s vice captain in this side.
Greg Chappell (right handed batter, occasional leg spinner, occasional medium pacer, brilliant slip fielder). One of Australia’s greatest ever batters.
Eric Bedser (right handed batter, off spinner). One half of a pair of identical twins. They did not think that one county would sign two medium-fast bowlers at the same time, and not able to bear being separated tossed a coin for who would continue bowling medium-fast and who would switch to spin and develop their batting. Eric lost the toss and made the switch. He never quite gained an England cap, but was a crucial part of Stuart Surridge’s amazing tenure as Surrey skipper (five seasons as captain, five county championships won).
Fred Grace (right handed batter, right arm medium fast bowler, brilliant outfielder). In the 1870s his FC batting average of 25 was only exceeded on a consistent basis by his most famous brother, and he also took his wickets at 20 a piece. He only played one test, scoring a pair but taking a legendary catch to dismiss Aussie big hitter Bonnor (the batters were allegedly on their third run when he completed the catch). He died of a chill not long later, at the tender age of 29.
+Don Tallon (wicket keeper, right handed batter). Selectorial horse trading cost him the opportunity to play for Australia in his absolute prime, but he had a fine career in the early post WWII era, and Don Bradman rated him the greatest keeper he ever saw in action.
Maurice Tremlett (right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). His career was ruined by well meaning coaches after a storybook start, but I am envisaging him as he might have been had he been left to develop as the cricketer he was rather than suffering attempts to turn him into the cricketer that England thought they needed.
Alec Bedser (right arm medium fast bowler, right handed batter). The Bedser twin who won that famous coin toss, and went on to become one of England’s greats. He was the first England bowler to take 200 test wickets, and when his career ended his final tally of 236 was an all comers record at that level.
Chris Tremlett (right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). He was great in the 2010-11 Ashes.
Bill Tallon (leg spinner, right handed batter). His career record makes poor reading, but it was a very brief career.
This XI has a good batting line up, a great range of bowling options and will be superbly led by WG Grace and his deputy, Chappelli.
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