May 22nd
On the other hand, what about those CMJ left out? Was it something personal?
(Yes I know, these questions make no sense as they stand. But here we are in the virtual world, where time’s arrow flies a mysteriously non-Einsteinian path, disappearing and then appearing again. You will need to refer to yesterdays’ blog to see where I’m coming from. Or rather going. Sorry.)
Bobbie Simpson for one. R.B. Simpson played for Australia over a span of nearly twenty years from 1957 – which is unusual for an international cricketer – but there were unusual circumstances. He was a formidable batsman, who averaged over 45 in Test cricket, which is a benchmark for the very good. He was perhaps not a memorable player in terms of strokeplay – although he was positively extrovert compared with Bill Lawry his sometime opening batting partner – but my, he was effective. His career highlight came when he amassed 311 against a toothless English attack at Manchester in 1964, batting England out of the series. It was a typically ruthless piece of play. He was fast between the wickets, and very fit. He was a very underrated leg-spin bowler, although he might have been more successful had he been prepared to risk more. He was always a man who seemed to prefer to play the percentages. He was without doubt the best close to the wicket fielder of his age. And having retired, he came back to playing for the sake of others, captaining Australia in the late nineteen seventies at a time when the country’s cricket administration was being torn apart by the arrival of large quantities of TV money. In many ways he sowed the seeds of the great Australian teams which were to follow.
Damn it. You see, there I go, doing exactly what CMJ wants me to. But anyway Christopher, I want to know. What about Bobbie Simpson?
I haven’t mentioned the outcome of the recent Test Match against the West Indies. England won, but it caught no one’s imagination. England put together a large total, losing only six wickets in doing so. Cook was finally out for 160. Pietersen, Collingwood and Prior all contributed handsomely, and from the outset the West Indies looked unlikely to hold out provided the showery, blustery weather allowed sufficient time. Ramnaresh Sarwan scored a very good hundred in their first innings, but that was about it as far as resistance went. Bowled out for 310 and then 176, they looked a poor, demoralised, side. The English bowlers found much more life in the pitch than their West Indian counterparts, and even Tim Bresnan, until then the invisible man of the English team, got in on the act with three second innings wickets. It would be a pity if this extended his tenure of a place in the side. The man of the match was the English quick bowler James Anderson who looked extremely menacing. He made the ball snake around at high pace. At the present time his approach to the wicket is smooth and controlled. The delivery appears effortless. If he can maintain his form when the Australians arrive he should pose a major threat to their batsmen. Or so we really hope…
But this really was a hollow victory, because we all know it raises questions about the long-term viability of cricket in the West Indies, and more generally the pattern of Test cricket in the future. The game of cricket has undergone huge changes over three hundred years. Are we about to see another revolution, far greater than that which Bobbie Simpson confronted?
On the other hand, what about those CMJ left out? Was it something personal?
(Yes I know, these questions make no sense as they stand. But here we are in the virtual world, where time’s arrow flies a mysteriously non-Einsteinian path, disappearing and then appearing again. You will need to refer to yesterdays’ blog to see where I’m coming from. Or rather going. Sorry.)
Bobbie Simpson for one. R.B. Simpson played for Australia over a span of nearly twenty years from 1957 – which is unusual for an international cricketer – but there were unusual circumstances. He was a formidable batsman, who averaged over 45 in Test cricket, which is a benchmark for the very good. He was perhaps not a memorable player in terms of strokeplay – although he was positively extrovert compared with Bill Lawry his sometime opening batting partner – but my, he was effective. His career highlight came when he amassed 311 against a toothless English attack at Manchester in 1964, batting England out of the series. It was a typically ruthless piece of play. He was fast between the wickets, and very fit. He was a very underrated leg-spin bowler, although he might have been more successful had he been prepared to risk more. He was always a man who seemed to prefer to play the percentages. He was without doubt the best close to the wicket fielder of his age. And having retired, he came back to playing for the sake of others, captaining Australia in the late nineteen seventies at a time when the country’s cricket administration was being torn apart by the arrival of large quantities of TV money. In many ways he sowed the seeds of the great Australian teams which were to follow.
Damn it. You see, there I go, doing exactly what CMJ wants me to. But anyway Christopher, I want to know. What about Bobbie Simpson?
I haven’t mentioned the outcome of the recent Test Match against the West Indies. England won, but it caught no one’s imagination. England put together a large total, losing only six wickets in doing so. Cook was finally out for 160. Pietersen, Collingwood and Prior all contributed handsomely, and from the outset the West Indies looked unlikely to hold out provided the showery, blustery weather allowed sufficient time. Ramnaresh Sarwan scored a very good hundred in their first innings, but that was about it as far as resistance went. Bowled out for 310 and then 176, they looked a poor, demoralised, side. The English bowlers found much more life in the pitch than their West Indian counterparts, and even Tim Bresnan, until then the invisible man of the English team, got in on the act with three second innings wickets. It would be a pity if this extended his tenure of a place in the side. The man of the match was the English quick bowler James Anderson who looked extremely menacing. He made the ball snake around at high pace. At the present time his approach to the wicket is smooth and controlled. The delivery appears effortless. If he can maintain his form when the Australians arrive he should pose a major threat to their batsmen. Or so we really hope…
But this really was a hollow victory, because we all know it raises questions about the long-term viability of cricket in the West Indies, and more generally the pattern of Test cricket in the future. The game of cricket has undergone huge changes over three hundred years. Are we about to see another revolution, far greater than that which Bobbie Simpson confronted?