A detailed look at my latest auction purchase, one which I am inclined to regard as a spectacular bargain. This is even my standards a very image heavy post.
After the travails detailed in my last two blog posts, both created of necessity on library computers I am now fully back up and running at home. Yesterday the February auction of James and Sons took place. I am not in a position to describe much of the proceedings, since I was one floor above where the auction was taking place, imaging items for the March sale. However, this post is devoted to one particular lot from that February sale.
IMAGING/ INITIAL ACQUAINTANCE
The sale was entirely devoted to stamps/ postal history. From lot 551 there were about 70 lots in albums, and one of these was lot 575, a two album collection of ‘Railway Heritage’. Some of the items within these albums had been flagged for imaging, and I added a couple (but only a couple) of choices of my own to those flagged. The gallery that was available for this lot was thus:
Not unnaturally given my tastes I was quite eager to get my hands on this lot. I therefore placed a bid on Easylive, one of the two online platforms James and Sons use, for the maximum I could afford to part with, since I knew that work would prevent me from bidding live.
A BIT OF GOOD FORTUNE
It was about 1:30PM when I got official confirmation that I had won the lot, and as it happens for less than I was willing to pay. I paid my dues, and was able to take the two albums home with me on the day. Much of today has been dedicated to photographing my new possession and then editing those photos (with a backdrop of the opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy, Pakistan v New Zealand, won comfortably by New Zealand). I end this section with the pictures from the first album…
THE SECOND ALBUM
The second album was just as treasure laden as the first had been, and by the time I had finished photographing everything therein and editing the pictures I was in do doubt whatsoever that this has to rank as my finest ever auction purchase. Here to finish off this post are the pictures from the second album…
The albums in their new location atop the cabinet of curiosities.
An attempt at selecting an all-time ODI XI, with mentions of a few players from before the ODI era who I might have considered had I not decided to stick to actual ODI players. Also a photo gallery.
I am writing this from King’s Lynn library (it has limited opening on Sundays, to those wh0 are ‘Open Library’ members). This topic was raised by the talksport2 commentary team in an ODI between India and England, and between the distractions of having my entire heating system replaced and my home broadband malfunctioning I have not previously got round to posting my own version.
THE BRIEF
I will be picking only people who have ODI experience, though I will then append a short subsection on who might have been considered had I opted not to thus restrict myself. The number six slot will feature two possibilities, as explained more fully when I get there. I will not include an honourable mentions section as to do justice to those it would have to be far too long. If you fancy suggesting alternatives you are most welcome, though I urge you to consider the effect of your choices on the overall balance of the side.
THE XI IN BATTING ORDER
+Adam Gilchrist (Australia, left handed opening batter, wicket keeper). This man changed ideas as to what could be expected of the wicket keeper with the bat. Some subsequent attempts to find a version of him have neglected to pay sufficient attention to the keeping skills of the player concerned, but he was top notch in that department as well as with the bat.
Rohit Sharma (India, right handed opening batter). He holds the highest ever ODI score, 264, and has also scored two other ODI double centuries, the only player to have as many as three to his name. Overall he has some 11,000 ODI runs to his name, and his century tally is third on the all-time list.
Viv Richards (West Indies, right handed batter, occasional off spinner). The first player to really master the art of ODI batting. The 189* he scored in a total of 272-9 at Old Trafford in 1984 was for a long time the highest ever ODI score.
Virat Kohli (India, right handed batter). Has to rank as the all time number one ODI batter. I could not accommodate both him and Sachin Tendulkar in this XI, and in ODI terms Kohli is ahead of his predecessor. Kohli’s century making rate of better than one every six ODI innings puts him way ahead of the competition.
AB de Villers (South Africa, right handed batter, occasional wicket keeper, occasional right arm medium pacer). Known as ‘Mr 36o’ for his ability to score runs to literally any part of the field he was epoch making batter, a competent keeper and had occasional successes bowling medium pace.
*Imran Khan (Pakistan, right handed batter, right arm fast bowler, captain). One of the greatest of all all rounders. He came out of retirement to lead Pakistan to victory in the 1992 world cup. In the event of the pitch warranting a spin bowling all rounder rather than a pace bowling one Shakib Al-Hasan of Bangladesh would take his slot and the captaincy.
Wasim Akram (Pakistan, left arm fast bowler, left handed batter). A record that speaks for itself.
Joel Garner (West Indies, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). The most economical bowler in ODI history, and achiever of the highest ever ODI ranking points total.
Muthiah Muralidaran (Sri Lanka, off spinner, right handed batter). When Sri Lanka won the 1996 world cup their bowling was so dominated by spin that the new ball pair of Vaas and Wickramasinghe often bowled only their opening spells, not being recalled later in the innings. The leader of the Sri Lankan spin unit that won them the world cup that year was Muralidaran.
Adam Zampa (Australia, leg spinner, right handed batter). Shane Warne was not quite the force with a white ball that he was with a red one, though of course he was capable being the matchwinner with a white one, but for my money with the white ball and only with the white ball Zampa outranks his fellow Aussie, which is why I pick him here.
Glenn McGrath (Australia, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). The key bowler in Australia’s most dominant period in men’s white ball cricket, during which they won three straight world cups (1999, 2003 and 2007).
This side features a very powerful top five, all rounders at six and seven and four great bowlers. Yes, with Garner as high as eight the tail starts quite early, but I am not expecting them to be called on to bat with massive frequency. I also reckon that the bowling unit, with two tall, lethally accurate, right arm pacers, an all time great left arm pacer, two great specialist spinners and either a fourth fast bowler or a third, different (SLA, as opposed to OS and LS already there) spin option will be quite capable of defending even an under par total. With regards to the balance of the side I have followed my usual principle of giving the bowling unit primary importance – history is well stocked with winning sides who had great bowling but comparatively modest batting, while there have been very few whose balance has been the other way round.
PLAYERS FROM BEFORE THE ODI ERA
I consider three players from before ODI cricket was a thing to have strong cases for consideration:
Garry Sobers (West Indies, left handed batter, left arm bowler of every type known to cricket). Accommodating him in place of any of that top five would be extremely hard, but the most complete player the game has ever known, and one whose approach to batting was very attack minded would have to at least be considered.
Frank Woolley (England, left handed batter, left arm orthodox spin bowler). Given his outstanding FC record and his attacking approach he would replace Shakib Al-Hasan as my alternative selection to Imran Khan on spinning surfaces, and may even straight out replace Imran on any surface. The prejudices of his era stopped from getting regular captaincy experience, but I think he would have done the job well given proper opportunities.
Gilbert Jessop (England, right handed batter, right arm fast bowler). He is also a potential replacement for Imran. His feats of rapid scoring are legendary, he once bowled unchanged through an FC innings while conceding only three (Northamptonshire 12 all out, Dennett 8-9 with his left arm spin, Jessop 2-3 at the other end) runs and his fielding was the stuff of legend.
Explaining why I have not been able to post much of late.
For reasons that will become obvious as this post develops I am creating it from a machine in King’s Lynn library. It is by way of explaining why I have hardly been online of late.
ENTER THE ENGINEERS
The powers that be at Freebridge decided that my house needed its entire heating system replacing in full. Thus on Monday morning engineers from Gaswise turned up to begin the process which I discovered later that day was scheduled to run over three days (yes, even in an abode as humble as mine a full replacement of a heating system takes that long). The second of those days was a work day, so I spoke to the engineers, and equipped with them the spare key (giving them the key safe number was further than I was willing to go) and instructions to lock up when they finished and post the key through the front door. I arrived back that evening and was satisfied with the progress that had been made in my absence. However it was then that another problem surfaced: my broadband was down. I managed to get an engineer’s visit scheduled for this morning, and the external faults are all fixed, but it turns out that I need a new router, which I hope will be fitted on Monday, though I may have to cancel work on Tuesday. This means that I am without internet access from home at present. As for the heating system replacement that was indeed completed as scheduled on Wednesday.
A brief account of England’s last gasp win over France in the Six Nations rugby, a mention of the West Norfolk Autism Group including photos of our office spacr, and a large photo gallery.
There have been two Six Nations rugby matches today. In the first Wales’ recent miseries continued as Italy beat them, meaning that this Welsh side are now holders of an unwanted record – no other Welsh side has ever lost 14 consecutive matches as this one now has. The second game, which ended just a few minutes ago saw England facing France.
The Latest of Late Winners
Having been beaten by Ireland last time out England needed to win this match, while France had hammered Wales in their first game of the tournament. France were not at their best at any stage of this match, but heading towards the end of the match it looked like they had done enough. There were 79 minutes gone (Rugby Union matches are supposed to last 80 minutes), with France ahead by 25 points to 19 when Elliot Daly received an excellent pass from Fin Smith and scored close to the posts. Smith then added the conversion to make it England 26 France 25. There were some nervy moments even then in the very closing stages, but England held on and secured the win. England have lately been struggling to close out games, but this time it was their opponents who suffered the late reverse.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Before I get to the main gallery, Friday was the AGM of the West Norfolk Autism Group, and our office space in West Lynn is now fully functional…
These first three shots show the little sensory room in one corner of the space.A photo board.
An account of a long morning walk, which was planned for a specific purpose. Includes a photo gallery.
I have an important meeting to attend on Friday at a location just beyond the western end of the road bridge across the Great Ouse, and with the weather much less brutal than it was a month ago I am of a mind to walk to and from the venue, although it is a fair walk from my home in North Lynn. It was with a view to that that I planned this morning’s excursion.
PART ONE: THE LIBRARY
I had 14 library books out this morning, only one fewer than the permitted maximum for a single borrower, which made the library an essential port of call. Of course having returned the books I had out I naturally had a scout for new ones to take out. I found two by a recent find whose work I am really enjoying, Helen Cox. Her series based in and around York features a librarian who doubles up as a private enquiry agent. I also found a trio of north west Norfolk based crime novels by someone named Andrea Bramhall which I am looking forward to reading. This part of the walk was accomplished largely without recourse to main roads, save for a short stretch of London Road, from the end of The Walks to the library.
PART TWO: HEADING FOR THE GREAT OUSE
From the library I headed through Hillington Square and down to the Great Ouse, reaching the river front a few hundred metres before the Nar outflow and the structure I have dubbed ‘Cormorant Platform’. which as you will see more than lived up to my name for it on this occasion.
PART THREE: LOCATION CHECKING
The bright, sunny weather helped to maintain my resolve to extend my walk to the industrial estate on which WNAG’s meeting room/ office space is located, and I duly did so, ensuring that on Friday morning, when I will need to arrive in good time, there will be no mishaps.
PART FOUR: BACK VIA MORRISON’S
My route home followed my route out in reverse as far as All Saints Church, at which point I diverted slightly, away from the crossing of Millfleet and towards London Road instead. I crossed London Road, and left it by way of the Broadwalk, then looping round by way of the Vancouver Garden and the path out of it to St John’s Walk. I got to Morrison’s, did the little bit of food shopping that had to be done today and then headed home. I had been out for about two and a half hours. My bag will be lighter on Friday, and I will have the duration of the meeting to recover from the outbound leg, so I am now confident that walking is the way to go for this meeting.
PHOTOGRAPHS
This gallery features exclusively pictures taken this morning.
This book (three pics) is one I have read on bus journeys to and from work, and I highly recommend it.I am guessing that this chimney has some sort of protected status.
A mention of the start of the Six Nations rugby tournament and a large photo gallery.
The title of this post borrows the tactful response of a curate served a bad egg by his vicar. It refers to England’s first match in this year’s Six Nations rugby union, which was against Ireland in Dublin yesterday.
A TOUGH OPENING FIXTURE
Ireland won both the 2023 and 2024 tournaments and are bidding to become the first side to win this tournament three times in a row. France had hammered Wales in Paris on Friday evening, and Scotland had beaten Italy earlier yesterday. England played very well in the first half and had a handy lead at the interval. In the second half Ireland found their mojo, and England wilted under increased pressure from their hosts. In the end only a late try scored long after the result was settled secured England a losing bonus point. Ireland are thus off to a winning start, while England must regroup, though the latter do have the advantage of having three home matches to play.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Today has been bright and sunny, albeit still cold (there was an overnight frost which hadn’t completely cleared when I went out for the first time, and I have a fine photo gallery to share…
Today’s photos start here.The Lynnsport Railway in service.
An account of the third and as it turned out final day at the MCG and a photo gallery.
The word ‘WAshes’, with the first two letters capitalized is a social media hashtag created by combining the W from women’s with the word Ashes. This post looks at the events of the third and as it turns out final day of the one-off test match that ended this year’s WAshes series.
ENGLAND’S BEST PERIOD OF THE SERIES
The early stages of the day, which got underway at 3:30AM UK time, saw England produce their best bowling and fielding of the series. Knight opted for the contrasting threats of Ecclestone (left arm, slow) and Filer (right arm, fast), and both bowled beautifully. Mooney became the first Australian to complete centuries in all three formats (Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont, both playing for England in this match, are also members of this small club). She was out to a beauty from Lauren Filer which clean bowled her. The Australian innings ended when Perry, who came in at number ten after being held back due to injury, chipped a return catch to Ecclestone who thus claimed a place on the MCG honours board with her fifth wicket of the innings. She had toiled hard – the final ball of the Australian innings was the third of her 45th over thereof. Footage of this good spell for England can be viewed here.
ENGLAND’S SECOND INNINGS
England had scored a mere six runs when Darcie Brown got through the defences of Maia Bouchier, ending a wretched tour for the 26 year old, who was out for one. Bouchier’s tour aggregate was 33 runs from six innings, she does not bowl, and in a side who are not great in the field she is one of the most frequent offenders when it comes to dropped catches.
Beaumont and Knight batted well for a time, both hitting some highly impressive shots. However, with 79 on the board Knight was dismissed to a catch by Litchfield off Gardner. Nat Sciver-Brunt started impressively and the 100 came up without further loss, but at that point Alana King, in what was to be a long unchanged spell from the Shane Warne Stand end took centre stage with her leg spin. At 100 she trapped Sciver-Brunt plumb in front for 18. Three balls later Dunkley fell to an incredible ball. Footage of this delivery is available here, and I urge you to watch it and see for yourself what it did. Danni Wyatt-Hodge is high class batter, and a very experienced one, but she did not play like one this time round. She essayed a sweep, a shot that England have got in trouble with against Australia’s spinners all through this series, and Litchfield took a fine catch. The score had not advanced from King got one through Beaumont’s previously impregnable defences to dismiss the diminutive opener for 47. That was 109-6, and right on the stroke of the second interval Amy Jones edged one from Gardner to Mooney who made no mistake behind the stumps. Soon after the resumption Ryana MacDonald-Gay was eighth out, helplessly popping up a catch to Brown off King. Both spinners were involved in the dismissal of Ecclestone, joint third top scorer with 18, King taking the catch off Gardner. That left the two Laurens, Filer and Bell, to delay the inevitable as long as they could. In the event the numbers 10 and 11 hung on for 11.2 overs together before Filer fell to a catch by Sutherland off King to give Australia victory by an innings and 122 runs and a 16-0 clean sweep in the multi-format series. It was an appropriate ending – Sutherland was the obvious choice for Player of the Match for that dazzling 163 and King, with 23 wickets in all, was an equally obvious choice for Player of the Series. That Ecclestone, Filer and Bell, numbers 8,10 and 11, survived respectively for 50, 45 and 30 balls (the last being an unbeaten 0) serves to further highlight the wretchedness of that headlong plunge from 100-2 to 122-8. A highlights package from today can be viewed here. A full scorecard of this match can be viewed here. Australia absolutely deserved their clean sweep, and England need to make big changes moving forward.
A look at the events of the first two days of the test match that is the final instalment of this year’s Women’s Ashes series, and a photo gallery.
At 3:30AM UK time yesterday the final instalment of the multi-format series for the Women’s Ashes, a day/night test match at the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground, got underway. Australia had won both limited overs series 3-0, meaning that in the points system used to score the whole series they were 12-0 with four points at stake for the Test Match.
DAY ONE
Australia won the toss and put England in to bat. Several England players got starts, but only Natalie Sciver-Brunt who fought her way to a half century made a significant contribution. To make things worse for England it rapidly became clear that even on day one the pitch was helping spinners, and England, somewhat oddly given where their prime bowling strength lies, had opted to play only one front line spinner, Ecclestone. England were all out for 170, just before I had to set off for work. I found out later in the day that Australia had reached 53-1 by the close, and would find out later still that one catch had already gone begging.
DAY TWO
This was the day the wheels came right off for England (and probably the exhaust pipe and the axles!). The bowlers did not bowl badly, but the fielding was terrible, a further seven catches being dropped (although in other circumstances the last of these, an attempt at a return catch by fast bowler Lauren Filer would have earned her commendation for a fine effort rather than being recorded as the latest in a long series of drops). Annabel Sutherland, after being reprieved three times early in her innings played sublimely for 163, while Alyssa Healy, fit enough to bat and captain, but not to keep, offered some support, and then Beth Mooney, the batting star of the entire series, demonstrated her continuing excellence. After Sutherland’s magnificent innings ended, bowled by 20 year old medium pacer Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Mooney was supported by Ash Gardner who scored 44 before a catch was finally taken, by Filer off Ecclestone, and then in the last stages of the day by Tahlia McGrath. After having used only her five front line bowling options (Filer, Lauren Bell, Sciver-Brunt, MacDonald-Gay and Ecclestone) all the way through to that point the England skipper Heather Knight finally did something different for the final over the day – she turned to her own part time off spin. The main question was whether Mooney, already on a new test career best, could complete her maiden test ton before the close. In the end she did not, finishing the day on 98 not out. Australia at 422-5 already have a first innings lead of 252, with two whole days remaining. Ellyse Perry has a hip problem and has not batted, but it is not impossible that she will be considered fit enough to do so in the early part of tomorrow. The attendance for this match so far has been 23,508, a new record attendance for any women’s test match, with two weekend days to come.
A look back at the BBL Final, and one of the most extraordinary T20 innings ever played. Also a photo gallery.
Today saw the final of the 14th edition of the Big Bash League. The contending teams were Hobart Hurricanes, winners of the league stage of the tournament, and also victors over Sydney Sixers in the first match of the post-season, and Sydney Thunder, third in the league stage of the season, enders of Melbourne Stars’ Lazarus act (making the KOs after starting with five successive losses) and victors over their Sydney rivals in the penultimate match of the tournament to claim their place in the final. As group winners Hurricanes staged the game at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart.
THE THUNDER INNINGS
Hobart Hurricanes won the bat flip and put Thunder in. David Warner and especially Jason Sangha got Thunder away to a fast start. At the end of the four over Power Play the score was 40-0, and that tempo was pretty much maintained through the first half of the innings, at which point the score was 97-0. A team who are 97-0 after 10 overs of a 20 over innings SHOULD top the 200 mark without much difficulty. However, the first half of their innings was be the last period of the match in which Thunder could claim to have had the better of things. Thunder delayed their Power Surge, due to wickets starting to fall, and just as they were preparing to take it Jason Sangha was out for 67 off 42 balls. That was 146-4 after precisely 16 overs, and having basically left themselves no other choice Thunder activated the Surge for overs 17 and 18. They scored 20 runs for no wicket in those two overs, which is no better than fair for a Power Surge on a good batting track. A big last over of the innings (14 in total coming from it) got Thunder to 182-7 from their 20 overs – 85-7 in the second half of their innings. A total of over 180 wins more T20s than it loses, and finals are often lower scoring than regular matches…
AN INCREDIBLE INNINGS
The first ball of the Hurricanes innings, bowled by Nathan McAndrew, went away for five wides. The six legal deliveries of the over yielded a further 18, as Mitchel Owen gave notice of his intentions. By the end of the four over Power Play Hurricanes were a barely believable 74-0, most of the damage being done by Owen, who was playing an innings that will become part of cricket legend. Tanveer Sangha had Caleb Jewell caught by Warner for 13 off the second ball of the eighth over to make 109-1. Owen reached three figures off his 39th ball, having hit 11 sixes, an all time record for any BBL innings, along the way. By the end of the 10th over it was 138-2, Owen 108* off 42 balls. The mid-innings drinks break, as often happens, broke the flow, and Owen was out first ball on the resumption, but by then the job was done, and it was just a question of when Hurricanes would complete their victory. Hurricanes past 150 in the 12th over, and at the end of that over activated their Power Surge. Those two overs yielded 29 further runs for no further loss, Wes Agar saving a tiny amount of face by avoiding conceding the winning runs, but finishing with 2-0-39-0. Ben McDermott dispatched the first ball of the 15th over for four, and Hurricanes had won by seven wickets with 5.5 overs to spare. Tim David, who most would have pegged in advance of the innings as Hurricanes likeliest matchwinner with the bat ended up not being required at all, such was their dominance due to that amazing knock by Owen. Hurricanes have been the best team in this year’s competition, and although the scale of the hammering was rough on Thunder, cricketing justice was done in this final. The scorecard from this amazing game can be viewed here.
A look back at the men’s singles final at the Australian Open and a large photo gallery.
I have not been able to follow very much of this year’s Australian Open tennis due to conflicts with my first sporting love, cricket, but this morning UK time I was able to tune in to the very last match of the tournament, the final of the men’s singles.
A POOR MATCH
The last two contestants to take to the Rod Laver arena at this year’s Australian Open were Jannik Sinner, world number one, but facing a substantial drugs ban, and Alexander Zverev, world number two. Zverev was in his third grand slam final, having lost both the previous two, while Sinner is a multiple grand slam winner, and came into the match as defending champion of this tournament. Yesterday in the women’s singles Madison Keys at the age of 29, and seven and a half years after a horror loss to Sloane Stephens in that year’s US Open final won the title, beating Aryna Sabalenka, world number one and winner of the previous two titles in Melbourne. The match was close early on but the decisive momentum shift happened in games eight and nine. The eighth game of the match, with Zverev serving at 3-4 down and no one yet having broken, was a very long one, finally ending when Zverev misjudged an attempt to get into the net, opening himself up to a passing shot which Sinner duly made. Game nine thus saw Sinner serving for the first set, and he was clinically efficient, getting through it very fast and completely mercilessly.
The second set went to a tie break, and although Zverev secured the first mini-break he gave it right back, and in the end Sinner was an easy winner, seven points to four.
The third set was short, the closest Sinner coming to a worrying moment at any stage thereof being when serving for the title at 5-3, 30-30. The last two points were confidently played by Sinner. The final scoreline was 6-3, 7-6, 6-3, a straight sets win for the Italian world number one. It was in truth even more one-sided than the score suggests – not only did Zverev not break the Sinner serve all match, he never even had a break point. Sinner was hardly at the top of his form, which tells you just how bad Zverev was in this match.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
Three shots of this bird, which my bird suggests is a great crested grebe, a new sighting for me if true, appear in this gallery.
aspiblog 