The Village Cricketer

Michael Jackson may have been dominating the news agenda over the past few days, however it is the departure (retirement though, rather than death) of another Michael that is more
 
At his best, Michael Vaughan was a truly dangerous batsman and a genuine crowd thriller, and I count myself very lucky to have been there in person to see him bat at his best. Remember the time at The Oval, when he scored an astonishing 195 against India? I didn’t see that, but I did see the 47* in the second innings, and it was very clear by that stage that the man threatened greatness.
 
The 2002/3 Australia tour is where he really stamped his authority and everything come together. Don’t stop ’til you get enough was his mantra as – with England under the pump all series – he made the nation smile and healed the world by scoring 633 against a fine Canary Yellow bowling attack. He beat it to the boundary on a regular basis, scoring three big hundreds (none of them bad).
 
Ashes 2005 – this time around it wasn’t the bat that talked (although he did make another fine hundred), it was his captaincy. He ran rings around Ponting and led England to a fine series win. Whatever happens he’ll be known as England’s most successful ever captain. Injury has meant that he couldn’t get back to the form of 2002 and 2003. The man in the mirror has said enough is enough, and he has gone too soon.

Its human nature to look at the good times of the past. I can’t help it. Michael Vaughan, batting genius and captain marvellous, I just can’t stop loving the way you make me feel.

From ECB.co.uk:
 
The England team returned to the United Kingdom yesterday after a two-day visit to Flanders Field in Belgium as part of their preparations for the forthcoming npower Ashes against Australia… The team also visited the Tyne Cot cemetery where more than 12,000 Allied soldiers are buried
 
OK, so, I’ve got no problems with England going to Flanders Field for team building, leadership and team ethics purposes, and I can only applaud the fact that they have gone to learn about the sacrifices made by a previous generation.
 
I do, however, get slightly uncomfortable about the trip being used for publicity purposes – being press released, webcast, photoshot and paraded for the media. But then again, having splashed out on sponsorship I suppose npower wouldn’t have been happy without it being used to promote its brand further.
 
Cricket is fantastic, but it is sport. WW1 claimed the lives of millions. The two are poles apart. No problems at all with England’s cricketers paying tribute and learning lessons, but it should have been done behind closed doors.

The Village Cricketer meets Cricket with Balls

A terrific win for The Village Cricketer’s English All Stars. We bowled in the right areas, controlled the controllables and took plenty of positives from the game. What is more, we built some momentum and raised well over £1,000 for the charity.

As with all major sporting occasions, the match has been covered by The Times as well as Cricket with Balls, and any further reports will be linked to here. The full scorecard is below. I’ve also pasted some photos on the Facebook site, so to view (feel free to use on your own blogs) click here.

The Village Cricketer’s English All Stars v The Cricket with Balls Aussie Code of Conduct XI

Played at Barnes Cricket Club on 29th June 2009.

Toss won by The Village Cricketer’s English All Stars, who elected to bat

Innings of England

Batting
Ed Craig retired not out 34
Nigel Henderson bowled Francis 26
Sam Stow caught Doogle bowled Scott 19
Phil Johnson bowled Scott 8
The Village Cricketer bowled Scott 20
Tommy Taylor caught Kernutt bowled Scott 3
Suave stumped Doogle bowled Uncle Jrod 6
Andrew Miller caught Doogle bowled Tim 17
Patrick Kidd not out 10
Jamie Horton bowled Swann 27
Paul Wrench not out 20

Score 202 for 8 from 30 overs

Bowling
Colliver 3 overs – 0 maidens – 26 runs – 0 wickets
Zaneller 3 – 0 – 27 – 0
Stevens 5 – 1 – 29 – 0
Francis 5 – 0 – 33 – 1
Alex Scott 5 – 0 – 25 – 4
Uncle Jrod 3 – 0 – 20 – 1
Tim 2 – 0 – 12 – 1
Ross 2 – 0 – 13 – 0
Darren Swann 2 – 0 – 12 – 1

Innings of Australia

Batting
Kernutt caught Johnson bowled Wrench 0
Ben Doogle caught Horton bowled The Village Cricketer 50
Francis caught The Village Cricketer bowled Horton 14
Akbal bowled The Village Cricketer 30
Colliver caught Craig bowled Kidd 25
Ross caught Taylor bowled Kidd 6
Alex Scott caught Suave bowled Kidd 0
Brent bowled The Village Cricketer 4
Darren Swann not out 25
Uncle Jrod caught Taylor bowled Suave 7
Zanella absent hurt

Score 174 for 9 (all out) from 23.5 overs

Bowling
Jamie Horton 3 overs – 0 maidens – 19 runs – 1 wicket
Paul Wrench 5 – 0 – 42 – 1
Andrew Miller 5 – 0 – 33 – 0
Patrick Kidd 3 – 0 – 25 – 3
The Village Cricketer 3.5 – 1 – 8 – 3
Suave 2 – 0 – 24 – 1
Tommy Taylor 2 – 0 – 16 – 0

Winners

Yes, he certainly does. The other team being the Cricket with Balls Aussie Code of Conduct XI. I’m more excited than you could possibly imagine, its less than 48 hours until The Village Cricketer’s English All Stars take on Jrod’s mob at Barnes CC!

Here. Please read. I am deeply honoured.

Ladies and Gents, we’ve made The Times. Big up to Patrick Kidd, whose slow, non-turning spinners will be terrorising the Cricket with Balls Code of Conduct XI next Monday night.

Sooo, they sacred Urn is as good as ours. With only a week to go until The Village Cricketer’s English All-Stars take on the Cricket With Balls Aussie Code of Conduct XI, news reaches TVC that the Aussies are struggling to field eleven fit men. Injuries, viruses and visa problems have ravaged the Canary representatives, leaving them one or two players should. Any Australians in the London area fancying a game next Monday (3.30pm start at Barnes) should volunteer their services directly to Jrod at cwb@cricketwithballs.com.

T20 is all about talent, raw unadulterated talent. You want players that bat naturally, bowl with flair and field as well as they possibly can.

A team like Pakistan blows hot and cold. When they are cold they are poor and can fall very short. When they are good though, they are very, very good.

Teams like England include plays that are technically correct, but not necessarily the most naturally gifted. That is why Pakistan can come back from being stuffed by India in the warm-ups and stuffed by England in the first round, to breeze through the second stage and beat Sri Lanka at a canter in the final.

You wouldn’t back Shahid Afridi to bat for your life. But you know that on the right day, if the power is with him, he could play anyone off the park.

Fair play to him and congratulations Pakistan. Boom boom Afridi!

The Village Cricketer is fast becoming a convert to women’s cricket. Here’s a good reason why… Rosalie Birch.

Rosalie Birch, match fit!

Oh yes, despite not being amongst England’s T20 winning side (unlike Claire Taylor and Charlotte Edwards), this rather attractive young lady has gone straight to the top of The Village Cricketer’s list of favourite female players.

According to ESPN cricinfo, the 25 year old, who works for Sussex County Cricket Club, is a top order bat and off-spin bowler who studied linquistics at Loughborough.

She is currently looking more pleased than Athers did the other day to be stuck between Ian Ward and Nick Knight in the Sky commentary box.

So, Miss Birch, if you ever fancy a net do give us a shout, TVC would be more than happy to provide a few throw-downs to you!

Back in the day, when The Village Cricketer was a young pup seeking his fortune in the big wide world, he made his way to London town.

To a common northerner educated at a West Midlands university, London was a heady and exotic mix of posh women, confusing work and expensive pubs, where strong lager costing £3 plus a pint meant you could be both broke and legless by 9pm, before having to raid a cashpoint to spend £30 on a cab home.

Needing an outlet for his cricketing ‘talents’ TVC went on the internet and – looking for a club in South West London – came across Barnes CC, the home of the mighty pheasant, and The Village Cricketer’s first ever ‘legendary cricket club’.

Barnes’s first XI was useful – breaking into the Middlesex Premier league, and featuring such world beaters as Darren Sammy and Chris Whelan (now at Gloucestershire). The rest of the firsts was made up of English former public school boys, Australian former public school boys, South African former public school boys and occasionally a mad Kiwi or two.

The Village Cricketer, being common, generally played 3rd XI cricket (with the rest of the commoners), broke into the 2nds in his latter years (slightly less common), and once or twice top scored for the 1sts when making up the numbers in Evening Standard cup or pre-season (not so) friendly games.

The Village Cricketer has played for a few clubs in his life – but of all of these – Barnes was the greatest. You could play on a small, picturesque and magnificently manicured ground in SW13, which was at times a batting paradise. There was competitive cricket for all standards, and a legendary Sunday 2nd XI captained by The Colonel, a former advertising exec turned white van man, that took a lighted cigarette into the shower and could bowl respectably with either arm.

Oh, and the bar saw some action too, especially if a couple of the Saturday league XIs had won. The Village Cricketer has yet to find another club that could match the post-match drinking scene that exists at Barnes.

So, if you move to London and want to play decent cricket with a great set of lads and follow it up with some monster drinking sessions, then this is your club – especially given that it is hosting the pre-Ashes cricket writers charity match on Monday 29th June 2009.