April 2009 Archives

Scotland's three day-friendly at Edgbaston in August 1972 brought the first appearance in Warwickshire's senior team for Bill Bourne.

Bourne clubbed a violent 58 in his only innings with the bat to lift the Bears from a dodgy 178 for 7 to 319 all out in their first innings. He didn't have much luck with the ball though, delivering 18-4-47-0 and 4-2-10-0.

Although the match was not first-class, Warwickshire fielded quite a strong side, captained by MJK Smith and including John Jameson, John Whitehouse, Neal Abberley and Eddie Hemmings. Brian Hardie scored a dour 118 in 260 minutes for Scotland and the match was drawn. Warwickshire 319 and 199 for 5 declared. Scotland 301 for 9 declared and 198 for 6.

There were 38 leg-byes in the match. On the first day of it, the football season opened and Birmingham City, back in the First Division, lost 2-1 at home to Sheffield United while, in Division Two, Aston Villa won 1-0 at Preston. Most attention, though, centred on Sincil Bank where a crowd of 5,789 saw Lincoln City lose 2-1 to Hartlepool in a pulsating, titanic encounter in which Dixie McNeil scored a brilliant virtuoso goal for the Imps, tragically, in a losing cause.

Interestingly, future England manager Graham Taylor played right-back for Lincoln that day.

In the next match, away to Darlington, he switched to left-back.

At Taunton the other week a Warwickshire supporter came up with a claim which, at the time, seemed a bit preposterous and which now, a few days down the line, still seems preposterous - and a little scary.

But this supporter, an erudite and distinguished gentleman, insisted that it was true.

His claim was this.

If you put a dish of liver in the fridge and leave it overnight and there is some milk in the fridge, by the morning the liver will have edged closer to the milk.

Can this possibly be true?

Jeetan Patel, passport safely back in his possession, is in the air and will land in Birmingham tomorrow afternoon.

Ian Bell has not been selected for the first Test against West Indies.

Intriguing quote this morning from Geoff Miller on Bell.

"We need to get him even more passionate about playing," Miller said.

Passionate. This from a man who accepted the job of chairman of selectors on the condition that it did not impinge on his after-dinner speaking engagements.

Chatted to Jeetan Patel, who is still at home in Wellington, NZ, this morning and he said he expects to receive his passport back "in the next two days".

Sounds like it might get a bit tight for him to make his debut on Sunday.

Seems like a very nice chap (not an essential element in a cricketer, of course, but always preferable to being a not very nice chap) and is full of enthusiasm for a stint with Warwickshire.

"I'm really excited about playing day-to-day," Patel says in tomorrow's Mail. "In the last year or two I have had quite a bit of travelling with New Zealand without playing so I just want to play cricket. I can't wait to get started, hopefully against Scotland on Sunday. My passport should be through in the next two days and I will be on a plane as soon as it is."

A giant difference in approach there to the last New Zealand spinner to join the Bears. When Daniel Vettori was unveiled to the media at Edgbaston in 2006 he appeared to be relishing the challenges ahead in the same way that Albert Pierrepoint's clients relished the challenges of the noose. He was soon toddling off home with a "back injury".

Navdeep Poonia and Calum MacLeod will not play for Scotland on Sunday and are available to Warwickshire.

Warwickshire have issued a statement in response to members' queries about council employees being able to buy cheap tickets for the forthcoming one-day international at Edgbaston.

The council, it transpires, is just one of many local companies which the Bears have contacted in a bid to try to beef up ticket-sales for the match.

The Bears statement:

"We are running limited offers to over 100 companies that we deal with on a commercial basis all with significant numbers of staff at both a local and national level. By providing ticket offers to these organisations on selected games, the aim is to encourage new support to Edgbaston.

At present only 768 members have purchased tickets for the NatWest ODI as opposed to 22,000 for the Ashes game totalling £330,000 in members discount. We are the only ground still to offer both members discount and guest discount for the Ashes tickets. At present, we have only sold 600 Members tickets for the Twenty20 Finals match in August.

We are working hard with the ECB on these promotions for the West Indies series due to start next week.

Other offers will be sent out in due course and as part of this process members who have brought for the ODI will be receiving a letter offering them an additional ticket for the match on 26th to reward their loyalty and commitment to the Club in the next week."

To help get us all in the mood for next Sunday's visit of Scotland to Edgbaston here are the scores from Scotland's match against Ireland at North Inch, Perth, in 1909.

Scotland 485 (L.Balfour-Melville 91, W.Thorburn 90no, J.Flood 0-27)

Ireland 169 (D.Chapel 5-59) and 184 (W.Fraser 5-40)

There were nine leg-byes in the match.

Cricket is still played at North Inch, a lovely park ground near the centre of the city beside the River Tay, as it has been for almost 200 years.

Between the world wars, crowds of up to 10,000 gathered there for what locals called their own "Roses" battle: Perthshire v Forfarshire.

Due to vandalism of their nets the club had to hold its pre-season practices elsewhere this season.

Welcome to an exciting new initiative, the inaugural Birmingham Mail Cricket Blog Exciting Missing Word Competition.

Simply guess the word that has, using the latest technology, been blanked out of the following reflection by Jim Troughton upon Warwickshire's recent championship game against Somerset at Taunton.

"On the first day it was quite ****** and Belly batted magnificently."

Get your thinking caps on. First correct answer will earn a choice from three exciting prizes:

1. Walsall v Hereford United (January 24, 2009) ticket stub.
2. Tranmere Rovers v Walsall (December 28, 2008) ticket stub.
3. Copy of "Past Imperfect - the history of Lincoln City".

Terms and condtions apply.

Close: Hampshire 61 for 0 (11 overs). Carberry 34, Adams 22.

Did Warwickshire delay the declaration too long?

Meanwhile here are the most popular christian names among people born in Great Britain in 1909.

Male
1 John. 2 William. 3 James. 4 George. 5 Robert. 6 Joseph. 7 Charles. 8 Frank. 9 Edward. 10 Thomas. 11 Henry. 12 Walter. 13 Willie. 14 Harry. 15 Albert. 16 Harold. 17 Paul. 18 Arthur. 19 Clarence. 20 Raymond.
Female
1 Mary. 2 Helen. 3 Margaret. 4 Ruth. 5 Dorothy. 6 Anna. 7 Elizabeth. 8 Mildred. 9 Marie. 10 Alice. 11 Florence. 12 Frances. 13 Ethel. 14 Lillian. 15 Gladys. 16 Edna. 17 Rose. 18 Evelyn. 19 Louise. 20 Irene.

Warwickshire 630 for 8 declared.

Clarke and Botha holed out for 112 from 86 balls and 51 from 72 balls respectively. They added 138 in 21 overs.

Woakes eight not out.

Rankin and Miler, having had their plates up all day, are ready to unleash.

Warwickshire lead by 251.

Warwickshire 580 for 6 (142 overs). Clarke 85, Botha 37.

Hampshire have disintegrated. Clarke, on 73, was dropped off a sitter by Tomlinson at mid-off off Balcombe then played the next ball straight back to the bowler who shied it in dudgeon past the batsman and the wicket-keeper for four overthrows.

Clarke has been merciless and in 18 overs this partnership has raised 104 of the most serene straightforward runs you could ever see.

20 overs left today. Declaration must surely come soon.