An eclectic, whimsical oeuvre of musings and ponderings on cricket, lovely cricket.
From the hurly-burly of central London and its de facto median at Charing Cross the journey stretches just beyond sixteen miles. Far from the madding crowds and amidst the capital’s swathes of suburbia is Ruislip, three stops short of the twin termini of the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines and just a short sprint from the... Continue Reading →
Cricket is a sport that embraces its quirky aspects. Be it the playing characters themselves or those of a similar nature who avidly follow the sport, cricket is certainly a sport that proves accommodating. Another quirky aspect of the sport are the grounds that include interesting features. For all its history and grandeur Lord’s is... Continue Reading →
Over twenty years have passed since this blogger first attended a cricket match. During that two and a bit decade period one has enjoyed cricket in fifteen different counties and two separate countries. From world famous locales such as the Oval and New Road to county favourites such as Hove and Arundel to grassroots charms... Continue Reading →
The concept of scoreboard pressure is a fairly recent development. In its most literal, simplified state, scoreboard pressure exists as a notion that a significant / high score recorded by Team A asserts pressure on Team B simply by its presence. The idea is perhaps best illustrated in cricket where Team A posts a large... Continue Reading →
English county cricket possesses many great and fascinating qualities but the elements of mystery and romance are rarely to the fore. The county season may feature three distinct competitions but the dramatis personae remain the same across the trio of tournaments; eighteen teams in what is very much a closed shop. Times of yore featured... Continue Reading →
I am a firm believer that there is a symbiosis between cricket in the United Kingdom and the countryside. The highest levels of the game may be gravitating towards the cities but at its heart cricket is a sport of the countryside and there very much remains a mental image of village cricket and the... Continue Reading →
Humming along the A27 toward the West Sussex border one is heading toward what could be a vision into the future. Not that one would be so foolish to proclaim any great prescience but there are moments and opportunities in the sporting calendar where one could literally be witnessing the future. At the juncture that... Continue Reading →
Zhenjian in central China, Desouk in northern Egypt, Baton Rouge in southern Louisiana and Santana in northern Brazil are four particularly non-descript locations. In terms of global significance, none of the four hold any resonance when compared to great metropolises such as New York, London, Paris, Rio, Tokyo and Mumbai. Each hold a certain significance... Continue Reading →
On the cusp of a new season one of English cricket’s old bugbears once again reared its head. As England’s batsmen toiled and failed against India’s spin bowlers the hoary chestnut of how the first-class county game is not producing spin bowlers or providing conditions for batsmen to hone their techniques to play quality spin... Continue Reading →
The long, dark days of the winter lockdowns understandably provoked a wide range of emotions, thoughts, exaggerations and hyperboles. Such was the nature of the whole beast. Rational thinking predictably wasn’t always at the forefront of conversation. Opinions and quips that, under normal circumstances, would have likely remained un-uttered were freely dispensed as each individual... Continue Reading →
