Which International Cricketers have you met in person?

[gummy]

2 minutes ago, BlueSphinx said:

Sorry to disappoint you, but I never met Buddy Holly nor any of his fellow Cricket-eers...

That'll Be The Day  

[BlueSphinx]

Maybe slightly off-topic, but this article about the demise of the Yorkshire Country Cricket Club, might resonate with some of the more fanatic cricket fans on the Forum (i.e. all of them, judging from the enthusiastic postings on this sport).  And of course a double hit for the Yorkshire ones (yes, Dwizzley - I am talking to you...),

 

Yorkshire Cricket (1863-2021) RIP

> opinion-piece by Peter Mullen on the website of TCW - Defending Freedom

AFTER a long and glorious innings, Yorkshire County Cricket Club is out. Not bowled, not caught, not stumped. Yorkshire has been woked out.

Yorkshire cricket has been part of my religion for nearly 70 years. My baptism was the Roses match starting on a sun-drenched Whit Saturday at Headingley in 1953. Yorkshire won the toss and elected to bat. Len Hutton hit the first ball through the covers for four. He looked set for a century but was out for 44. A great sigh was exhaled by the huge crowd – even the Lancashire supporters were sorry to see the back of this most elegant master. Willie Watson and J V Wilson, the tall red-faced farmer from Malton, made a century stand and, as the shadows lengthened across the green and pleasant ground, the young Brian Close came to the crease and knocked off a quick 50.

In 1955 I was taken by my grandparents for a week’s holiday in Scarborough. Yorkshire were playing Nottinghamshire. They gave me my sandwiches and orders to behave and said they would collect me at close of play. A kindly man in his club blazer overheard as I was being given my instructions and said, ‘I’m a member. I’ll take Peter into the pavilion with me.’

This was in the days before everyone in a pair of trousers was regarded as a potential paedophile. I sat in the best seats and feasted sumptuously all the day long. The highlight was Fred Trueman’s hat-trick.

Such glories are at an end since Azeem Rafiq accused the club of racism. Yorkshire officials believed him and he was awarded a six-figure sum by way of compensation. As we all now know, that wasn’t the end of the matter. Roger Hutton, former chairman of the club, resigned declaring Yorkshire Cricket to be ‘institutionally racist’ – a meaningless phrase invented in 1999 by Lord Macpherson in which a racist incident was defined as ‘anything so claimed by the victim or any other person.’ This is a judgement so tendentious it simply begs to be abused, and so stubborn it couldn’t be flattened even by the heavy roller.

Rafiq is a moderately talented cricketer but agile when it comes to parroting the approved slogans of sentimental wokery. Tearfully, he informed MPs he is ‘a voice for the voiceless’.

Come off it, Azeem! The voices of the so-called voiceless resound everywhere. In fact they are the onlyvoices allowed a hearing. Professional victimhood rules OK? No, it’s not OK but, as a Yorkshireman, I might say there’s bugger all we can do about it.

So, declared institutionally racist, Yorkshire will be allowed no international cricket at any of their grounds. Sponsors are withdrawing their support from the club, which is already on the verge of bankruptcy.

What has happened at Yorkshire is spreading rapidly as similar accusations are being made throughout the national and international game. Thus first class cricket – the game of Hutton and Bradman, of Botham and Warne – faces extinction.

There is nothing unique or even surprising about this. The catastrophe that has befallen Yorkshire is only one more example of what is taking place throughout our national life as the neo-Marxist iconoclasts and their wokery continue their long march through all our institutions – the law, parliament, the church, the university, publishing and popular entertainments – destroying them as they go.

It’s not as though we were not warned. I signalled a small warning myself in my book The Secular Terrorist (2009). As long ago as the 1960s Charles Reich, a much more authoritative voice than mine, said:

‘There is a revolution coming. It will not be like revolutions of the past. It will originate with the individual and with culture, and it will change the political structure only as its final act. It will not require violence to succeed and it cannot be successfully resisted with violence. It is now spreading with amazing rapidity and already our laws, institutions and social structures are changing in consequence.’

Close of play has just been called for Western civilisation.

Source: https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/yorkshire-cricket-1863-2021-rip/

 

 

[JohninDublin]

As  an ex-cabbie with over 20yrs on the clock, I met few celebs in that time, including Oscar winners, Olympic Gold Medallists, Pop stars who'd had No 1's etc. On one occasion I met and drank with the entire Sri Lankan 1 day team, but I cannot tell you any of their names.

The circumstances were that I was living in Greys Inn Road near Russel Square in London during the 1979 Cricket World Cup. One of my local watering holes was a pub just off the Square "The Friend at Hand". At the time, I used to go by the name John Taylor. Taylor was made up surname, because I actually have one of those "unpronounceable" Polish surnames, and it was quite tedious, having to teach the pronunciation, spelling, and my ancestry several times a day. 

The eve of the World Cup final, I was in the pub, as were most of the Sri Lankan team, who were staying overnight. I can't remember if it was 15 or 16 in the squad, but it turned out that they were staying in London overnight, and all had been given tickets for the final the following day, except one. They had a lottery to decide who couldn't go. 

So I was chatting and drinking with this very amiable bunch of Sri Lankans, and as you do, you exchange names. When I said "John Taylor", they started talking among themselves in Tamil and looking at me a bit differently once they heard the name. After about a minute, one of them started to tell me about the ticket lottery, and then asked if I was related to Bob Taylor, who was the England wicket-keeper and could I ask him if he had a spare ticket for their team-mate. They were such a nice bunch of lads, I felt bad when I had to say no.

[Lowseasonlover]

I've met a few I think the first one I met was Colin Milburn although he had retired at that time he was working for the BBC getting ready for the World cup he was living in the hotel across the road from Lords cricket ground needless to say in the bar every night I remember him saying his first game was Sri Lanka he was trying to learn all the names.

There was a few celebrities lived in that hotel at that time,

Sometime later we built the pub outside the hotel facing the ground "The Cricketers" so it's quite possible I would have seen the whole England team at that time definitely David Gower and Botham 

One weekend in the pub the Welsh male voice choir once they got a few beers down them couldn't shut them up

[poohy]

Ian Botham he had an interest in a pub near me and also at a banking charity do for his walk

Seemed an affable guy

Ps the reason i went to the pub was i heard Shefali Oza the midlands today weather girl drank in there god i fancied her rotten

PPS beer was cheaper in those days but an expensive pub so she was probably an expensive bird

Edited November 20, 2021 by poohy

[BigHewer]

20 hours ago, BlueSphinx said:

Maybe slightly off-topic, but this article about the demise of the Yorkshire Country Cricket Club, might resonate with some of the more fanatic cricket fans on the Forum

We’re pushing the limits of “tangential off-topic discussion” here @BlueSphinx, but a very interesting post nonetheless. I will say though that if Azeem Rafiq had become an established test cricketer, none of this would have come to light. 

[BigHewer]

20 hours ago, JohninDubin said:

So I was chatting and drinking with this very amiable bunch of Sri Lankans, and as you do, you exchange names. When I said "John Taylor", they started talking among themselves in Tamil and looking at me a bit differently once they heard the name. After about a minute, one of them started to tell me about the ticket lottery, and then asked if I was related to Bob Taylor, who was the England wicket-keeper and could I ask him if he had a spare ticket for their team-mate. They were such a nice bunch of lads, I felt bad when I had to say no.

Absolutely love the story, John. I guess they had no way of knowing how common the name “Taylor” is. If I met an Argentinian with the surname “Messi”, I might ask a similar question

[JohninDublin]

29 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

Absolutely love the story, John. I guess they had no way of knowing how common the name “Taylor” is. If I met an Argentinian with the surname “Messi”, I might ask a similar question

In Ireland, "Keane" is a very common surname. I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've got in a cab and seen the driver's name and ID pic with the name of Keane on it. I always ask "Any relation to Robbie"? and amazingly, everyone is a "cousin".

Similar story about Pat Jennings. I meet someone from Newry and I mention that that's Pat's hometown. I've yet to meet someone from Newry, that didn't ""live just around the corner from him". That includes a couple of Ulstermen I've met in TH. I can only conclude that the corner is huge, or that Newry consists of two streets with a crossroad, so everyone in Newry, lives just around the corner from each other.

[BigHewer]

Another anecdote from the vault. 

Back in 1985, I visited Seaworld in Queensland with my Mum and Dad. I was cricket mad at the time and had on me an A4 sized poster of the touring NZ cricket team, printed by McDonalds. Lo and behold when we were having lunch, I saw NZ fast bowler Ewen Chatfield lounging on the grass with a female companion. I gingerly approached, poster and pen in hand and said, “Sorry to bother you Mr. Chatfield…”. Didn’t get a chance to finish. He took the paper from me, said “So am I”, put his hand out for the pen, scribbled a signature and waved me off. Note that I was still “LittleHewer” at that time, 9 years old.

That was the key moment that relegated cricket to #2 in my young world and put football at #1.

[steve860]

Ken Shuttleworth, drinks in my local Wetherspoons in the UK.

Edited November 20, 2021 by steve860

[poohy]

2 hours ago, BigHewer said:

We’re pushing the limits of “tangential off-topic discussion” here @BlueSphinx, but a very interesting post nonetheless. I will say though that if Azeem Rafiq had become an established test cricketer, none of this would have come to light. 

Theres a guy in dudley that still owes me a fiver after 20 odd years if i catch him ,calling him   a "**w"will be the least of his worries

[Rookiescot]

23 hours ago, BlueSphinx said:

Maybe slightly off-topic, but this article about the demise of the Yorkshire Country Cricket Club, might resonate with some of the more fanatic cricket fans on the Forum (i.e. all of them, judging from the enthusiastic postings on this sport).  And of course a double hit for the Yorkshire ones (yes, Dwizzley - I am talking to you...),

Yorkshire Cricket (1863-2021) RIP

> opinion-piece by Peter Mullen on the website of TCW - Defending Freedom

AFTER a long and glorious innings, Yorkshire County Cricket Club is out. Not bowled, not caught, not stumped. Yorkshire has been woked out.

Yorkshire cricket has been part of my religion for nearly 70 years. My baptism was the Roses match starting on a sun-drenched Whit Saturday at Headingley in 1953. Yorkshire won the toss and elected to bat. Len Hutton hit the first ball through the covers for four. He looked set for a century but was out for 44. A great sigh was exhaled by the huge crowd – even the Lancashire supporters were sorry to see the back of this most elegant master. Willie Watson and J V Wilson, the tall red-faced farmer from Malton, made a century stand and, as the shadows lengthened across the green and pleasant ground, the young Brian Close came to the crease and knocked off a quick 50.

In 1955 I was taken by my grandparents for a week’s holiday in Scarborough. Yorkshire were playing Nottinghamshire. They gave me my sandwiches and orders to behave and said they would collect me at close of play. A kindly man in his club blazer overheard as I was being given my instructions and said, ‘I’m a member. I’ll take Peter into the pavilion with me.’

This was in the days before everyone in a pair of trousers was regarded as a potential paedophile. I sat in the best seats and feasted sumptuously all the day long. The highlight was Fred Trueman’s hat-trick.

Such glories are at an end since Azeem Rafiq accused the club of racism. Yorkshire officials believed him and he was awarded a six-figure sum by way of compensation. As we all now know, that wasn’t the end of the matter. Roger Hutton, former chairman of the club, resigned declaring Yorkshire Cricket to be ‘institutionally racist’ – a meaningless phrase invented in 1999 by Lord Macpherson in which a racist incident was defined as ‘anything so claimed by the victim or any other person.’ This is a judgement so tendentious it simply begs to be abused, and so stubborn it couldn’t be flattened even by the heavy roller.

Rafiq is a moderately talented cricketer but agile when it comes to parroting the approved slogans of sentimental wokery. Tearfully, he informed MPs he is ‘a voice for the voiceless’.

Come off it, Azeem! The voices of the so-called voiceless resound everywhere. In fact they are the onlyvoices allowed a hearing. Professional victimhood rules OK? No, it’s not OK but, as a Yorkshireman, I might say there’s bugger all we can do about it.

So, declared institutionally racist, Yorkshire will be allowed no international cricket at any of their grounds. Sponsors are withdrawing their support from the club, which is already on the verge of bankruptcy.

What has happened at Yorkshire is spreading rapidly as similar accusations are being made throughout the national and international game. Thus first class cricket – the game of Hutton and Bradman, of Botham and Warne – faces extinction.

There is nothing unique or even surprising about this. The catastrophe that has befallen Yorkshire is only one more example of what is taking place throughout our national life as the neo-Marxist iconoclasts and their wokery continue their long march through all our institutions – the law, parliament, the church, the university, publishing and popular entertainments – destroying them as they go.

It’s not as though we were not warned. I signalled a small warning myself in my book The Secular Terrorist (2009). As long ago as the 1960s Charles Reich, a much more authoritative voice than mine, said:

‘There is a revolution coming. It will not be like revolutions of the past. It will originate with the individual and with culture, and it will change the political structure only as its final act. It will not require violence to succeed and it cannot be successfully resisted with violence. It is now spreading with amazing rapidity and already our laws, institutions and social structures are changing in consequence.’

Close of play has just been called for Western civilisation.

Source: https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/yorkshire-cricket-1863-2021-rip/

Racism is contextual. If he was known as something like "Paki Boy" and players were hugging him at the time because he had just taken a wicket then thats not racism. Its just a nickname.

Conversely if someone was shouting he was a "Useless Paki" then that is racism.

I would like to know the context in which the phrase was used.

Anecdotal I know but in the army everyone knew me as "Jock". Now most of the time it was simply my name. On other occasions when I screwed up it could be used in a completely different way. That did irritate me.

On one occasion I was actually called a "Porridge wog". Only the once because the left hook I threw would have put a smile on Mike Tyson's face. 

Now for the love of God stop reading Conservativewoman. 

[JohninDublin]

On 11/19/2021 at 1:34 PM, BlueSphinx said:

Maybe slightly off-topic, but this article about the demise of the Yorkshire Country Cricket Club, might resonate with some of the more fanatic cricket fans on the Forum (i.e. all of them, judging from the enthusiastic postings on this sport).  And of course a double hit for the Yorkshire ones (yes, Dwizzley - I am talking to you...),

Yorkshire Cricket (1863-2021) RIP

> opinion-piece by Peter Mullen on the website of TCW - Defending Freedom

AFTER a long and glorious innings, Yorkshire County Cricket Club is out. Not bowled, not caught, not stumped. Yorkshire has been woked out.

Yorkshire cricket has been part of my religion for nearly 70 years. My baptism was the Roses match starting on a sun-drenched Whit Saturday at Headingley in 1953. Yorkshire won the toss and elected to bat. Len Hutton hit the first ball through the covers for four. He looked set for a century but was out for 44. A great sigh was exhaled by the huge crowd – even the Lancashire supporters were sorry to see the back of this most elegant master. Willie Watson and J V Wilson, the tall red-faced farmer from Malton, made a century stand and, as the shadows lengthened across the green and pleasant ground, the young Brian Close came to the crease and knocked off a quick 50.

In 1955 I was taken by my grandparents for a week’s holiday in Scarborough. Yorkshire were playing Nottinghamshire. They gave me my sandwiches and orders to behave and said they would collect me at close of play. A kindly man in his club blazer overheard as I was being given my instructions and said, ‘I’m a member. I’ll take Peter into the pavilion with me.’

This was in the days before everyone in a pair of trousers was regarded as a potential paedophile. I sat in the best seats and feasted sumptuously all the day long. The highlight was Fred Trueman’s hat-trick.

Such glories are at an end since Azeem Rafiq accused the club of racism. Yorkshire officials believed him and he was awarded a six-figure sum by way of compensation. As we all now know, that wasn’t the end of the matter. Roger Hutton, former chairman of the club, resigned declaring Yorkshire Cricket to be ‘institutionally racist’ – a meaningless phrase invented in 1999 by Lord Macpherson in which a racist incident was defined as ‘anything so claimed by the victim or any other person.’ This is a judgement so tendentious it simply begs to be abused, and so stubborn it couldn’t be flattened even by the heavy roller.

Rafiq is a moderately talented cricketer but agile when it comes to parroting the approved slogans of sentimental wokery. Tearfully, he informed MPs he is ‘a voice for the voiceless’.

Come off it, Azeem! The voices of the so-called voiceless resound everywhere. In fact they are the onlyvoices allowed a hearing. Professional victimhood rules OK? No, it’s not OK but, as a Yorkshireman, I might say there’s bugger all we can do about it.

So, declared institutionally racist, Yorkshire will be allowed no international cricket at any of their grounds. Sponsors are withdrawing their support from the club, which is already on the verge of bankruptcy.

What has happened at Yorkshire is spreading rapidly as similar accusations are being made throughout the national and international game. Thus first class cricket – the game of Hutton and Bradman, of Botham and Warne – faces extinction.

There is nothing unique or even surprising about this. The catastrophe that has befallen Yorkshire is only one more example of what is taking place throughout our national life as the neo-Marxist iconoclasts and their wokery continue their long march through all our institutions – the law, parliament, the church, the university, publishing and popular entertainments – destroying them as they go.

It’s not as though we were not warned. I signalled a small warning myself in my book The Secular Terrorist (2009). As long ago as the 1960s Charles Reich, a much more authoritative voice than mine, said:

‘There is a revolution coming. It will not be like revolutions of the past. It will originate with the individual and with culture, and it will change the political structure only as its final act. It will not require violence to succeed and it cannot be successfully resisted with violence. It is now spreading with amazing rapidity and already our laws, institutions and social structures are changing in consequence.’

Close of play has just been called for Western civilisation.

Source: https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/yorkshire-cricket-1863-2021-rip/

I do worry when I see posts attacking alleged wokeness but on the other hand I've got to say, that we should be concerned about the zealotry of some, even when that zealotry is feigned.

I saw that The Sun ran a front page spread this week about a cricketer wearing "blackface" in 2008. I know that it is now unacceptable to do this, but to the best of my knowledge that wasn't the case in 2008, In fact I can imagine that if the pic had been printed in the sports pages of The Sun at that time, they would have no doubt added the headline "Browned off", or something equally crass. I have no recollection of them expressing outrage at "The Black and White Minstrel Show" when that was drawing 17 mill audiences most Saturday nights.

I was somewhat dismayed when an FA Chairman was forced to resign because he used the term, "Coloured". When I was a kid growing up I sided to refer to them as "Black". My parents told me that this was rude and I should use the word "coloured". And for perhaps 20 years or so, that was the word used by both white and coloured people to not give offence. I can well imagine that he was from that era when "coloured" was acceptable. But suddenly some people find it offensive. So things change, but the real question for me, is did Mr FA say it intentionally to cause offence. Or were there people with an internet-enabled megaphone, displaying outrage, like some form of Munchausen's Syndrome where they portray themselves as victims in order to garner sympathy as a victim of some tragedy. 

And so we have this current story doing the rounds, and wouldn't you just know it, one of the leading cast members has himself been guilty of anti-Semitic social media posts.

I've also heard of the case of the 22 yr old footballer who is being investigated for social media posts at age 14. The world is going crazy, and I think much of it is in response to the Munchausen's variant I've just mentioned. This is the silliness you might expect of a 14 year old, and you might expect him to be wiser nowadays, but somehow the FA seem to think they are compelled to investigate the actions of this kid for something he did when he was not under their jurisdiction?

Back to the question of "blackface" nobody complained at the time, because it "was of it's time". I recall the outrage when Prince Harry went to a fancy dress party, dressed as a  Nazi. Yet for years, Freddy Starr was making a career out of dressing up as a Nazi and nobody complained about that.

In case anyone thinks I am calling for all these people to be given a free pass, I am not. What I am hoping to see an end to these trivial witch hunts which are only being undertaken to appease the Munch Bunch out of fear of the investigators being labelled as racists or enablers for refusing to do so.

That gives rise to another problem which is likely to be upon us shortly. If the professional bodies such as the FA and TCCB can be obliged to undertake such enquiries out of fear of themselves being labelled racists, will the next stage be to make sure they find evidence of guilt, or to impose disproportionate penalties just to prove they are not racists?

[Pinetree]

As a very young air cadet, I did my first flight in a Chipmunk aircraft at RAF Newton in Nottinghamshire .  This was in 1966. The pilot turned out to be an Ex England opener who was an RAF Reserve pilot .  For the life of me I can't remember his name, which is rather disappointing. Perhaps someone can help? 

[Smithydog]

Sure....."Cricketers" the term for those who play the sport of Cricket".

For further info, see this website.

https://www.usacricket.org/

The USA will be a co-host with the nations of the West Indies for the T20 World Cup in 2024!

(Note: It is even being considered as an included sport for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.)

[BigHewer]

47 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

As a very young air cadet, I did my first flight in a Chipmunk aircraft at RAF Newton in Nottinghamshire .  This was in 1966. The pilot turned out to be an Ex England opener who was an RAF Reserve pilot .  For the life of me I can't remember his name, which is rather disappointing. Perhaps someone can help? 

Would love to help, Pinetree. What age roughly was he at the time and how long before that did he play for England? 

[Pinetree]

6 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

Would love to help, Pinetree. What age roughly was he at the time and how long before that did he play for England? 

He would have been around late forties, maybe early fifties, but he would have looked old to my young eyes I would think and I remember it was a few years since his playing days.  The fact that it was Nottinghamshire may be a clue. 

[BigHewer]

47 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

He would have been around late forties, maybe early fifties, but he would have looked old to my young eyes I would think and I remember it was a few years since his playing days.  The fact that it was Nottinghamshire may be a clue. 

My thinking would be that if he was a RAF reserve pilot, he might have seen war service. There are a few candidates, but I can’t pin anyone down. 

Walter Keeton is one candidate, but he would have been 61 in 1966. 

Joe Hardstaff would have been 55, but I can’t see any connection to aviation.

Harold Gimblett is another, since he volunteered for the RAF during the war. He would have been 52. Problem is that he was from Somerset.

What a mystery. Sorry I couldn’t help Pinetree. But I enjoyed the search

[Pinetree]

I'm sure that I will recognize the name if I ever hear it again. 

[BigHewer]

One more Pinetree. Is this the fellow?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Barnett_(cricketer)

[Pinetree]

3 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

One more Pinetree. Is this the fellow?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Barnett_(cricketer)

sorry, no. 

[Rookiescot]

2 hours ago, Pinetree said:

As a very young air cadet, I did my first flight in a Chipmunk aircraft at RAF Newton in Nottinghamshire .  This was in 1966. The pilot turned out to be an Ex England opener who was an RAF Reserve pilot .  For the life of me I can't remember his name, which is rather disappointing. Perhaps someone can help? 

Reg Simpson?

[BigHewer]

6 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

sorry, no. 

Oh well. As a pilot officer, I’m sure Charlie Barnett knew the fellow we’re looking for. 

Thank you all the same Pinetree. I was actually feeding ducks in the park when I saw your first post. It was a fun diversion.

[Pinetree]

11 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

sorry, no. 

Could it have been Bill Edrich? 

[Pinetree]

2 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

Oh well. As a pilot officer, I’m sure Charlie Barnett knew the fellow we’re looking for. 

Thank you all the same Pinetree. I was actually feeding ducks in the park when I saw your first post. It was a fun diversion.

I just posted a name.  Maybe?