Category Archives: cricketing icons

Rohan’s Assesssment of Kumar Sangakkara in May 2019

Rohan Wijeyaratna, in Island, 25 May 2019, with the title “The Best is Yet to come”

Men with disciplined minds, set their sights on far loftier goals than others given to average thinking. Such are the virtues that have made Kumar Sangakkara become what he now is. Kumar Sangakkara has played many a fine inning in his time. They have spanned across every notable playing field and every nook and cranny worth knowing on the cricket map. They have stretched across all types of the game – from Tests to ODIs, to the T20s. In each of them, his performances have won him accolades from men of discernment. Be it with bat or lip, he has made his mark. His opponents know only too well how fiendishly difficult it is to match him – be it at play or at his lip and intellect, either singly or in combination.

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Filed under cricket and life, cricket governance, cricketing icons, English cricket, performance, player selections, politics and cricket, Sangakkara, Sri Lanka Cricket, unusual people, work ethic

Jofra Archer empties the LORD’s Bar

A REVIEW from one ERROL in a Note to one GAVIN, 18 August 2019

The message I am receiving is that it is all over and Tim Paine already has the Ashes in his suitcase. Of course, this may well be true. However, I merely want people to hold on a moment because I would always back the side bowling fourth. I would hate to be the side chasing even one hundred to win a match. The nerves and tension are usually unbearable.

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Filed under cricket and life, cricket tamashas, cricketing icons, English cricket, Ian Botham, Lords cricket ground, memorable moments, performance

Gollapudi on WHY Ravi Shastri remains Coach of India

After interviewing five candidates on Friday and rating them on five different parameters – coaching philosophy, experience, achievements, communication, and knowledge of modern coaching tools – the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) chose to continue with Ravi Shastri as India head coach. Mike Hesson and Tom Moody finished second and third based on these ratings, CAC head Kapil Dev said. Here is a break-down of the process that led to Shastri’s reinstatement.

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Kane and ‘his’ Canine at Katunayake

Courtesy of the Sunday Times…. which featured oher types of canines — sniffer dogs on perahara duty

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Edgbaston Roller-coaster in Errol’s Binoculars

Errol Fernando to Gavin, 5 August 2019

For 3 long days I  kept wearing out my chairs and couldn’t take my eyes off the match. Constant changes of fortune, ebb and flow, but with the game equally poised. Then on the fourth day the Aussie batsmen, empowered by Smith, broke away and demolished the English bowlers. Moeen Ali looked incapable of dismissing the local kindergarten second eleven.

On the final day the English batsmen, as a sympathetic gesture, felt obliged to emulate their bowlers by batting like the local kindergarten second eleven.

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Filed under backyard cricket, confrontations on field, cricket and life, cricketing icons, English cricket, spinning art

In Appreciation of Neville Cardus, son of a whore and a discerning cricket writer

Roger Alton for the Daily Mail, 1 August 2019,  with title “Pitch Perfect”

THE  GREAT ROMANTIC  …… by Duncan Hamilton (Hodder £20, 400 pp)

A FIELD OF TENTS AND WAVING COLOURS …………….  by Neville Cardus (Safe Haven £14.99, 240 pp)

The last days of summer may soon be upon us — give or take an Ashes tour — but, with these two beautiful books, the sky will always be silky blue, the sun shining down, thousands pouring into Old Trafford for a bitterly fought Roses match and Bradman 160 not out at tea.

Duncan Hamilton is already a multiple award-winning sports writer, but it is hard to imagine he will write a better book than this superb, elegaic portrait of the sociable, feted, but ultimately unknowable, man who virtually invented modern sports writing. Neville Cardus was born, illegitimate, into poverty in 1888. His real name was John Frederick Newsham, but he never knew his father. Both his mother and his aunt worked as prostitutes, and the young Fred Newsham was lightly educated to the age of ten.

Two beautifully written books reflect on how sports writing was impacted by Neville Cardus (pictured) who became one of the best-paid journalists in historyTwo beautifully written books reflect on how sports writing was impacted by Neville Cardus (pictured) who became one of the best-paid journalists in history

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Filed under Bradman, child of empire, cricket and life, cricketing icons, English cricket, memorable moments, unusual people

Spotlight on Four Guys at Edgbaston

George Dobell, in ESPNcricinfo, August 2019 where the title runs “Dobell: Four problems England must fix”

With the first Ashes Test delicately poised after three days and the in-form Steven Smith 46 not out in his second innings following his first-innings century, England have four issues requiring immediate attention. George Dobell delves into what the hosts need to do now.

Moeen Ali:  Sunday feels like a big day for Moeen. On a pitch offering substantial assistance to spin bowlers, he is the man England will rely upon in the hope of bowling out Australia.

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Filed under Australian cricket, cricket and life, cricketing icons, English cricket, George Dobell, performance, player selections, tower of strength

Swooning over Lasith Malinga

On any other working Friday, the toss wouldn’t have held much significance. But this was different. Lasith Malinga was playing his final ODI, and had Bangladesh batted first, which Tamim Iqbal later said they were certain to do had they won the toss, Malinga’s final 10 overs may have played out in front of a half-empty R Premadasa Stadium. Not a disaster, but certainly anti-climactic.

However, as it turned out, Bangladesh didn’t win the toss, they didn’t bat first, and as the Sri Lankan innings started to wind to a close, the fans filtering in late were even treated to a rare a Malinga batting excursion.

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Filed under child of empire, cricket and life, cricketing icons, farewell game, Lasith Malinga, memorable moments, Sri Lanka Cricket

A Rescue Act Aged 41! Facing Lillee and Thomson

Simon Barnes in The Cricket Monthly, June 2016, where the title is “Call in Colin” … At 41, Cowdrey gamely took on Lillee and Thomson, because how could he not?

“Good morning, my name’s Cowdrey.” Words of Colin Cowdrey to Jeff Thomson in December 1974, spoken while Thomson was back at the top of his run “wanting to kill somebody”. It was a moment that mixed courtesy with a hint of gamesmanship in one of cricket’s more bizarre confrontations.

And a good morning to you Sir!

Cowdrey’s participation in that Ashes series was a classic example of futile heroism, and as such a thing of joy that echoes down the ages long after more elevated passages of sport have been forgotten. “We need a futile sacrifice at this stage,” said Peter Cook in a famous sketch from Beyond the Fringe. “It will raise the whole tone of the war.” Continue reading

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Filed under Australian cricket, confrontations on field, cricket and life, cricketing icons, English cricket, memorable moments, performance, player selections, tower of strength, unusual people

The Spirit of Cricket

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July 18, 2019 · 3:58 pm