Listening to Radio 2 the other day, I was treated to hearing the bizarrely named song Meeting Mr Miandad, by The Duckworth Lewis Method, a cricket-inspired Irish pop group formed by Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy and Thomas Walsh of Pugwash. If I get hold of a copy of their album I’ll review it on the site. A cricket-inspired Irish pop group, whatever next?
Entertainment
Archived Posts from this Category
August 5, 2009
Cricket-inspired Irish pop
Posted by thevillagecricketer under cricket, EntertainmentLeave a Comment
July 29, 2009
Fan v Fan Challenge 3: Horse race
Posted by thevillagecricketer under Ashes 2009, cricket, EntertainmentLeave a Comment
Whilst ponies are strong despite their diminutive size, it’s just possible that Dizzy’s height and weight could be against him in this one. Tuffers is smaller and lighter than Gillespie which could really help his cause here, but what about that age difference between them both? Do you think he’s got enough stamina and ‘True Brit’ tenacity to beat the lanky Aussie and make it to the finish line first, or will it all end in a heart–stopping photo finish?
July 26, 2009
ESPN showing Flintoff’s best bits NOW
Posted by thevillagecricketer under cricket, EntertainmentLeave a Comment
I’m supposed to be going to a barbeque in a couple of hours time, but ESPN Classic is dedicating a whole series of shows to Freddie Flintoff’s finest moments in international cricket. Channel 442 on Sky, I might stay in.
July 17, 2009
Naked cricketers boost TVC hits to record high
Posted by thevillagecricketer under Ashes 2009, Australian cricket, cricket, cricket journalism, England cricket team, EntertainmentLeave a Comment
Now then now then, England have enjoyed their best day of Ashes cricket since September 2005. The ball moved, the ball bounced, and the Aussie batsmen kept missing it, chopping on and hitting it up in the air. After Alistair Cook was in the runs yesterday, James Anderson and Stuart Broad both performed well today, which is doing wonders for the number of hits on this site. Over the last couple of days The Village Cricketer has had its best days ever, with more than five times the amount of traffic than normal. And what are you all reading? Here are the top five most visited The Village Cricketer posts over the last week:
1. Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Alastair Cook naked – for charity mate
2. Nathan Hauritz’s finger
3. Is he insane?
4. Bloggers Ashes – the result
5. TVC gives thumbs up to Empire of Cricket
Yep, when one of Broad, Anderson or Cook make headlines for England, the post I did on their naked centrefold for Cosmopolitan magazine gets a huge amount of visitors. A shame indeed then that I don’t have any pictures of Andrew Strauss naked, Kevin Pietersen naked or Andrew Flintoff naked. Naked cricketers it seems, are very popular on the internet.
To give you an idea of how many hits TVC is getting, if the current rate continued we’d have a higher monthly circulation than the Cycling World, Total Fly Fisher, Golf Punk and Bowls International magazines.
July 17, 2009
Betfair fan v fan lawnmower race
Posted by thevillagecricketer under Ashes 2009, cricket, Entertainment1 Comment
July 17, 2009
Betfair fan v fan series kicks off with pedalo race
Posted by thevillagecricketer under Ashes 2009, cricket, EntertainmentLeave a Comment
Betfair, sponsors of this year’s Ashes, have employed Phil Tuffers and Jason Gillespie to compete in a series of special head-to-head challenges. They’ve already competed in a Pedalo race, and will also be racing Lawn mowers, horses and doing something called Zorbing. Full details are on the special Betfair fanvfan.com website, and you can watch the first challenge below:
July 11, 2009
TVC gives thumbs up to Empire of Cricket
Posted by thevillagecricketer under Advice for spectators, Australian cricket, cricket, cricket journalism, England cricket team, Entertainment, India cricket, West Indies cricket1 Comment
I finally got round to watching one of the Empire of Cricket documentaries on the BBC tonight, and I have to say, it wasn’t bad. It was the one about how the Aussie’s got good, and there was some interesting commentary and archive footage.
It included, for example, how Steve Waugh stood up to Curtly Ambrose and scored a double-ton to seal the Aussie’s first series win in the Caribbean in donkey’s years in 1995, although they neglected to mention that much of Ambrose’s fury was because Waugh had in the same match claimed a catch off Brian Lara that had obviously bounced.
The following is taken from the BBC press release announcing the show:
Empire Of Cricket
Ahead of this summer’s keenly anticipated Ashes encounter between England and Australia, BBC Two explores cricket’s rich sporting and social history in a documentary series about the four countries whose very different cricketing cultures created the modern game as we know it.
From its origins in the public school playing fields and shires of rural England to its adoption in the twilight of Empire as the national sport of emerging nations such as Australia, the West Indies and India, cricket has always been shaped by factors beyond the boundary fence.
The series contains rare and revealing archive, much of it unseen before on British television, and contributions from leading cricket writers and a glittering line-up of top players, past and present, including Kevin Pietersen, David Gower, Shane Warne, Steve Waugh, Sir Vivian Richards, Michael Holding, Sachin Tendulkar and Kapil Dev.
I enjoyed what I saw today and will certainly be watching the full series on iPlayer.
July 11, 2009
England up against it, watch highlights on Channel 5
Posted by thevillagecricketer under Ashes 2009, Australian cricket, cricket, England cricket team, Entertainment[2] Comments
I said yesterday that if England played poorly they could lose this game. Today they played poorly, and without a massive improvement tomorrow they will do.
674 – 6 dec is a lot of runs. England are 200 + runs behind and two wickets down, although Bopara was robbed. Billy Doctrove got bored turning plumb LBW shouts down and has started giving high ones.
With a day to go, England need to bat exceedingly well tomorrow. The Aussie bowlers have got far more out of this pitch than we did, and Nathan Hauritz could well (ironically) bowl his side to victory.
Richie Benaud (on Channel 5 every Saturday) reckons that England are down and that the Aussies will have got a huge amount of confidence already from the last couple of days. He is, as always, spot on.
You can watch the Channel 5 highlights online by clicking here.
July 10, 2009
Aussies in front in Cardiff
Posted by thevillagecricketer under Ashes 2009, Australian cricket, cricket, England cricket team, EntertainmentLeave a Comment
Firstly, apologies for no commentary on the first couple of days of the Cardiff test. My old laptop died a death so I’ve had to buy a new one. That done, I can get online again.
Sooooo, the Canary Yellows are well placed after the third day. The pitch is slow, but is hasn’t done any of the tricks that many expected, and the Aussie batsmen have batted very well indeed. England have tried hard, but without a cutting edge have been thus far outdone by Katich, Ponting, Clarke and North.
England need to battle hard over the next couple of days. Barring some heroics, an England win is no longer on the cards. If they play poorly they could lose it though. Tomorrow is going to be a big day.
One thing to note (maximum statto points here), the Aussies did today bring up there first double century partnership in England since the Headingley test of 2001. In that match Ricky Ponting and Mark Waugh put on 219 for the third wicket of the first innings and England conceded a sizable first dig lead. Here are some highlights from that one! Come on Butch!
June 23, 2009
Infamy, infamy…
Posted by thevillagecricketer under Charity cricket match, cricket, EntertainmentLeave a Comment
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.
