“To lightly paraphrase the late Dr H.S. Thompson, ‘The sports business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men Ldie like dogs. There is also a negative side’” – The Old Batsman’s mind is on Lalit Modi and the IPL.
“Thanks Swanny. That was a really helpful crash course in twittering… not. Chocolate fireguard comes to mind” – Paul Collingwood launches himself on the Twitter adventure.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
“Jeffrey Archer… continues to nurture the boyish daydream of opening the batting for England at Lord’s. Oddly enough, watching the former Tory peer playing in a Test match also happens to be a recurring reverie of my own. Although in my version he is not elegantly compiling a century before lunch but having bouncers ping off his noggin with a sound like somebody striking a ripe peach with a meat mallet” – Harry Pearson considers the nature of fantasy sport, especially for those over 40.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
“With Fred living in the gulf, does he now hold the record for being the non-Kolpak, non-overseas player residing furthest from his county?” – The Old Batsman is in speculative mood.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
“I love it. It completely changed my life. I want to give people the opportunity I’ve had in this game” – registered blind cricketer Andy Darby-Welsh talks about his sporting career.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
“There are bats that sound like condom brands from the 1970s: the Choice Willow Black Prince; the Salix Pod Performance; the Fearnley Magnum Ultimate; the Gray-Nicolls Ignite Pro-Performance; the Adidas Libro Elite; The Bradbury M Players; the Surridge Duke… Best of all, there are the incomprehensible: the Puma Iridium; the Adidas Incurza; the Newbery Mjolinar; the Gray-Nicolls Xiphos” – The Old Batsman has received his first equipment catalogue of the season.
“A friend is fond of likening the responsibilities of England football captain to those of a regimental goat, and even if you believe that unfair to regimental goats, the contrast with the vitally important issue of who captains an England cricket side could not be greater” – Marina Hyde takes a reluctant look at the John Terry affair.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
“It is never a bad thing to have a fresh pair of legs running the show” – a metaphor from Mickey Arthur that is either ludicrous or inspired, The Nurdler simply cannot decide.
“I didn’t get bowled, but I did not exactly cover myself with glory either” – Prince William, touring Australia, finds himself in an impromptu cricket match with Brett Lee, Matthew Hayden and a number of small children.
That’s possibly good enough. What does he have pencilled in for December?
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
“Would you climb Britain’s highest peak with a man whose Test career was variously disrupted when bitten by a dog, severely concussed by a Richard Hadlee bouncer and hit by a car on the way to hospital after a spectator’s errant throw had struck him on the head?” The Guardian’s Digger columnist reflects on Matt Prior’s and Bruce French’s slated assault on Ben Nevis on their return from South Africa.
Cricket Blips: England feed