An ODE for Harry

Harry the “Hassett” as “Harry The Bat”

There once was a wee lad

Named HARRY … incarcerated

In boarding school Aloysius

A Well-Rounded New Zealand Squad head for Sri Lanka

From ESPNcricinfo staff, July 29 July 2019

New Zealand have named four spinners in their squad for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka which marks the beginning of the World Test Championship for both teams. Offspinner Will Somerville and left-armer Ajaz Patel are reunited after their role in helping New Zealand to their 2-1 victory over Pakistan in the UAE last year. They are joined by Mitchell Santner, who played his last Test in December 2017 before being sidelined by injury, and legspinner Todd Astle who made his debut in Colombo seven years ago.

William Somerville took New Zealand towards an unlikely win on debut Getty Images

The Spirit of Cricket

Touche! Skanda is on the Ball: Cricket is A LEVELLER

Somachandra Skandakumar

The two semi finals of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 will go down in cricket history as ones that reminded us all again that this great game we call cricket which has stood the test of time is also the greatest leveller.

While more than a billion Indians reflect on opportunities missed in a dream shattered, Australia had their batting tested and bowling seriously embarrassed. It has often been debated that both losing teams have from time to time displayed  arrogance and conduct  not consistent with the spirit of the game. They were both humbled way beyond expectations.

Brian Gilbertson singing the National Anthems, Adelaide Oval, 1996

In these troubled times let us take heart from BRIAN GILBERTSON’S Rendering of the Sri Lankan and Australian National Anthems at Adelaide Oval way back in time

 

Brian Gilbertson

Published on Apr 20, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5HHy0ul0mM

In 1996 Brian Gilbertson sang both the Australian and Sri Lankan National Anthems at the Australia Day Test match at Adelaide Oval. It was the first time a visiting national anthem was sung at a sporting event on Australia Day. This practice is now a tradition. The Weekend Australian reported “..his performance saw the Sri Lankan cricketers jump to attention …. a Sri Lankan fan hugged him, saying his attempt was ‘better than I can do and I can speak the language.” Follow Brian Gilbertson’s singing tips page. https://www.facebook.com/singingtipsb…

Full Monty: Jarrod Kimber reveals the Australian Species of Cricket

Jarrod Kimber, in CRICKET MONTHLY, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, April 2019, entitled “The ugly Australian: the evolution of a cricket species” …. How did Australian cricket come to be synonymous with hostility, gamesmanship and verbal abuse? A year on from Sandpapergate, we explore a thorny subject

He warms the cockles of Boof’s heart, Dave does © Getty Images

Something hit me in the chest, hard. Knocking me a step back. Why was this guy purposefully bumping into me? It wasn’t a normal under-14 game. This was a special event. The crowd was full of not just parents but senior players from the club. The one umpiring was a thickset middle-order batsman from the 1sts named Darren; most called him Dazza.

Mid-pitch I looked around to see if anyone had seen the bowler charge through, but no one had. So I went on batting until I ended up at Dazza’s end. He whispered: “If he does that again, hit him with the bat.” It would never have crossed my mind to do that. I grew up in a tough league where everyone played hard, aggressive cricket. But I was 13 and having fun. Cricket was the thing I loved the most, and as much as I wanted to win, it was still just a game.

When Sri Lanka had to ‘mankad’ Buttler and Co.

Rex Clementine, in Sunday Island, 31 March 2019, where the title runs “Marvan on ‘Mankading’ Buttler in 2014”

There are certain places visiting teams would hate play overseas. As for Sri Lankans, they avoid Wanderes in Johannesburg like the plague as it always seams around there. So is Edgbaston in Birmingham where the seam bowlers come into the equation all the time. Sri Lanka have played at Edgbaston on five times but won only once. That win came in 2014 in a bitterly contested ODI. These days teams tend to make most of the scheduling and invariably the hosts would want to play the final game of a series at a venue that favours them, just in case if that happens to be a decider. So was the case in 2014. The five match ODI series was squared 2-2. Sri Lanka won a low scoring thriller with Lahiru Thirimanne and Mahela Jayawardene posting half-centuries to wrap up the series 3-2. Rather than celebrating a famous series win, the cricketing world was busy discussing the ‘Mankading’ of Josh Buttler. Some ex-England players found fault with the Sri Lankans.

Sachithra Senanayake gestures to the umpire after ‘mankading’ Jos Buttler.