May 2009 Archives

Radio WM broadcaster Clive Eakin is currently making his way through all 87 Agatha Christie novels in chronological order.

He has just finished number 14, Murder on the Orient Express, and is about to embark on 15, Why didn't they ask Evans?

Andy Caddick has just officially opened the Andrew Caddick Pavilion while Warwickshire's players played a game of handball on the greasy, slippery outfield.

Wonder what the Bears will call their new pavilion. I suggest they name it after a man who who was a lovely person and a cricketer destined for greatness before he gave his life for his country on the Somme.

To name the new structure the The Percy Jeeves Pavilion would be a magnificent gesture,

41 chaps have represented Warwickshire at Twenty20 cricket.

This, I think, would be the 1st XI:
Knight, Carter, Maddy, Bell, Troughton, Ambrose, Hogg, Salisbury, Giles, Streak, Waqar Younis.

And the Room for Improvement XI:
Poonia, Loudon, Parker, Eustace, James, Groenewald, Obuya, Warren, Richardson, Daggett, Pretorius.

Darren Maddy, who was due to have an operation on his snapped cruciate ligament on Thursday, will not now do so as he has spent the last four days in hospital with bacterial pneumonia. Poor Darren, who is having a shocker of a 2009, was really laid low, weak and vomiting, and spent his 35th birthday, on Saturday, in hospital. All being well he will be out today.

Allan Donald has been unsuccessful with his application to become head coach of the Eagles franchise in Bloemfontein.

Warwickshire expect to lose Jeetan Patel in August for New Zealand's tour of Sri Lanka.

We had a bloke come to fix our boiler yesterday. He came in and predicted, correctly as it turned out, that it would rain last night and there would be showers this morning. But he failed to fix the boiler. I think that chap is in the wrong job.

Great to see so few empty seats in that charming old ground. Good atmosphere.

Patel, sensibly employed between overs 11 and 17, bowled well. Botha was terribly unlucky not to bowl Boje long before he did. Piolet, bowling-wise, is the Barry Wood of the 21st century.

The absence of Maddy, Ambrose and Clarke today left the Bears with a middle and lower order of Westwood, Frost, Botha, Barker, Piolet, Johnson. Good batsmen but orthodox or inexperienced. How often are they going to produce the blazing cameos that turn T20 games?

Ashley Giles' take on the opening fixture, in a nutshell, or rather two nutshells:
"We have to bowl better up front. You expect to go round the park a bit in Twenty20 but we can't afford to bowl both sides of the wicket and too full."
"I think we got into a really good position to win the game at one stage but there was some very good death bowling from them at the end."

Ian Bell will be back from England duty at Taunton on Wednesday. Tim Ambrose is recovering ahead of schedule and could be available against Worcestershire on Friday. Tony Frost has tweaked a hamstring.

Warwickshire will do very well to qualify for the quarter-finals. Missing some big T20 players through injury they are asking a great deal of some young 'uns. If they don't beat Somerset, they will be under huge pressure to beat Worcestershire on Friday.

Jim Troughton is batting superbly this season. His 53 today was his 23rd odd-numbered score in Twenty20 for Warwickshire.

Northampton. A maligned cricket venue but, in truth, one of the treasures of English cricket.

No pretensions to grandeur at Wantage Road. No aspirations to host international matches. No thousands and thousands of empty bucket seats glaring down at play. Just a simple, pleasant, interesting ground (the old scorebox where they now sell second-hand books is surely the cutest edifice in world cricket) full of history and where people are friendly and spectators have the luxury of being able to walk all round the ground and watch play from all aspects.

And that history is rich. It was at Northampton that on a sunny September morning after a worryingly rainy night in 1911 Frank Foster's remarkable collection of ageing mavericks clinched Warwickshire's first county championship triumph. It was there too that one of the most exciting championship matches ever unfolded in 1988 when Northamptonshire beat the Bears after following on.

Who could forget Freddie Santall's unbeaten double-ton for the Bears there in 1933? Or Dermot Reeve's in 1990? Or Tom Pritchard's 8 for 43 in 1948? Or Ashley's Giles 8 for 90 in 2000 when only the intervention of Neil Smith prevented Giles becoming only the fourth Warwickshire bowler ever to take an all-ten?

Legendary cricketers have called Northampton home.
Bishen Bedi, Frank Tyson, David Steele, Mushtaq Mohammed, Vallance Jupp, George Tribe, Kapil Dev, Allan Lamb, Dennis Lillee, Colin Milburn, Richard Williams, Ken Fiddling, Curtly Ambrose, Lee Daggett, to name just a few.

A few visiting gentlemen have also left their imprint on the old place over the years. Not least George Best on a certain February day in 1970.

God bless Northampton and all who watch cricket there. A jewel in the crown of English cricket.

Size isn't everything.

This afternoon I popped over to Stoneleigh Cricket Club, deep in the heart of south Warwickshire. It is a truly beautiful place and has never looked better with the sun shining on the trees with their awesome breadth of colours, the river rolling by and the sheep grazing in the meadows. There was groundsman Joe Ball mowing the outfield and the tiny scoreboard waiting for its next action and the little wooden pavilion nestling gorgeously in the dip at the bottom end.

Peace and beauty. Dignity and heritage. The glory of cricket.

Back home I find that the ECB have today issued the following media release. I pass it on verbatim.

"The all-singing, all-dancing Twenty20 Cup is back with a bang next week, kicking off on Bank Holiday Monday.
Eight fixtures across the country will fire up this year's campaign with holders Middlesex Panthers in action at Lord's against Surrey Brown Caps.
The tournament will retain its four official partners from last year - npower, Marston's, totesport and Yorkshire/Clydesdale Bank.
This year sees the tournament split into four stages and culminates with Finals Day on Saturday August 15 at Edgbaston.
The first stage will run from May 25 to June 4 with the second stage, which lasts a week, starting on June 22. So by June 28 all eight quarter-finalists will be decided. The quarter-finals will take place over three days in late July from 27-29 with two games scheduled for July 28.
As ever the counties are putting their power behind this competition and this year sees the stakes raised even higher than before.
The MCC have newly-installed, state-of-the-art £2.7m retractable floodlights ready to use for the late fixture between holders Middlesex Panthers and Kent Spitfires on May 27.
Nottinghamshire Outlaws have a variety of activities planned for their first stage home fixtures including an attempt for the World's Largest Picnic at their National Family Week as well as a special guest appearance by one of their most famous personalities, Robin Hood.
Durham Dynamos are offering their student population an offer on Friday May 29 that will be hard to refuse which includes a ticket, a pint and entry to a local nightclub. On May 31 they switch their attention to the family market and are offering a family afternoon which includes pony rides, face painters and the "best seat in the house" which is back by popular demand.
Glamorgan Dragons are putting on a Ladies Day on May 30 and treating the fairer sex to a day of champagne and pampering while a Beer and Balti is on offer on June 4.
Essex Eagles are playing host to local commercial radio DJ - DJ Dom while Gloucestershire Gladiators are offering free coaching to budding youngsters as well as a Barbeque and face painting.
All this in addition to the action on the field promises that this year's Twenty20 Cup is going to be as big as ever."

That's the future? I think I know where I want to be.

Middlesex won by four wickets with three balls to spare. A cruel way to end a gruelling five-day yomp the length and breadth of the UK for the Bears.

They are also nursing another serious injury blow. Rikki Clarke has a broken hand and, although a full diagnosis is still to be made, is likely to be out for at least six weeks. It's a blow to the team and a cruel one for the all-rounder just as he had found form with his bowling.

Middlesex 216 for 5 (41 overs) Dexter 42, Berg 22.

Getting a bit tickly. Dexter and Berg are playing it nicely.

Anyon has looked rusty. Woakes back on. Warwickshire need Carter to bowl well at the death.

Beautiful sunny evening.

Middlesex 163 for 5 (31 overs). Dexter 14, Berg 0.

So much hinged on Shah but he was tied up by the spinners and, on 63 from 58 balls, hoisted Botha to Patel at long-off.

Duckworth and Lewis have done their bit in Edinburgh. Can the Bears finish the job in London?

Middlesex 125 for 4 (22 overs). Shah 43, Dexter 0.

Shah is playing extremely well and had just played a truly magnificent shot, lifting a good-length ball from Barker dead straight into the pavilion, waking up a MCC member who had been adoze since 1976.

Patel and Botha have just come on and Botha took wickets with his third and fourth balls: Malan lbw, sweeping, for 10, and Morgan caught behind first ball.

If Warwickshire's spinners work the oracle here, with Kent having been stuffed from the D/L up in Edinburgh, the Bears could qualify for the quarters tonight.