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A Great Test

Posted in Cricket with tags , , , on June 16, 2014 by telescoper

Just back to Brighton from a short break, part of which (Saturday) I spent at Lords Cricket Ground watching Day 3 of the First Test between England and Sri Lanka.

England had been put in to bat on the first morning and has wobbled early on, but had rallied strongy with young Joe Root scoring 200 not out as they reached 575 for 9 before declaring on Day 2. Sri Lanka batted, needing 375 to avoid the follow-on.

The morning of Day 3 found Sri Lanka resuming on 140-1. Conditions were a bit murky and it drizzled for much of the morning, but not to the extent that it interrupted play. Sri Lanka, especially the excellent Sangakkara, batted with resilience and resourcefulness, as the England bowlers struggled to take wickets on a flat and rather lifeless pitch. The swing of Anderson didn’t threaten as much as I expected in the overcast conditions. The all-rounder Ali was reasonably tidy as a bowler but didn’t cause many alarms, though he did take the wicket of Sangakkara. Broad and Plunkett were fast and aggressive but the latter was a bit unlucky only to take one wicket.

Fortunately at Lords there are plenty of distractions during the intervals or when the cricket is slow, including jazz from The Outswingers and a school band at lunchtime.

The batsman passed the follow-on target for the loss of only six wickets and as I headed from the ground the game seemed to be heading for a high-scoring draw.

Sri Lanka were eventually out for 453 on Day 4 and England, batting again, wobbled again, in deep trouble at 123 for 6. A fine hundred from Ballance and some good batting from the lower order took them to 267 for 8 at the close, a lead of 389. England declared overnight.

There was talk about Alastair Cook’s captaincy over this, some suggesting he should have declared earlier. For what it’s worth I would have done exactly what Cook did. Sri Lanka are a good batting side, and well capable of scoring 300 in a day on such a good pitch.

So Day 5 saw Sri Lanka needing 390 to win off the 90 overs to be bowled or, more realistically, to bat all day to draw the game. They showed no inclination to go for the runs but batted well defensively for most of the day. A draw looked inevitable in mid-afternoon.

But then, as is so often the case in Test cricket, there was a dramatic twist. Wickets started to fall. Suddenly Sri Lanka were 170 for 5, with both their best batsmen (Sangakkara and Jayawardene) out. More wickets fell, but time was ticking away. Then came the last over, with Sri Lanka on 201 for 8. After five relatively sedate days everything now hinged on the final six balls.

Broad struck with the first ball. Sri Lanka 201 for 9. Only one wicket needed for England to win. Could Sri Lanka hang on!

Broad bowled to the tailender Herath. There was an appeal for lbw. Up went the umpire’s finger. England had won with just a few balls left of the day’s play.

Or had they? No. Sri Lanka used a review. Herath had hit the ball. Not out. Sri Lanka survived. Match drawn.

It’s hard to explain to people who don’t know cricket how a game can last for five days and end in a draw, and that can be exciting. But great Test match like this one prove that it is true. Credit to both teams for playing their parts.

A Test Match is like a Symphony in which the slow movement is just as important as the finale. Without the five days preceding it, the drama of that final over wouldn’t have been anything like as intense.

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Bearded Bishop Brentwood welcomed but too late for Beard of Spring poll

Posted in Beards, Biographical, Football, Politics on April 15, 2014 by telescoper

I’m still way behind John Brayford (who he?), but there’s definitely signs of a bounce! The Deadline is 19th April. Vote for me!

 

kmflett's avatarKmflett's Blog

Beard Liberation Front
PRESS RELEASE 14th April
Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266
Bearded Bishop Brentwood welcomed but too late for Spring Beard poll

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers that campaigns against beardism, has welcomed the news that the Pope on Monday appointed Fr Alan Williams FM as the Bishop of Brentwood but say that his appointment is too late for inclusion on the Beard of Spring 2014 poll which concludes on Friday.

The campaigners say that they are certain that the distinguished Bishop will feature in future

The big issue in the days left for voting is whether current leader Sheffield United footballer John Brayford did enough in his team’s defeat to Hull in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final to take the title or whether challengers such as cosmologist Peter Coles and Editor of the I Paper Olly Duff can catch him

The Beard of Spring…

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After the Chaos Ball

Posted in Biographical, Football on April 5, 2014 by telescoper

I’ve been taking it easy today, recovering from a late night which involved attending the Annual Ball of the Chaos Society (that’s the Cardiff University Physics and Astronomy staff-student society). It was a grand affair, held in the National Museum of Wales and beginning with a drinks reception among the splendid Impressionist paintings and sculptures and continuing downstairs with a dinner dance, as shown in the picture. A few of us older reprobates then adjourned to a bar for a nightcap or several, all of which left me nursing a hangover this morning, although it was nice to see so many familiar faces again.

I’d like to thank the Chaos Society for inviting me and also send my condolences to the new boss of my old Department, Matt Griffin, on Cardiff City’s home defeat by Crystal Palace this afternoon. It looks pretty certain now that Cardiff will be playing Brighton in the Championship next season..

P.S. In the interest of balance I should point out that Newcastle got thrashed too, 4-0 at home to Manchester United. Their poor run continues against teams from the Midlands.

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World Twenty20 Cricket Poll

Posted in Cricket with tags , on March 31, 2014 by telescoper

Following their comprehensive defeat to The Netherlands (yes, The Netherlands) today in the World Twenty20 Cricket after already having been knocked out of the competition, it seems appropriate to conduct an opinion poll on the subject of the performance of the England cricket team:

 

 

 

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Postcard from Cardiff

Posted in Biographical, Cardiff, Politics, Rugby with tags , , , on March 16, 2014 by telescoper

So here I am in Cardiff for the weekend, relaxing after a very busy and stressful week. It’s nice to have the option to get away like this, especially in the spring sunshine, so I’m glad I kept the Cardiff house going rather than try to sell it the moment I got the job at Sussex University. I have been working very long hours recently and with another month to go before the end of teaching term, I think I need to make better use of the weekends if I’m going to avoid a state of complete exhaustion.

On Friday I attended a meeting of the Council of the Royal Astronomical Society (of which I am an elected member) followed by a very interesting Open Meeting and a nice dinner with the RAS Club. After all that I took the late train to Cardiff instead of going back to Brighton.

During the journey I thought quite a lot about Tony Benn; the news of his death at the age of 88 was announced on Friday morning. Although I didn’t agree with his political views on some things, he was a person I admired enormously and I am very sad that he is no more.

I only ever met Tony Benn once, many years ago, as it happens, on a train from Brighton to London. It was one of those old-fashioned carriages, divided into compartments each with a door. I had almost missed the train and was so flustered when I got on that it took me some time to recognize the gentleman opposite who was just lighting his pipe.

I summoned up the nerve to speak, shook his hand, and introduced myself. We were the only occupants of the carriage and we talked for the entire journey – an experience I’ve never forgotten. In person Tony Benn was wonderful: charming, kindly, impeccably polite and above all absolutely fascinating to talk to. As I recall it, I did most of the listening. Not that I minded. I’m a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk..

People also forget that Tony Benn was one of the very few politicians to champion LGBT rights. It’s now a fashionable thing, but it wasn’t then back in the dark days of Section 28.

So I’d just like to record a little personal farewell to Tony Benn. There’s nobody of his stature in current British politics, and none whose company I’d like to spend a train journey in, either.

Yesterday I was out and about in sunny Cardiff running various undemanding errands, in the course of which I came across an internet cafe. I’ve never actually used one of those before, and was quite surprised that an hour’s access cost just £1. I took the chance to sit down for a bit and wrote yesterday’s blog post there.

Saturday was the last day of the Six Nations rugby and Wales were hosting Scotland. The two sets of supporters were mingling and imbibing throughout the city. When it came to the match, Wales thrashed Scotland 51-3.

Earlier England had comfortably beaten Italy so were top of the table, but would only win the competition if Ireland lost the last game to France in Paris. It was an exciting finale, with stout Irish defence enabling them to cling on to a lead of just two points. So well played Ireland, who probably deserved the title, but also good signs for England whose young side have performed admirably this year. Better luck next year?

At least English supporters can now enjoy one of their favourite pastimes: blaming everything on the French.

It’s warm and sunny again today so I think I’ll take another walk around. I really miss Cardiff, but one has to follow one’s star wherever it leads.

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A John Arlott Century

Posted in Cricket with tags , , , on February 25, 2014 by telescoper

With no disrespect at all to the current presenters of Test Match Special, I don’t think listening to cricket on the radio has been quite the same since September 2nd 1980, the day that John Arlott gave his last commentary:

This brief post is just to point out that John Arlott was born on 25th February 1914, i.e. one hundred years ago today. He died in 1991 at his home in Alderney, but is remembered fondly not only for his wonderful gift for evocative descriptions of cricket, but for the warmth and humanity that shone through in his commentaries.

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Cat Curling

Posted in Sport with tags , on February 18, 2014 by telescoper

No cats were curled during the making of this video…

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Was it right to drop Pietersen?

Posted in Cricket with tags , , on February 5, 2014 by telescoper

Big sporting news this morning was the decision by a panel representing the  England and Wales Cricket Board to part company with Kevin Pietersen.   In his Test career Pietersen has scored 8,181 runs at an average of 47 in 104 Tests, which is pretty outstanding – certainly compared with other current England batsmen. And at 33 he’s probably still got a few years of international cricket in him. Can England really afford to cast him aside just because some of his team-mates find him a bit difficult?

I’m perfectly well aware that Pietersen is not the kind of player who always puts the team first, and being such a maverick he must be a very frustrating player to captain, but he is clearly also a prodigiously talented batsmen. It’s true that he didn’t play well in Australia, but then who did (other than Ben Stokes)? In fact Pietersen averaged better with the bat than his Captain, so you could argue that it’s Alastair Cook who should be dropped if the problem is between the two of them (as some have suggested).

And then there’s the fact that – love them or hate them – it’s players like KP who are the crowd-pullers. It’s never just been about the ability to play the game. People like to see larger-than-life characters in sport.

Anyway, I know that opinions differ  on this issue so I thought I’d try a quite poll:

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Ashes Whitewash Woe

Posted in Cricket with tags , , on January 5, 2014 by telescoper

I’m hoping that writing a blog post about the Ashes tour might provide some kind of catharsis, so here goes.

England lost the fifth and final Ashes test today by 281 runs and so have lost all five tests. It’s not that long ago that they suffered a similar fate on tour in Australia (2007, in fact) but I think this series has been a lot worse. None of the matches have been close-fought, as the following summary proves:

21-25 Nov: First Test, Brisbane: Australia won by 381 runs

5-9 Dec: 2nd Test, Adelaide: Australia won by 218 runs

13-17 Dec: 3rd Test, Perth: Australia won by 150 runs

26-30 Dec: 4th Test, Melbourne: Australia won by eight wickets

3-7 Jan 2014: 5th Test, Sydney: Australia won by 281 runs

The final Test summed up the series. England briefly promised with the ball, having Australia in trouble at 97-5, but were unable to push home their advantage as the hosts recovered to 326. England’s batsmen then capitulated for a paltry 155 having been in danger (at 23-5) of being all out for their lowest-ever Ashes total of 45. The Australians amassed another 276 in only 61 overs and then watched England crumble again in pitiful fashion, for 166 in only 32 overs. Hopeless by England, but well played Australia.

So what has gone wrong? The obvious answer is England’s batting; they’ve scored under 200 in six innings in the series, and only one England batsman (Stokes) managed a century. Credit to the Australian bowlers, of course – Mitchell Johnson’s total of 37 wickets at an average of under 14 was truly outstanding – but good bowling can’t be the only factor. Experienced batsmen like Cook, Bell and Pietersen have all been found wanting. I know they had to hostile and determined fast bowling, but this is Test cricket. Top players have to stand up and be counted. The failures of less experienced players such as Carberry and Root are more forgivable, given the poor example set by senior batsmen, but I think they’re also symptomatic of something drastically wrong with the coaching system employed by the England team management. Good batsmen don’t spontaneously turn into bad ones.

The England bowling hasn’t been much to write home about either, with only Stuart Broad turning in a respectable statistic of 21 wickets at 27.52. Jimmy Anderson is a dangerous bowler when the ball swings, but that hasn’t happened for him on this tour and he only managed 14 wickets at an average of 43.92. Swann’s bowling average was a woeful 80 before he threw in the towel.

England coach Andy Flower has stated that this is the End of An Era for English cricket. I hope the powers that be have the courage and vision to take the steps needed to pull English cricket out of its calamitous downward spiral. That means rethinking the entire coaching set-up rather than just tinkering with the team selection.

It will, however, be interesting to see which survivors of this debacle will play Test cricket this summer. Trott and Swann are already out of contention. I’d be surprised if Cook remains as skipper, though he might keep his place as an opener if he shows form in county matches. Carberry does not look like a top class opener to me, and Root is no world class number 3 either. Let’s hope Bell can recover some form and provide some stability while the selectors look to blood new players. I think Pietersen should stay too, exasperating though he is.

The only ray of sunshine I can find is in the performance of young Ben Stokes, who topped the England batting averages with 34.87 and took 15 wickets at 32.80. It’s early days for him, as he is only 22, but has England at last found the genuine all-rounder that it has missed for so long?

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An Ashes Lament..

Posted in Cricket with tags , on December 17, 2013 by telescoper

It seems like yesterday that I was celebrating a famous England victory in an Ashes series in Australia. In fact it was a little under three years ago. In that series the difference between the two teams was primarily in the batting, with opener Alastair Cook having a particularly brilliant series. Now England captain, Cook has struggled with the bat on this tour. Yesterday’s dismissal, first ball, more-or-less sums up his team’s weaknesses. The batting has been fragile, their bowling ineffective and their fielding unreliable. A bit more resolve in the batting, a few more opportunities taken in the field and things might have been different. The truth is, however, that since the opening Test in Brisbane England have been playing like a side expecting to be beaten. Once you’ve lost confidence like that it’s difficult to get it back, especially with Test matches coming up in such quick succession. Australia took the initiative early on, and have been ruthless in exploiting it. In the early  hours of this morning, Australia won the Third Test in Perth to lead 3-0, and so take the Ashes having an unassailable lead in the 5 match series..

England had a good run of luck during this summer’s Ashes series in England – the weather getting them out of a couple of rather deep holes – but the Australian summer rarely shows such mercy on visiting teams, and England’s weaknesses have been cruelly exposed. I always thought England would have a tough time trying to retain the Ashes down under, but didn’t expect them to be so thoroughly outplayed.  I wouldn’t bet against a 5-0 whitewash the way things are going. Shades of 2006/7.

But enough of England. I would be churlish not to congratulate the Australians on their deserved victory. They have had a lean time for many years and I’m sure will enjoy the celebrations. There’s no doubt that the better side has won; they have trounced England in all departments. Well played the Aussies!

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