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.
cricket journalism
June 30, 2009
Team building = good, milking it for publicity = bad
Posted by thevillagecricketer under cricket, cricket journalism, England cricket team1 Comment
June 30, 2009
Bloggers Ashes – the result
Posted by thevillagecricketer under Australian cricket, Charity cricket match, cricket, cricket journalism, England cricket team[4] Comments
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
June 26, 2009
The Village Cricketer meets The Wisden Cricketer
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June 15, 2009
Michael Atherton, commentator burn out?
Posted by thevillagecricketer under cricket, cricket journalism[3] Comments
So, the debate around whether players and playing too much has recently reared its head again, with speculation around that Kevin Pietersen wanting three-months off at some stage to recuperate and recharge his batteries.
Was was apparent when watching England v West Indies on Sky Sports today (well played Windies, shame the weather truncated what could have been a classic) is that Mike Atherton could be in need of a rest.
Athers is a legend, and I spent my teenage years admiring one of the finest English batsmen of his generation, but – be it overwork, illness or just the fact that he was flanked by two younger chaps – Athers looked worn out. Is he the first possible victim of commentator burn out?
Is Athers at risk of commentator burn-out?
June 10, 2009
TVC gets set for T20 action
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The Village Cricketer is tomorrow jumping on the train to Trent Bridge to watch Ireland v New Zealand and England v South Africa in the ICC T20. Will report in depth once I’ve sobered up.
June 5, 2009
England side for cricket writer Ashes revealed
Posted by thevillagecricketer under Australian cricket, Charity cricket match, cricket, cricket journalism, England cricket team, Entertainment, Village cricket[2] Comments
The Village Cricketer predicts 1-0 ‘Pom-wash’
The Village Cricketer’s English All Stars v Cricket with Balls Aussie Code of Conduct XI
Monday 29th June 2009, 3.30pm start
Barnes Cricket Club, Lonsdale Road, London SW13 9QL
The Village Cricketer today announced the line up of English All Stars for the pre-Ashes charity cricket match in aid of the Everyman Male Cancer Campaign, and issued a stark warning to the descendents of convicts and colonists that will be turning out for the Cricket with Balls Aussie Code of Conduct XI, turn up and lose!
On Monday 29th June 2009, the great and good of the English and Australian online cricket worlds will gather at Barnes CC, London, for a charity cricket match held to raise awareness of and funds for the Everyman male cancer campaign, part of the Institute of Cancer Research. The match is played as part of Everyman’s Male Cancer Awareness Month.
The Village Cricketer confidently predicts that his side – The Village Cricketer’s English All Stars – will win the best of one series 1 – 0.
“The English All Stars is a team of hugely talented, exciting and above all modest Englishmen. It is very simple, with this side we cannot lose,” said The Village Cricketer. “The Aussie Code of Conduct XI will be jetlagged or hungover. We are going to deliver a Pom-wash to the travelling Canary Yellows, delivering a trouncing that will help the England side proper carry momentum into the Ashes.”
The Village Cricketer’s English All-Stars XI:
Ed Craig, The Wisden Cricketer
Suave of Suave’s Republique Cricket
Phil Johnson, Freelance cricket writer
Nigel Henderson, Legendary cricket writer
Simon Jones (look-a-like)
Steven Croft (play-a-like)
Alan Mullally (leftarm-a-like)
To make a donation in support of this event please visit the Justgiving page.
May 1, 2009
Steve Harmison’s TV interviews
Posted by thevillagecricketer under cricket, cricket journalismLeave a Comment
Is anyone else bored by Steve Harmison’s TV interviews. He never gets interviewed about doing well anymore, he gets interviewed about how desperate he is to play for England and how life is tough when you aren’t in the side and how disappointed he is not to get a run in the side. He reminds me of Princess Di when she did that interview with Martin Bashir.
He keeps getting praised by the Sky commentators for being very open and honest – I’d rather he talked about bowling good areas, or preferably not at all.
January 30, 2009
Bill Frindall dies, aged 69
Posted by thevillagecricketer under cricket, cricket journalism1 Comment
The Village Cricketer today salutes Bill “the Bearded Wonder” Frindall, long time Test Match Special scorer, who has died, aged 69, from legionaires’ disease.
The doyenne of scorers, Bill got entire generations excited about scoring, spider charts and the excellent banter he had with the TMS reporters.
RIP Bill, cricket is poorer without you.
December 15, 2008
England let brilliant India off the hook
Posted by thevillagecricketer under cricket, cricket journalism, England cricket team, India cricket, India test series1 Comment
Urrr, umm, yes, hmm, oh dear, bother. Read about it somewhere else:
Cricinfo: Tendulkar century sets up famous win
The Independent: Tendulkar hails special performance
Telegraph: Sachin Tendulkar steers India to famous win over England
Times Online: India defeat will be psychologically damaging for England, says Mike Atherton
Monty looked short of he best and the use of technology would have seen off Gambhir and Youvraj. KP says no excuses, so bugger! We should have won this one.
December 10, 2008
Chris Lewis, the English OJ?
Posted by thevillagecricketer under cricket, cricket journalism, EntertainmentLeave a Comment
Mike Atherton couldn’t fathom Chris Lewis (it says so here). In addition, Patrick Kidd has been “pratling” on about the recently arrested former England player. If Chris Lewis gets sent down, it could be that he becomes known as the English version of OJ. Oh, except that Chris Lewis didn’t kill his wife, oh yes, sorry, and neither did OJ.
