Morning everyone, I've been a rubbish blogger but I promise to be better. Excited about today's cricket... the Aussies have the upper hand in the first Test but if England can bowl with some fire and then bat with resolution and restraint they can not only save the match but maybe even win it. Or maybe it's just better if it rains a lot.
I'm probably even more excited about the prospect of Richie
Benaud returning to our screens, albeit it only for brief Saturday stints in Five's coverage. Be good to hear some banter between him and Boycott again. Talking of banter, there's some great badinage flowing back and forth on Twitter. Bumble,
Aggers, Dizzy Gillespie,
Tuffers,
Swanny,
TMS, Malcolm Ashton are all on there, Bumble is hilarious. Cricket is definitely as much about banter and camaraderie as it is bowling and batting! If you're on Twitter, I'm
HoracePecksniff for some reason I can't really remember.
Right, let's get things going with an over of zingers and
zooters, as dear Richie might put it...
1) Welcome back, Richie - the Blessed
Benaud is back in the commentary box in England (or Wales) today and that is a matter for rejoicing. The Guardian's Barney
Ronay always comes up with some witty stuff and his homage to Richie is excellent
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/jul/03/ashes-richie-benaud-commentary He calls
Benaud "Yoda-like, cream-jacketed and always
unobtrusively on the money..." Marvellous.
2) Freak dismissal - Cricket is wonderful because it's so formal and rule-bound on the one hand, but strange and surprising on the other. This week, Ed Joyce experienced the latter, caught by Jonathan
Trott at short leg... when the ball landed in the right pocket of his trousers
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/8142712.stm3) Heads down - One thing that England's batters need to do is to turn solid starts and decent scores into centuries. At least one of Strauss,
Bopara,
Pieterson,
Collingwood, Prior and
Flintoff should have made three figures. If they can't do that this summer, then it's hard to see England winning back the Ashes. The Aussies do this as a matter of course. Ricky 'Punter'
Ponting's determination and shot selection were excellent. He hardly ever gives his wicket away cheaply and that's what England's batsmen need to learn to do. Same with Essex actually. New boy Hashim
Amla (see below) showed how that should be done yesterday, with his dogged second innings 181 saving the game against
Glamorgan. Essex batters rarely seem to get
Championship centuries at the moment.
4) Hashim
Amla - "With great beard comes great
responsibility" That's what hirsute Stanford-
le-Hope spoken word maestro
Scroobius Pip says on his
MySpace and Essex's new overseas signing Hashim
Amla surely knows this. No doubt
Amla's impressive
beardage is a result of his religious convictions, but like Mr Pip it certainly helps power along his
performances. In fact, I've never seen Messrs Pip and
Amla in the same room... Beards and cricket have a long history together.
WG Grace is probably the most famously and
extravagantly bearded cricketer of all time. Popular myth says that bowlers would often lose the ball in his mighty, bristling facial hair. Big beards are not much in fashion any more, on the cricket pitch or otherwise, but I hope that
Amla can help reverse that trend.
5) Yes, It's The Ashes - So, a bit of lively cricket
conversation and comedy with 5Live show Yes, It's The Ashes on Saturday morns at 11am with Andy
Zaltzman. I'm listening to
TMS but I'm gonna listen on
iPlayer later
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/6) The Scotch Egg - I've touched on cricket and snacks before, but never really thought about what cricketers might smell like. I prefer chomping on pink wafers, Choc Dips and Monster Munch while watching the glorious game. But here, Barney
Ronay (again) speculates that Aussie quickie Peter
Siddle may actually smell of scotch egg...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/jul/11/peter-siddle-ashes-australia-barney-ronay It's an intriguing proposition. I think
Ronay's (
subconscious) thinking comes from the resemblance
Siddle bears to Alan Partridge at times, parting his lips to reveal a cheesy grimace. And, of course, Alan liked a scotch egg but feared the
repercussions.