Tag: Bees

All Time XIs – Similar Names, Different Players

An XI comprising pairs of players (and one threesome) who have similar names but are otherwise different and a fine photo gallery.

This XI comprises players (mainly pairs and one threesome) who share at least a surname but are otherwise very different. I disallowed most of the really common surnames such as Smith or Jones, and similarly ignored names such as Khan, Mohammad or Singh. Also, with the exception of two members of threesome none of these cricketers come from the same family.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Bert Sutcliffe (New Zealand, left handed opening batter). An attack minded opening batter who was capable of utter dominance on his day. The New Zealand first class record is his with 385, in a total of 500 all out.
  2. Herbert Sutcliffe (England, right handed opening batter). Much more defensively minded than his opening partner, a complete contrast in style.
  3. CAG ‘Jack’ Russell (England, right handed batter). We will meet the other ‘Jack’ Russell further down the order. This one had a fine but very brief test career in the course of which he became the first English batter to score twin tons in a test match.
  4. JT Brown, Driffield (Right handed batter, England). The other JT Brown, from Darfield, who will be meeting later actually overlapped with this one. This JT Brown was the first Yorkshire batter ever to top 300, and his test highlights include a match and Ashes winning innings of 140 at the end of the 1894-5 series, which was played from this position in the order, though he usually opened for Yorkshire. He also scored a superb 163 for the Players against the Gentlemen at Lord’s in 1900, the top individual score in a successful chase of 501.
  5. Syd Gregory (Australia, right handed batter, superb fielder). He was the second player ever to score a test double hundred, though his came in ultimately losing cause at Sydney in 1894.
  6. *James Langridge the elder (England, left handed batter, left arm orthodox spin bowler). We will be meeting James Langridge the younger further down the order. This James Langridge averaged 35 with the bat and 22 with the ball in FC cricket, though his England opportunities were limited by the presence of Hedley Verity who always had first dibs on the left arm spinner’s slot. I nominate this James Langridge as captain of the XI.
  7. +RC ‘Jack’ Russell (England, left handed batter, wicket keeper). A great wicket keeper, and a far better bat than he was often given credit for.
  8. Jack Gregory (Australia, left handed batter, right arm fast bowler). One of the finest bowling all rounders ever to play the game, part of the first great pair of fast bowlers to feature at test level, along with Ted McDonald and his batting highlights included a 70 minute century against South Africa.
  9. Danielle Gregory (Surrey, leg spin bowler, right handed lower order batter). The last three players in this order haven’t got an international cap between them, but Gregory is one of the two who could still change that. She is a fine bowler, but England women are extremely well equipped in the spin bowling department.
  10. James Langridge the younger (Somerset, left arm medium pacer, left handed batter). Made his first team debut in the current edition of the One Day Cup.
  11. JT Brown, Darfield (right arm fast bowler, right handed tail end batter). A brief career of 30 matches which yielded him 97 wickets at 21.35, with a best of 8-40.

This side has a good batting line up, with everyone down to Jack Gregory at eight capable of major contributions, and the bowling line up, with Jack Gregory, James Langridge the younger and JT Brown, Darfield to bowl seam/ pace and Danielle Gregory and James Langridge the elder a contrasting pair of spinners also looks good.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Adam Gilchrist and West Indies fast bowler Roy Gilchrist were a possible alternative way to fill the keeper’s slot, but even it was a nickname in each case rather than a given one I thought that the two ‘Jack Russells’ was more in keeping with the spirit of the exercise, and also Roy Gilchrist’s discipline was a cause for concern which could only have been addressed by cheating slightly and including Frank Worrell as captain with the other half of the pairing being Australian seamer Daniel Worrall. A. nother possible quibble cook was Bobby Abel and Tom Abell. I could have had a pair of Nottingham born all rounders in John and Jenny Gunn, but felt that Jenny’s bowling was unlikely to be serious factor and that her batting was not enough to warrant selection on its own. I mentioned in the introduction that I tried to avoid really common names, with the exception of the two JT Browns who shared initials as well as a surname, and were usually distinguished by reference to their localities, Driffield and Darfield as I did.

FINISHING TOUCHES

While I have been typing this a match in the Hundred (Women’s) has been going on between Welsh Fire and Trent Rockets. Fire batted first and scored a massive 181-4, an innings dominated by Tammy Beaumont whose 118 is the highest score by anyone, male or female, in the history of the competition. Rockets have got away to a fast start in response, so we may have a classic in the making.

On this day last year I produced my all time Qs XI.

I am starting my usual sign off with a single standalone picture that comes with a story…

This creature, a dragonfly or damselfly of some description had got itself stuck in my house, and I helped it to extricate itself, opening the window closest to where it had ended up and ushering in the direction of said window. When it flew out and away I closed the window. Now for the rest of my usual sign off…

Slow Pitch Produces Two Contrasting Fixtures in The Hundred

A look at the contrasting fixtures yesterday involving Welsh Fire and Southern Brave, the women’s match was an absolute classic, the men’s the reverse. Also a link back to my all time Ps XI which contained a bonus featured of an all time left handed XI.

Yesterday saw Welsh Fire and Southern Brave facing off in The Hundred. This post looks back at the two matches.

A TO THE WIRE CLASSIC

The Women’s match was an absolute classic. Welsh Fire batted first and tallied 144-5 from their 100 balls. Sophia Dunkley struck a superb 50 and Sarah Bryce 44 not out. Things looked decent for the Braves while Mandhana and Bouchier were going well, but then a collapse set in. Georgia Adams, who had earlier taken 2-22 with the ball scored a very rapid 40, but after she was out with nine runs still needed it got very tense indeed. Two players, Kalea Moore and Rhianna Southby were run out in the process of getting Maitlan Brown, Brave’s best remaining hope of winning the match on strike. Brown levelled the scores off the penultimate ball of the match, and then a scampered leg bye after an LBW shout was turned down (Fire had no review left to use) finally saw the Braves home.

A DISASTER CLASS BY WELSH FIRE MEN

The second match of the double header, the men’s game, was the dampest of damp squibs. Save for Stevie Eskinazi no one batted decently for the Fire, and while the lowlight of the innings was unquestionably provided by Ben Green (10 runs off 17 balls in this most rapid fire of formats) he was also involved in the only highlight of this drab innings, becoming the first victim of a birthday hat trick for Tymal Mills (emulating Peter Siddle at the Gabba in 2010 in achieving such a feat on this anniversary, though Siddle’s outranks his, coming as it did in an Ashes test match) on the 98th, 99th and 100th balls, the other two victims being Pakistani pace aces and tailenders Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi. This left Welsh Fire with a beggarly 87 to defend, and the Braves made it look very easy indeed, getting home with a preposterous 41 balls to spare, and for the loss of only one wicket.

PHOTOGRAPHS AND ONE FROM THE ARCHIVES

August 13th is International Left Handers Day, which means that my all time Ps XI, created OTD last year came with a bonus feature of an all left handed XI. Feel free to comment on either XI, though I would appreciate it if you read the whole original post before doing so. The two XIs featured a year ago were:

LH in batting order: *G Smith, AN Cook, BC Lara, RG Pollock, FE Woolley, G St A Sobers, +AC Gilchrist, Wasim Akram, AK Davidson, MG Johnson, H Verity. Note on this one – Stokes had to be disqualified because his bowling, far too significant to be overlooked, is done with his right hand, and similarly Hirst and Rhodes, the Kirkheaton twins, batted right handed and again in neither case can this part of their game be ignored.

The Ps in batting order: A Petersen, WH Ponsford, RT Ponting, RG Pollock, KP Pietersen, +R Pant, *MJ Procter, S Pollock, PM Pollock, CWL Parker, EAE Prasanna.

Now for my usual sign off…

Nat Sciver-Brunt’s Spectacular Finish

A look at the game in the Hundred (women’s) between London Spirit and Trent Rockets that happened earlier today, with special emphasis on the spectacular finish provided by Nat Sciver-Brunt.

Earlier today London Spirit took on Trent Rockets in the Hundred (Women’s). The game was a good one although it came to a premature end due to an amazing display of hitting from Nat Sciver-Brunt for the Rockets.

THE SPIRIT INNINGS

London Spirit never really got into top gear. Danielle Gibson scored 36 off 27 balls at the top of order and Kiwi all rounder Amelia Kerr scored 36*, but took 30 balls to score them and these were the best innings for the Spirit. The best bowlers for the Rockets were their spinners, Kirstie Gordon 2-19, Alana King 1-18 and Bryony Smith 1-19, all bowling their full allocations of 20 balls. The end result was an indifferent total of 124-4 from 100 balls.

THE ROCKETS CHASE

For most of the second innings things were going the way of the Spirit, although Nat Sciver-Brunt was singlehandedly keeping Rockets hopes aloft, reaching a classy 50 off 32 balls. With 20 balls left Rockets were five wickets down and had 35 runs still to score. There then followed a truly extroardinary sequence of seven balls. First Scrivens hit Gardner for a four and six, then a single brought Sciver-Brunt on strike. Sciver=Brunt concluded the set by hitting the next two balls for sixes, reducing the ask to 12 off 15 balls. It took one legal delivery. The 86th ball of the innings, bowled by Danielle Gibson, saw Sciver-Brunt hit a third successive six, thrashed over midwicket. The next delivery was smashed baseball style even further over midwicket, and just to make things worse for poor Gibson it was called a no-ball, meaning that her final spell was officially 0.1-0-14-0! This sequence of four successive sixes took Sciver-Brunt’s score from a splendid 57* (37) to a stupendous 81* (41). In addition to the blitz that ended the match with 14 balls to spare Sciver-Brunt had hit nine fours along the way. Carlos Brathwaite once won a T20 World Cup by hitting four successive sixes, and Kapil Dev once saved India from following on with a similar sequence (Lord’s 1990), but England managed to win that one anyway. For the first time this season Rockets finished up looking more like Apollo 11 than Apollo 1.

PHOTOGRAPHS

For the feature image I have done an experiment. I could not pick between two of my photos so I have endeavoured to combine the best features of both. Otherwise this is my usual sign off…

Cricket News

A look at some of today’s cricketing developments and a large photo gallery.

A lot is going on in cricket today – three One Day Cup matches are taking place, and two Hundred double headers as well. My post looks at some developments on the day so far.

SPINNERS SUPREME AT TRENT BRIDGE

When the Northern Superchargers were restricted to 134-4 from their 100 balls things looked good for the Rockets. They continued to look good for most of the Rockets innings, with Bryony Smith batting superbly, but then a spin generated collapse, with Linsey Smith and Lucy Higham the main bowling contributors left Superchargers victorious by nine runs. This means that the Rockets are still winless, having had one game washed out and lost the others. Sadly for them they are at present looking more reminiscent of Apollo 1 than of Apollo 11.

A scorecard of today’s match can be seen here.

SHAW SMASHES SOMERSET

In the One Day Cup Somerset visited Northamptonshire today. Northamptonshire batted first and scored a monstrous 415-8 from their 50 overs. The principle author of this destruction of Somerset’s bowlers was Indian star Prithvi Shaw who thrashed 244, an innings that included 28 fours and 11 sixes. This was Shaw’s second list A double century, and the sixth highest score in all List A cricket, and second highest in a List A game behind Ally Brown’s 268 for Surrey v Glamorgan in 2002. While nothing in cricket should ever be ruled out the likelihood is that the score that Shaw’s heroics propelled Northamptonshire to will be beyond Somerset’s capacities to chase down.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I end with my usual sign off…

All Time XIs – The Ms Second XI

On the first anniversary of publishing my all time Ms XI I produce a second XI from the riches available under this letter to do battle with them. Also a huge photo gallery.

this day last year I published my all time XI of players whose surnames begin with M. As I point out in the original piece (click the M at the end of last sentence) there was a wealth of talent for this letter, so I am picking a second XI who could go up against the originals.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Hanif Mohammad (Pakistan, right handed opening batter). Until Lara’s 501* in 1994 he held the record first class score with 499 for Karachi vs Bahawalpur, and he still holds the record for the longest test innings ever played, 970 minutes, in the course of which he scored 337.
  2. Roy Marshall (Hampshire, West Indies, right handed opening batter). The Barbadian was an attack minded opener and should combine well with his more defensively oriented opening partner. His career for WI was brief, but he was brilliant for Hampshire for many years – so many that at one point England were considering selecting him as he had qualified by residence, but they opted not to do so.
  3. *Peter May (Surrey, England, right handed batter, captain). For a naturally aggressive batter to average 46 in cricket’s lowest, slowest scoring decade, the 1950s, was a fine achievement. His 285* at Edgbaston in 1957 stood as the highest by an England skipper until Gooch scored 333 v India at Lord’s in 1990.
  4. Stan McCabe (Australia, right handed batter, right arm medium fast bowler). His career highlights include 187* at Sydney in the series opener of the 1932-3 Ashes, 189* vs South Africa which caused the fielding side to appeal against the light, a real rarity, and 232* at Trent Bridge in 1938 when his play induced Bradman (no less) to call his team mates out on to the balcony to watch on the grounds that “you will never see batting like this again”.
  5. Mushtaq Mohammad (Northamptonshire, Pakistan, right handed batter, leg spinner). One of five brothers to play FC cricket, and four of them got to play at test level. He was just 15 when he made his test debut and did well enough at that level to average 39 with the bat and 29 with the ball. That included twice scoring a century and taking a five-for in the same match (only Ian Botham, five times, and R Ashwin, three times, have done so on more occasions at the highest level).
  6. Mulvantrai ‘Vinoo’ Mankad (India, right handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner). Although his batting and bowling averages are just the wrong way round he was indubitably a fine all rounder, his batting average being depressed by the fact that he so often had to open the innings as India lacked players sound enough to take on the moving ball, and he often had to do a lot of bowling due India lacking depth in that department.
  7. +Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh, wicket keeper, right handed batter). One of the greatest cricketers his country has ever produced, well worth his place in this side.
  8. Arthur Morton (Derbyshire, right arm medium pacer, off spinner, right handed batter). 981 FC wickets at 22.78 get him in this side, while over 10,000 FC runs are a useful second string to the bow. He scored 50 in a total of 68 all out v Yorkshire at Chesterfield in 1914.
  9. Ted McDonald (Australia, Lancashire, right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). He played the 1920-1 and 1921 Ashes series, forming test cricket’s first genuine pace bowling partnership with Jack Gregory. He then signed a contract to play Lancashire League cricket, which ended his international career, but he would go on to play for Lancashire and would spearhead their pace attack in the most successful period in their history.
  10. Devon Malcolm (Derbyshire, England, right arm fast bowler, right handed tail end batter). Genuinely fast, but badly mishandled by the England management of his day. His peak came against South Africa at The Oval in 1994, when he took 9-57 as they crashed to 144 all out.
  11. William Mycroft (Derbyshire, left arm fast bowler, right handed tail end batter). Over 800 FC wickets at 12 a piece, including the first ever instance of 17 in a match (Hampshire still won that game by one wicket, the winning runs being scored by a man named Hargreaves who married Alice Pleasence Liddell, the Alice of “Alice in Wonderland”).

This side has a powerful top four, arguably four all rounders including the keeper, and a trio of specialist fast bowlers to round out the order. This side has a wealth of bowling options – Mycroft, McDonald, Malcolm, Morton in his medium paced guise and McCabe to bowl seam/ pace and Mushtaq Mohammad, Mankad and Morton in his slower guise to bowl spin, while no batting order with someone of Morton’s calibre at number eight can be called shallow either.

AN HONOURABLE MENTION

The original Ms post dealt with almost everyone who might merit an honourable mention, but I give attention to one particular missing name: John Murray of Middlesex and England who made the second most first class dismissals of any wicket keeper behind Bob Taylor and was also a useful batter. I gave the verdict to Mushfiqur Rahim, but it was a very close call. As to who would win this one, I back the first XI, but I think the second would make a very good fight of it.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off (to see a larger version of any picture just click on it)…

All Time XIs – Holmesian

An all time XI of players with links to Sherlock Holmes stories and a large photo gallery.

A whimsical variation on the all time XIs theme – this XI is made up of players whose names connect in some way to Sherlock Holmes stories.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. *WG Grace (right handed opening batter, right arm bowler of various types through his career, captain). He sneaks in by way of “Thor Bridge”, which features a governess by the name of Grace Dunbar, who June Thomson makes a persuasive case for being the second Mrs Watson. His cricketing credentials need no amplification.
  2. Percy Holmes (right handed opening batter, fine fielder). One half of the most successful opening pair in first class history, the senior by precisely seven years in age, though the junior in cricketing stature (he and Herbert Sutcliffe shared 74 century opening stands together, 69 of them for Yorkshire and 64 in the county championship).
  3. Colin Munro (left handed batter). The Kiwi boasts an FC batting average of over 50. He qualifies by virtue of Mr Grant Munro, who seeks Holmes’ advice/assistance in “The Adventure of the Yellow Face”.
  4. Elias ‘Patsy’ Hendren (right handed batter, brilliant fielder). The third leading run scorer in FC history and second leading century maker in FC history, he gets in through his rarely used given name – two Eliases at least, Elias Whitney in “The Adventure of the Twisted Lip” and Elias Openshaw in “The Five Orange Pips” play walk on roles in Holmes stories.
  5. Vic Wilson (left handed batter, brilliant close fielder). Had a fine FC record, and eventually became Yorkshire’s first professional skipper since before Lord Hawke’s time. He gets in by way of Jabez Wilson in “The Adventure of the Red Headed League”, and incidentally he appears on the scoresheet as JV Wilson, while ‘Wilson the notorious canary trainer’ gets a passing mention in another of the stories.
  6. Johnny Douglas (right handed batter, right arm medium fast bowler). Trevor Bailey’s spiritual forebear as an adhesive middle order batter and useful seam bowler, also played his county cricket at Essex. Jack Douglas is the name by which we are introduced to the Pinkerton agency ace Birdy Edwards in “The Valley of Fear”.
  7. +Adam Gilchrist (left handed batter, wicket keeper). One of the three students in the story with that title is named Gilchrist. My chosen keeper’s credentials need no amplification.
  8. Johnnie Clay (off spinner, right handed batter). Captained Glamorgan when they were promoted to first class status in 1921, and was still playing for them when they won the 1948 championship, their first such title. He took 1,317 FC wickets at 19.76 a piece, and was good enough with the bat to score two first class centuries. He gets in by way of John Clay in “The Adventure of the Red Headed League”, rated by Holmes as the fourth most dangerous man in London at the time.
  9. Frank Holmes Tyson (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). A brief and meteoric career, but he blitzed the Aussies in their own backyard along the way (in the 1954-5 Ashes). His middle name gets him in, hence my including it here.
  10. Dan Moriarty (left arm orthodox spinner, left handed batter). 49 FC wickets at 29 each, and has good records in List A and T20 as well, and at 24 definitely still young enough to be improving. He of course gets in courtesy of Holmes’ archenemy Professor Moriarty.
  11. William Mycroft (left arm fast bowler, right handed batter). Over 800 FC wickets at 12 a piece, just missing out on test cricket (he was approaching 36 years of age when the first such match was played in 1877). He qualifies at least twice over – through his surname, which is the given name of the elder Holmes brother (not necessarily coincidence – Doyle was a keen cricketer and avid cricket fan, and one theory about the names of the brothers is that Sherlock was an amalgam of Shacklock and Sherwin, respectively fast bowler and keeper for Nottinghamshire, while Mycroft came from William and Thomas Mycroft who played similar roles for neighbouring Derbyshire) and through William Kirwan, the murdered coachman in “The Adventure of the Reigate Squires”.

This side has a good top five, an all rounder at six, the greatest batter of all genuine top line keepers and four great and well varied bowlers. With Tyson and Mycroft to take the new ball, Douglas as third seamer and Clay and Moriarty contrasting spinners this side is unlikely to struggle to take 20 wickets.

TWO POTENTIAL OVERSEAS PLAYERS

All 11 players I have named save for Munro are home grown, but two who might have had an extra overseas slot, in each case coming in place of Douglas were the 1920s Australians Hunter ‘Stork’ Hendry who would have qualified by way of Violet Hunter from “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches” and Jack Ryder, who would get in courtesy of James Ryder from “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle”. However, while both these worthies would outrank Douglas as a batter he outranks both as a bowler, and given the strength of the top five and the presence of Gilchrist at number seven I felt that was reason to give Douglas the nod.

OTHER POSSIBLES

Many readers doubtless have their own ideas. Second choice keeper would be Amy Jones, who would qualify by virtue of Inspector Athelney Jones in “The Sign of Four”, and there are many other possibilities, and I would welcome suggestions in the comments.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

A Pulsating End to The #MAshes

A look at the conclusion to an amazing Ashes summer, a mention of a hugely successful auction and a large photo gallery.

The men’s Ashes of 2023 ended on Monday. The first part of this post looks at that final day’s play.

WHO WRITES YOUR SCRIPTS BROADY?!

After the close of play on day three of this match Stuart Broad told the world that it would be his last as a competitive cricketer. On the fourth morning he struck the last delivery he received in test cricket for six, on the fifth evening he took a wicket with his last ball as a test cricketer, giving England victory by 49 runs and a 2-2 drawn series, a result which leaves The #MAshes in Australian hands but also means that the visitors will now go longer without an away series win than any other side in the history of The Ashes – it will be 26 years since their last by the time 2027 comes round, beating the 24 years between successful England trips down under in 1986-7 and 2010-11.

Australia had looked decently placed going into the final day – 135-0, needing 249 runs more to win the match. However, both openers went quickly that final morning (Warner just before I got back from delivering Green Party leaflets in South Wootton, Khawaja just after I had tuned in). Australia were still genuinely in the hunt until Woakes, deservedly Player of the Match, England Player of the Series and winner of the Compton-Miller medal, accounted for Steve Smith, which left Carey plus the bowlers to score over 100 between them. Starc and Cummins both fell fairly cheaply, while Murphy for the second time in the match showed himself rather better than a standard number 10, but when Broad got him the writing really was on the wall. Carey was last to go, also to Broad. Moeen Ali’s test career also ended on Monday, and he took a couple of crucial wickets.

The eventual 2-2 series result was just about fair, though Australia were somewhat flattered by it – the rain ruined game at Old Trafford was going meltingly in England’s favour, and you could probably replay the first two matches of the series a thousand times over and not have Australia emerge 2-0 up.

A GREAT BANKNOTE SALE

A week ago today James and Sons had the second auction of a double header. Tuesday had featured stamps and postal history, and was a success by any normal reckoning. However, the Wednesday sale, a massive collection of banknotes, was probably the greatest success James and Sons have had in the decade since I started working there. Not only did pretty much every lot find a buyer, on most occasions they went for way more than we had dared to hope. Lot 695, expected to fetch 10-12 went for £75…

Lot 741, estimated at 25-30 went for £140…

Lot 877 was the star of the show, expected to go for 30-40 and instead soaring away for £380…

I used this lot to provide the picture for a press release I sent out yesterday.

Lot 894, expected to fetch 25-30 actually went for £180…

Any image can be viewed at full size by clicking on it.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I continue to seek and find things to photograph while out walking…

A second Holly Blue in the space of a few days, this one at the edge of the Kettlewell Lane green space.

All Time XIs – The Jameses

An all time XI of players who all have James as one of their given names and a large photo gallery.

Today’s post honours two cricketers who are very different stages of their careers and happen to have the first name James. Both of course are in the starting XI.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. James Burke (Australia, right handed opening batter). Usually known by the diminutive Jim, he was a dour opener with a respectable test record and a good first class one. I have not mentioned his off spin, as a) I don’t see it getting much use in this XI and b) to quote a spectator at one of his matches “bowl him one for a change Burkie – you’ll surprise him”.
  2. James Aylward (Hambledon, left handed batter). Anyone good enough to have scored 167 in a big match on the kind of pitches that existed in 1777, as he did, must have been an excellent batter, and I am pleased to honour him here.
  3. James Langridge (Sussex, England, left handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner). He was often called on to act as sheet anchor for Sussex, which is why I feel confident using him to fill what would otherwise be a tough slot. Even at test level his averages were the right way round, while at FC level he averaged 35 with the bat and 21 with the ball.
  4. *James Hildreth (Somerset, right handed batter, occasional right arm medium pacer). Very unlucky never to have to have played test cricket, he was one of the most prolific middle order batters of his era. I have also named him as captain of this side.
  5. James H Parks (Sussex, England, right handed batter, right arm slow medium bowler). The only player ever to score 3,000 FC runs and take 100 FC wickets in the same season.
  6. James Rew (Somerset, left handed batter, occasional wicket keeper). At the age of 19 he already has six first class hundreds with an HS of 221, with an average of 52.80 at that level. Elevation to the test ranks looks assured. He is the first of the two guys to inspire this post.
  7. +James Foster (Essex, England, wicket keeper, right handed batter). One of the finest wicket keepers ever to play the game, and enough of a batter to score 13,000 FC runs at an average of 37.
  8. Cedric Ivan James ‘big Jim’ Smith (Middlesex, England, right arm fast bowler, right handed very aggressive lower order batter). Took his FC wickets at 19 a piece. Among his many absurdly fast innings is the quickest 50 ever scored against genuine (as opposed to declaration) bowling – he reached the landmark in 11 minutes on that occasion!
  9. James Charles Laker (Surrey, Essex, England, off spinner, right handed lower order batter). Possibly the greatest of all conventional off spinners (Murali is in a category of his own), and good enough with the bat to have amassed two first class hundreds.
  10. James Bridges (Somerset, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed lower order batter). A fine new ball bowler for Somerset, and has the distinction of coming closer to having an FC century than anyone else who failed to score one – his HS at that level being 99 not out.
  11. James Anderson (Lancashire, England). He turned 41 yesterday, and he is guaranteed to remain England’s all time leading test wicket taker for some time to come, as his closest rival Stuart Broad has announced that the current test match will be his last. Anderson has not yet retired, and although he is unlikely feature much if at all in India this winter, he may be eyeing Sri Lanka at his him ground of Old Trafford next year as a potential sign off match.

This side has a solid batting line up, with most of the bowlers capable of weighing in as well, and a great bowling attack – Anderson, Smith, Bridges, Laker and Langridge, with James H Parks as sixth bowling option.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

James Pattinson (Australia) is the biggest miss by far, but I wasn’t prepared to drop any of my chosen specialist seamers to make way for him. James M Parks, son of James H, was a good middle order batter and some might have picked him ahead of his father. James Hallows of Lancashire would have given me a left arm pace option, but he was more batter than bowler, and his record in that department does not stack up. James Morton Sims of Middlesex was the best leg spinner to qualify for consideration, but I preferred three seamers and two spinners to really stacking the spin options. James Seymour of Kent was a good county pro in his day. Finally, James Lillywhite junior who could not be accommodated in this side deserves a mention for his historical significance – he captained England in the first two test matches ever played, and also helped to arrange a number of the early tours.

PHOTOGRAPHS

On this day last year I published my all time XI of players whose surnames begin with J. Now it is time for my usual sign off…

A Composite #MAshes 2023 XI

A special butterfly picture, a composie #MAshes2023 XI with 12th man, and a splendid photo gallery.

What has been a superb Men’s Ashes (#MAshes for social media users) approaches its conclusion. The centrepiece of this post picks a composite XI from that series. However, I have plenty of other stuff to share, and before the centrepiece I have a photograph that given its significance and quality deserves special treatment (it has already generated interest on Mastodon)…

A HOLLY BLUE

I was out walking this morning when I spotted a butterfly that was new to me. I was able to get a very good photograph of the wonderful little creature, and Mastodon provided the answer to my inquiries – it was the Holly Blue, a species recognized as endangered (see this Guardian article):

A Holly Blue butterfly on a nettle leaf, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, 30/07/2023

A COMPOSITE #MASHES 2023 XI

Before I list my CXI in batting order let me emphasize that I am picking on the basis of THIS SERIES and this series only.

  1. Usman Khawaja (Australia, left handed opening batter). He has been Australia’s stand out batter of this series by a mile.
  2. Zak Crawley (England, right handed opening batter). Some, familiar with my opinions of him, will be surprised by this selection, but I am picking based on this series, and Warner has been negligible and Duckett patchy, whereas Crawley has had a fine series. It will take more than one fine series, even against the oldest enemy, to convince me that Crawley is the real deal as a test match opener, but denying plain facts is not my style, and the plain facts are that based on this series Crawley gets the slot.
  3. Marnus Labuschagne (Australia right handed batter). By his own stratospheric standards not a great series for him, but he gets the slot by default – since Pope’s injury England have struggled massively with this slot, experimenting with Brook for one innings, and then relying on Ali until his injury this match, with Stokes stepping up in their final innings.
  4. Joe Root (England, right handed batter, occasional off spinner). Only one century, but a couple of near misses as well, and the odd moment with his spin, plus some excellent catches. His opposite number, Smith, has had a decidedly quiet series.
  5. Harry Brook (England, right handed batter, occasional medium pacer). A very good series for him, though no century to show for it. It was ill advised to use him as an ersatz number three, an experiment that lasted one innings, but he played some fine knocks in his regular slot, especially at Headingley, Old Trafford and the first innings of this match at The Oval.
  6. *Ben Stokes (England, left handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler, captain). Knee problems have reduced his bowling to a virtual side show (he is allegedly practicing spin bowling in an attempt to prolong his ability to describe himself as an all rounder), but he has played at least one crucial innings, and his captaincy, not withstanding the short stuff at the Aussie tail on Friday, has been a cut above that of Cummins.
  7. +Alex Carey (Australia, wicket keeper, left handed batter). Massively the better of the two keepers on show this series, and Bairstow’s runs in the last couple of matches do not in anyway compensate for his clumsiness behind the stumps, which has cost England hundreds of runs through the series.
  8. Mitchell Starc (Australia, left arm fast bowler, left handed lower order batter). He gets smacked, but he also picks up wickets, and he provides something that no one else in the series does, in terms of the left arm angle.
  9. Mark Wood (England, right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). The quickest bowler on either side, and he has had a good series.
  10. Stuart Broad (England, right arm fast medium bowler, left handed lower order batter). He has announced that the current test match will be has last match as a competitive cricketer, but this is not a sentimental pick – he has also taken over 20 wickets in the series, the fifth time he has done that against Australia, and taken his Ashes tally past 150, putting him alone among England bowlers but behind Lillee, McGrath and Warne overall.
  11. Todd Murphy (off spinner, left handed lower order batter). I didn’t want to name a side without a front line spinner, and with Leach injured before the series started and Lyon injured early in the series there was really only one option – Ali has been as ineffective as one might expect of a 36 year old with little interest in red ball cricket and a moderate prior record to be.
  12. Chris Woakes (England, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). I am naming a 12th man because the veteran Warwickshire all rounder has done well, proving once again that he is formidable in England, and while I couldn’t fit him in the XI I wanted to honour him.

The starting XI has a strong batting line up, a fine keeper and a strong and balance bowling attack, and the designated 12th man could cover any vacancy other than Carey or Murphy without crippling the side.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

All Time XIs: Alliterative

An alliterative all time XI and a large photo gallery.

This variation on a favourite theme of mine features an XI all of whom have alliterative names. I have applied all my usual criteria for selecting a side of class and balance, and the biggest omissions will be explained after I have presented the XI.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. William Woodfull (right handed opening batter). An accumulator whose speciality was batting for long periods of time. He will combine well with the other opener.
  2. Gordon Greenidge (right handed opening batter). The Barbadian was a stroke maker by inclination but was also capable of batting for long periods when needed.
  3. Richie Richardson (right handed batter). A test average of 45 maintained over a long career gets him in.
  4. Steven Smith (right handed batter, occasional leg spinner). The best test batter of the modern era.
  5. Saud Shakeel (left handed batter, occasional leg spinner). Currently establishing himself at the highest level, having very recently scored a test double century.
  6. Mulvantrai ‘Vinoo’ Mankad (right handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner). A very fine all rounder, he reached the test double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in 23 matches, a record beaten only by Ian Botham (21 matches).
  7. *Frank Foster (right handed batter, left arm fast medium bowler, captain). His test averages were the right way round – 23 with the bat, 20 with the ball, and if the former figure looks on the low side for a number seven, he was also the first Warwickshire player ever to score a triple century. I have named him as captain because he also skippered Warwickshire to their maiden county championship title in 1911. The vice-captaincy would be a toss up between Woodfull and Richardson, with Smith ruled out of any sort of leadership position given how his tenure as Aussie skipper ended.
  8. +Ben Barnett (wicket keeper, left handed batter). In the era in which he played precisely one regular keeper had a test average better than his 27 – Leslie Ames of Kent and England who averaged 40 with the bat in test cricket.
  9. Malcolm Marshall (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). One of the greatest fast bowlers ever to play the game and a useful lower order batter to boot.
  10. George Geary (right arm medium-fast bowler, right handed batter). Two Ashes winning moments on his CV and the second cheapest all-ten in FC history (10-18 for Leciestershire v Glamorgan) as well.
  11. Muthiah Muralidaran (off spinner, right handed tail end batter). 800 test wickets, and for those who point to Zimbabwe and Bangladesh among his victims, 624 of his 800 wickets came against teams other than these, and he paid 24 a piece for those wickets – his average against all teams other than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe was better than Warne’s against all comers.

This side has a powerful top five, great all rounders at six and seven, a keeper who could bat, and three great bowlers, two of whom could contribute with the bat to round out the order. Malcolm Marshall and Frank Foster with the new ball, Geary as third seamer and Muralidaran and Mankad as front line spin options is an attack that should take 20 wickets on almost any surface.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Colin Cowdrey is the biggest name among qualifiers that I have left out, but I wanted at least one of my front line batters to be left handed, and Shakeel was the obvious solution. Gautam Gambhir might have had an opening slot in place of Woodfull. William Mervyn Wallace of New Zealand did well in the few tests that he got to play, but he always went by ‘Merv’, a shortening of his second given name. Deandra Dottin of West Indies Women could not be accommodated in the XI, but merits an honourable mention. Ben Brown and Chris Cooke both have good county records as keeper batters, but have never been picked at the highest level, while Richie Robinson of Australia was not the keeper that his compatriot Barnett had been, though he was a finer batter – as regular readers know I prioritise keeping, and a side with Geary due to come in at 10 cannot be described as short of batting. George Giffen was a great all rounder, but given his bowling style had I picked him instead of Mankad I would have had to pick Bishan Bedi instead of Muralidaran and my contention is that Murali and Mankad would be a better spin pairing than Bedi and Giffen. George Garton, a left arm fast bowler, might have his advocates, but Foster was proven at the highest level which Garton isn’t, and also I wanted Foster as captain. Picking legendary 19th century speedster John ‘Foghorn’ Jackson over Geary would have increased the pace of the attack, but he benefitted from bowling on pitches that were often so rough that he didn’t have to do more than bowl fast and straight (he played in the era immediately before WG). Two county fast mediums deserve a mention but not a place in the XI: Brian Brain and Tim Tremlett (father of Chris, son of Maurice). Paul Parker’s batting does not justify picking him, but he would be this XIs designated fielding sub.

DISQUALIFICATIONS

Two players who would otherwise have merited consideration were disqualified for going on rebel tours of apartheid South Africa: Graham Gooch and Colin Croft.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…